The National Endowment for the Arts has bestowed grants on two Fort Worth arts and entertainment organizations. This round of grants — NEA's second in 2020 — was selected in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping across the country, and announced on June 10.

The $84 million is awarded in 13 artistic disciplines, arts research, and partnership agreements. While the arts remain grossly underfunded across the U.S., the 2020 grants are a much-needed windfall during a time of great economic uncertainty.

"These awards demonstrate the continued creativity and excellence of arts projects across America and the nimbleness of our nation’s arts organizations in the face of a national crisis that shuttered their doors for months," said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, in a release.

Two organizations in Fort Worth were bestowed awards, amounting to $30,000:

• Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, Inc (aka Arts Council of Fort Worth) — $10,000
• Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Association, Inc. (aka Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra) — $20,000

"We are delighted to have the NEA's support and recognition of the bold new approach to public art this project represents," said Arts Council of Fort Worth’s director of public art Martha Peters in a release. "During the 20th Anniversary Year of the Fort Worth Public Art program, the work of internationally renowned new media artists will reflect the past, present and future of Fort Worth on a truly monumental scale to the broadest possible audience."

Meanwhile in Dallas, four organizations received grants, amounting to $110,000:

• buildingcommunityWORKSHOP (aka bcWORKSHOP) — $25,000
• Cara Mía Theatre Co. — $40,000
• Dallas Museum of Art — $20,000
• Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra — $25,000

"This grant will help us serve communities that depend on Cara Mía Theatre for their cultural needs during the pandemic," David Lozano, executive artistic director of Cara Mía Theatre, tells CultureMap. "Funds will support salaries as well as our free School of YES! for youth ages 7 and up, digitization of our repertory of bilingual children's plays for schools, and our investigation of practices that integrate the arts and health."

In total, the NEA bestowed 54 grants to Texas arts organizations in Abilene, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, Marfa, San Antonio, and Waco. Austin received the most grants, with 20 organizations receiving funding, including the Texas Commission on the Arts, which was granted $1,087,800.