Community Resources

Below you can find information about resources and funding for artists and organizations affected by COVID-19, listed alphabetically. In addition, more resources are available through our friends at LitNet and Creative Capital. Spread the word to help creators find the financial support they need now.

To jump to aid that covers medical expenses, click here.
Aid that covers COVID-related event cancellations is here.
Resources specific to musicians are here.

NEVADA RESOURCES

Food Assistance

Here you can find a comprehensive directory of food assistance programs in Las Vegas. 

Legal Services

Nevada Legal Services (NLS) has a constantly evolving set of tools and information here on eviction, unemployment, federal aid programs, and more to provide legal assistance to Nevada residents.

Nevada Arts Council

The Nevada Arts Council offers grants for artists, art educators, and art organizations across the state and applications are open for the 2021 Fiscal Year. Individual applicants must be Nevada residents over the age of 21. You can learn more about the variety of grants offered and the guidelines for each here.

Nevada Humanities

Nevada Humanities is extending their Project Grant application deadline to June 10, 2020. More information here.

Vegas Stronger

Vegas Stronger has compiled a full list of points of contact for Las Vegas residents in need of assistance ranging from shelter and food to substance abuse counseling to family and youth services.

Washoe County Artist Relief Fund

The Sierra Arts Foundation will award up to $500 each to artists and art organizations in the greater Washoe County area to supplement income lost due to the disruption of work and cancellation of events as a result of COVID-19.

Wellness, Creativity, and Advocacy Resources in the Time of COVID-19

Compiled by Diane R. Wiener, this list of resources is updated daily. The list has a combination of resources (organized thematically), but it is largely focused on “wellness”—across the life span, for multiple folks (with and without teaching backgrounds, with and without children and families). Find it here.


Make the Road Nevada

Arriba Las Vegas

UNLV RESOURCES

Emergency Relief

The Supporting Our Students (S.O.S.) Emergency Student Relief Fund provides both one-time (per academic year) funding when assistance is needed with unexpected emergencies as well as sustained financial coaching to develop budgetary literacy skills. All current students are eligible to apply for S.O.S. funding in instances including, but not limited to funding DACA renewals. 

University Legal Services – UNLV Immigration Clinic 

University Legal Services offers free legal advice and representation to UNLV and CSN students, employees, and their family members. The clinic also provides free DACA renewal form assistance to any person residing in Nevada. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic is currently completing DACA renewals over phone or video. To schedule an appointment, please schedule online or email at immigrationclinic@unlv.nevada.edu

Campus Support

Mariana Sarmiento is a Resource Coordinator in the Office of Diversity Initiatives, where she provides assistance for undocumented students and DACA recipients by coordinating campus and community resources such as legal assistance, basic needs, mental health support, and more. To receive assistance, please email Mariana at mariana.sarmiento@unlv.edu.

Counseling & Psychological Services

Students in need of emotional and mental health support during this time are encouraged to contact UNLV Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS). CAPS is currently offering telehealth visits (services available by phone) until further notice.  

AID FOR ARTISTS AND ART ORGANIZATIONS

Poets & Writers Covid-19 Relief Fund

Poets & Writers has established the Poets & Writers COVID-19 Relief Fund in order to provide emergency assistance to writers having difficulty meeting their basic needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will provide grants of up to $1,000 to an initial cohort of approximately 80 writers in April. If P&W is able to secure additional funds, another round of funding will follow suit. Learn more about eligibility and apply here.

4Culture Cultural Relief Fund

First round of funding available April 1st-May 15. Applicants reviewed and notified within 10 business days. Offers assistance with barriers to application due to English writing ability, visual impairment or any other trouble accessing the application. More information.

Grants for Individuals up to $2000 available for COVID-19 related emergencies and to support the creative responses cultural workers offer in times of crisis. Grants for Organizations up to $5,000 to help alleviate the impact of unexpected costs and losses related to COVID-19.

Actos de Confianza Micro-Grant Initiative

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is offering $500 emergency assistance grants for Latinx artists and arts administrators experiencing urgent financial need in order to cover immediate living expenses. Undocumented Latinx artists living in the US and those who have been deported from the US are welcome to apply. The deadline for applications  is April 16th.

Artist Relief

Artist Relief will distribute $5,000 grants to artists facing dire financial emergencies due to COVID-19; serve as an ongoing informational resource; and co-launch the COVID-19 Impact Survey for Artists and Creative Workers, designed by Americans for the Arts,to better identify and address the needs of artists. Learn more by reviewing this FAQ. To apply, click here

Arts and Culture Leaders of Color Emergency Fund

$200 per person on a first-come-first-served basis, ongoing indefinitely. This fund is intended for US-based artists or arts administrators of color whose income has been directly impacted by COVID-19. 

