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COVID-19 Artist Resources

May 5, 2020

If you are an artist or arts organization, stay tuned – we will be sharing helpful resources with you in the upcoming weeks so that you can effectively report and, hopefully, receive any assistance needed during this difficult time. Below we have assembled a list emergency funding sources for artists, as well as other funding opportunities and resources, mostly derived from the Alabama Visual Arts Network.

If you are not a member and do not receive our biweekly ArtOpps Newsletter, now would be a good time to start! We are being vigilant in our efforts to provide opportunities and resources for relief. Continue to check our Local Arts page often as we update the “Artists Opportunity” section on a weekly basis.

If you haven’t already, please fill out our COVID-19 Impact Survey on Mobile-Area Arts & Culture.

Emergency Relief Resources:

  • Revive Plus Alabama Grant: Governor Ivey Announces “Revive Plus,” a $200 Million Grant Program to Support Alabama Non-Profit Organizations and Small Businesses. Alabama-based non-profits, including arts organizations, are eligible to apply for emergency funding. These grants support un-budgeted pandemic-related expenses that have been incurred since March 1, 2020. Applications will be accepted from noon on November 23, 2020 through noon on December 4, 2020. Grants will be awarded to qualifying applicants on a first-come-first-served basis until the funds are exhausted. Please visit this website for more information on Revive Plus.
  • Revive Alabama Grant: Gov. Kay Ivey announced a $100 million grant program that will give small businesses up to $15,000 for expenses that occurred because of the coronavirus pandemic. “In many ways, our small businesses were hit the hardest from the coronavirus pandemic,” Ivey said in a statement. “Ensuring these owners have every opportunity to recoup expenses incurred due to the disruption of business is essential to getting our economy roaring once again.” Business owners can apply for a “Revive Alabama” grant here. Applications will be taken from noon on July 16 until midnight on July 26.
  • RBHU Gives Back: We believe that monumental sculptures have the power to help heal wounds. That is why we want to do our part and support our artist community by offering $30k worth of engineering services, so artists can again create and help lift the human spirit. As we pick up the pieces from this crisis, let’s build something beautiful from it. Rbhu is a small engineering company that is driven by creativity and a positive impact. Please help us spread the word about this opportunity so we can get in touch with many artists who are affected by this crisis. **Applications will be accepted at www.rbhu.org/apply until June 1st.
  • Alabama Humanities Foundation: Alabama Humanities Foundation opened the application process on May 5, 2020, on $500,000 in CARES Act relief grant funding in support of Alabama nonprofits that have demonstrated a commitment to public humanities programming. Apply at https://www.alabamahumanities.org/ahf-cares/. Applications will be open for a first-round through June 15th.
  • The Advocacy Fund for Alabama Musicians: Through donations, The Advocacy Fund for Alabama Musicians (AFAM) administers financial grants to Alabama musicians and industry personnel who demonstrate need. For 2020, these are in the form of COVID-19 aid grants. https://www.afamalabama.org/
  • Artist Relief Fund: To support artists during the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition of national arts grantmakers have come together to create an emergency initiative to offer financial and informational resources to artists across the United States: https://www.artistrelief.org/
  • Covid-19 Freelance Artist Resource: The Freelance Artist Resource Producing Collective is a short term intervention that  gathers and amplifies efforts and ideas that secure freelance artists’ livelihood and centers their humanity in the immediate present, while preparing the U.S. arts and culture field for a radically equal, inclusive, anti-racist, and progressive future. http://freelanceartistresource.com/category/money/emergency-funding/
  • Creative Capital: Creative Capital has joined forces with national arts grantmakers to form Artist Relief — an initiative that includes immediate, unrestricted emergency funding of $5,000 for individual artists of all disciplines. https://creative-capital.org/
  • The Alabama State Council on the Arts: ASCA announces the awarding of CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) stimulus funding of $457,900, designated for the arts industry recovery effort in Alabama. Funds will be distributed to eligible arts organizations through a new grant offering by the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Details about the new grants will be announced by the end of April, including how to apply. For details about this and other grant opportunities, visit www.arts.alabama.gov. They are also collecting data on the impact of the Coronavirus on Alabama artists.  Please help them by completing this brief survey.
  • Alabama Arts Alliance: The Alabama Arts Alliance has created a list of COVID-19 resources that you can access HERE.
