Artist Brenda Barnett’s store, Potters on Cotter, Port Aransas, TX
CERF+ faces an unprecedented challenge as we respond to the recent devastating disasters from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the wildfires in Northern California. To date, we’ve heard from over 100 artists in Texas, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, California, Puerto Rico, Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana.
CERF+ has set a fundraising goal of $1 million for our Disaster Relief Fund. Thanks to some very generous gifts early on from Windgate Charitable Foundation, Etsy, the sponsors of our recent Molten Glass Magic Show in St Louis and many others, we are close to $300,000 toward that goal.
“This work will require the involvement of our whole community to ensure that we can be effective in our response to the significant losses suffered by artists in craft disciplines. I encourage anyone who cares about craft artists to find their own way to raise much-needed funds at this very challenging time,” notes CERF+ Executive Director, Cornelia Carey.
CERF+ Disaster Mobilization Plan
We are committed to helping individual artists and their creative communities through the extended recovery process. In consultation with our friends at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, we have created an over-arching response plan to guide our work in the coming months.
Key components of our action plan as a national artist responder include:
- Providing ongoing communication to each of the affected geographies about our disaster recovery resources and emergency financial assistance information
- Networking with local, state, and regional arts organizations, businesses and individuals for their assistance with outreach and assessing the losses and needs of artists working in craft disciplines
- Traveling to communities as recovery proceeds to organize artists’ gatherings and visit individual artists
- Providing counseling and referrals to artists who are seeking information and assistance
- Expediting the processing and review of applications for emergency relief assistance
- Working with businesses, suppliers, manufacturers, show producers and others to broker donations of materials, tools, equipment, booth waivers and any other needs that will help artists return to their work
- Maintaining active communication with our national network of artist responders to share information and resources and to foster collaborative efforts
- Partnering with cultural workers and organizations on the ground in affected communities to organize technical assistance programs for artists’ disaster recovery
- Continuing our advocacy efforts on a regulatory change at FEMA, which would enable self-employed workers (including artists) to access their Other Needs Assistance program so that they can replace their tools and equipment