If you are struggling right now, know you aren’t alone and more importantly know that there’s help! SO MANY organizations have entire pages on their website dedicated to helping creatives and small businesses find assistance and aid during this time as well as inspiring resources to keep creating and working on your business despite cancellations and stay at home orders.
Informational “Hubs” and Resource Pages
The Copyright alliance‘s COVID-19 resources page has information for a HUGE range of creative professionals including Photographers and Visual artists, Actors, Performers, Production and Crew Members in Movie and TV Industries; Authors, Journalists and Others in the Publishing Industry; and Songwriters, Musicians and Others in the Music Industry.
COVID & Freelance Artists Page: PACKED with great resources including general preparedness, advocacy, legal & financial information, emergency funding, resources for working and teaching online, health and mental health resources and upcoming events (webinars and online events).
Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+). Has a fantastic resource page and has established the COVID-19 Response Fund to help artists who are suffering severe health impacts from the coronavirus.
Professional Photographers of America (PPA). I may be biased about this one since I am the social media specialist at PPA but I have been so impressed by the sheer amount of resources they have unlocked to anyone with a free account as well as their daily efforts to create new resources and educational webinars and Facebook live sessions to help support photographers (and all creatives) during this time.
- Unlocked thousands of educational videos for photographers and small business owners
- Are hosting free webinars on things like protecting your brand, dealing with contract cancellations, applying for small business loans and more. You can re-watch any of the webinars when they become available here.
- Maintains updates on government assistance relating to COVID-19 along with instructions and resources for applying for assistance.
Graphic Artists Guild Shares Financial, Business and COVID-19 Resources. Including a list of resources broken down by states, scam alerts, and information from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. They also have quite a few helpful webinars.
The Freelancers Union. “What Freelancers Need to Know About the Coronavirus”
FUNDING/FINANCIAL
Creative Capitol’s List of Arts Resources During the COVID-19 Outbreak a HUGE list of grants and other financial resources for artists.
COVID-19 & Freelance Artist Emergency Funding Page. Another great resource with lots of emergency funding options listed and being updated on a daily basis.
Format: The Photographer Fund A $25,000 fund to help photographers impacted by COVID-19.
The Creator Fund. ConvertKit has established a $50,000 fund to help creators in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please read details below and then submit your information if you are in need.
Freelancers Union Relief fund. Provides assistance of up to $1,000 per household to qualifying freelancers to cover lost income and essential expenses. Applicants will be asked to submit a detailed funding request outlining their needs. Funding amounts will be determined by magnitude of income loss as a result of COVID-19.
CREATE Dunwoody has established an artist relief fund to help support artists in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. This fund is open to any creative arts disciplines: visual, craft, performing, musical, arts administrators, etc.
Atlanta Artist Relief Fund. Provides free meal delivery to your doorstep, help with running errands (laundry, supply pickups, etc), community support, isolation relief and emotional support via FaceTime Check-ins.
The Atlanta Artist Lost Gig Fund is designed to provide financial assistance to Atlanta area artists who have unmet essential needs due to lost revenue from cancelled upcoming events and gigs.
Coronavirus/COVID-19 Emergency Grants for Artists via the Fulcrum Fund. The Fulcrum Fund will award 60 emergency relief grants of $1,000 each totaling $60,000 to individual artists living and working within an 80-mile radius of Albuquerque that have lost income, or anticipate losing income as a result of cancellations caused by the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.
For Contemporary Arts Creates Fund for Artists Impacted by Coronavirus’ Economic Fallout. The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has created a temporary fund and is disbursing $1,000 grants to experimental artists who’ve been impacted by the economic fallout from postponed or canceled performances and exhibitions because of the COVID-19 virus.
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant Program Provides Interim Fnancial Assistance to Painters, Printmakers and Sculptors. 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.
Joan Mitchell Foundation: the Joan Mitchell Foundation provides grants of up to $6,000 to US-based visual artists who have suffered significant physical losses after natural or man-made disasters.
Artist Relief Tree: This fund is set up to collect donations from those of us with the means to help. We intend to support artists, particularly freelance artists, in a small way. Unfortunately we cannot hope to replace artists’ entire fees or lost work, but we wish to provide hope, make a small difference, and show solidarity with colleagues and friends.
Rauschenberg Emergency Grants Offer One-Time Grants Up to 5K for Artists with Unexpected Medical Emergencies. The program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for unexpected medical emergencies. The grants are available to visual and media artists and choreographers who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents in the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. Territories. If you aren’t sure if your artistic discipline fits within these guidelines, please contact the grants administrator. Please note: Rauschenberg Emergency Grants are not for lost wages. Visit NYFA’s Emergency Grants page for a regularly-updated list of emergency resources.
Artists’ Charitable Fund. Small nonprofit with a narrow focus of assisting painters and sculptors by paying a potion of emergency medical bills directly to the medical providers. The fund is legally not able to pay artists directly. Please do not contact to ask for financial assistance due to loss of income or for anything other than assistance with medical bills.
