Chandler Center for the Arts has been awarded $75,000 in unrestricted funds from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to offset major economic losses and to support the Center’s community response to COVID-19. The Trust awarded grants with a focus on “investments in arts and culture and human service organizations, with a priority to award funds to those serving children, youth, and marginalized communities.”

“Youth-focused nonprofits across all sectors — human services, arts and culture, faith-based — play a critical role in fostering health and well-being as we navigate the months ahead,” said Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Since January 2020, the Trust has awarded $27,740,432 in total grantmaking — with $24,373,750 of these funds being grants initiated by the Trust to support nonprofits due to the COVID-19 crisis. Typically, the Trust’s annual grantmaking is between $20 million and $22 million.

“We are grateful for the continued support of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust to help us serve those in need of inspiration, connection and all that the arts provide,” said Michelle Mac Lennan, Arts & Culture Manager. The grant was awarded to the CCA through an application submitted by the Chandler Cultural Foundation, a not-for-profit organization contracted by the City of Chandler to program and raise funds for the CCA.

Chandler Center for the Arts serves as a leader and one of the most collaborative multi-theatre performing and visual arts facilities in the country. The Center's free arts programs, serving more than 20,000 people annually, including 5,400 children, have continued through the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the development of CCA Anywhere, a free online concert series, the Center has worked with Arizona educators to bring Theatre Kids virtual field trips to schools and homeschool students in the state. It has also supported Vision Gallery's Vision Kids program in delivering free arts instruction over videoconferencing, allowing children to continue their arts education safely from home.