The Artist Relief fund, a national coalition of arts grantmakers that distributes $5,000 grants to creative professionals affected by the coronavirus pandemic, has awarded $13.5 million to 2,700 individuals since April. The additional contributions, including $2.5 million from the Mellon Foundation and $1 million from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, a San Francisco music festival, bring the total raised to nearly $20 million. The Mellon Foundation also provided a $5 million seed gift to the initial $10 million pool the fund started with. “Over the last six months, we have witnessed artists face extraordinary fiscal challenges as a result of the COVID-19 crisis,” Elizabeth Alexander, the president of the Mellon Foundation, said. “We continue to call on others to join us in supporting artists so they may continue to illuminate our path forward from this prolonged pandemic.”

Source: New York Times September 24, 2020 15:00 UTC