Through 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.

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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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.

The 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

Zoo 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

We 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.

With support from the National Endowment for the Arts (Arts Endowment), the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) will manage the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Fund for Organizations. WESTAF ARP is a competitive grant program that provides general operating support to arts and cultural organizations in the West that are most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The application will be available on July 1, 2021 and will close on July 15, 2021. In anticipation of high demand, WESTAF will monitor application volumes closely and provide updates as needed. Interested organizations are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Grants will be made to eligible organizations to support their own operations. Unlike other Arts Endowment funding programs that offer project-based support, Rescue Plan funds are intended to support day-to-day business expenses/operating costs, and not specific programmatic activities. Cost share/matching funds are not required.

Application Closes: August 12, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time

The Lewis Prize for Music is now accepting 2022 Accelerator Awards applications. Accelerator Awards are open to Creative Youth Development (CYD) music organizations seeking to influence youth-serving systems so all young people have access to learning, creating, and performing experiences that reflect their culture and identity.

Applications are open from May 18-July 16, 2021 at 5pm PST.

Apply by April 15, 2021 at 11:59pm PT.

To support artists living and working in the City of San Francisco during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, The Office of Racial Equity at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, the Arts Impact Endowment—co-funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) and Grants for the Arts—and YBCA have come together to launch the Guaranteed Income Pilot for the City of San Francisco.

The application window has been extended to March 26th, 2021 at 5:00 pm. There is no revenue cap in this round. Beginning March 31, Round 4 notification of awards will be announced. To apply and learn more, please visit our CA Relief Grants webpage.

Collectively, with your voice and our lobbying, we advocated to the state for funding specifically for our sector and on Feb 23, SB 87 was signed into law approving $50 million in funding for nonprofit cultural institutions. It is critical the field knows about this funding opportunity and takes advantage of it.

The recently signed package provides $2.075 billion – a four-fold increase to that initial $500 million – for grants up to $25,000 for small businesses impacted by the pandemic. The new package also includes a $50 million allocation for non-profit cultural institutions. Four competitive funding rounds will be conducted by CalOSBA’s selected intermediary, Lendistry.

The initiative supports the creation and premiere of 50 new works of the highest artistic quality and enduring value — works the foundation hopes will go on to inspire, engage and challenge audiences across the country and around the world in years to come. The $8 million initiative awards ten $150,000 commissions each year for exceptional new works by extraordinary artists working in partnership with San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit organizations.

The application and further details for the 2021 Individual Artist Fellowships opportunity can be found at https://arts.ca.gov/grant_program/individual-artists-fellowship. Applications are due April 1, 2021.

In collaboration with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) partners, the $2,500 artist grants and $5,000 organization grants aim to support those facing critical financial emergencies due to the impact of COVID-19 in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Guidelines and additional details regarding the application process are available on the NALAC website.

The third cycle of COVID-19 Relief Grants will provide one-time $1,000 grants to artists working in craft disciplines who continue to face dire food, housing, and medical insecurities caused by the pandemic. Priority will be given to eligible artists who have traditionally been underserved by the grantmaking community, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and materials-based folk and traditional artists.

This is a growing grants database with fundraising opportunities focusing on awards averaging $1,000+, prioritize BIPOC and LGBTQIA+, and unrestricted funding.

The $1,000 grants are for artists working in craft disciplines who are facing dire circumstances due to food, housing, and/or medical insecurities as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

In addition to the usual opportunities that qualified under our CALI Accelerator guidelines prior to April 16, 2020, applications with proposed activities that will enable emerging arts leaders to shape or pivot to an unprecedented new reality for their organizations post-COVID-19 will now be accepted.

Impact Projects grants support arts organizations for collaborations between local artist(s) and community members to develop and express their own creative and artistic goals and address a community-defined need. Collaborative projects will utilize various creative practices to impact social issues affecting their communities, including but not limited to systemic/structural racism, education, poverty, health disparities, housing insecurity, violence, food insecurity, cultural/social justice, intergenerational learning, environmental sustainability, and the digital divide.

This grant supports the well-being of California’s cultural vitality by helping sustain a robust and diverse arts workforce and infrastructure. Funds may be used to support any eligible expenses associated with the general operations of an arts or cultural organization, including but not limited to rent, utilities, and staff salaries.

Humanities for All is a grant program that supports locally-initiated public humanities projects. This program responds to the needs and interests of Californians, encourages greater public participation in humanities programming, particularly by new and/or underserved audiences. It aims to promote understanding and empathy among all our state’s peoples in order to cultivate a thriving democracy.

