For Kids
The creative community in Spokane is the beating heart of our city, and right now: we need your help.
Performers of all types are seeing events, gigs, and fundraisers cancelled, eliminating crucial income from the sales of tickets, merch, artwork, books, and so much more. Bands are forced to cancel tours. Musicians’ gigs; writers’ speaking engagements; photographers’ shoots; teaching artists’ classes and workshops: all cancelled. Individual creatives who are self-employed, freelance, and more rely on income from gigs, performances, teaching opportunities, workshops and classes to cover basic expenses like housing, food, and medical care.
We’re raising money to benefit local individual creatives during this difficult time. Every penny donated to this fundraiser, after the fees taken out automatically by the platform, will be distributed directly to local professional artists and creatives. The goal of this fundraiser is to crowdsource funding that will be distributed *directly* to individual creatives. *Please note that if you’d prefer to donate directly to specific artists, we highly encourage you to do so! Some have individual Patreon accounts, donation pages on their websites, etc.* Since not everyone has those tools set up, the hope for this fund is to pierce the wider community consciousness to articulate the need and create an outlet for those who want to support artists but don’t know how.
All disciplines and types of artists/creatives that need support during this time can fill out a basic online form (available here), which asks a basic series of questions about how you are being affected by COVID-19 and what support is necessary. Spokane Arts is a 501c3 nonprofit organization supporting arts and culture in the Spokane region through grantmaking, arts programming, professional development, and advocacy. This fundraiser is specifically to distribute emergency funds to local creatives who desperately need support and resources to survive this unprecedented situation.
Additional tools and resources for both individuals and organizations, including our grantmaking program SAGA, can be found on our website at www.spokanearts.org. Please note that receiving a distribution from this emergency fund *will in no way affect* any individual’s eligibility for future SAGA grants. They are completely separate funding sources. The hope for this emergency fund is to help keep individual creatives afloat in the immediate short-term. Spokane Arts is also exploring every avenue available to secure resources to help support collectives, organizations, and creative businesses, who also need all of our support in this difficult time. We’ll post updates on those efforts via Spokane Arts’ social media, newsletter, and website. Together, we will get through this. Thank you for your support.
***If you are an artist who needs to request support, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/677MN8G