Are You an Artist in Need of Aid? Here Are Dozens of Emergency Grants, Medical Funds, and Other Resources to Help
The recent global health crisis has left the art world in an
uncertain lurch as galleries and museums shutter and artists see
their exhibitions canceled or postponed. In this uncharted
territory, many in the industry are feeling uncertain about their
financial paths forward—particularly artists, who often work
without the safety net of unemployment benefits or even health
insurance.
Fortunately, there are resources available to help. Artists will
qualify for the federal government’s CARES Act and a stimulus
package will be making direct payments in the weeks to come. Plus,
organizations are springing up to help connect artists to employment opportunities and grants every
day.
So if you’re an artist who needs help bridging the gap, here is
a list of resources to help with rent payments, medical bills, and
more (and a few for art writers, too).
Nationwide
Resources
Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant
What it is: Interim
financial assistance (up to $15,000; standard award is $5,000) for
unforeseen circumstances; one-time assistance for a specific
emergency. This does not cover dental, chronic conditions, or art
projects.
Who it’s for: Only
eligible for visual artists (painters, printmakers, and sculptors)
who are in a mature phase of their career (have been working for at
least 10 years in their field).
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund
What it is: Funds in the
amount of $200 per person, on a first-come, first-served
basis.
Who it’s for: Black,
indigenous, and people of color artists or administrators in
financial need.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund)
What it is: $3,000 in immediate financial assistance;
discounts and donations for art supplies also available.
Who it’s for: Professional artists who have contracted
COVID-19 and are in need of financial assistance. Applicants must
be legal US residents and face a career-threatening emergency.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
NYFA and Rauschenberg Emergency
Grants
What it is: One-time grants of up to $5,000 for medical
emergencies.
Who it’s for: Visual and
media artists and choreographers who have eligible expenses which
include, but are not limited to: hospital and doctor bills
(including insurance co-pays), tests, physical/occupational
therapy, prescription drugs specifically for the emergency medical
condition, and emergency dental work.
Dates to know: Applications will be accepted and
reviewed by the panel on a monthly basis beginning in late
May/early June 2020.
What it is: Grants for
artistic merit and demonstrable personal or professional financial
need. The size of the
grant is determined by the artist’s individual
circumstances.
Who it’s for: Artists
must be actively exhibiting their work in galleries or museums. The
foundation does not accept applications from commercial artists,
video artists, performance artists, filmmakers, crafts-makers, or
any artist whose work primarily falls into these
categories.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
What it is: A non-profit
fund that pays a portion of emergency medical bills directly to the
medical providers.
Who it’s for: Painters
and sculptors who have been affected by medical bills.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
What it is: One-time grants to pay emergency
medical bills.
Who it’s for: Artists who
are dealing with immediate medical emergencies and their
aftermaths.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
What it is: One-time emergency stipend of $200.
Who it’s for: Any artist
in any discipline who has been impacted by COVID19-related
cancellations and closures may apply for assistance.
Dates to know: Stipends
and support will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis so
long as funds are available.
The
Photographer’s Fund with Format
What it is: A $25,000
fund providing assistance of up to $500 per artist.
Who it’s for: Self-employed photographers facing financial
hardships due to COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling application process, until
funds are depleted.
What it is: Peer-to-peer
wealth redistribution in small increments. Applicants fill out
a form explaining how they’ve been impacted and
and others who are in better financial positions can
donate.
Who it’s for: People in
the arts, hospitality, and gig economy who have been directly
impacted by COVID-19. Funds go directly to the persons on the
database via Venmo/PayPal.
Dates to know: Rolling application process and as
funds are available.
What it is: Up to $1,000
in financial assistance per freelance household to cover lost
income and essential expenses including food, supplies, utility
payments, and cash assistance to supplement income loss.
Who it’s for: Freelancers
who primarily reside in the United States who have experienced a
sudden decrease in income of 50 percent or more as a result of
COVID-19, due to cancellation, loss of work, or caring for family
members. These include sole
proprietors and limited liability companies where there is only one
employee.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency
Grant
What it is: One-time
grants of $1,500.
Who it’s for: Artists who
have had performances or exhibitions canceled or postponed because
of the pandemic.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
What it is: One-time emergency stipend in the amount of
$200.
Who it’s for: Any artist
in any discipline who has been impacted by COVID19-related
cancellations and closures may apply for assistance.
Dates to know: Stipends
and support will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis, with
the only limitation being how much is money able to be
raised.