Authors League Fund

This fund is intended for career writers (fiction authors, journalists, critics, and poets) living in the US, regardless of citizenship status, with a substantial body of published work facing overwhelming medical expenses or temporary unemployment/unexpected loss of income can apply for immediate aid. Preference is given to those experiencing illness, and older writers in need.

Black Spatial Relics Microgrant for Community Care and Collective Research

Deadline is April 15, 11:59 pm EST. Applicants must live in the United States, identify as Black and/or be of African descent, be artists engage in making performance. 

Five micro-grants of $550.00 will support projects doing one or both of the following:

  • Digital gatherings that center community care, affirmation, mutual aid and joy for Black communities in the midst of the COVID-19  crisis. 
  • Collective research efforts centering Black communal and familial inquiry, transmission and documentation.

Bloomfund

Deadline extended to May 17 for a grant of $1200. Currently seeking applications for BIPOC who own small businesses and provide support to those who aim to transform their communities and the world through art, invention, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Bumble Loves Small Businesses

$5,000 USD grant for small businesses suffering as a result of COVID-19. Will verify company registration numbers. Application here.

Creative Change COVID-19 Emergency Assistance

$1000 stipends provided by the Opportunity Agenda are available for individual artists with work that has been significantly delayed, cancelled, or lost as a result of COVID-19 and as such are experiencing financial hardship.

Emergency Fund for Individual Artists Participating in Residencies

Grants of up to $1,000. Emergency fund for artists facing unforeseen emergency or triggering event who were scheduled to participate in a residency but who are no longer able to participate due to sudden change in circumstances. Must be a legal US resident.

Sendak Foundation and NYFA Relief Fund for Picture Book Creators

The Maurice Sendak Foundation (MSF) has partnered with the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) to launch an emergency relief grant program to support picture book authors and illustrators impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The program will distribute unrestricted grants, up to $2,500 apiece, to artists who have experienced financial hardship from loss of income as a direct result of the crisis. The program is open to children’s picture book artists and writers over the age of 21 in the United States. More information.

WNDB Emergency Fund for Diverse Creatives in Children’s Publishing

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), the nonprofit dedicated to making book publishing more inclusive, is launching the Emergency Fund for Diverse Creatives in Children’s Publishing to provide financial aid to diverse authors, illustrators, and publishing professionals are in financial need due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Emergency Fund will provide up to 70 recipients in the first round with $500 emergency grants. WNDB plans to open the process to more applicants in a second round of consideration. Learn more and apply here.

Forecast Public Art

Forecast is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and supporting public art initiatives across the country. They are offering up to one hour (to start) of free consulting services and technical support for public artists and art administrators who need help adapting and problem solving in the wake of COVID-related disruption. You can review the areas this consultation can cover and apply here.

Freelancers Relief Fund

The Freelancers Union is offering up to $1000 per household to qualifying, US-based freelancers who have lost over 50% of their income as a direct result of COVID-19. Learn more about eligibility and apply here.

hireartists

hireartists is a marketplace that connects artists of all kinds with buyers/supporters to help them generate alternative means of income and skill development during this time of economic crisis. 

Leveler

Leveler is a peer-to-peer relief database wherein creative freelancers in need of financial support to supplement lost work can receive aid from individual salaried workers who are not in danger of losing their source of income at this time.

PEN America Writers’ Emergency Fund

Grants of $500 to $1,000 based on inability to meet acute financial needs, especially due to impact of COVID-19. Must be based in the US and a professional writer ie: published 1 or more books, play performed by professional theatre company, be employed as a full time writer, or have contracts for forthcoming work. Recipients of emergency funding will receive 1 year membership to PEN America. Learn more and apply here.

The Photographer Fund

Format, an online portfolio platform for photographers, has created the Photographer Fund which offers up to $500 to self-employed photographers facing financial hardships as a result of COVID-19.

Pillars Rapid Response Relief fund for Muslim Artists & Activists

Emergency grants of $500 for artists and activists who identify as Muslim and reside in the United States. Assistance is available through Zoom or Phone calls for those who feel the application is inaccessible. Applications reviewed weekly.

Queer Writers of Color Relief Fund

Fund for queer writers of colors who are in need of financial assistance right now with gifts of $100-$500.  

