New Relief Fund Offers $5,000 Grants Directly to Artists

“In hard times like these, we turn to the arts to illuminate and help us make meaning and find connection."

-Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

In another example of people stepping up and standing by artists, a coalition of creative nonprofits and foundations have created a $10 million Artist Relief fund. This fund offers $5,000 grants to artists from all disciplines, provided you are over 21, able to receive taxable income in the United States, and have lived and worked primarily within the country over the past two years.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gifted $5 million to the fund, and was joined by the Academy of American Poets, Creative Capital and four other arts orgs from across country.

Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Mellon Foundation, hopes the fund will rally others around artists imperiled by the global COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant economic fallout.

"We call on others to join us in supporting artists," she says, "so they may continue to be our lights, chroniclers and connectors throughout this crisis and beyond.”

Thinking about applying? Well, what are you waiting for? Apps are now open.