Emergency resources
On behalf of the arts community, CLA has been tracking the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation daily, and building this list of resources for artists and arts organizations. We will continue to update this site as more resources become available. If you know of a relief fund, resource or emergency fund not listed, please send it to us at support@calawyersforthearts.org.
NATIONAL & COMMUNITY ADVOCACY & INFORMATION
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR INDIVIDUALS ARTISTS
- Arts & Culture City of Sacramento Creative Economy Recovery Grants available for individual artists, arts and cultural nonprofits and creative businesses that have experienced hardship caused by the pandemic.
- Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) Global directory of resources to help artists
- Artists Now $500 grant to Bay Area Artists in need.
- Artists Relief Fund $5000 grant to anyone who earns income from their creative or artistic practice and has been affected by COVID-19
- Bay Area Safety Net A non profit dedicated to helping artists in the Bay Area during the COVID-19 Crisis
- Center for Cultural Innovation - $1000 rapid-relief grants for individual artists and cultural practitioners who have been economically impacted by the pandemic. Application due Tuesday, August 18.
- CERF+'s COVID-19 Relief Grant Program $1000 grant to artists working in craft disciplines who are facing dire circumstances due to food, housing, and or health insecurities.
- Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs This program provides emergency relief grants to City of Los Angeles-based dance, music, and theatre artists, as well as small ensembles who have had their public performances, shows, or concerts cancelled. Solo artists are eligible for up to $400 and ensembles up to $1,200 to cover losses in time and/or materials that were committed toward events, which were to have taken place at a venue within the City of Los Angeles and were to be open to the general public.
- National Coalition for Arts' Preparedness & Emergency Response
- San Francisco Arts and Artists Relief Fund
- The Safety Net Fund Supports artists in the Bay Area
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR MUSICIANS
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The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) Relief Fund
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American Federation of Musicians: The Lester Petrillo Memorial Fund for Disabled Musicians
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ASCAP Loans
- California Jazz Foundation
- EqualSound Relief Fund supporting musicians who have lost gigs due to the pandemic.
- Jazz Foundation of America COVID-19 Musicians' Fund
- Jazz Musicians Emergency Fund The JMEF is committed to helping jazz professionals, especially older musicians, overcome their hard times and to help them get back on their feet, making emergency funds available for immediate needs. They have programs for housing and emergency assistance, a network of pro bono medical care providers, and disaster relief.
- Local 802 Emergency Relief (musicians)
- Musicians’ Assistance Program (MAP)
- Musicians Foundation Helps professional musicians who have worked five or more years in the U.S. by providing emergency financial assistance in meeting current living, medical and allied expenses. Applicants must be able to show that their music is or was their primary source of income.
- MusicCares Foundation Recording Academy MusiCares may grant short-term financial assistance for personal or addiction needs that have arisen due to unforeseen circumstances. Funding may be awarded for needs such as rent, car payments, insurance premiums, utilities, medical/dental expenses, psychotherapy, addiction treatment, sober living, and other personal expenses.Applicants must be able to show that they have worked in the music industry for at least five years or that they have six commercially released recordings or videos (singles).
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Music Maker Relief Foundation Helps the pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern musical traditions gain recognition and meet their day to day needs. Criteria for recipients is they be rooted in a Southern musical tradition, be 55 years or older and have an annual income less than $18,000. Musician Sustenance – Grants for necessities such as food, medical needs, housing. Emergency Relief – Substantial one-time grants to recipients in crisis (medical, fire, theft, etc.).
- Professional Musicians Local 47
- SF Bay Area Queer Nightlife Fund - Fund for workers in the queer nightlife scene (dancers, drag queens, DJs, musicians and bartenders) experiencing financial hardship.
- Sweet Relief Musicians Fund Provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. The applicant must be a musician who has regular public performances, or performed on at least three widely released recordings (audio or audiovisual), or written music that has been performed on three widely released recordings, or published on three occasions.
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR VISUAL ARTS
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The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant program is intended to provide interim financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs are the result of an unforeseen, catastrophic incident, and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Each grant is given as one-time assistance for a specific emergency, examples of which are fire, flood, or emergency medical need. To be eligible for this program, an artist must be able to demonstrate a minimum involvement of ten years in a mature phase of his or her work. Artists must work in the disciplines of painting, sculpture or printmaking. Average grant size: $5,000.
