New York Artists to Receive Support from $125M Grant Program

Applications are now open for New York artists to receive grant money from Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), a new grants initiative founded to help revitalize the arts in New York State. The $125 million grant has two programs: Guaranteed Income for Artists and Artist Employment and will benefit 2,700 New York artists.

Guaranteed Income for Artists

This program will provide monthly payments of $1,000 per month for 18 consecutive months. 2,400 New York artists who are above the age of 18 and demonstrate financial need will be selected.

“Guaranteed income programs build safety nets to ensure that no individual falls below a defined income floor over time. They enable people to weather crises and plan for the future,” the CRNY website said. “CRNY’s Guaranteed Income for Artists program takes inspiration from economic and racial justice movements of the past, government actors, reparations-focused philanthropists, and recent pilots and programs across the world.”

Applicants will be selected not on artistic merit, but through a randomized process that prioritizes those who face systemic oppression and come from traditionally underprivileged backgrounds, such as BIPOC, disabled people, LGBTQ people and immigrants.

Artist Employment

The Artist Employment program will fund 300 New York artists for two years. These artists will receive a salary of $65,000 a year as well as benefits and time to pursue their artistic work, through a joint application between artists and organizations. Community-based organizations will also receive $25,000-$100,000 a year to collaborate with the selected artists.

“By supporting artists working in collaboration with community-based organizations, AEP will offer a pathway to transforming relationships between artists and organizations. Equitable relationships encourage creative solutions, expansive thinking, and new methods of engagement while building capacity and stability for all involved. CRNY believes such partnerships can also support and enrich communities, demonstrating the power of artists as agents of social change and the importance of their labor to New York State’s social and economic vitality,” the CRNY website said.

The program’s goal is to support and revitalize artists and communities together. Applications will be selected based on eligibility, strength of the proposed collaboration, reflection of CRNY’s values, the organization’s capacity to support artists and the organization’s financial capacity.

To qualify, organizations must be located in New York State and serve one or more disenfranchised communities listed by CRNY. Artists must be primarily located in New York State and those from the same disenfranchised communities are encouraged to apply.

Artists for both programs can fall under a number of categories, including but not limited to visual arts, theatre, craft, design, film, music, literary arts and others. According to CRNY, this does not include those whose connection to the arts is through arts administration or commercial merchants and vendors, meaning cosmetologists, bakers, radio DJs and others are ineligible.

Applications will be accepted for those living in all areas of New York State, focusing on rural communities as opposed to only New York City.

“Artists inspire us and illuminate our shared human experience. They are storytellers and preserve our histories,” CRNY said. “Artists in communities imagine new approaches to our greatest challenges and bring their creativity to everything from building collective power and facilitating collaboration, to cultivating individual agency and advancing well-being.”

For more information and applications, visit the CRNY website at https://www.creativesrebuildny.org/.