William Penn and Mellon foundations give $8 million to Philly arts and culture groups hit by COVID-19

Two major backers of arts and culture in Philadelphia have teamed up to award $8 million in COVID-19-related relief for the sector.

The $4 million each from Philadelphia’s William Penn Foundation and the New York-based Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is being distributed to a cross-section of area arts groups — large and small, both community-based and internationally known. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Barnes Foundation are receiving $400,000 each. North Philadelphia’s Village of Arts and Humanities is on the list for $200,000.

Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, a small and relatively young company, is receiving $100,000 — a sum that is about a third of its annual budget, which makes it a “very major deal,” said Katie Moore, the company’s business director.

“That will have an incredible impact on our ability to sustain annual programs and also on our ability to not just get to the light at the end of the tunnel but also past it,” said Moore, referring to the pandemic’s conclusion. “We want to be around for decades.”