For the Artists

The Detroit Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship is searching for foundations and organizations offering emergency grants for artists and entertainers during the COVID-19 outbreak. The following is a partial compilation of possible resources for artists and entertainers. Please do not use these sites to promote your talents or products. It is a list of places where you might get help during this difficult time. If you learn of others, please send them detroitartsandculture@gmail.com. We will update this list and continue to search for local funding every day.

  • First, take a look at the COVID freelancers resources

  • Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants Program. Created in 1993 to further FCA’s mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes 12-15 grants ranging from $500 to $2,500. The FCA recommends that artists review all eligibility guidelines and FAQs before applying. Then complete our Eligibility Questionnaire, but please know that the questionnaire does not replace a thorough review of program guidelines.

  • ConvertKit: COVID-19 Grant [$500] - Marketing software company, ConvertKit, is offering grants of up to $500 to individual creative artists experiencing financial difficulty due to Coronavirus/COVID-19. Funding is intended to provide financial assistance to active creators who are undergoing economic hardship due to the Corona pandemic. Grants may be used by creators who have emergency requests related to medical, childcare, housing (rent or mortgage), or grocery needs. Apply here.

  • The Actors Fund. The fund provides a list of health insurance for artists in all disciplines.

  • The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). NYFA offers lists of emergency funds for artists nationwide in a variety of disciplines affected by recent natural disasters.

  • Carnegie Fund for Authors. The applicant must be an American author who has had at least one full-length work — fiction or nonfiction — published by a mainstream publisher. Works that applicants paid to have published are not eligible. Applicants must demonstrate need; the emergency may be because of illness or some other urgent need such as fire, flood, hurricane, etc. Documentation should be included with the application and can mean a doctor’s letter or other proof of the emergency situation. Get more information here.

  • Authors League Fund. The Fund gives open-ended, interest-free, no-strings-attached loans to professional writers and dramatists who find themselves in financial need because of medical or health-related problems, temporary loss of income or other misfortune.

  • The PEN Writers Fund. This fund offers financial to professional–published or produced–writers with serious financial difficulties. Depending on the situation, the fund gives grants or loans of up to $2,000. 

  • American Society of Journalists & Authors Writers Emergency Assistance Fund. This fund helps established freelance writers across the country who, because of advanced age, illness, disability, a natural disaster, or an extraordinary professional crisis, are unable to work. Membership in ASJA not required. No grants will be awarded to beginning freelancers seeking funding for writing projects or for works-in-progress of any kind. Maximum grant $3,500. More information.

  • CERF + (Formerly the Craft Emergency Relief Fund). CERF+ provides a safety net to support strong and sustainable careers. CERF+’s core services are education programs, advocacy, network building and emergency relief. CERF+ is currently focusing its relief aid on those infected with COVID-19 who require intensive medical care. More information.

  • The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation. The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant program is intended to provide interim financial assistance to qualified painters, print makers and sculptors whose needs are the result of an unforeseen, catastrophic incident, and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Each grant is given as one-time assistance for a specific emergency, examples of which are fire, flood, or emergency medical need. To be eligible for this program, an artist must be able to demonstrate a minimum involvement of 10 years in a mature phase of his or her work. Artists must work in the disciplines of painting, sculpture or printmaking. More information.

  • Musicians Foundation. This foundation helps professional musicians who have worked five or more years in the U.S. by providing emergency financial assistance in meeting current living, medical and allied expenses.  Applicants must be able to show that their music is or was their primary source of income. More information.

  • Jazz Musicians Emergency Fund. The JMEF is committed to helping jazz professionals, especially older musicians, overcome hard times and get back on their feet, making emergency funds available for immediate needs. They have programs for housing and emergency assistance, a network of pro bono medical care providers, and disaster relief.

  • MusicCares Foundation. MusiCares may grant short-term financial assistance for personal or addiction needs that have arisen due to unforeseen circumstances. Funding may be awarded for needs such as rent, car payments, insurance premiums, utilities, medical/dental expenses, psychotherapy, addiction treatment, sober living, and other personal expenses. Applicants must be able to show that they have worked in the music industry for at least five years or that they have six commercially released recordings or videos (singles).

  • Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. SRMF provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. The applicant must be a musician who has regular public performances or performed on at least three widely released recordings (audio or audiovisual), or written music that has been performed on three widely released recordings or published on three occasions.