Starting this week, artists and performers who have lost their jobs can apply for some financial relief. […] To offer a financial lifeline, a GoFundMe campaign has been created to award one-time grants of $1,000 to 125 individual artists. […] Artists who would like to apply for a grant can submit an application, starting on Wednesday, August 26.

Two years ago CalNonprofits sponsored the bill authored by Assemblymember Monique Limón (Santa Barbara) to create this portal. Up until now, a nonprofit seeking state funding had to search through dozens of different state agencies without searchable sites.

Thanks to Assemblymember Limón and the nonprofit community who spoke up, the bill mandated the creation of a single site where all opportunities from every state agency would be listed, along with links to more details and application forms.

The LA Regional COVID-19 Recovery Fund will deploy $3 million in grants available at $5,000 or $15,000 to micro-entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profits. There are 6 total rounds, with finalists notified after each round.

The Artist Power Center, founded and fueled at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, is a digital platform created to help artists and cultural workers navigate emergency relief and continue to build long-term careers. The platform allows artists to share knowledge, exchange resources and opportunities, advocate for what matters and create connections across sectors to strengthen the creative community across the United States.

In alignment with WESTAF’s strategic vision for increasing opportunities, benefits, and resources for historically underrepresented communities in a manner that results in quantifiable and systemic change, the fund will support organizations led by and/or predominantly serving individuals from historically marginalized communities that identify as: Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC); low-income, LGBTQIA+; and/or rural, remote and under-resourced.

CA CARES: Humanities Relief Grants for organizations aim to provide general operating support to organizations that have experienced the cancellation of their public humanities activities due to a decrease or loss of revenue, cancellation of programming opportunities, loss of paid staff, or venues as a result of COVID-19. Applicants may request between $5,000 and $20,000 in general operating support.

Christian Wolf reached out to Julie Baker the Executive Director for the Californians for the Arts organization to see if she could help answer some basic concerns regarding the arts during this time.

We're rounding up the best virtual gatherings worldwide, from concerts to lectures to fitness classes.

Americans for the Arts webinar content about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on the Arts and Culture field.

The Performing Arts Readiness project offers free webinars, on-site training, and presentations at professional conferences on various topics related to emergency preparedness

Stay at Home Fest harnesses the power of the internet for good, by creating an open source central hub to find all the fantastic decentralized events that are happening online, and aiding music discovery during the global pandemic.

As the Coronavirus (COVD-19) continues to develop, it's important that Local Arts Agencies and arts and culture organizations consider their preparedness, prevention, and response. Join members of Americans for the Arts’ staff, Ruby Lopez Harper, John Rubsamen, and Narric Rome, with Jan Newcomb, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response, Barbara Davis, Chief Operating Officer of The Actors Fund, Rhonda Schaller, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute, and Michael Orlove, Director of State, Regional & Local Partnerships, and International Activities, and Lara Holman Garratano, Local Arts Agencies Specialist, from the National Endowment for the Arts to hear current information about actions to take, including: planning to consider, handling grant funded projects, managing stress during moments of crisis, and continuing to support artists. 

For US-Based Freelance Artists and Cultural Workers in all Disciplines

In-person meetings, all virtual meetings and hybrid virtual/in-person meetings are similar, and yet facilitation and participation in each type of meeting is also different and requires some specific skills and planning.

With an order Friday barring all gatherings in San Francisco venues with a capacity of 100 or more, and with social distancing under COVID-19 applying to even the supermarket checkout or waiting for the bus, some live events spaces are figuring out how to share their work even as they struggle to stay open.

Artifacts from Facilitators for Covid Response Zoom Gatherings, Useful Online Meeting/Working Practices, Tool Resources/Technology Stewardship, Getting Going with online education, Using Liberating Structures Online Resources, General Credible Data Sources, Suggestions 8 Individual Company Responses and more...

Unlike much of what we’re seeing in the media and public discussion, the virtual gathering -- organized in a week’s time --  centered the wisdom and life experiences of people who live with chronic illnesses and disability. A podcast by Irresistible (fka Healing Justice)

The Coronavirus Preparedness Webinar provided a holistic take on preparedness for theatres, including: a deeper understanding of the virus from an epidemiologist's perspective; general preparedness strategies; how to forecast budget shifts should productions be canceled; how to navigate insurance; and how the theatre field might take collective action to weather this potential crisis.