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Financial Aid Resources

Financial Aid & Relief Resources for the Arts

RESOURCES FOR ALL ART FORMS

GENERAL RESOURCE LIST

GRANTWRITING & FUNDRAISING ADVICE

LEGAL & ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING SUPPORT 

GENERAL ARTS FUNDS TO APPLY FOR

  • Red Bull Arts Microgrants Program: $1,000 awarded to two visual, sound, performance, dance, creative writing, theatre, film artists on a monthly basis throughout 2020 (various cities)
  • Platforms Creative Response Relief Fund: $2,000 for local artists out of work (local; apply by April 30)
  • Alliance of Artist Communities: up to $1,000 for artists who were accepted and scheduled to participate in a residency program that is an organizational member of the Alliance of Artists Communities (national)
  • Artist Relief Fund: for people pursuing careers as artists (in any discipline, with any level of success/ experience), whose anticipated income has been directly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis; $200 one-time grants on a first come, first serve basis; apply here (national?)
  • Artist Relief Project: artists in any discipline impacted by COVID19-related cancellations and closures may apply for assistance; stipends and support will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis (national)
  • Platforms Creative Response Relief Grants: $2,000 to artists in need (local)
  • Arts Administrators of Color Network: Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund - to support BIPOC artists and administrators who have been financially impacted by COVID-19; apply here (national)
  • Change, Inc.: emergency grants for artists in all disciplines needing help with rent, medical expenses, utility bills, fire damage, etc. Grants up to $1,000. Call (212) 473-3742 for complete instructions (via a clear, concise message) on how to apply.
  • Facebook Small Business Grants: grants and ad credits to eligible small businesses; you are your own business, especially if you’re an S-corp or LLC (national; opens in April)
  • Foundation for Contemporary Arts: $500-$2,500 emergency grants for experimental/contemporary visual and performing artists who have unanticipated opportunities to present to the public; also launched a COVID-19 Relief Fund for artists who have lost opportunities due to the pandemic (national)
  • Freedimensional: distress services for activists and culture workers in situations of distress as a result of their professional work (threats, harassment, litigation etc.); inquire at info@freedimensional.org (national)
  • Freelancer COVID-19 Emergency Fund: temporary assistance for creative freelancers (national)
  • Freelancers Relief Fund: provides assistance of up to $1,000 per household to qualifying freelancers to cover lost income and essential expenses (national)
  • Sustainable Arts Foundation: awards 20 artists and writers with children annually; unrestricted cash awards of $5,000 (national)
  • Kinkade Family Foundation: emergency grants of up to $5,000 to U.S. curators developing projects that promote contemporary and experimental artwork; also provides $2,500 emergency aid grants to humanitarian nonprofit organizations (national)
  • Leveler.info: a fund sharing database to help out people in the creative community and service industry (national? unsure)
  • NEA Foundation: COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund to Support School Communities (national; still in progress, check back to see when it opens)
  • Patreon Artist Support: emergency grants for artists (international)
  • Soze Foundation: Artist & Activist Relief Fund - $270-750 for selected artists and activists who have been impacted by COVID-19 (national)
  • Twenty Summers Emergency Arts Fund:  for artists and arts organizations facing financial loss as a result of the coronavirus; currently accepting donations and nominations (national)
  • The Creator Fund: grants up to $500 to help creators in need during the pandemic (3/25/20 - funds currently exhausted due to high demand but check back)
  • Artist Relief Tree: relief fund giving $250 to artists affected by cancellations due to COVID-19 (3/25/20 - currently waitlisted, will take new applications as funds come in)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation: Community Crisis & Disaster Response Grants - up to $50,000 in general operating funds for 501(c)3 organizations working to support those directly impacted by a recent, declared disaster or crisis (state)

