Coronavirus Relief Fund Raises Nearly $20 Million for Artists

Artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, dancers and other creative professionals who are 18 and older and facing “dire financial emergencies” because of the pandemic can apply for a $5,000 grant. The organization said that applicants demonstrating the most severe needs in four categories — rent, food, medical, and dependent care — will be prioritized.

The fund is administered by seven national arts grantmakers — the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation and United States Artists.

The coalition said it has focused on remedying structural barriers to accessing relief grants for disabled artists, people of color, those in low-income communities and other vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Of the 2,700 awardees to date, 48 percent are women, 24 percent are Black, 14 percent are Latino and 7 percent are members of Indigenous groups.

Since April, a Covid-19 survey administered by the nonprofit organization Americans for the Arts shows, 62 percent of artists in the country had lost all employment because of the coronavirus, 95 percent experienced income loss and 80 percent of artists surveyed do not yet have a plan to recover from the crisis.

The fund has received more than 130,000 applications. It distributes an average of 100 of the $5,000 grants per week.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/arts/coronavirus-relief-fund-artists.html