Art
Interrupted Emergency Arts Fund
What it is: An emergency
fund launched by the Massachusetts nonprofit Twenty Summers with
grants for individual artists up to $500 and grants of $1,000 for
arts organizations. Twenty Summers will also help promote
artists’ work through video sharing and social
media.
Who it’s for: Artists and
arts organizations suffering from unexpected and severe financial
loss as a result of COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
What it is: One-time
grants to support artists, as chosen by a board of fellow creators.
Patreon has donated $10,000 in initial funds and is accepting
further donations.
Who it’s for: Any
creator, anywhere in the world, who has been demonstrably impacted
by the COVID-19 situation.
Dates to know: Accepting
applications through today, April 14, 2020.
What it is: Five grants
of $5,000 to support photography projects.
Who it’s for: Visual
journalists working in a documentary capacity. One grant will be
earmarked for a non-binary or transgender photographer.
Dates to know: Application deadline is May 15,
2020.
Northeast
Resources
What it is: $500 to
individual artists.
Who it’s for: Artists who
live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are being
adversely impacted by coronavirus.
Dates to know: Application deadline is April 30, 2020.
City of Boston Artist Relief
Fund
What it is: $500 and $1,000 grants.
Who it’s for: Individual
artists who live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are
being adversely impacted by COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process through June 30, 2020.
What it is: Individual
grants up for $1,000.
Who it’s for: individual
artists who live in Boston whose creative practices and incomes are
being adversely impacted by coronavirus.
Dates to know: Open
on a first-come, first-served basis for as long as the fund can
sustain requests.
What it is: One-time
relief in the form of grants up to $500.
Who it’s for: Artists who
live, work, create, or perform on Cape Cod,
Massachusetts.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
Mass Cultural Council COVID-19
Relief
What it is: Grants of
$1,000.
Who it’s for: Individual
artists and independent teaching artists in Massachusetts who have
lost income derived from their work as a direct result of
COVID-19.
Dates to know: Applications close April 22, 2020.
NYC Low-Income Artist/Freelancer Relief
Fund
What it is: Crowd-sourced
fundraising distributed to artists and freelancers in dispersals up
to $150.
Who it’s for: Low-income
artists and freelancers, artists of color, and trans or queer
artists who have lost wages due to the pandemic in the New York
City area.
Dates to know: Surveys
for need will stop and start based on fundraising amount. For every
$10,000 raised, 66 more artists can be supported.
What it is: One-time
emergency funding of up to $1,000 and resources for creative
professionals experiencing housing, medical, and legal financial
assistance.
Who it’s for: Professionals in the creative arts who are
residents of New York State with possible exceptions made for those
with relationships to Max’s Kansas City.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
What it is: Individual grants averaging around $2,000
each.
Who it’s for: New York
City individuals who are distressed or suffering as a result of
poverty, low income or lack of financial resources, including as a
result of natural or civil disasters, or from temporary
impoverishment, loss of employment, death or incapacity of a family
wage earner or damage to home and property; to provide health care
to those who cannot afford it or whose health insurance or
financial resources are insufficient to cover medical
needs.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
Philadelphia Performing Artists’ Emergency
Fund
What it is: Individual
disbursements of up to $250 per person for urgent and quantifiable
expenses.
Who it’s for: Performance
artists facing a financial hardship caused by COVID-19.
Dates to know: Submissions will be reviewed daily and funds
will be sent out via Venmo, Paypal, and Cashapp. Artists may apply
more than once.
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council Emergency
Fund
What it is: Emergency
funds up to $500.
Who it’s for: Artists who
live in the nine-county region surrounding Pittsburgh and whose
creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by
coronavirus or other emergencies.
Dates to know: Applicants
are currently being placed on a waiting list and reviewed in the
order in which they are received. Funds are distributed based on
availability.
Maryland State Arts Council Emergency
Grants
What it is: One-time
emergency grants.
Who it’s for: Maryland
State resident artists who are ineligible for unemployment or other
forms of relief and who have suffered a loss of income due to
COVID-19 and related cancellations and closures.
Dates to know: Applications will be reviewed upon submission,
and grants will be awarded throughout the fiscal year. The timeline
between approval and payment may be 90 days.
Wherewithal Recovery Grants
(Washington, DC)
What it is: $1,000 grants
for individual artists.
Who it’s for: Washington,DC-area artists who have suffered a loss of
employment, performances, teaching, or other opportunities due to
COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
Midwest
Resources
Indy Arts & Culture COVID-19 Emergency Relief
Fund
What it is: Rapid
response grants of $500.
