COVID-19 Artist Resources
Tools for Bay Area artists grappling with the repercussions of the pandemic.Intersection for the Arts recognizes the immense burden COVID-19 places on artists and their livelihoods. We also recognize that the arts sector is innovative and resilient and that together we will find a way through these times. Intersection provides the following resources to help artists navigate this moment:
Emergency Money
Actors Fund Entertainment Assistance Program
Funds available to union and non-union workers in entertainment and the performing arts.
Artists' Fellowship Financial Aid
Relief and assistance to qualified applicants who are dealing with immediate medical emergencies.
Arts Loan Fund
Loan can cover any emergency need identified by the borrower to help the organization stay solvent until Federal/State/County restrictions on social gatherings are lifted and events and programming can be resumed.
ASJA Writers Emergency Assistance Fund
Funds available to writers who cannot work because they are currently ill or caring for someone who is ill.
Authors League Fund
Help for writers experiencing income loss due to COVID-19.
The Blues Foundation HART Fund
For blues musicians and their families in financial need due to a broad range of health concerns.
California Jazz Foundation
Financial assistance for jazz musicians.
CERF+ Emergency Relief Fund
Artists who have suffered from a recent, career threatening emergency, such as an illness, accident, fire or natural disaster, can apply for funding.
Dramatists Guild Foundation
Providing emergency financial assistance to individual playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists in dire need of funds due to severe hardship or unexpected illness.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts COVID-19 Relief Fund
For those seeking relief for a canceled performance or exhibition.
Musicians Foundation
Gives grants for medical and allied living expenses in emergencies.
PEN America Writers' Emergency Fund
Providing small grants for professional—published or produced—writers in acute or unexpected financial crisis.
Sweet Relief COVID-19 Relief Fund
Funds available to be used specifically for musicians and music industry workers affected by the Coronavirus. Funds raised will go towards medical expenses, lodging, clothing, food and other vital living expenses to those impacted due to sickness or loss of work.
UNTITLED, ART Emergency Fund
Qualifications for the UNTITLED, ART Emergency Fund include financial assistance for freelance, hourly, and wage working artists vulnerable to the economic standstill. Funds of $250 per member of household will be distributed by the &Art& team in an effort to support the security and protection of artists who, in “normal times,” hold part-time or contract work to prioritize their art practice.
Take Action
Americans for the Arts Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers
This survey gathers information that is crucial to telling the story of creative workers and making sure that you are supported during this ongoing crisis and the eventual recovery.
Volunteer for East Oakland Collective COVID-19 Response
In light of COVID-19, East Oakland Collective has had to adjust normal food and supply distribution programs. They are currently resourcing food and supplies and using our office at 7800 MacArthur Blvd. as a resource and distribution hub.
Volunteer for East Bay Mutual Aid
East Bay Mutual Aid is essential for addressing people’s immediate needs. They are compiling a list of volunteers so people can be contacted as asks arise during the COVID-19 quarantine.
Business Resources
- Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide
- California Small Enterprise Task Force Guide to COVID-19 Resources and Relief
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (EDD)
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance Fact Sheet (EDD)
- San Francisco OEWD Resources for Businesses and Employees Impacted by COVID-19
- Unemployment Insurance Eligibility Guide
- CDC Guidance for Businesses and Employers
- Race Forward statement on COVID-19 impact on communities of color
Resource Databases
Please note that many of these databases contain duplicate information. We include them here for your perusal.
- Americans for the Arts Resource Center
- Alliance of Artist Communities Emergency Relief Programs
- Artists Thrive
- California Lawyers for the Arts Emergency Resources
- Creative Capital COVID-19 Resources
- Grantspace COVID-19 Emergency Resources
- Resources for Freelancers
- Kickstarter COVID-19 Crisis Resource Guide
- KQED Emergency Funds List
- National Endowment for the Arts COVID-19 Resources
- WomenArts Emergency Funds
Tools
- YBCA Artist Power Center
- Bay Area Crisis Navigator (resource newsletter)
- Mindful Life Project
- How to organize an online fundraiser
- How to revise your communications strategy
- How to plan a virtual event
- How to recession-proof your creative practice
- Quick Guide to Starting an Emergency Relief Fund
- Resources for the Arts Education Field from Arts Education Partnership
- Performing Arts Readiness FREE Emergency Preparedness Webinars
- Stage Presence
- Live Video Theatre – HowlRound
- Tips and tools for event organizers
Bay Area Support
Reports
Working Differently Post-Pandemic: A Report on Bay Area Artist Space Needs in 2021
A survey of nearly 500 Bay Area artists, art administrators, and arts educators to explore reopening during the pandemic, potential to collaborate and share space, increase organizational capacity and resilience, and work differently post-pandemic.
Arts Incubators, Entrepreneurial Activity, and Digital Inequality in the COVID-19 Age: A Digital Divide Report
The aim of this report is to assist arts organizations to assess how the digital divide affects the artists they serve and to provide a tool to do so in the form of an interactive map.
