The Orange Peel, a live music space that has been closed since March, in Asheville, N.C., Jan. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of eligible music clubs, theaters, museums and other spaces may overwhelm a $15 billion grant fund run by the Small Business Administration. Mike Belleme/The New York Times.
by Stacy Cowley
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- In December, Congress created a $15 billion grant fund for clubs and performance spaces, recognizing that thousands of cultural institutions were at risk of closing permanently because there is no safe way to attend a rock concert or Broadway musical in a pandemic. Now comes the hard part: doling out the cash. The list of eligible recipients is large, and the Small Business Administration the agency in charge of creating rules and systems for the initiative, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant has never run a major grant program. Its biggest pandemic relief effort, the $800 billion Paycheck Protection Program, was an extension of a long-running loan program, and even then it was plagued by confusion, complexity and inequities. People are cautiously optimistic and excited, but theres also so much anxiety, said Liz Tallent, marketing and special events director at the Orange Peel, an 18-year-old music club in Asheville, North Carolina. Before the pandem ... More