In October, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved a move to put aside $4.2 million for the county’s Cultural Tourism Grant Program, via the Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs division.
Those funds were just awarded to 40 arts and culture organizations at an event on Wednesday, November 8, at the new Orange County Multicultural Center in Pine Hills; the inaugural Orange County ACT (Arts, Culture, and Tourism) Awards.
“This year’s funded projects are estimated to have a cultural impact of $94.6 million with a projected attendance of nearly 1.8 million, of which about 460,000 would be tourists. The return on investment in arts and culture is significant — $24 goes to the local economy for every dollar we invest.”
– TERRY OLSON, ADMINISTRATOR, ORANGE COUNTY ARTS AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS
The funds were made possible by the Tourist Development Tax – a 6% levy that’s paced on hotels and overnight stays within Orange County. Submissions for organizations were evaluated on their uniqueness, their standing in the community, projected attendance and marketing reach, artistic quality of their programming, and their operational/financial readiness.
Scroll down to see which local organizations received funding and how much they’ll be getting.
- Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens – $100,000
- Art & History Museums of Maitland – $160,000
- Asian Cultural Association of Central Florida – $45,000
- Association to Preserve African-American Society, History & Tradition – $25,259
- Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community – $80,000
- Bach Festival Society of Winter Park – $160,000
- Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts – $5,000
- Caribbean American Passport Multicultural Initiative – $45,000
- Central Florida Ballet – $160,000
- Central Florida Community Arts – $160,000
- Central Florida Vocal Arts – $95,000
- Crealdé School of Art – $86,440
- Creative City Project – $160,000
- Downtown Arts District – $155,000
- D.T.O. Jazz Fest Inc. – $15,090
- Enzian Theater – $160,000
- Florida FIRST Robotics Education Foundation – $12,000
- Garden Theatre – $160,000
- Global Peace Film Festival – $67,500
- Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida – $160,000
- H.P. Leu Gardens – $19,600
- Maker Effect Foundation – $45,000
- The Mennello Museum of American Art – $80,000
- Open Scene – $51,000
- Opera Orlando – $185,000
- Orlando Ballet – $168,626
- Orlando Community Arts – $45,000
- Orlando Family Stage – $174,000
- Orlando Fringe – $170,000
- Orlando International Film Festival – $42,200
- Orlando Museum of Art – $160,000
- Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra – $170,000
- Orlando Science Center – $185,000
- Orlando Shakes – $160,000
- The Renaissance Theatre Company – $45,000
- Rollins Museum of Art – $160,000
- Snap! Orlando – $45,000
- Timucua Arts Foundation – $80,000
- Winter Garden Heritage Foundation – $45,000
- The Winter Park Playhouse – $120,000
Orange County Government collected $333 million in TDT dollars in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The TDT Application Review Committee was asked to evaluate 11 applicant organizations requesting larger sums than what was listed above. Their recommendations were as follows.
