Anonymous Was a Woman Announces $250,000 in Emergency Grants for Female Artists Over 40 in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis

The Anonymous Was a
Woman awards have supported women artists over 40 since
1996, distributing more than $6 million in grants to a population
that has historically and systematically been overlooked when it
comes to major accolades and support. Now, for the first time ever,
the organization is doubling its annual offering with an additional
$250,000 of emergency relief grants in response to the ongoing
health crisis that has shuttered museums, galleries, and other
businesses around the world.

The grants—up to $2,500 apiece—aim to assist artists who are
experiencing financial hardship due to lost income or opportunity
as a result of COVID-19 and the subsequent economic shock. As with
AWAW’s annual grants, the emergency funds, administered in
partnership with the New York Foundation for the
Arts, are unrestricted and available only to women-identifying
visual artists over the age of 40 in the United States.

Artist Susan Unterberg, who only
revealed her identity as
founder of AWAW in 2018, spent about 10 days mulling the idea
before pulling the trigger. “This is the first time in 24 years
that I’ve expanded beyond our stated mission because this is an
unprecedented moment,” she told Artnet News in an email. “All the
news coming out was dire, and I know many artists take on multiple
jobs to support their practice, and these jobs were being cut.
Artists needed help and I was able to help.”

Unterberg noted that women over 40 are more likely than others
to have the additional stress of care-taking for elderly parents as
well as children. “So many people are struggling, but by limiting
the grant to women artists over 40, we have stayed true to our
mission,” she said. “I wish we were able to help everyone.”

Unlike the traditional AWAW awards, which offer $25,000 in
unrestricted funds to 10 artists each year based on the choices of
a selection committee, the emergency grants can be applied for
directly and will be awarded based solely on documented loss in the
order in which the eligible applications are received. (The project
is funded solely by Unterburg, but others who support the cause are
invited to help expand the program by donating on AWAW’s website.)

“Susan is an inspiration as both an artist and a philanthropist.
This fund will not only provide much needed financial support for
artists, but, just as importantly, it will be an incredible source
of hope,” said NYFA executive director Michael Royce in a
statement.

Unterberg began AWAW in response to the National Endowment of
the Arts’s elimination of grants for individual artists back in the
1990s, so it’s fitting that the announcement of the emergency funds
follows the unveiling a federal $2 trillion stimulus package that
offers minimal assistance in the
realm of arts and culture.

“I inherited a foundation from my father that enabled me to set
up Anonymous Was a Woman,” Unterberg said. “By digging deeper into
the resources of the funds left in the foundation, I felt that I
was able to support this emergency grant as well as our yearly
one.”

Applications will be
open from April 6 through 8. Winners of AWAW’s regular
annual award will be announced as previously scheduled in the
fall.

The post Anonymous Was a Woman Announces $250,000 in
Emergency Grants for Female Artists Over 40 in Response to the
COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on artnet News.