Creative Economy

Albuquerque Community Foundation and McCune Charitable Foundation partnered on a grant program to support the creative economy, increase employment opportunities for working artists of all kinds and help arts and culture organizations rebuild their programs in new and innovative ways due to COVID-19. The program granted $60,000 to support initiatives at five organizations that address developing new and longer-term solutions to engage arts audiences during COVID-19, increased inclusive employment opportunities for arts professionals, and engaged multiple partners for a larger impact in the creative economy.

The following organizations received funding:

AMP Concerts FUSION Native Women Lead OT Circus The Children’s Hour $15,000 $10,000 $15,000 $10,000 $15,000

The Children’s Hour

The Children’s Hour is an internationally broadcast radio show, supporting the production and distribution of high-quality, non-commercial children’s media to a worldwide audience, cultivated through community involvement and participation.

Funding supported a new radio theater project to meet three goals: help children cope with the isolation brought on by COVID-19, document this moment in history from a child’s perspective, create a new theater medium and generated creative economic opportunities that do not rely upon physical proximity. Through the “Kids COVID Theater Workshop,” children and creative professionals worked together to write, perform, produce and broadcast a radio musical based on the real-life experiences of children during the pandemic. The final product was broadcast on over 80 radio stations worldwide and will be available in libretto form for teachers, schools and theater organizations, to replicate and reproduce.