The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Centro de Economía Creativa (CEC) have announced an $8 million cultural employment initiative in Puerto Rico.

The Maniobra, or “the work of one’s hands,” initiative was created to facilitate stable employment opportunities for artists while strengthening the administrative capacity of community-based cultural organizations across Puerto Rico. The three-year initiative will start by providing support, including salary, training, health, and other benefits to 37 artists and 25 artist-centric organizations in 12 municipalities. Participating organizations will receive the financial support needed to hire at least one full-time artist and a $20,000 annual budget to support programming and creative projects.

The artists selected for Maniobra, which was launched in early April, were selected by an advisory team of key stakeholders from the local artistic community. Considering the diversity of practices and approaches across the islands, collectives and organizations were selected based on their rich experience in artistic and cultural work.

“Lifting up and celebrating the creativity of Puerto Rican artists, writers, and performers means granting them the resources they need to pursue their callings, supporting the archipelago’s artistic and cultural organizations, and broadly fostering the work and preservation of Puerto Rican culture at a time when stable employment and funding for these efforts has been imperiled,” said Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander. “We are honored to support Maniobra and excited to see the work that comes from this remarkable initiative.”

For a complete list of Maniobra artists and organizations, see the Mellon Foundation website.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/NAPA74)