VISUAL ARTS FUNDS

MUSIC FUNDS

  • Music COVID Relief: resource by partners in the U.S. Music Community to help music professionals access information and applications to receive benefits made available by the CARES Act (Phase III of the Coronavirus Stimulus bill signed into law March 27, 2020) (national)
  • (NEW) New Music Solidarity Fund: $500 emergency assistance grants to help new/creative/improvised music freelancers whose livelihood has been threatened as a result of canceled performances
  • Academy of Country Music: ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund - serves members of the country music community who face an unexpected financial emergency due to the coronavirus (national); **application process has been put on pause until additional funds become available for disbursement** explore the resources on their website (acmliftinglives.org) and check back for this application in the future
  • American Guild of Musical Artists: case-by-case, need based assistance for AGMA members for rent, utilities, mental health, medical care, basic living expenses (national)
  • Audio Assemble: list of financial resources (most of them listed here) but also tips on alternate ways of making income; also hosting a livestreaming music festival April 8-10, with artist applications open now (national)
  • Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts: offers small grants to support opera and classical music professionals, with a focus on pensioners. Contact J. Andrew Lark at 212-986-6094 for information (national)
  • Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation: emergency assistance grants of $2500 to playwrights, composers, librettists, and lyricists who have had a full professional show cancelled, closed, or indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19. Enter before April 14 to be included in the lottery.
  • Billboard: A State-by-State Resource Guide for Music Professionals who Need Help Due to Coronavirus Crisis (state, national)
  • The Blues Foundation: Handy Artist Relief Trust (HART) for Blues musicians and their families in financial need due to a broad range of health concerns. To request funding, contact Elizabeth Montgomery Brown - 901-527-2583 ext. 13, elizabeth@blues.org (national)
  • Bluegrass Trust Fund: $500-$5,000 grants for bluegrass professionals in times of emergency need - includes artists, composers, broadcasters, media representatives, event producers, agents, educators, managers, record company employees, and families of employees. Application here, list of bluegrass community resources here, and online bluegrass performance calendar here (national)
  • Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund: for musicians who have lost income due to a cancelled gig as a result of coronavirus (national)
  • Gospel Music Trust Fund: financial assistance in time of need to professional gospel musicians (national)
  • Jazz Foundation of America: Musicians’ Emergency Fund - housing assistance, pro bono medical, disaster relief (national)
  • LightHopeLife: free mental health support for touring musicians and professionals put out of work due to COVID-19 related cancellations; application here (national)
  • Live Nation: Crew Nation Global Relief Fund - financial assistance for music tour crews including tour managers, production managers, riggers, sound engineers, backline techs, lighting directors/designers, special effects teams, carpenters etc. (international - check back soon for application)
  • Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MaCCNO): curated list of COVID-19 resources (local)
  • MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund: grants for basic living assistance (rent or mortgage) up to $1000 for music industry professionals to compensate for cancelled work (national)
  • Musicians Foundation: CV19 Emergency Aid Grant Program for all professional musicians (national; 3/22/20 - currently closed due to high application volume; check back to see when they're re-opened)
  • Music Health Alliance: MHA COVID-19/Tornado Relief Grant - emergency financial assistance for music professionals who are unable to pay their basic living expenses (health insurance/food/health care) over the next two months; must have at least 3 years of music industry employment, covers living expenses up to 8 weeks ($250 per month/maximum of $500) (national)
  • Music Maker Relief Foundation: provides ongoing support to older artists living in chronic poverty and emergency grants to artists in crisis (national; donate here)
  • New Music Solidarity Fund: 
  • New Orleans Musicians Clinic: provided medical care to musicians and performing artists in New Orleans (local; also maintains a COVID-19 resource page for culture bearers)
  • Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund: emergency support for full-time country music industry professionals (national)
  • Passim Emergency Relief Fund: if you performed or taught at Passim in the past 10 years and lost income due to COVID-19, you can apply for this (national)
  • Petrillo Memorial Fund: charitable trust fund that provides financial aid to disabled members of the American Federation of Musicians on an emergency basis (national)
  • Pinetop Perkins Foundation: financial assistance to elderly musicians for medical and living expenses (national; blues musicians preferred, but may fund musicians from other genres depending on availability of funds)
  • Save Our Brass Culture Foundation: A Relief Fund Dedicated To Supporting New Orleans Brass Band Musicians; donate here (local)
  • Sound Royalties: No-Cost Funding Program - free advance on music royalties (apply by April 16, 2020)
  • Sweet Relief Musicians Fund: funds for musicians and music industry workers impacted by coronavirus (national)
  • Symphonic: place for the public to directly support independent musicians through randomly generated donations (national)
  • Winston House Creative Community Fund: pairs people in the music industry who need financial help due to COVID-19 with people who can help (national)
  • Jazz & Heritage Foundation: Music Relief Fund - support for musicians impacted by COVID-19; funds tend to open and close quickly, but check back for updates (local)
  • WWOZ Virtual Gig Calendar: post your online gigs here! (local)
  • Porter’s Call: free counseling for artists (to be eligible: must be signed to a record label or if you are an independent artist and your primary focus is touring your own music)

