The Mustang Outreach Program has been awarded an $8,743 North Carolina CARES For Arts grant by the North Carolina Arts Council through the Dare County Arts Council.
The grant comes at a crucial time for the Mustang Outreach Program, which has been tremendously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For the past eight years we have been able to maintain our music lessons and camps through community fundraisers, proceeds from local music festivals, and tuition, but all of those things came to a screeching halt in March of 2020,” said Mustang Outreach Program President Michael Dianna. “Our income stopped, but the bills kept coming for our studio’s rent and utilities. The news from our friends at Dare County Arts Council that we received this grant was music to our ears as it will allow us to keep our program going in 2021.”
The North Carolina General Assembly designated $9.4 million federal CARES Act funds for art organizations to mitigate business disruptions caused by COVID-19. The purpose of the funds is to offset business disruption and/or expenses incurred due to COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020.
The Mustang Outreach Program will resume music classes for 2021 soon.
Parents interested in enrolling their children in the Mustang Outreach Program can visit MustangOutreachOBX.org or reach out to Music Director Ruth Wyand directly at mustangoutreachprogram@gmail.com.
The Mustang Outreach Program is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to encourage and cultivate creativity through music with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.