Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine. What art will 2020’s social isolation spark?
LAST UPDATED 7/20/20
NOTICE:
After several months of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, MASS MoCA is open again! Assets for Artists is continuing programming and artists have returned to residencies at Studios at MASS MoCA. Check out our News Page for the latest webinar offerings for artists in MA, CT or RI. Check out the Studios page for details on how we have changed the residency during the pandemic.
Crisis-Focused Webinars
Assets for Artists has redesigned its business and financial education programming to provide artists with new, crisis-focused, distance-learning opportunities that largely retain the intimate cohort-focused style of our in-person workshops. Unfortunately, due to funding restrictions, workshops are currently limited to artists from CT, MA, & RI. View Round 1 workshops here.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY
A big thank you to everyone who took the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition artist needs assessment. Your participation means programs like Assets for Artists can use that information to help design our responses to the crisis, and so we can take the data to our partners and show them just how much work there is to do.
Other emergency funds & resources
During a world health crisis and the need for social distancing, MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists team recognizes that cultural activities are among the first to be canceled, which has an immediate effect on the thousands of creative gig workers, compounded by a lack of paid time off or sick leave for the self-employed.
Below is a list of resources we are aware of to assist artists in a time of crisis, with a focus on our New England backyard. We will continue updating this list as other resources are made available. If you know of a resource for artists, please share it with us at assetsforartists@massmoca.org.
NOTE: THIS RESOURCE LIST HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE EARLY MAY 2020.
GREATER BOSTON AREA
Boston Artists Relief Fund / Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture
Boston Music Maker Relief Fund / The Record Co.
Boston Singers Relief Fund / Boston Singers Resource
Covid-19 Response Fund / The Boston Foundation
As of 3/17/20, the Foundation has not yet released information about who will be eligible for this fund, so check their website later this week for updates. For now, the above link is directed at prospective donors who wish to support the arts sector in greater Boston in responding to this crisis.
Emergency Fund for At Risk Creatives / Powerful Pathways (prioritizes artists of color)
Cambridge Artist Relief Fund / Cambridge Community Foundation
BERKSHIRES
North Adams Rapid Response Artist Working Capital Grants | North Adams Artist Impact Coalition
1Berkshire’s COVID-19 Response Resource List
MASSACHUSETTS
Small Business Empowerment Grant for businesses in Gateway Cities / Mass Office of Economic Empowerment
Statewide $1,000 emergency relief / Mass Cultural Council
List of resources for MA small businesses / EforAll
Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program / Massachusetts Commonwealth (Statewide)
Neighbor-to-Neighbor Fund / Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (Berkshire County)
Emergency support of $500
Massachusetts Good Neighbor Energy Fund / The Salvation Army (Statewide).
Supports MA residents to help them pay their energy bills.
Critical Organizational Grants / Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Emergency support for nonprofits in the Pioneer Valley
Interest Free Loans & Scholarships / Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts
Support for students in the Pioneer Valley (March 31 deadline)
BridgeSong Fund / Emergency relief for women/genderqueer/nonbinary folx of color in the Pioneer Valley
COVID-19 Legal Support / Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston
NATIONAL / OTHER REGIONS
CERF+ Emergency Financial Assistance (National)
NYFA’s List of National Emergency Financial Assistance for Artists
Emergency Grants for Visual & Performing Artists / Foundation for Contemporary Arts (National)
Emergency Grant / Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation (National)
Emergency Relief Fund / Springboard for the Arts (for Minnesota artists)
Emergency Grants / Joan Mitchel Foundation (National)
Emergency Grants / Dramatists Guild Foundation (for playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters)
Emergency Funds for Writers List / PEN America
Rauschenberg Emergency Grant / NYFA & Rauschenberg Foundation (National)
Emergency Resources Listed by State / Actors Fund (not just for actors!)
Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund
Artists Fellowship (mainly New York)
Resources for Writers, Artists & Musicians / WomenArts
Artist Relief Tree / Facebook Individual Fundraiser
Authors League Fund / No interest loans to members of the League facing need due to illness
Musicians Foundation / Grants of $500-$3,000
The Haven Foundation / Financial Assistance
AGMA Relief Fund / American Guild of Musical Artists (for members of the Guild)
Musicares / Recording Academy (aka the Grammys) — no sign on their website yet of COVID-19 specific help, but keep an eye out!
Musicians Fund / Sweet Relief
Covid-19 Financial Solidarity / Collective Funding effort on Google Docs
Aggregate Resource List / COVID-19 & Freelance Artists
AES Resource List / UMass Arts Extension Service
New Music Solidarity Fund / New Music USA
Anonymous Was A Woman / $2,500 emergency relief for women-identifying visual artists.
Support for Film Industry Workers / Will Rodgers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation
Emergency Fund / Patreon
Artist Relief Project / Artly World
$5,000 emergency grants / ArtistRelief.org (a coalition of major funders)
SUPPORT FOR SERVICE-INDUSTRY WORKERS
Emergency Fund / One Fair Wage
Bartender Emergency Assistance Program / USBG National Charity Foundation
List of other relief options / Restaurant Workers Community Foundation
TIMELY NON-EMERGENCY ARTIST GRANTS
Harpo Foundation
$10,000 grants for visual artists with priority to artists under-represented in their field ($15 application fee). Deadline April 17.
Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant
Awarded to under-recognized painters over the age of 45. Deadline April 15.
INTERNATIONAL
List of resources (mostly for Europe) / On The Move