COVID-19 | COVID-19 Response Fund

Since the start of the pandemic, NYFA has focused its efforts on ensuring that artists are able to sustain themselves and their creative practice.

Artists/creatives have been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. According to national impact surveys conducted by Americans for the Arts, 95% of arts workers report income loss and 62% have become fully unemployed.

In response, NYFA has been working on the frontline to support the economic and medical needs of artists, distributing over $4 million in financial assistance to date. Please help us continue this work by donating to NYFA’s COVID-19 Response Fund.

Since the start of the current health crisis, NYFA has focused its efforts on ensuring that artists are able to sustain themselves and their creative practices. Until the economy and arts sector is fully restored, we will continue to devote all of our resources to supporting artists in this time of need.

For nearly 50 years, NYFA has provided concrete resources that artists and emerging arts organizations need to thrive—delivering crucial support through grants, access to additional funding sources, information resources, and professional development training. And right now, this work is more important than ever.

We expect these economic conditions to continue to impact the arts sector throughout 2021, and we need your help to sustain us until our community can fully recover from this crisis. Donations of any amount make a measurable impact on our community, and allow us to serve artists across all disciplines, and from all backgrounds. 

Donations to NYFA’s COVID-19 Response Fund will:

• Support Immigrant Artists by providing online visibility through weekly Instagram stories and online newsletters; 
• Develop online resources that help artists connect to emergency funding;
• Support the staff who are working to provide critical emergency relief grants to economically disadvantaged artists and arts workers;
• Provide online workshops and professional development to help artists and arts organizations adapt to the current global environment; and
• Help connect arts workers with employment opportunities through NYFA’s free online job board.

All donations are fully tax-deductible, and since the recent passing of the CARES Act, individuals can elect to deduct donations up to 100% of their 2020 adjusted gross income (up from 60% previously). 

Join our list of supporters and donate today. 

If you need resources, please check our Emergency Grants page on NYFA’s website. We are updating it regularly as new funding comes in. You can find more articles on arts career topics by visiting the Business of Art section of NYFA.org. Sign up for NYFA News and receive artist resources and upcoming events straight to your inbox.

Image Detail: Detail Sangram Majumdar (Fellow in Painting ‘18), “creep,” 2017, oil on linen