The Playhouse in Derry still hasn’t opened to the public
It is the first distributed portion of £29 mILLION of funding approved by the executive to help venues and the arts.
Ms Ní Chuilín increased funding to an existing Arts Council (ACNI) scheme by around £2.75m.
It will enable almost 1,100 artists, actors, musicians and other arts workers to get grants of up to £5,000.
The Individuals Emergency Resilience Programme was opened by ACNI on 31 July and applications closed in mid-August.
It had a budget of £1.1m but was set to be heavily over-subscribed, leading to the communities minister to increase funding to the scheme to about £3.8m.
A previous scheme to provide emergency funding to artists who had lost income due to the coronavirus pandemic had to close due to high demand.
Theatres and other arts venues in the North of Ireland closed due to Covid-19 in March and still do not know when they can open to audiences again.
Concerts, gigs, festivals, plays and exhibitions have also been cancelled – though some have taken place online.
Ms Ní Chuilín said that a number of other funding schemes from the £29m for other sectors would be launched before the end of October.
“I wanted to get financial support on the ground at the earliest opportunity,” she said.
“Using this existing funding mechanism means that freelancers, musicians, actors, artists and craft workers within the creative economy will receive much needed financial support as health restrictions continue to severely curtail the arts sector.”
Snow White pantomine at the Millennium Forum last Christmas but it has been cancelled for this year over COVID
“It has left the people who normally contribute to it and nurture it, without work or the means to create new work.
“Thanks to today’s announcement, we are now able to provide funding of £3,852,000 to all eligible applicants.
“This will reach 1,089 people within these sectors and offer them the support to develop new skills and create new work.”
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