Creative and professional burnout — due to heavy workloads, long hours and lack of resources — affect 64 percent of tech professionals, according to ISACA’s Tech Workforce 2020 report. While burnout is not new, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused additional strain on an already stressed workforce, leading to a loss of productivity, physical fatigue, anxiety, insomnia and other physical and psychological symptoms.
Read MoreEffective April 1, 2022, requirements for vaccine verification or proof of negative test for Indoor Mega Events will be lifted and move to a strong recommendation.
For more information visit Beyond the Blueprint website hosted by the California Department of Public Health.
Read More“To ensure that we collectively protect the health and well-being of all Californians; keep schools open for in-person instruction; and allow California's economy to remain open and thrive, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is requiring masks to be worn in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022).”
Read MoreTo support San Francisco’s recovery from pandemic shutdowns, Mayor London Breed announced on Monday $12 million dollars in funding for arts groups. Doled out in amounts ranging from $9,000 to $450,000, the new round of Grants for the Arts supports large institutions such as the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as well as a long list of smaller organizations. Among those are after-school program Youth Art Exchange, transgender dance company Fresh Meat Productions, Latinx arts and community space Galería de la Raza and Filipino American theater company Bindlestiff Studio. There are 250 recipients in total. Read more.
Read More“We are pleased to see the Newsom Administration take proactive steps to support the arts and live events industries to keep audiences, performers and workers safe as we continue to battle the spread of COVID. The arts have always led with safety first and it is imperative that for every community’s economic, social, and emotional recovery, we must do everything we can to allow for secure gatherings.”
Read MoreThrough the Travel, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation program, EDA is focused on accelerating the recovery of communities that rely on the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors. $750 million of EDA’s American Rescue Plan funds are allocated to support the following efforts:
State Tourism Grants: $510 million in non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business and international travel.
Competitive Grants: $240 million to help communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors to invest in infrastructure, workforce or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and economic resilience of the community in the future.
The EDA (Economic Development Agency) received $3 billion from the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan to invest in distressed and underserved communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The funding will be administered through six programs that support infrastructure, innovation, and workforce training:
Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 bil.)
Good Jobs Challenge ($500 mil.)
Economic Adjustment Assistance Challenge ($500 mil.)
Indigenous Communities Challenge ($100 mil.)
Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Grants ($750 mil.)
Statewide Planning, Research and Networks Grants ($90 mil.)
Introducing the Artist Power Convenings. Investing $400,000 in artists and artist-led organizations across 10 San Francisco Bay Area counties over the next two years, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is now accepting applications for this new investment strategy aiming to fuel grassroots creative power. From August 2021–September 2022, they’re holding five investment rounds, two counties at a time.
This opportunity prioritizes historically underfunded communities and focuses investing in American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian and Asian American, Black and African American, Disabled, Indigenous and Indigena, Latinx, LGBTQIA2S+, MENASA, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander artists and artist led-organizations.
Read MoreThe County described its $975 million plan as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape and rebuild Los Angeles County.” The plan invests federal ARP funds in Los Angeles communities hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and advances the County’s equity focused programs and priorities. Eligibility, application, and guidelines for Arts and Culture’s ARP programs will be announced later in the year. All funds must be dispersed by 2024.
Read MoreThe American Rescue Plan funding empowers EDA to build upon its greatest strength—flexible funding to support community-led economic development—and provide larger, more transformational investments across the nation. Under the American Rescue Plan, EDA will make grants to state and local governmental entities, institutions of higher education, not-for-profit entities, unions, and Tribes. EDA is not authorized to provide grants to individuals or for-profit entities.
Read MoreThe Small Business Administration (SBA) issued two press releases this week that I wanted to bring your attention.
SBA created a streamlined PPP Forgiveness Portal for borrowers with individual Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $150,000 or less to submit simple forgiveness applications directly to SBA, as long as your specific lender participates in the program.
SBA issued a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) press releasethis week to commemorate an important milestone. As of this week, over $7.5 billion has been awarded to more than 10,000 performing arts organizations, museums, movie theaters, theater producers, and talent representatives across the country.
Despite California leading the nation in vaccinations, with more than 44 million doses administered and 75 percent of the eligible population having received at least one dose, the state is seeing increasing numbers of people who refused to get the vaccine being admitted to the ICU and dying. This increase is heavily due to the Delta variant, which is more contagious and kills people faster.
Read MoreToday, the SBA released a brand-new set of FAQs dated July 22, 2021, that include important new SVOG policies, including clarifying eligibility criteria, uses of funds as well as overall guidance on processing and appealing decisions. For all SVOG applicants, I encourage you to read these FAQs from top to bottom. Do not rely on the asterisk * to notify you of a new addition because it hasn’t been applied consistently. I will be reviewing these FAQs tonight and I will share my analysis with you and answer your questions tomorrow morning at 11:00am ET during my weekly Office Hours with Nina.
Read MoreCreating the largest small business relief program in the nation, the Plan invests an additional $1.5 billion for a total of $4 billion in direct grants to California’s small businesses – on top of $6.2 billion in tax relief. Working to address opportunity gaps, the Plan also invests $35 million for the California Dream Fund to provide microgrants of up to $10,000 to seed entrepreneurship and spur small business creation in underserved groups and communities. In addition, $500 million in new grants will be used to create opportunities for workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Read MoreAs a result, theater leaders are pressing lawmakers in Sacramento for legislation that would provide aid to help theaters cover the explosion of costs. There are two main initiatives: A one-time $50 million subsidy included in the state budget for struggling small theaters, and another that would set up a state agency to handle the cost of processing the new payroll requirements.
Read MoreThe Quick Grant program awards reimbursement funds up to $600 to California artists, creatives, cultural practitioners, and cultural producers, and San Francisco/San Jose nonprofit arts administrators to participate in professional development activities that build administrative capacity, hone business skills, and strengthen the financial sustainability of the grantee’s practice, area of cultural production, or arts organization.
Applications are due on the 15th of the month with a one-month turnaround.
Read MoreThe Investing in Artists grants program is designed to support diverse working artists in the Bay Area in the performing and media arts, which includes the disciplines of dance, music, musical theatre, opera, theatre, video, film, and animation, to name a few. Applicants representing a wide range of cultural expressions and artistic practices in the performing and media arts are encouraged to apply.
Application Deadline: August 18, 2021, 12:00 p.m. PT
Read MoreZoo Labs serves artists through online learning, unrestricted funding, mentorship opportunities, and community building. In 2021, Zoo Labs will make available $225,000 in unrestricted grants. Awards will range from $5,000 to $50,000 and will support Bay Area BIPOC and BIPOC-led artist teams with a music-based project or business.
Application Closes: August 19, 2021 at 12 PM PT
Read MoreHere’s a roundup of the week’s legislative updates and COVID relief grants impacting the arts.
Read MoreWe are honored to announce that we are launching the 2021 Rbhu Gives Back grants, offering $15,000 worth of free engineering services to artists in need.
What we are offering: Structural or mechanical engineering services for any size artwork, which can include analysis, construction drawings, and permit documents, depending on the project needs.
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