Information on Applying for Federal Relief Funds as a Writer or Nonprofit

The Whiting Foundation is offering a webinar to help members of the literary community think about whether and how to apply for two specific relief programs established through the federal CARES Act in response to the coronavirus pandemic: the Economic Impact Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). More Information.

FOR MEDICAL EXPENSES

Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant

https://www.gottliebfoundation.org/emergency-grant/

Provides between $5000-$15000 grants to painters, printmakers, and sculptors with a minimum of 10 years committed to a mature phase of artistic work to meet emergency medical needs or other unforeseen financial needs. There is no deadline to apply.

Artists Fellowship Emergency Financial Aid

https://www.artistsfellowship.org/finacial-aid

Provides emergency aid to US-based professional fine artists and their families for applicants dealing with immediate medical emergencies and their aftermaths. Must have active exhibition history and make their livelihood through art for sale through galleries, private commission, or mass reproduction.

Behind the Scenes Grant

Details on eligibility: Those who work in production or entertainment technology behind the scenes in a performance venue, behind the camera, or on the road who have been hospitalized by COVID-19 qualify for this grant. Must reside in the United States or Canada.

Carnegie Fund for Authors

American authors with at least one book published by a mainstream publisher (regardless of genre) that are able to demonstrate need related to emergency medical expenses are eligible to apply.

CERF+ Craft Emergency Relief Fund

https://cerfplus.org/get-relief/apply-for-help/craft-emergency-relief-fund/

Established artists with at least three prior years of commitment to a craft discipline that have contracted COVID-19 and require medical care or whose artistic careers have been threatened by unforeseen illness or emergency are eligible to apply. Must be a US citizen. Relief comes in the form of grants, supply and equipment donations or discounts, and more. 

Dramatists Guild Foundation

Grants between $500-$3,000. DGF provides emergency financial assistance to individual playwrights, composers, lyricists, and book writers in dire need of funds due to severe hardship or unexpected illness. DGF will process Emergency Grants based on the severity of need especially in relation to COVID-19.

NYFA Rauschenberg Emergency Grants

https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Rauschenberg-Emergency-Grants

One-time, $5000 grants to cover emergency medical expenses. Open to visual and media artists as well as choreographers who are: US citizens, not currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program, and can demonstrate current and ongoing work in an artistic discipline. Application review will begin in May/June.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America Emergency Medical Fund

Created to help genre writers pay medical expenses not covered by insurance. Meant to cover short-term emergency situations that interfere with the ability to write. Applicants must contact SFWA with description of circumstances, and amount of financial support needed. 

EVENT CANCELLATIONS

20 Summers Emergency Arts Fund

An emergency Arts Fund for visual artists, musicians, authors for up to $500 and arts organizations for up to $1k suffering from unexpected and unmanageable financial loss as a result of the Coronavirus including cancelled events, tours, programs, or closed exhibits. 

Artly World Artist Relief Project

Artists, regardless of discipline, who have experienced COVID-19-related cancellations and closures can apply on a first-come-first-served basis for a $200 stipend and free resources and support to find alternate means of income. 

Disabled Creator and Activist Pandemic Relief

Volunteers created this form to help organize online events and supplemental income sources for creators and/or activists with disabilities who have had events or conferences cancelled as a result of COVID-19.

Foundation for Contemporary Arts COVID-19 Relief Fund

https://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grants/emergency-grants

One-time, $1000 grants will be distributed to contemporary, experimental artists (individuals, or representatives of a collective or ensemble) who have had performances or exhibitions cancelled due to COVID-19. If you have received a grant from FCA in the last 3 years, you are still eligible to apply.

The Haven Foundation

Legal US residents who are freelancers or professionals working in but not limited to production, performance arts, visual artists, screenwriters who is experiencing a specific unforeseen career-threatening emergency. Not able to assist in situations of financial need that result solely from lack of employment or poor sales. Guidelines available here.


FOR MUSICIANS

AGMA Relief Fund

The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) provides support and financial assistance for members in good standing. Check your membership status and apply here.

MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund

Music industry professionals may apply for up to $1000 to compensate for documented cancellations and closures that have affected their ability to cover immediate living expenses (rent/mortgage). 

Jazz Foundation of America COVID19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund

Fund established to help musicians and their families with basic living expenses. Details here.

Sweet Relief COVID-19 Fund

https://www.sweetrelief.org/covid-19-fund.html

Musicians or music industry workers who have documentation to show that at least 50% of their income is from participating in the music community and documentation of booking cancellations may apply for immediate funds that can go toward medical expenses and vital living expenses such as lodging, food, and clothing.