Who it’s for: Indiana
individuals working in the arts sector who are impacted by the
current public health crisis, specifically independent artists and
staff working for small-to-midsize nonprofit arts and cultural
organizations; must have a non-commercial creative arts practice
that results in at least 40 percent of overall income.
Dates to know: Applicants
may apply once per 30-day period, with grants confirmed on a
rolling weekly basis and notification to applicants within two
weeks.
What it is: Emergency
grants up to $500.
Who it’s for: Artists in
Minnesota who need help paying unanticipated, emergency expenses,
who have lost work or wages because of the global health
crisis.
Dates to know: Requests
will be filled in the order they were received and as fundraising
allows.
South and Southeast
Resources
Charlottesville Emergency Relief Fund for
Artists
What it is: Emergency
funds up to $300.
Who it’s for: Artists in
the Charlottesville, Virginia, area who have lost income,
regardless of whether the income was from art or other
work.
Dates to know: Applications will be reviewed in the order they
are received and at the availability of
funds.
What it is: A ranging money-in, money-out emergency
fund.
Who it’s for: Professional artists living in the greater
Greensboro, North Carolina, area who have suffered financial losses
due to COVID-19.
Dates to know: Applications are evaluated weekly and funds are
distributed on a rolling basis.
What it is: One-time
grants dependent on need and availability of
funding.
Who it’s for: Artists,
arts presenters or arts venues in Durham County, North Carolina,
who are suffering losses due to COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
North Carolina Artist Relief Fund
What it is: Fundraised
stipends based on need and availability.
Who it’s for: Artists and
arts presenters in North Carolina, particularly those in Wake
County.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
The Atlanta Artist Lost Gig
Fund
What it is: Limited
emergency funds up to $500.
Who it’s for: Atlanta-area artists who earn the majority of
their income from their art-based practice and who have unmet
essential needs due to COVID-19-related revenue loss. Priority is
given to members of the Atlanta non-profit arts service
organization C4, then to those who are disabled or
immunocompromised, then to artists who identify as black,
indigenous, people of color, transgender, and/or gender
nonbinary.
Dates to know: Rolling application process and as funds
become available.
What it is: Free
home-cooked, nutritious meals delivered to the doorsteps of artists
in the Atlanta area; medicine and supply pick up and
delivery.
Who it’s for: Those who
are unable to leave their home or are out of work.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
Creative
Response Emergency Grants
What it is:
$2,000 individual
grants.
Who it’s for: New
Orleans-based artists and creators suffering from a loss of income
or illness due to COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process with the first disbursement in
mid-April.
What it is: $500 to
$1,000, dependent on need.
Who it’s for: Residents
of New Orleans whose primary source of income (60 percent or more)
is gig work and can show proof of hardship due to COVID-19 and who
earn at or below 100 percent of the annual median
income.
Dates to know: Applicants
can re-apply after 45 days if they remain eligible.
Oolite Arts Relief Fund for
COVID-19
What it is: Up to
$500 to cover lost income due to the novel coronavirus.
Who it’s for: Visual
artists who live in Miami-Dade county who lost income due to
cancellation of specific, scheduled employment, opportunity, or
exhibition.
Dates to know: Rolling admissions accepted through April
16.
West Coast
Resources
Spokane Artists and Creatives Emergency
Fund
What it is: Crowdsourced
emergency relief up to $500.
Who it’s for: Artists and
creative professionals impacted by coronavirus in Spokane,
Washington.
Dates to know: Disbursements will be made weekly.
4 Culture Cultural Relief Fund
What it is: One-time
grants of up to $2,000 for emergencies related to
COVID-19.
Who it’s for: Full-time
residents of Kings County, Washington, who work in the fields of
arts, heritage, preservation, or public art.
Dates to know: Applications are accepted through May
15.
What it is: A
fundraiser-modeled non-profit to support artists during the
COVID-19 crisis with individual grants up to $500.
Who it’s for: Bay Area
residents artists who have been working within the past six months,
are ineligible for unemployment benefits, and have less than $1,000
in income in the last 30 days.
Dates to know: Grants are
processed in the order they are received.
The San Francisco Arts & Artists Relief
Fund
What it is: $1.5 million
total in financial support to individuals and organizations, with
individual awards up to $2,000.
Who it’s for: Artists,
teaching artists, and cultural producers living who are residents
of San Francisco can apply for awards to use as they see fit.
Individual applicants will be invited to an artist-to-artist
listserv to help exchange and foster ideas to support the arts
community.
Dates to know: Applications close on April 15, 2020, at 5 p.m.
PST.
