Don’t Panic (yet)

Financial & other resources for artists, arts organizations, and small businesses

(Originally published on WMNF.org on April 5, 2020.)

There’s financial
and other help available.

It won’t fix everything, but you might qualify for help. Local arts councils and arts organizations are posting a lot of helpful resources. You can keep up with options through the Hillsborough Arts Council, St. Pete Arts Alliance, Creative Pinellas (that links to the Pinellas Arts Community Relief Fund), and more.

Locally

• The city of St. Petersburg has the Fighting Chance Fund, applications are available as of April 9, for residents of the city: The Fighting Chance Fund provides $5,000 grants to impacted eligible businesses and $500 to impacted eligible individuals.
• The city of Tampa’s business resource page is

  

  here. Please remember that artists, musicians, authors, poets and other creatives are small businesses! Everyone’s tax dollars has gone in to fund this stuff. There are also resources for people who work in the service industry, and all sorts of businesses. 
• Many of the other smaller cities in the area are linking to the same resources as St. Pete and Tampa.

State of Florida

The Florida SBDC (Small Business Development Center) has many of the same services listed above, with applications, deadlines, and a helpful video on how to apply. There is

• the Paycheck Protection Program (deadline 6/30/2020);
• the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (deadline December 18, 2020);
• the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan (deadline May 8, 2020). 

I couldn’t find any other state help, but if you know of something, please do email me and I will add it (JoEllen@wmnf.org).

National help

Creative Capital has an excellent list of resources. These stand out: 

• Performing arts emergency financial relief fund; 
• Anonymous Was A Woman (AWAW) fund, with grants up to $2,500 for woman-identifying artists, age 40 or older. Applications open Monday, April 6. 
• The Authors League Fund helps by giving loans that don’t have to be repaid.
• The Dramatists Guild Foundation provides emergency financial assistance to individual playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters. 
• Foundation for Contemporary Arts grants for artists who have had an event, show, or performance cancelled. 
• The Pillar Fund helps Muslim artists and activists with $500 grants. 
• Self-employed photographers can apply to the Photographer Fund.

The esteemed CERF (Craft Emergency Relief Fund) has been helping artists for decades. They are assisting artists diagnosed with COVID 19 and in intensive care.  Here is some information from Americans for the Arts about money in the Stimulus package for the arts. The money funds amount to about 10% of the economic losses for the arts, $300 million for $3 billion. As an initial investment, it is solid. If that’s all there is, it is inadequate. Here is a link to information about how to apply to non-profit relief funds.  If you are not in need of help, please consider donating to these funds to help artists. Thank you, with all my heart.

Might as well talk about taxes

It’s not like taxes are going to go away, but tax day is extended to July 15, 2020. There will be some changes in response to the economic impact of the pandemic. The IRS has a FAQ page about federal income taxes. 

Shop local!

Here is a list of St. Pete businesses that have online shopping (thanks to Keep St. Pete Local!).

*Stay in touch!

This is a time full of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. BUT, it is also a time filled with big and small acts of kindness, and a transformative chance to retool how we live and take care of each other. If you know of some opportunities and resources not listed here, please do share them, at JoEllen@WMNF.org. There is also information posted on the Art in Your Ear Facebook page.