We are pleased to announce the Easthampton City Arts Artist Grants Initiative.
Easthampton City Arts (ECA) is deeply committed to our community of artists and we are actively invested in the meaning, value, and impact that arts and culture have here in Easthampton and throughout our region. For 15 years, ECA has served our community in receptive, responsive, and innovative ways and in accordance with the evolving needs of our public. Within the context of this time of pandemic, we recognize that our community of artists is more economically vulnerable than ever before and that the financial circumstances that individuals are facing are broad, complex, and diverse.
In the spirit of our ongoing commitment to our artists and our community, we are pleased to announce the Easthampton City Arts Artist Grants Initiative. This first-of-its-kind program at ECA will provide grants to individual artists in exchange for an event, workshop, or other arts-based activity that serves to engage others and inspire community. This particular approach will also serve to activate our new, shared virtual platforms during this time of social distancing with the visual arts, poetry, music, performance, and educational opportunities that we all value and appreciate so much.
ECA extends our immense gratitude to all the dedicated individuals, local businesses, and community organizations that have contributed throughout the years to creating our community of arts and culture that we all hold dear. Creating this grants program is rooted in this longstanding foundation. We see this as an opportunity for ECA to join a larger ecosystem of artist relief efforts to provide some assistance as we work together to navigate this unprecedented time. We also acknowledge Mayor Nicole LaChapelle for her leadership, guidance, and support as all of us at ECA worked to develop the ECA Artist Grants Initiative.
What does this mean?
Easthampton City Arts has committed $10,000 to local artists through the ECA Artist Grants Initiative, which will roll out in phases during the weeks and months to come. For PHASE I, ECA will issue 16 grants in the amount of $300/ea (totaling $4,800), in exchange for arts and cultural events, workshops, and activities that are designed to engage a public audience, through a variety of platforms. ECA will provide additional assistance and support in terms of outreach, promotion, documentation, and additional resources as needed.
In addition to this funding, grantees will receive priority registration for optional online financial and business support webinars hosted by our partners at MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program. These webinars take a post-pandemic approach to crucial financial questions for an artist’s career with the goal of increasing each participant’s financial resiliency. Webinars are kept small to maximize peer support and trainer-trainee interaction, so space is limited. Details of webinar topics and upcoming dates will be announced and distributed in the coming weeks.
In addition, a Go Fund Me page has been set up so that additional funds can be raised to directly and exclusively support this effort. For every $300 raised through this platform, one additional artist will be supported through this program.
Thank you for your support!