Artist Relief, the coalition of national arts grantmakers, announced earlier this month that CERF+ has joined the initiative as a Field Partner to lend its expertise in the craft field, invest directly into the relief fund to support artists working in craft disciplines, and support the overall development and refinement of Artist Relief’s efforts to assist artists affected by COVID-19.
A national, multidisciplinary partnership between the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, and United States Artists, Artist Relief is a coalition formed to provide emergency $5,000 grants and information resources to artists in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Artist Relief’s discipline-specific Field Partners, which also includes The Design Vanguard and Sundance Institute, are integral to scaling the coalition’s efforts during this unprecedented emergency.
“We’ve admired Artist Relief since its launch, and were so impressed by the sense of urgency and the wherewithal that was required to put an initiative of this scope together so quickly and effectively. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we are proud to partner in this effort, supporting Artist Relief’s work and looking to the needs of craft artists across the country as this crisis continues,” said Cornelia Carey, Executive Director of CERF+.
Artist Relief launched on April 8th with $10 million, consisting of $5 million in seed funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, matched with $5 million in initial contributions from an array of foundations across the United States. Its Field Partner program appears alongside a sustained fundraising campaign designed to continually expand the coalition’s impact. In the five months since launch, Artist Relief has distributed 2,700 grants, at an average rate of 100 per week, with $1.25 million spent to support 250 artists working in craft disciplines.
“We’re thrilled to welcome CERF+ as an Artist Relief Field Partner. For more than thirty years, CERF+ has been a leader in the artist support and craft worlds, their name synonymous with emergency readiness, response, and recovery. As the conversation trends toward recovery and reopening, thousands of artists continue to struggle. Partnering with CERF+ will be a tremendous help as we continue our efforts to assist as many artists as possible,” said Deana Haggag, President and CEO of United States Artists, a coalition member of Artist Relief.
Since opening applications, Artist Relief has been met with an overwhelming response from the country’s artists. As expected, applications for the $5,000 emergency grant have dramatically outpaced Artist Relief’s resources. As such, Artist Relief is continuing to fundraise, relying on the support of a growing number of foundations and individual donors, and will continue to evolve as the needs of the country’s artists shift over the coming months.
Tax-deductible donations can be made at artistrelief.org; 100 percent of donations will be applied directly to aid.