UPDATED 4/3/20: There are lots of resources flying around and this is an attempt to aggregate some of them. There is a COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources page already in existence, which is absolutely fantastic if you haven’t checked it out already. I’m hoping to offer a list pertinent to the DMV area (Baltimore is our home!) and include some things that aren’t on there. Also, shout out to all of the organizations that are doing all they can to not leave artists in the dust. This list is not genre specific and I hope these resources are helpful to folks across the industry.
Individual Donation & GoFundMe Pages
- BALTIMORE: Alanah’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Artists & Freelancers | More info is listed on her IG: @alanahasenteredthechat
- WASHINGTON, DC: Aid Professional Vocalists Devastated by COVID-19
- WASHINGTON, DC: VoxCorona’s Emergency Relief For Artists – to support DC area vocalists whose primary source of income comes from contract work, much of which has been canceled as arts organizations shutter operations in the wake of COVID-19
- MARYLAND: Frederick Artist Relief Fund – grants for individual artists who live in Frederick County and whose creative practices and incomes are being adversely impacted by COVID-19
- PITTSBURGH: PGH Artists Emergency Fund
- USA: CAAPA – Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts’ Coronavirus Artist Relief Fund
- USA: New Music Solidarity Fund – Emergency Funds to Support Freelance Artists in the New/Creative/Improvised Music Community
- USA: Roadie Rescue Campaign in cooperation with MusiCares
- USA: Artist Relief Tree (ART) started by Andrew Crooks (Lawrence University), Morgan Brophy (Wolf Trap Opera), Tehvon Fowler-Chapman (National Sawdust), Marco Cammarota (freelance artist), and Rachel Stanton (Wolf Trap).
Non-Profit Donation Pages, Resources, and Emergency Funds
- *New* Multiple Locations: Coronavirus 2020 Artist Relief Funds – database created by Music Works International that is super detailed and ranks application difficulty
- *New* MARYLAND: Maryland State Arts Council Emergency Grants
- MARYLAND: Maryland Citizens for the Arts’ COVID-19 Artist Emergency Resources
- USA: Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund supporting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) individual artists and arts administrators of color who are financially impacted by COVID-19. Apply here for assistance
- USA: How Fans Can Support Artists And Music-Industry Workers During The Outbreak via NPR
- USA: The Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund to provide direct financial assistance to musicians who have lost work as a result of Corona-related event cancellations
- USA: COVID-19 Fund at Sweet Relief to to provide immediate assistance for musicians and music industry workers affected by the Coronavirus.
- USA: CERF+ The Artists Safety Net Responds to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- USA: The Jazz Foundation’s Musicians’ Emergency Fund provides housing assistance, pro bono medical care, disaster relief and direct financial support in times of crisis
- USA: MusiCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund
- USA: Groupmuse’s Musician Relief Fund
- USA: AGMA Relief Fund
Mental Health & Wellness Resources
- BACKLINE.CARE is the music industry’s mental health & wellness resource hub. Connect with a case manager here
- @MovementForMusicians is hosting free virtual yoga classes via Facebook and Instagram live every Monday 6:30-7:30pm ET
- Arts Administrators of Color Network’s Virtual Happy Hour – an opportunity to vent, unpack, and check-in while supporting growing needs. March 18th at 6:30pm EST via Zoom. Join their Facebook group for more support
- Town Hall Discussion: Navigating Mental Health and Resilience with Vanessa hosted by Piano Magazine on 3/25 at 11am ET
Free Professional Development
- The DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the University of Maryland will offer pro bono consultations to any U.S.-based non-profit arts or culture organization between March and June 2020, as a response to the mounting effects of the Coronavirus pandemic
- Artists in a Time of Global Pandemic – Recorded panel for US freelance artists and cultural workers in all disciplines
- Tracy Friedlander: Crushing Classical is offering a free training: Audience Building Basics March 17 and 18 at 10:00 am ET
- Americans for the Arts’ Arts and Culture Sector and the Coronavirus: What We Know and How to Move Forward Webinar March 19 at 3pm ET
- How musicians (and other creatives too) can transition their business online ASAP
- Digital Marketing Recommendations for our Arts Community During COVID-19 Outbreak
Advocacy, Legal, and Financial Resources
- MARYLAND: Maryland State Arts Council’s COVID-19 State of Emergency Statement & Resources
- MARYLAND: Maryland Citizens for the Arts’ COVID-19 Artist Emergency Resources; they are also hosting many upcoming Creative Conversations sessions – discipline-specific virtual gatherings to give updates, hold the space for peer-to-peer sharing, encourage updated recommendations for action by the MSAC, and envision the resurgence of arts activities while dealing with the state of emergency COVID-19
- MARYLAND: Maryland Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts
- WASHINGTON, DC: Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts – they “strongly urge all WALA members to inspect your contracts, with particular attention to the force majeure and cancellation clauses. If you feel that an agreement has been breached or you have questions, please contact WALA immediately so that we can connect you with an attorney.”
- USA: Coping with COVID: Financial Implications for Creative Individuals by Creative Capital – April 7 from 6-7pm ET
- USA: Urge Support for the Arts During the COVID-19 Outbreak – Request your members of Congress ensure Congress will include $4 billion—to be distributed though the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)—to help offset the losses of the nonprofit arts industry, and expand eligibility through additional federal programs to ensure artists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses in the creative economy can utilize business interruption relief.
- USA: Live Events Industry Federal Aid Action Facebook Group
- USA: IATSE Petition to Congress to include displaced entertainment workers Relief Package
- USA: Petition for a Covid-19 Federal Aid Package for Events Industry via Change.org
- USA: Free Financial Planning Sessions for Freelancers – Ben Henry-Moreland, CFP is offering a free 45-minute virtual planning session for this time of uncertainty
Keep the Music Going
- BALTIMORE: Creative Alliance is creating opportunities for artists throughout Baltimore while simultaneously respecting the need for everyone to keep a safe distance
- BALTIMORE: Sam Sessa of WTMD is happy to promote local music – check out their submission guidelines
- BALTIMORE: Culture Fly (Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance) is now accepting virtual events for their community calendar
- BALTIMORE: New Music Baltimore’s Facebook Group to stay in the loop of the local contemporary classical community
- MARYLAND: Add tour virtual event to Maryland State Art Council’s Maryland Based Virtual Events Google Sheet
- WASsHINGTON, DC: District New Music Coalition is holding a Call for Recordings, for more info email: [email protected]
- USA: Viral Music–Because Kindness Is Contagious Facebook Group: a marketplace to connect music lovers and independent musicians during these hard days of social isolation, and to keep the music playing
- USA: The Social Distancing Festival is an online artist’s community made to celebrate and showcase the work of the many artists around the world who have been affected by the need for social distancing
- USA: House Concert Streaming Center Facebook Group created in response to the COVID-19 crisis
- WORLDWIDE: Stay at Home Fest
- WORLDWIDE: YourClassical.org compiled a list of free classical concerts you can listen to and watch online during the closure