PERFORMING ARTS FUNDS

  • The Actors Fund: emergency assistance for basic living expenses for ALL entertainment industry employees - not just actors! (national; donate to this fund through Broadway Cares)
  • American Guild of Variety Artists: financial aid available for members through AGVA Sick & Relief Fund - for information, please call Darlene Frank at 212-675-1003 ext. 102 to request an application.
  • Comedy Gives Back: small grants of up to $500 on a first-come, first-served basis to comedians affected by COVID-19 (national)
  • The Dancer’s Resource: geared toward professional dancers dealing with significant injury (national) 
  • Dramatists Guild Foundation: emergency grants for individual playwrights, composers, lyricists, and book writers in dire need of funds due to COVID-19 (national)
  • Renaissance Entertainers Services and Crafters United (RESCU): financial assistance and counseling for emergency medical needs for participants of Renaissance Fairs, historical performances and other artistic events (national)

LITERARY ARTS FUNDS

  • Authors League Fund: helps professional authors, journalists, poets, and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income, or other misfortune (national)
  • Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC): helps individual booksellers and comic retailers with unforeseen emergency financial needs; includes expedited application for COVID-19 related needs (national)
  • Carnegie Fund for Authors: emergency assistance for any American author who has published at least one book through a mainstream publisher (national)
  • PEN America: Writers’ Emergency Fund - $500-$1,000 for U.S. writers with acute financial need, especially one resulting from the pandemic (national)
  • Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund (national)
  • International Women’s Media Foundation: emergency assistance for woman-identifying journalists with immediate, urgent needs (national)
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America: emergency medical assistance for published genre writers to pay medical expenses not otherwise covered by insurance (national)
  • Singapore Unbound: $200 grants for Singaporean creative writers living anywhere in the U.S. (national)
  • We Need Diverse Books: emergency grants of $500 to diverse authors, illustrators, and publishing professionals who are experiencing dire financial need (national)
  • Writers Emergency Assistance Fund: ASJA offers emergency funds for established nonfiction freelance writers who are unable to work due illness, disability, natural disasters, or other crisis. Applicants must establish a record of past professional freelance nonfiction writing over a sustained period of years (national)

MEDIA ARTS & OTHER ART FORMS 

  • Behind the Scenes Grants: financial assistance to anyone who has been hospitalized for COVID-19 and has worked at least five years in the entertainment technology industry (national)
  • Motion Picture & Television Fund: help for those in the industry in need of medical, financial and emotional assistance; call (323) 634-3888 for assistance (national)
  • SAG-AFTRA Foundation: COVID-19 Disaster Fund - emergency relief for eligible SAG-AFTRA members; also check out the Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund (national)
  • Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation: motion picture industry relief grants (3/25/20 - these grants have not been announced yet, but check the page frequently!)
  • Field of Vision: unrestricted grants to freelancers working in the documentary field (applications close once it hits capacity for each round of funding; recently re-opened on June 10th)
  • American Documentary: COVID-19 Artist Emergency Fund - funding to filmmakers in need (4/8/20 - currently closed due to high volume; check back later)
  • Women Make Movies: resources for filmmakers and artists with lost wages (national; resource list) 

SERVICE INDUSTRY, GIG ECONOMY & CULINARY ARTS FUNDS

RESOURCES FOR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

RESOURCES FOR FUNDERS & PHILANTHROPISTS

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