They offer $5,000 to US artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19.
Artist Relief is an emergency initiative organized by the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists, all mid-sized national arts grantmakers that have come together in this unprecedented moment. The fund will operate through September 2020 and will fund at least 100 artists per week.
In conjunction with the $5,000 grants, they will co-launch the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts, to better identify and address the needs of artists moving forward. The fund will operate through September 2020, and according to them ‘Grants will be available and distributed over six months to allow time for internal processing as well as communication to reach as many artists as possible, especially those who may not have immediate access to technology or other resources to complete an application quickly’.
The application will be open in cycles, and at the end of each cycle, all non-funded applications will be removed from their system so that artists can reapply the following round. This system allows them to monitor their capacity as well as maximize each applicant’s opportunity to receive a grant. Additionally, reapplying each cycle allows artists to rearticulate their needs as their circumstances change during this pandemic.
Artist Relief strives to ensure that artists of all disciplines across the country, in every region, of every race, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability status, and socioeconomic class, have access to this emergency fund. To this end, they are keeping the application open until September and working with community leaders on targeted outreach, to reach communities historically underrepresented and excluded from resources. To ensure equitable distribution of funds, they encourage ‘artists of color, native and Indigenous artists, immigrant artists, disabled artists, LGBTQIAP+ artists, and artists working outside of major cities to apply’.
You can find out if you are eligible for a grant here.