  • Americans for the Arts: Relief for artists and arts organizations MUST be a part of the conversation!  Please fill out the following survey on COVID-19’s impact on your livelihood. It only takes about 5 minutes and is essential for all arts organizations to complete.  You can find current stats HERE. Click here to take the survey.
  • Community Foundation of South Alabama: The City of Mobile and Community Foundation of South Alabama have launched a Disaster Relief Fund to help those who are hurting as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Phase one of the Mobile Area Disaster Relief Fund will provide grants to community-based organizations with deep relationships and experience in disproportionately affected communities: https://www.communityfoundationsa.org/disaster-relief-fund
  • Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant: Intended to provide interim financial assistance to qualified artists whose needs are the result of an unforeseen, catastrophic incident, and who lack the resources to meet that situation: https://www.gottliebfoundation.org/emergency-grant/
  • Artists’ Fellowship, Inc: Provides emergency aid to professional fine artists and their families in times of sickness, natural disaster, bereavement or unexpected extreme hardship: https://www.artistsfellowship.org/finacial-aid
  • The Haven Foundation: Provides financial assistance to artists who have experienced a recent, unforeseen emergency or triggering event that has significantly and adversely affected the qualified person’s ability to produce, perform and/or market his/her work: http://www.thehavenfdn.org/guidelines/
  • Artist + Activist Relief Fund: This fund, created by The Soze Foundation, TaskForce, and Invisible Hand, will support artists and activists whose work has been impacted by COVID-19. We will be making $250 grants to selected applicants on an on-going basis: https://www.wearesoze.com/relief-fund
  • Writers’ Emergency Fund Grants to USA Professional Writers Who are Financially Impacted by COVID-19: Grants of up to $1,000 to USA individual professional writers who are financially impacted by the COVID-19/Coronavirus health crisis. Funding is intended to support members of the literary community who are unable to meet an acute financial need, especially one resulting from the impact of the pandemic. The Writers’ Emergency Fund is created to assist fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. https://pen.submittable.com/submit/f747b2b1-8436-46cb-a069-bb0c2ed086b9/writers-emergency-fund-2020
  • Lurn Relief Fund Grants to Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Students Affected by COVID-19: Grants for USA, Canada, and International individuals to receive financial assistance. Funding is intended to address the urgent financial needs of entrepreneurs and business students due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Funds may be used for basic needs such as food, medication, gas, transportation, and other necessities. Assistance is available to those who have lost their income, lost their job, and are in serious short-term need. http://fund.lurn.com/
  • Emergency Relief Grant: CERF+’s emergency relief grants provide immediate financial assistance to eligible artists working in craft disciplines (such as woodworkers, fiber artists, metalsmiths, glass artists, potters, and furniture makers) after career-threatening emergencies. The emergency grants are available to established artists working in craft disciplines including folk and traditional artists. https://cerfplus.org/covid-19-steps-you-can-take/

Other Funding Opportunities:

  • The Harpo Foundation: The Foundation’s grant program awards 7-10 grants annually. Grants are made directly to artists to support their development and to non-profit organizations in support of new work by artists. The Foundation also supports two residency fellowship programs: http://www.harpofoundation.org/
  • Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc.: Grants from the foundation give monetary support and encouragement to individual feminist writers and visual artists: https://demingfund.org/index.php

Other COVID-19 Resources for Artists:

  • Adobe Blog: If you’ve lost work, have been hit with a medical emergency, or are worried about keeping the (virtual) doors of your business open, here are some options to get the financial support you need.
  • LendEDU: We recently published a guide helping consumers and small businesses determine the financial steps to take while riding out the coronavirus outbreak. Since the coronavirus has destabilized the economy and had impacts on workers across the globe, we hope this guide can help consumers and small businesses take control of their finances and be prepared for their financial future. https://lendedu.com/blog/managing-finances-during-coronavirus-outbreak/
  • Reopening Safety Guide: The Event Safety Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting event safety, has created a COVID-19 Reopening Safety Guide.  It provides very detailed guidance for what to consider when planning to reopen during the pandemic. You can access the guide here.

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