One of the extraordinary phenomena of this pandemic has been the way that artists, administrators, advocates, companies and fans have come together to find new ways to support the performing arts after whole seasons were postponed, then postponed again, then postponed again indefinitely.
Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the United States lagged significantly behind other industrialized countries in per capita arts spending; COVID-19 only laid further bare how flimsy our support system for artists is.
Here’s a sampling of the resources — some longstanding, some newborn; some local, some nationwide — that have helped patch the gaps.
Relief to individuals
The Actors Fund
Among the myriad offerings of this 139-year-old nationwide organization are emergency financial assistance, health care counseling, affordable housing referrals and older artist care, all tailored to the specific needs of entertainment workers (not just actors).
Last year, the fund gave $19 million in direct cash payments to 15,000 people.
For more information, go toactorsfund.org.
Artist Relief
一个临时的联盟的中小投资者Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation and United States Artists — banded together to start this relief fund in April 2020. It started with $10 million; it raised a total of nearly $20 million for 3,916 artists by the end of 2020. A second round supports at least 100 artists per month through June.
Details atwww.artistrelief.org.
Bandcamp Fridays
If you purchase music onBandcamp and want as much of the proceeds as possible to go directly to your favorite musicians, a great time to buy is the first Friday of each month, when the Oakland online music store waives its usual cut. The initiative, which began in March 2020, marks its next Bandcamp Friday on June 4.
Find out more atbandcamp.com.
COVID-19: Performing Arts Worker Relief Fund
Theatre Bay Area, a local nonprofit that serves theater artists and companies, created this fund four days after San Franciscoannouncedits shelter-in-place order in March 2020. Working in partnership with Dancers’ Group and InterMusic SF, Theatre Bay Area has given grants of $500 to $1,000 to 738 local arts workers who have lost income because of the pandemic, totaling $550,000 as of April 28. About 30 new artists apply each month.
For more information, go towww.theatrebayarea.org.
Relief to venues
年代ubscribe to Live
While other industries might be reopening at least partially, many venues still have to keep their doors closed, unable to make their business models work at partial audience capacity. This project, established in April by the Independent Venue Preservation Initiative, which is fiscally sponsored by the Giving Back Fund, seeks to help San Francisco (and, eventually, regional) venues pay their bills from February 2020 until the pandemic is over.
The fund accepts donations of all sorts, but it’s especially targeting live music fans who want to make an ongoing commitment, however small, to a bunch of local venues all at once.
To donate, go towww.subscribetolive.org.
年代.F. Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund
The city’sfund,first proposed by Supervisor Matt Haney in December, allocated $3 million from San Francisco’s surprise budget surplus for hard-hit venues. It was developed with fundraising group the Independent Venue Alliance and lobbying group the San Francisco Venue Coalition, both pandemic-era creations. Although a promised donate button had not appeared on the city’s site as of Wednesday, May 12,members of the public can supplement the fundvia check (mail to Music and Entertainment Venue Fund, Office of Small Business, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, City Hall Room 140, San Francisco, CA 94102) or by electronic transfer (emailsbc@sfgov.orgfor instructions).
Details atsfosb.org/venuefund.
Artists helping artists
Actors Reading Collective
This group began last year when a small circle of leading local stage actors decided to meet Thursday nights to read plays and keep their skills honed as best they could. It’s sinceevolvedinto a legitimate theater company, led by James Carpenter and Aldo Billingslea, with public shows, but its bread and butter remains those Thursday meetings.
“The Actors Reading Collective has been a deep source of nourishment, a place to ‘work out’ with my peers, to discover the depth of my artistic community and meet new members of my chosen family,” writes ARC member Julia McNeal.
Find out more atwww.arcstream.org.
ARC started as a script-reading group for top Bay Area actors. Now it’s a full-fledged company
Producing in Pandemic
Performing arts presenters in theater, classical and pop music, dance and beyond decided to become digital media companies this year — a steep learning curve. But with so many producers reinventing themselves at the same time, why not share one another’s hard-won wisdom?
That’s the idea behind Producing in Pandemic, a weekly digital meetup created by Claudia Alick and Kholoud Sawaf. Videos of most past discussions are archived; you can learn about the benefits and drawbacks of services from Twitch to Clubhouse to Gather, how San Francisco Shakespeare Festival pulled off last summer’s “King Lear” or how American Conservatory Theater made “In Love and Warcraft” happen.