SENATOR REED CHAMPIONS THE ARTS!

federal CARES Act resources kePT our doors opeN

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Like most, if not all of us in the art world (and beyond) we were pretty unsure of our future when the pandemic struck. Without the ability to have our resident artists in the studios, our community events canceled, our industrial arts courses on hold and even our signature Annual Halloween Iron Pour hanging in the balance, how on earth would we be able to carry on in fulfilling our mission and serving our community? No sooner had we started asking these questions, when our own RI State Council on the Arts, and the New England Foundation for the Arts reached out to all of us with federal CARES Act resources that would help us keep our doors open.

This relief money for the arts was championed at the federal level by our own congressional delegation, and we couldn’t be more grateful. We recently hosted Senator Jack Reed here at The Steel Yard so we could thank him in person. It was inspiring to be able to tour him through our industrial arts studio and share with him the details of how we were able to stay open and operational throughout 2020. Despite the fact that our programs were severely limited we were still able to keep our staff working, employ artists and run our job training programs. All thanks to the funding that Senator Reed championed in Congress. Thank you, Senator Reed!