Fed Grant Connects A&I To LA, Ukraine

The International Festival of Arts and Ideas has received a federal grant for $45,000 to support two of its events this June — adding to a larger pot of federal support for the organization as it lays out its lineup for the summer and charts its path forward as an organization for this year and beyond.

That was the message from A&I Executive Director Shelley Quiala, U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal, and Lou Mangini, congressional aide to Rosa DeLauro, at a presser Wednesday afternoon announcing the grant. The event was held at the festival offices at 195 Church St.

The $45,000 will fund a performance and workshops by Contra-Tiempo, a bilingual activist Latin dance theater company based in Los Angeles, and a performance by Ukrainian folk quartet DakhaBrahka on the New Haven Green, to commemorate World Refugee Day on June 20.

DakhaBrahka’s involvement ​“has special meaning for me,” said Blumenthal, as he has been to Ukraine four times in recent years during its war with Russia and has been among those consistently pushing for U.S. support for the Ukrainian war effort.

“I’ve met many artists, government figures, and everyday Ukrainians who are fighting for their lives” as well as ​“freedom and democracy,” he said. Funding for the Ukrainian group, for Blumenthal, is tied to that effort. Performances like DakhaBrakha’s can help ​“Americans understand what is at stake,” as the ​“fight against an autocratic, savage” regime requires the need to ​“keep alive hope and heritage.”

Mangini pointed to A&I’s importance as a driver in New Haven’s arts economy, citing an A&I impact report that last year’s summer programming alone, from June 10 to June 25, brought $2.66 million in business to downtown New Haven, an 8.1 percent increase over 2022. Speaking for DeLauro’s office, he said, ​“we are looking forward to being right down there, four months from now, opening up the festival.”

The $45,000 grant adds to the federal support A&I has already received for this year’s programming, which now totals $215,000, according to Quiala. Another $150,000 is from the Our Town grant program within the National Endowment of the Arts, which this year will help support A&I’s neighborhood festivals. A further $20,000 from another branch of the NEA will support A&I’s involvement in the NEA’s national-level effort The Big Read.

“You’re never guaranteed it,” Quiala said, noting that all the grants are competitive. For the Our Town grant, A&I is one of 12 organizations in Connecticut that have received one, and Quiala’s understanding is that the program ​“is not designed to go to the same people every year.” She mentioned it because ​“my hope is that someone else in the state learns about it” and applies.

All told, Quiala said, federal support is an invaluable part of A&I’s budget, which totaled about $3.5 million last year for all of its programming — the summer festival, overhead, and year-round activities. To reach that number, A&I combines federal money with support from the city and state, corporate donations, and individual donors.

“The biggest variable is corporate money,” Quiala said, as ​“we don’t have any Fortune 500 companies that are based here.” That is balanced by strong continuous support from state and local agencies, while A&I continues to grow its pool of individual donors. As it continues to rebuild after the pandemic, A&I’s is seeking ​“sustainable growth,” Quiala said. Today, the festival’s budget isn’t back to what it was 20 years ago, but it’s getting back to ​“what it was 3 years ago.” Part of the conversation is also about creating some sort of nest egg, as the organization currently has no endowment, but raises money year to year.

“We’re thinking about maintenance beyond making the budget,” Quiala said.

Summer festivals don’t necessarily last forever, and even venerable festivals were shaken by the pandemic. Last year, the six-decade-old Philadelphia Folk Festival didn’t happen as the organization found itself at the edge of financial collapse; this year it’s hoping to remount the festivities at a smaller scale. As A&I nears the end of its third decade — ​“a long time” for a festival, Quiala said — the question about funding is also a question about the festival’s programming as it continues to evolve with the times.

“The fact that it’s been open to change is key,” Quiala said. Certain aspects of the festival — such as its roster of free events on the Green throughout the month of June — are ​“tenets” of A&I’s programming. Last year, of A&I’s 150 events, more than 85% were free, including 12 nights of events on the Green. But overall, A&I ​“shouldn’t be the same thing for 30 years.” Quiala said. ​“What do we want this organization to look like moving into the future?”