Happening now: CERF+'s Summer Campaign has Begun!
San Diego based furniture maker, CERF+ beneficiary and Get Ready Grantee Craig Thibodeau has a lot to be thankful for. He just released his book, The Craft of Veneering, and is working on building one-of-a-kind, commissioned and speculation furniture pieces that feature his masterful skills in marquetry, parquetry, and mechanical/puzzle making. Craig has also been able to count on […]
In July 2018, the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California (ACGA) raised $1,648 at their annual Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival.
As we enter another hurricane season tomorrow, I’m writing to share an important announcement and a call for unprecedented need for relief funds.
Extreme weather conditions caused by climate change have exponentially increased the demands on our Craft Emergency Relief Fund to help artists recover from disasters that affect their art and their livelihoods. Since last Fall, we have provided three times more grants and loans than last year – depleting available funds for relief. We have made the difficult and unprecedented decision to put the Emergency Relief Program on hold until we can raise more money to meet artists’ needs. We are currently not taking any applications until we can raise at least $200,000 to reinstate this critical program.
Over the course of a week, we met with many of our emergency grant recipients each in different phases of recovery – some completely back to work and others whose destroyed homes and studios remain in a state of uncertainty. Many told us that ours has been the only help they’ve received so far. Since the storm struck eight months ago, CERF+ has already provided 42 artist working in craft disciplines $188,100 in grants and interest free loans, making this our second largest response effort after Hurricane Katrina.
Irma was my first hurricane, but it certainly wasn’t Key West’s. I moved here five years ago to take the reins at a growing art center, and quickly became attuned to the way storms serve as rites of passage and touchstones for anyone who’s lived through at least one.
We hope everyone in the areas threatened by the current wildfires in Northern California is able to stay safe and that the fires are soon contained.
On October 19th at the Third Degree Glass Factory in St Louis, Missouri, Eddie “The Great Flambeau” Bernard will work his Molten Glass Magic to raise much-needed funds for CERF+s Disaster Relief Fund. “With calls and applications for emergency assistance already coming in, we’re anticipating the largest demand for our financial relief assistance in our […]
Folk and traditional artists are sometimes so deeply embedded in their community that both their skills and their products, while recognized by their neighbors, go largely unnoticed and under-appreciated by the broader population.
CERF+ received a grant from Westfield Insurance Foundation’s Legacy of Caring Fund thanks to the help of ZINC to bring its Build Back Better program to the artist community in Gatlinburg, TN in partnership with Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
“Being a full time craft artist is something that many of us dream about, but it does have its own risks built into it: Lack of financial stability and traditional safety nets are one of them.
