Artists of Color Emergency GrantsUpdate 3/18/2020: Due to overwhelming response, our application is currently closed. Please check back next for a potential reopen if we collect more funds to redistribute. Share with your networks to donate: PayPal.me/ftpac!
3/17/2020 For the People Artists Collective is a radical squad of Black artists and artists of color in Chicago. From #ByeAnita to #NoCopAcademy, we’ve visually, physically and strategically supported some of the strongest campaigns for justice in our city. From late-night banner painting to day-long art builds, our communities have shown up and thrown down alongside us in our efforts, in whatever ways they could. We show up for each other because we know our liberation is intertwined with each other, and because there’s real power in art and storytelling within our movements. We create to survive. In these scary and hard times, we want to make sure that our communities know that we’re here and we’re ready to support you. We are offering emergency microgrants of up to $500 to Illinois-based artists and freelancers of color whose income has been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Microgrants are small, one-time only, monetary awards typically given to an individual or community group. The funds can be used at your discretion with no need for any paperwork or reporting how the funds were used. We have a maximum of $10,000 dollars to redistribute*. We don’t know how long we’ll be in this state of emergency. For many of us, financial crises are nothing new and often our everyday lived experiences. We hope you know that while we are doing the most we can to rapidly respond to the peoples’ needs in this moment when governmental systems of support are clearly inadequate or nonexistent, that we’ll continue to think about the long-term sustainability of artists existing and creating on the margins. We love you. Keep creating. We need you. <3 FTP Artists Collective members Monica Trinidad, Danbee Kim, Darien R. Wendell, Jireh L. Drake, Naimah Thomas, Kara Rodriguez, Ruby Pinto, and Melisa Stephen Please see this form for eligibility guidelines and application. *Special thanks to the Field Foundation for allowing us to redirect funds from our Fall 2019 grant for Community Empowerment through Justice, Art, Media & Storytelling and Leadership Investment, and to our fiscal sponsor, the Uptown People’s Law Center. Not an artist of color and want to support? We’re accepting donations! Donations will be used for expediting critical fund needs (which would require electronic transfer vs. a mailed check), and making additional grants beyond our $10K mark. Any additional funds after grants are made will go towards our collective’s general operations. |