Arts Council, Travelers debut new grant program

Photos | Contributed Hartford Stage's musical “Anastasia” is one of two recent hit productions that toured nationally and generated crucial royalties revenue for the theater.

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By Joe Cooper

Amid declining revenue streams, the Greater Hartford Arts Council says it’s forged a new program with property and casualty insurer The Travelers Cos. to spur more arts investments.

Under the newly minted Travelers Arts Impact Grant Program, the Arts Council, which oversees corporate and workplace donations to the region’s 140 nonprofit arts groups, will allocate funds from the Travelers Foundation to entities in Hartford providing arts education.

Officials said the program is aimed at reaching more people through the arts, with a first round of grants set to be awarded in March.

The new program is being rolled out as the Arts Council has collected less corporate dollars for local arts over recent years. The council, which operates on a budget of about $2.4 million, contributed $1.4 million to local organizations in 2012 compared to $1.1 million in 2018.

The council has been busy in recent years establishing other corporate-backed programs with UnitedHealthcare, Farmington conglomerate United Technologies Corp. and New Britain hand- and power-tool maker Stanley Black & Decker.

Additional corporate partnerships will be announced in the months ahead, officials said.