Big Heavy World to Receive Grant from National Endowment for the Arts

BURLINGTON VT January 11, 2022 — Big Heavy World has been approved for a $10,000 Grant for Arts Projects award to support its work as a music development office. Big Heavy World coordinates volunteers who archive and promote music from Vermont, building community and celebrating the state’s ubiquitous creativity. Big Heavy World’s projects are among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28,840,000 that were selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Big Heavy World that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Big Heavy World is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”

James Lockridge, Executive Director of Big Heavy World, said, “Vermont’s intensely talented music community gives us a sense of good fortune. This federal recognition and support stokes our efforts to achieve awareness for the state’s artists and contribute to their capacity for success.”

NEA support will contribute to production of the statewide Make Music Day festival, an inclusive international celebration of music on June 21. Other projects that provide exposure for original Vermont-made music or strengthen the community include operation of 105.9FM The Radiator, a community radio station that plays thousands of original local songs between programs; a spring 2022 series of professional development workshops serving Vermont’s creatives; and the new Tiny Museum of Vermont Music History.

Big Heavy World is an independent nonprofit music development office established to archive and promote the original music of Vermont. With a crew of volunteers it publishes information about Vermont’s music industry, archives thousands of Vermont-made recordings, photographs and artifacts, and operates 105.9FM, a radio station highlighting the region’s creative community. It hosts the weekly ‘Rocket Shop local music radio hour and podcast that has featured ~700 Vermont-based artists. In 2020 Big Heavy World was recognized as ‘Best Global Music Office’ by an international Music Cities jury. The organization celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021. For more, visit bigheavyworld.com

For more information on other projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

High-resolution images are available at https://bigheavyworld.com/press-images

Contact James Lockridge, jim@bigheavyworld.com; (802) 865-1140.

Big Heavy World