A Resource List for Weathering a Crisis
Suggestions to artists in facing the challenges of COVID-19 | ISSUE 4, march 19, 2020
While we shelter in place and retreat to quarantined and self-isolated places, each of us needs all the support we can find. This edition of the Tamarackforthearts.substack.com newsletter is devoted to resources that may be of help for artists and other creatives as we look to weather what is going on today and what is yet to come.
Now is the time for West Virginia creatives to not only survive, but to thrive. As we navigate through this difficult time, let us explore and share innovative ways to respond to our current challenges. We urge readers to take care not only of themselves, but to look after the isolated and the needy, in their family and friends circles, and in their broader community. Donate to food pantries, help homeless shelters, support local arts-based and area businesses.
Moving forward, we welcome a discussion by artists and the artistic community: What role can the arts and artists serve in a time of crisis? And as numerous people are suddenly without work, including artists in need of income from their artwork and teaching, how do they and their families get by?
The TFA staff, board of directors, and the members of West Virginia’s creative network are doing their part to partner and provide resources to get ahead of and respond to COVID-19 and its many impacts that are currently unfolding. We welcome your thoughts. Send them to renee AT tamarackfoundation.org and douglaseye AT gmail.com.
~ Renee Margocee, executive director, Tamarack Foundation for the Arts
COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources
Image by Quinn Fenlon. Photo by Ann Marie Lonsdale from the deYoung Museum.
A group of creative folk have launched the website COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resources. The site is for freelance artists, and those interested in supporting the independent artist community. This includes, but is not limited to: visual artists, craft artists, teaching artists, photographers, actors, designers, technicians, stage managers, musicians, composers, choreographers, filmmakers, dancers, writers etc. Here’s how the site describes the list:
What this list IS: an aggregated list of FREE resources, opportunities, and financial relief options available to artists of all disciplines.What this list IS NOT: a place to promote individual artist practices (we love you, but we’re not equipped for that); a place to promote fee-for-service work; or a place to seek direct emergency funding.
Check out the full list by clicking here. Here are clickable categories from the site:
GENERAL PREPAREDNESSRESOURCES
ADVOCACY ALERTS
EMERGENCY FUNDING
QUANTIFYING ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CANCELED WORK
INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES (outside United States)
BEST PRACTICES FOR ONLINE TEACHING…
ONLINE PLATFORMS
HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
TEMPORARY/REMOTE JOB OPPORTUNITIES
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS WISDOM
OTHER LISTS
West Virginia COVID-19 Resources
For West Virginians specifically, The Hub has put up (and invites submissions to) the page: “Coronavirus (COVID-19) WV Community Resources.” These include links to free webinar services, which for artists might be worth exploring as a way to stay in touch with students, clients, teachers, mentors and supporters:
Is your WV business impacted by Coronavirus? The SBA is trying to reach you.
WV Nonprofit Resources and Information to Prepare for Coronavirus (via WV Nonprofit Association)
State of West Virginia Official Page for Coronavirus Updates
WV Philanthropic Sector Resources and Information for Prepare for Coronavirus (via Philanthropy WV)
List of Meal Delivery Pickup Locations from WV Department of Education
In The Spirit of Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg in Florida, where he would go on to establish his foundation. Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images.
Since artists live often precarious economic existences, health emergencies are a real threat to their livelihood, if not their careers. Enter the The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and a grant program starting in early Summer of 2020, for artists experiencing unexpected bouts of illness. Here’s the link. Below is more info:
Just in time for the proliferation of the COVID-19 virus, a new grant for artists has been announced to provide some relief for unexpected bouts of illness. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, in partnership with the New York Foundation for the Arts, has launched a new program for emergency medical grants … according to a spokesperson for New York Foundation for the Arts. The Rauschenberg Emergency Grants—expected to be rolled out in late May or early June—will provide visual artists, media artists, and choreographers up to $5,000 worth of assistance for medical emergencies. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents.
The grant program was created in the spirit of Rauschenberg’s philanthropic legacy, including his efforts to corral a group of artists to create work for local hospitals in exchange for granting New York artists access to healthcare. | READ ON
Go to School While Sheltering In Place
Illustration from this link.
Mark Twain was reputed to have once said: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." The remark speaks to the schooling—sometimes, the better schooling—we do on our own after formal education. OpenCulture.com can help with that. The site compiles the best free cultural and educational media on the web. As a recent post notes: “Use Your Time in Isolation to Learn Everything You’ve Always Wanted To: Free Online Courses, Audio Books, eBooks, Movies, Coloring Books & More.” Among the offerings:
ARTWORK and COLORING BOOKS: Artists looking for inspiration can peruse two million images from 30 world-class museums. This range of art also appears in free museum-produced coloring books geared to all ages.
COURSES: More than 1,500 free online courses: with deep dives into subjects from archaeology, architecture and law, to literature, physics, and psychology. (Artists wishing to transmute the crisis as it comes to affect their output, can even take courses to help understand the coronavirus itself.)
E-BOOKS: 800 free eBooks, including among others: Twain, Dostoevsky, Wittgenstein, Kafka, and Proust.
AUDIOBOOKS: More than a thousand free audiobooks, from Isaac Asimov to Jane Austen, Adrienne Rich to Charles Bukowski. (You can also get audiobooks from Audible if you sign up for a free 30-day trial there.)
FREE MOVIES: 1,500 free movies including classic films noirs, thriller and horror pictures (including some by Alfred Hitchcock), documentaries, and even the fruits of the film industries of countries like Russia and South Korea.
Paris Just Released a Free Treasure Trove of Art
A 1908 illustration by dessinateur (designer) Paul Iribe (1883 - en 1935), part of more than 100,000 works in Parisien musicians now available for free to the public.
Speaking of online art, Paris Musées, a collection of 14 museums in Paris recently made high-res digital copies of 100,000 artworks freely available to the public on their collections website. Artists with works in the archive include Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso, Cézanne, and thousands of others. More from From Hyperallergic:
Paris Musées is a public entity that oversees the 14 municipal museums of Paris, including the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais, and the Catacombs. Users can download a file that contains a high definition (300 DPI) image, a document with details about the selected work, and a guide of best practices for using and citing the sources of the image.
“Making this data available guarantees that our digital files can be freely accessed and reused by anyone or everyone, without any technical, legal or financial restraints, whether for commercial use or not,” reads a press release shared by Paris Musées.
The Art of Facebook
Impressionism- 19th- century Art Movement is one of many Facebook pages that feature regular posts on an artistic theme or genre.
If you’re an artist on Facebook, there are a load of wonderful groups devoted to posting artwork on specific genres, topics and eras in art history. Here are a few soul-nourishing favorites from newsletter contributing editor Douglas John Imbrogno. We welcome your own suggestions in the comments (below) to this newsletter:
Spread the Word
We welcome comments and feedback below. Or call us at 304.926.3770 or email me directly at renee AT tamarackfoundation.org. For media inquires about stories on TFA Fellows or other topics, contact TFA team member Douglas John Imbrogno at douglaseye AT gmail.com or call 304.638.9784.
And here’s another reminder that if you were forwarded this newsletter, subscribe at this link: tamarackforthearts.substack.com | Renee Margocee | Executive Director | Tamarack for the Arts