Art Community Raises Funds to Help Artists

Art Community Raises Funds to Help Indie Artists

California and New York are under lockdown and shelter-in-place orders, prompting the art community to raise funds for indie artists during the Covid-19 crisis.

Bars, pubs, concerts, festivals, galleries and similar other places, where independent artists perform or have their artworks exhibited, have been ordered closed. The measure is deemed as extreme but critical for everyone’s safety. As it is, public health officials arrived at decisions to strictly implement extreme social distancing measures, in order to stem the Covid-19 disease rapidly engulfing the communities in those two states.

Many Americans, especially those born under sunsigns that largely influence their penchant for social events and gatherings, find the stay-at-home order a difficult pill to swallow. People tend to socialize and commune by nature. However, they should also understand that if they continue to do so amidst the coronavirus threats, the greater the possibility of contracting and spreading the Covid-19 disease across communities.

At the end of the day, they will end up in far worse situations; needing medical attention in a community in which health care facilities are already overwhelmed.

Lockdown and shelter-in-place orders though have economic costs, as jobs are lost and compensations from regular employment are suspended. Nonetheless, Congress has approved the release of federal funds to help the American people weather the crisis the public is currently facing. The great news is that the art community in California is also making emergency funds available to independent artists in dire need of financial assistance.

Fund-Raising Campaigns by California’s Art Community

In knowing that cancellation of auctions and galleries will have adverse impact on many of California’s independent artists, organizations who have committed to nurturing and promoting San Francisco’s community of artist have launched fund-raising campaigns that can provide financial assistance to independent artists:

Creativity Explored , a non-profit organization that works toward the goal of nurturing and empowering artists developmental disabilities, is asking patrons, who would have had attended the events and exhibits that have been canceled due to Covid-19, to continue providing support by buying artworks online.

The Safety Net Fund – A nonprofit organization whose main goal is to help support Bay Area’s community of creatives, as they cope with the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 crisis. The organization will provide grants to artists who typically earn from events and retail establishment, but have been barred from opening due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

Grants of $500 per month, but dependent on the amount that the organization will raise, and to be awarded without expectations of repayment. The financial help is available to independent visual artists, musicians, performance artists and event organizers, not only to help them survive the Covid-19 crisis, but enable them to carry on with their creative work as well.

ArtSpan – ArtSpan Executive Director Joen Madonna and her staff have been sending out requests for donations to local art lovers. Moreover, their goals include devising alternative ways that will allow interaction with artists from other places.