COVID-19 Relief Grants

The FCA COVID-19 Bridge Fund closed for applications in December 2021.

The COVID-19 Bridge Fund was created in April 2021 in response to feedback from artists and presenters in FCA’s community about the shifting needs of artists one year into the pandemic. While the Foundation’s first COVID-19 relief program, the FCA Emergency Grants COVID-19 Fund, was a resource for experimental artists whose performances or exhibitions were canceled or postponed because of the pandemic, the Bridge Fund focused instead on urgent, on-going financial needs resulting from the pandemic. 

The Fund provided one-time, $1,500 emergency relief grants to experimental artists facing economic instability, and was intended to alleviate the burden of filling out labor-intensive applications to access relief funds.

In the spirit of FCA’s “Artists for Artists” ethos, the Foundation worked with community partners, including past artist grantees and arts organizations, to refer artists in their communities who align with FCA’s mission and were in need of support. This referral process helped staff to determine eligibility without the need for work samples and respond more swiftly to artists who applied.

We gratefully acknowledge the initial generous supporters of the COVID-19 Bridge Fund. In June 2021 a gift from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett enabled the expansion of the Bridge Fund, allowing FCA to raise the grant amount from $1,000 to $1,500, extend the program through the end of 2021, and increase the total number of grants by 50%.

FCA disbursed 1,723 grants totaling $2,584,500 through the Bridge Fund.