Artists receive funds from foundation | News

Several individual artists and non-profits are the recipients of the 2025 ARPA Artist and Organization Grant program from the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. 

The organization gave grants to 43 artists and 41 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organizations across Southern Arizona for a total of $851,728 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

The funds come with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the city of Tucson. These grants are part of a continued effort to fuel the nation’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2025 ARPA Artist Grant 

The 2025 ARPA Artist Grant supported individual artists and culture bearers living and working across Southern Arizona. Awarded artists received funding in exchange for providing creative services to a designated client, such as a community group, school, nonprofit, or civic partner. The program was designed to respond directly to community needs and to uplift underrepresented voices across 13 artistic disciplines. This year, 70% of the award recipients were first-time grantees of the Arts Foundation. This direct investment in individual artists impacted nine public sectors across six cities and towns in Southern Arizona. 

The artist grant exclusively paid 43 artists for their work, with the added benefit of supporting creative services for 43 clients chosen by each grantee. Clients and grantees partnered at the intersection of arts and tourism, public education, public health, housing and community development, cultural heritage, economic growth, government, community advocacy and local nonprofit groups. A key part of this initiative was its focus on workforce investment — each artist profile is showcased as a vetted service provider in the Arts Foundation Arts and Culture Directory.

“The 2025 ARPA Artists Grant is a bold investment in Southern Arizona’s creative future. It uplifts Artists and Culture Bearers as essential storytellers, mentors and changemakers,” said Adriana Gallego, CEO of the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. “By honoring cultural traditions and sparking new connections, this program fuels community resilience, fosters civic engagement and celebrates the power of art to bring people together.” 

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero recognized the importance of artistic expression in Tucson. 

“This partnership is a great example of how government and the arts are helping connect artists, poets, musicians, filmmakers, culture bearers and creative people of all kinds to opportunity,” she said. “Thank you to the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona for inviting us to collaborate with you to uplift the power of the arts.”

Tucson City Manager Tim Thomure acknowledged how the grants bring more than money to Tucson.

“The city of Tucson is proud to partner with the Arts Foundation to ensure that federal recovery dollars reach the creative workers and cultural organizations that are vital to our region’s identity and resilience,” he said. “These ARPA grants not only strengthen our economy — they help anchor community pride, health and belonging in neighborhoods across Southern Arizona.”

Among the individual recipients were Nicolette Gomez of South Tucson and the Pascua Yaqui.

“These ARPA rescue funds didn’t just support our work — they helped us show up for South Tucson the way it deserves,” she said. “Through Elevate & Ignite, we partnered with five legacy businesses that have been holding it down for generations. With new branding, websites and tools to tell their stories, these businesses are now more visible, more confident, and more rooted than ever. This wasn’t just a program — it was the beginning of something bigger: business-rooted development led by the people who’ve always been here. South Tucson has always had the heart. This gave us a way to help it shine.” 

Another recipient was musician Eli Beren, who worked with a long-term medical care residence facility.

“These funds allowed me to develop and execute a pilot songwriting program with an underserved population in our community,” he said. “I was able to connect with a local long-term medical care residence home to write individual songs with and for each participant in the program. Using their favorite music as a guide, I prompted program participants to write a song with the subject and style of their choosing, and the results were beautiful. The music we co-wrote was diverse, fun, and emotionally moving. We wrote an entire album of new music and made wonderful connections and memories along the way.”

2025 ARPA 

Organization Grant

The ARPA Organization Grant supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and culture organizations, strengthening their ability to recover, adapt and thrive post-pandemic. From rural arts spaces to established cultural anchors, these organizations form the bedrock of Southern Arizona’s creative ecosystem. The program sought to strengthen the arts economies in the borderlands and foster civic participation. Grantee organizations prioritized the restoration or creation of jobs by hiring artists and artworkers at any stage in their careers to deliver quality arts programming and provide services to communities across Southern Arizona. 

“Through this significant investment, the Arts Foundation remains committed to the cultural vibrancy of the region,” Gabriela Muñoz, director of grants and programs, said. “The 356 artists and creatives hired by the 41 organizational grantees highlight how essential this funding is to the sector’s financial health and underscore its powerful impact on our community.”

The Gila Valley Arts Council (GVAC) in Green Valley was an example of the nonprofits that benefitted from the grants program.

“Funds were used for artists’ fees. GVAC is the only organization bringing performing arts to the Gila Valley. 95% of the work we do is dedicated to education. Through the Carion Wind Quintet, we served 602 students through a bus-in performance (12 schools), which raised the level of appreciation of the performing arts, encouraged audience behavior skills and taught students about wind instruments/capabilities. Carion offered a workshop that complemented classroom objectives for 42 high school music students. And they critiqued the performance of 27 post-high school students through a master class at EAC. Adult performances reached 102 residents. Total impact: 773.”

The Odaiko Sonora Rhythm Industry of Tucson used the funds they received this way:

“The funds provided allowed us to pay the artist-administrators who are responsible for primary program operations. In turn, those staff were able to perform in the annual All Souls Procession, provide a team-building workshop for youth with diabetes, and teach taiko to students aged 10 to 80, among other activities. These funds also supported key administrative work, including managing our studio for the multiple arts groups that rent our space and an ongoing transition from the co-founding director to a new generation of leaders, ensuring long-term sustainability for the organization and our local community of renting artists.” 

Tucson’s Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre was able to reach nearly 3,000 people with its grant money.

“One hundred percent of the funds were used toward the honorariums of 15 artists who engaged close to 3,000 people, one-third of whom were students. We engaged a cross-cultural audience with our bilingual ‘Alebrijes,’ a celebration of Mexican American traditions. We connected with audiences — no matter their language — through the wordless physical theater storytelling of ‘The WoBo Show,’ and engaged a world-renowned Shakespearean scholar who worked engaged with our local artists and audiences to explore the relationship between power and gender in ‘Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender.’ We are deeply grateful for the support that engaged our community and helped our local economy.”  

The American Literary Translators Association in Tucson credits the grant with enabling the organization to keep a key employee.

These funds provided full salary support for ALTA’s (American Literary Translators Association) program director during a critical period for our programming, including our most popular events: our online multilingual workshops, pitch sessions, Building Our Future workshop (for early-career translators of color), and especially our conference in Milwaukee with over 400 attendees. These funds offered essential support to hundreds of members and attendees nationwide, while also maintaining employment.