COVID-19 Relief Grants

To support artists facing financial emergencies during the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition of small- to mid-sized national arts grant-makers—Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, YoungArts, and United States Artists—came together to form Artist Relief, an emergency initiative offering financial and informational resources to artists across the country.

From April 2020 through June 23, 2021, Artist Relief received over 170,000 applications and distributed $24.3 million in emergency grants of $5,000 each to artists with dire needs related to food, housing, medical care, or childcare due to COVID-19. Artist Relief also served as an ongoing informational resource for artists’ mental, physical, and financial well-being during the pandemic. Additionally, it co-launched the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts, to identify and address the needs of artists during the pandemic.

Practicing artists working in any discipline and living in all fifty states, territories, and Tribal Nations were able to apply to Artist Relief for support. Artists demonstrating the most severe needs were prioritized, with an emphasis on funding widely across disciplines and geographies, as well as disability, ethnicity, and gender. Applications were reviewed and assessed for eligibility and need in collaboration with cultural nonprofits across the country, who assisted in the determination and selection process. 

Artist Relief was made possible through the generosity, vision, and thought partnership of dozens of funders and other partners across the country, who collectively donated a total of $25 million in support of this effort. A full list of supporters can be found at www.artistrelief.org.

In 2021, the coalition will be working on a report that details our learnings and lessons, which will be made publicly available.

Artist Relief