- Alliance of Artists Communities Emergency Relief Programs Supports painters and sculptors in Residency Programs
- Artists' Fellowship, Inc. The Artists’ Fellowship provides emergency aid to professional fine artists and their families in times of sickness, natural disaster, bereavement or unexpected extreme hardship. The organization defines eligibility to “Professional” is defined as those visual artists who make their livelihood through sales as reported on a Schedule C with a U.S. Federal tax return. An active exhibition history is also an important part of documenting “professional.” You can find the application here.
- CERF + (Formerly the Craft Emergency Relief Fund) CERF+ serves artists who work in craft disciplines by providing a safety net to support strong and sustainable careers. CERF+’s core services are education programs, advocacy, network building and emergency relief. CERF+ is currently focusing its relief aid on those infected with Covid-19 who require intensive medical care.
- Foundation for Contemporary Arts - Relief Fund for artists seeking relief for a canceled performance or exhibition due to COVID-19.
- The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Painters, artists, sculptors and printmakers with demonstrable financial need.
- Rauschenberg Emergency Grants - One time grant up to $5,000 for visual and media artists and choreographers.
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR PERFORMANCE ARTS
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR LITERARY ARTS
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American Society of Journalists & Authors Writers Emergency Assistance Fund Helping established freelance writers across the country who, because of advanced age, illness, disability, a natural disaster, or an extraordinary professional crisis, are unable to work. Membership in ASJA not required. No grants to beginning freelancers seeking funding for writing projects; no grants to fund works-in-progress of any kind. Maximum grant: $3,500.
- Authors League Fund The Fund gives open-ended, interest-free, no-strings-attached loans to professional writers and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income or other misfortune.
- Carnegie Fund for Authors The applicant must be an American author who has published at least one full-length work — fiction or nonfiction — that has been published by a mainstream publisher. Applicants cannot have eligibility determined by a work that they paid to have published. A work may have been published in eBook format only, or in hardcover or softcover format, or in more than one format. An applicant must demonstrate need; the emergency may be because of illness or some other urgent need such as fire, flood, hurricane, etc. Documentation should be included with the application: a doctor’s letter or other proof of the emergency situation.
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Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants Program Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who: Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding. Grants range in amount from $500 to $2,500, and the average grant is now $1,600. We recommend that artists review all of our eligibility guidelines and FAQs before applying.
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Hero Initiative Applicant must have been a working comic book writer, penciler, inker, colorist, or letterer on a work-for-hire basis for no less than 10 years since Jan. 1, 1934. Must demonstrate adequate evidence of financial need via verbal and written documentation.
- The PEN Writers Fund Emergency fund for professional–published or produced–writers with serious financial difficulties. Depending on the situation, the fund gives grants or loans of up to $2,000.
- Poets in Need
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Shade Literary Arts Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund (national)
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Offers interest-free loans to members facing unexpected medical expenses.
- Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts CARES Act Webinar On Demand Recording- The Cares Act & Unemployment Assistance: What Artists & Freelancers Need to Know
- Writers Guild of America, West Good & Welfare Fund
EMERGENCY RESOURCES FOR FILM, TELEVISION &RADIO
HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
HOUSING INFORMATION RESOURCES
OTHER ADVOCACY, LEGAL & FINANCIAL INFORMATION
CALIFORNIA:
California Lawyers for the Arts
Employment Development Department General Information
Employment Development Department Self Employment Resources
Covid-19 Resources for Undocumented Californians
NATIONAL:
A Guide to COVID-19 and Your Finances: What You Need to Know, annuity.org
Free Financial Planning Sessions for Freelancers (Ben Henry-Moreland)
Freelancers out of work – how to deal with your student loans
Small Business Ownership Wisdom, Sapling
Grantwriting Basics for Individual Artists
Square Business Resource Center
Resources compiled from a variety of sources including Arts for LA, Actor’s Fund, Covid19freelanceartistsresource, National Endowment for the Arts, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (New York)
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