Healthwell Foundation COVID-19 Fund: Maximum award level of $250 to help cover costs related to delivered food, medication, diagnostics, transportation and telehealth as a result of COVID-19 risk or incidence. Applicants must earn 500% of the Federal Poverty Level (adjusted for household size and high cost of living areas). Telephone applications only.
https://www.artistrelief.org/
Artists Rights Society Launches Petition for $20,000 Congressional COVID-19 Artist Bailout. Artists Rights Society just launched a petition calling on the federal government to put $20,000 in the pocket of every working visual artist in the US, in response to the COVID-19 Bailout. Other organizations have started grants for artists, and called for debt cancellation or rent relief, but ARS is the first to call for a federal artist bailout.
Anonymous Was a Woman Announces $250,000 in Emergency Grants for Female Artists Over 40 in Response to the COVID-19 Crisis. Eligible women artists can apply for up to $2,500 in emergency grants.
Red Backpack Fund: 1,000 grants of $5,000 each to female entrepreneurs in the U.S. to help alleviate the immediate needs and support the long-term recovery of those impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Hero Initiative: Helping Comic Creators in Need. The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.
Free 45 minute financial planning call to help you in identifying sources of emergency funding, brainstorming ways to cut spending, or answering questions about your retirement savings.
Georgia Financial Assistance Websites:
- Food assistance (georgia.gov), [2] (georgiafoodbankassociation.org)
- Rent assistance (needhelppayingbills.com)
- Utility assistance (state.ga.us)
- Medical assistance (georgia.gov)
Articles and Guides:
- SBA’s Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources
- Small business guide to the CARES act
- How to Apply for a disaster loan
- SBA Disaster Loans and Emergency Grants, Artist’s Edition: What You Need to Know
- Law Firms Offer Pro Bono Assistance to Small Businesses on CARES Act Benefits – AICP Blog Post
- How to prepare your business for coronavirus – 18 protection steps by Honeybook
- Disaster Recovery and Your Money: A Basic To-Do List from the FDIC
- Your Money: A Hub for Help During the Coronavirus Crisis NYTimes
- Grantspace: Where can I find grants for individual artists?
- I Just Spent an Hour on the phone with my Student Loan Provider, Freelancers Listen Up!
Webinars, Videos & Online Events
Ongoing or available to watch as a replay:
- PPA – Navigating Contract Cancellations
- PPA – Navigating Unfamiliar Territory: Finding Your Focus
- Artists In a Time of Global Pandemic
- Come Together: The Art of Gathering in a Time of Crisis
- Financial Strategies for Freelance Artists in a Time of Crisis
- AGENCY ACCESS: WEEKLY -with Creative Consultants, Jennifer Kilberg, Lynn Kyle, Karen D’Silva: Wednesdays 12 pm ET
- ASMP – Town Hall Weekly – Fridays 3 pm ET – next is April 3
- GRAPHIC ARTISTS GUILD: Practical Financial Advice for Creatives in Crisis Presented by Jason M Blumer, CPA
- ASMP: Potential Business Ramifications of Coronovirus (COVID-19)
- PPA – Your Brand: Emerging from this National Emergency
- PPA – How to Apply for an Economic Disaster Loan
- PPA – How-to Apply for the Paycheck Protection Program
Upcoming Webinars:
- Indie Craft Experience Open Studio Night Online: Grab a project to work on and we can chat and hang out. Free but you do have to register in advance to get a link to join in! April 9, 6 pm ET Read more about Indie Craft Experiences upcoming free virtual events here.
- GRAPHIC ARTISTS GUILD:What In the World Is a Force Majeure? Presented by Michele Berdinis, Beeline Legal – Friday, April 10, 11am ET
- Student Loan Workshop: COVID-19 Relief and Policy Updates Apr 11, 2020 2 pm ET
- Financial Strategies for Artists and Freelancers Impacted by COVID-19 April 14, 7-8:30pm ET
Creative Resources
- Guide: Tips for Staying Productive and Working on Your Business Despite Cancellations and Social Distancing
- Tips on how to focus on your business, foster community and strengthen relationships in the wake of COVID-19.
- Guide: Communicating With Your Clients in Times of National Emergency or Crisis.
- Cancelled Gigs Due to the Coronavirus? Here’s what you can do.
- Planoly: Free Templates for IG Stories to help people support and get to know you!
- Canva & Adobe: free templates to spread the word about staying home and safe during the COVID-19 crisis
- Free templates from Facebook to help you express gratitude, tell your audience they can shop online, sell gifts cards and more!
- Creative Live: CL Now Streaming FREE Health & Wellness Classes
- PHOTOSHELTER – Stay Creative at Home: Tips from our community on how to stay focused and clear the mind, ways to keep working (when it feels like there’s no work), photo project ideas and more. – Stay Creative at Home
- Adobe is Giving Everyone 2 Months of Free Creative Cloud — Here’s How To Get It
- Take a free class on Skillshare.com
- Guide: Tips on working from home (productively)
- Coloring is a relaxing way to spend some time, especially if you are stuck at home. Indie Craft Experience has pulled 5 images together for you to enjoy coloring. Go here to download.
There is SO MUCH out there right now when it comes to resources but I wanted to try and create an easy to read/use page that I can also update as I get more information. I tried to pick reputable websites and organizations to highlight that won’t lead you in circles and I hope I achieved that here. I will continue to keep this page updated as often as I can, so be sure to bookmark it and share with anyone who might be in need of some help at this time. Please also sure to let me know if you have resources I can add to this list in the comments below or email me at egb91011@gmail.com.
You can connect with me and reach out anytime on social media on Instagram or Facebook!