Artist Relief Fund (COVID-19 Emergency)

Emergency relief fund established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide critical aid to St. Louis working artists whose creative practices and incomes were negatively impacted by the coronavirus crisis and its economic fallout.

Geographic Scope: St. Louis City and County, Missouri

Eligible Applicants: Working artists in all artistic disciplines

Eligible Expenses: Life-sustaining expenses including:

• Residential rent, mortgage, lease or occupancy payments
• Residential utility bills
• Groceries and food
• Medical expenses not covered by insurance
• Child-care services
• Car payments or repair
• Insurance premium payments
• Student loans, expenses, or tuition

Grant Amounts: $500 or $1,000 (one-time request per applicant)

Rationale for Support: Fund designed to support artists whose livelihoods were disrupted due to cancelled events, programming, contracts, or commissions, including teaching artists who could not teach due to cancelled classes and school closures

Program Impact:

• Initial funding: RAC contributed $100,000 (March 2020)
• Total distributed by August 2020: Over $500,000 to 586 local artists
• Over 73% of recipients lost more than 75% of their income due to COVID-19
• Distributed funds represented diverse mix of artists: 36% Black/African American/African; 47% White/Caucasian; 12% Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/American Indian/Alaskan Native, Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian or two or more races; 5% preferred not to answer
• Gender distribution: 43% female; 53% male; 2% non-binary; 2% preferred not to answer

Administration:

• Partnership with St. Louis Community Foundation
• Simple, expedited application and award process

Fundraising:

• "Arts United STL" benefit concert (May 31, 2020) raised $350,000 for the fund
• Additional donations encouraged through June 2020

Contact Information:

• Phone: (314) 863-5811
• Email: info@racstl.org
• Website: racstl.org/covid19/

Background: One of RAC's primary mandates is to support individual artists. RAC is the largest public funder of the arts in the St. Louis region.

Application Process

Application Method: Online submission

Application Window: Applications opened in late March 2020; initially accepted until April 30, 2020, or until complete depletion of funds. Fund was reopened for additional rounds of applications in June 2020.

Application Deadline: June 12, 2020 (for reopened applications)

Grant Request Amount: Applicants submit a one-time request for either $500 or $1,000

Application Features:

• Simple, expedited process
• Quick review and award process

Online Application Portal: Applications submitted online at racstl.org/covid19/relief2020

Contact for Questions:

• Phone: (314) 863-5811
• Email: info@racstl.org