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Please explain your <br />intended use of a <br />Restart the Arts <br />Grant, if awarded. <br />W e plan to use the Restart the Arts Grant funds to support Music <br />Maker full time and contract staff salaries. This funding will allow our <br />staff to thoughtfully begin rebuilding our programming that was <br />affected by the pandemic. Music Maker concerts and ev ents are <br />typically planned sev eral months in adv ance - booking talent, <br />securing v enues, and promotion require a lot of logistical planning. It <br />is still difficult to predict what the state of the pandemic will be and <br />what regulations will look like mov ing forward, but the grant would <br />enable our staff to continue working on programming accordingly. <br />Our staff is taking into account all v ariables, and planning for v arious <br />scenarios including liv e concerts and high quality v irtual <br />performances. Though we hope that regular programming will return <br />in the coming year, this grant would prov ide the security to account <br />for cancellations and unforeseen changes. During the pandemic, we <br />hav e produced an ongoing artist talk series, “In Conv ersation with <br />Freeman Vines,” in which the artist speaks with renowned curators, <br />musicians and historians. W e also produced two seasons of v irtual <br />concert series featuring many local artists for “Freight Train Blues” in <br />collaboration with the Town of Carrboro. W e continue to find ways to <br />support artists, creating work and performance opportunities, and <br />ways to share their music and their stories, no matter what <br />challenges we face. <br />Keeping our staff intact will also allow Music Maker to continue <br />serv ing our Partner Artists who rely on our assistance, especially so <br />during the pandemic. Music Maker prov ides monthly sustenance <br />grants and emergency grants to artists in need. During the calendar <br />year 2020, at the height of the pandemic, we were able to sharply <br />increase the amount of financial aid being sent to partner artists. W e <br />prov ided 1005 grants to 109 Partner Artists, distributing a total of <br />$185,393. No matter how long the pandemic persists and artists are <br />unable to earn income from regular gigs, we will continue to support <br />them and stand by them howev er we can. Our staff also works with <br />artists to find additional resources, funding, and partners when Music <br />Maker does not hav e the capacity to fully meet their needs. Artist <br />Serv ices Coordinator, Brittany Anderson, regularly checks in with <br />artists to ensure that they are in good health and good spirits, and <br />that we are doing all we can to support them. <br />Our staff also works on documenting artists’ stories and their music. <br />W e do this through recording and releasing albums, photography, <br />and telling stories on our blog. All of this documentation comes <br />together in the exhibitions that Music Maker creates and the books <br />that we publish. These projects serv e as documentation and to <br />educate audiences through multimedia. Each member of our staff <br />contributes to different elements of sharing this music and these <br />stories, ensuring that our Partner Artists are well documented and <br />will be remembered for many years to come. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 20F9CBFD-5EC6-42C0-9D89-E47774163603