UNTITLED, ART Emergency Fund, in collaboration
with Art.
What it is: Funds of $250
per member of household for “basic human needs such as mental
health counseling, healthcare reimbursements not covered by
insurance, childcare, food, or rent.”
Who it’s for: Artists who
have graduated from a Bay Area institution or have lived in the Bay
Area for two years as a working artist.
Dates to know: The first
round of applications closed on March 31, 2020, but will continue
quarterly until further notice.
DCA COVID-19 Arts Emergency Relief
Fund
What it is: Financial
grants of $400 and ensembles up to $1,200 to cover losses in time
and/or materials for performances canceled due to
COVID-19.
Who it’s for: Professional performance artists and dance
artists (music and theater solo artists as well) who reside in Los
Angeles who have been forced to cancel scheduled performances
between March 16, 2020, and May 16, 2020.
Dates to know: DCA will
accept applications until approximately 450 eligible applications
are received, or until 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2020, whichever comes
first. More rounds of funding may follow.
Southwest
Resources
Austin Creative Alliance, the Artists Emergency Relief
Fund
What it is: Grants up to
$500.
Who it’s for: Artists who
can show loss of income due to cancellation of specific, scheduled
commissions, performances or contracts due to coronavirus/COVID-19
precautionary measures. Artists who receive funding are asked to
contribute to the ACA by donating artistic work, creative services,
or volunteer time in the future. Priority is given to ACA members
and those facing housing uncertainty.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
What it is: Peer-to-peer
support through Venmo, Paypal, and other cash-sharing
apps.
Who it’s for: Artists,
musicians, and other gig workers in the Austin, Texas, area who
have lost work, specifically those who would have earned income
through SXSW.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process and as funds become
available.
Creating Our Future Dallas Low Income Artist
Relief Fund
What it is: One-time
awards of $200.
Who it’s for: Dallas-area
professional artists who have been severely financially affected by
COVID-19.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
What it is: $60,000 in
emergency relief grants by providing $1,000 each.
Who it’s for: Sixty local artists in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
who have lost income as a result of cancellations due to
COVID-19.
Dates to know: Application deadline is April 16, 2020.
Santa Fe Culture Connects
Coalition
What it is: The city of
Santa Fe’s arts and culture department and the Lannan Foundation
have provided $10,000 plus a $15,000 challenge grant to provide
emergency funding in $500 and $1,000 increments.
Who it’s for: Santa Fe,
New Mexico, artists adversely affected by the
pandemic.
Dates to know: Artists
can apply in early April and awards will be distributed at the end
of the month.
What it is: A $60,000
emergency relief fund to be disbursed in $1,000 grants to 60
artists.
Who it’s for: Visual or
multidisciplinary artists (including graduate students) who live
within an 80-mile radius of Albuquerque and have lost income from
cancellations and closures as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Dates to know: Application deadline is April 15,
2020.
Resources for Arts
Writers
What it is: One-time
grants of $500 to $1,000 based on financial need.
Who it’s for: Fiction and
non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters,
translators, and journalists in the United States who exhibit an
inability to meet an acute financial need, particularly those
impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Dates to know: Applications will be reviewed within 10 days of
submission.
What it is: No-strings-attached loans of varying amounts
that can be repaid when possible, in part, or through partial
donations, and are not subject to tax.
Who it’s
for: Career writers,
journalists, and poets who have earned a portion of their income
from publication and are experiencing emergency circumstances from
ill health, medical or dental expenses, unexpected loss of income,
temporary unemployment or underemployment, or housing
instability.
Dates to know: Rolling
application process.
American Society of Journalists and Authors
Writers Emergency Assistance Fund
What it is: One-time grants to help pay for
emergency medical bills.
Who it’s for: Career writers
who cannot work because they are currently ill or caring for
someone who is ill from COVID-19.
Dates to
know: The review process for emergency grants takes
approximately 2-4 weeks and is based on volunteer availability.
Response times may fluctuate.
International Women’s Media Foundation Journalism
Relief Fund
What it is: Grants of up
to $2,000 per request, though special consideration will be given
on a case-by-case basis to those having greater financial
need.
Who it’s for: Women-identifying journalists who recently lost
work or have urgent financial needs that need to be met to avoid
severe outcomes relating to the global health crisis.
Dates to know: Rolling application process.
The post Are You an Artist in Need of Aid? Here Are Dozens
of Emergency Grants, Medical Funds, and Other Resources to Help
appeared first on artnet News.
Read more https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-aid-resources-during-coronavirus-1828860
Further reading
Leave a comment