April 1, 2020
Emergency Relief Fund for Arizona Artists and Arts Professionals
As part of broader crisis response strategies, Arizona arts funders and service organizations have set up a collaborative fund to provide emergency relief grants of $500-$1,500 to artists and arts professionals experiencing cancelled events and residencies or terminated contracts due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The grant is open to individual residents of Arizona, 18 years of age or older, whose primary source of income is related to artistic production, teaching artist residencies, arts and cultural events, or contract work with nonprofit arts organizations. The online application will open Saturday, April 4, 2020.

The Emergency Relief Fund for Arizona Artists and Arts Professionals has been initially seeded with $130,000 from the Arizona Community Foundation and another $25,000 from other partners. The submission process will be managed by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona. Fund partners include Artlink Inc., the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, and the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.
Crisis Engagement Webinar for Nonprofits
CRISIS ENGAGEMENT: 12 Tasks to Sustain Donors in Turbulent Times.
Thursday, April 9 at 10:00 AM with Matt Lehrman, Founder, Social Prosperity Partners

Amidst a still-unfolding public health and economic crisis, leaders of nonprofit organizations are profoundly challenged to sustain the support of their donors, members, volunteers, and other stakeholders. This free 24-minute webinar (presented live, with additional time for open Q&A) offers an espresso shot of substantive & actionable recommendations designed to help you protect the relationships upon which your organization depends.

Topics include:
  • Taking Care of Yourself & Your Team.
  • Safeguard your Donor Management System.
  • 3 Relevant Questions to Ask your Largest Donors.
  • 4 Meaningful Ways to Connect with Small Donors.
  • Now What? What Needs to Change/What Must Stay the Same?
  • How to Unleash the Immense Power of your Volunteers.
  • Why your Vision Statement is Suddenly More Valuable than your Mission Statement, and much more.
Questions? Please contact us at arts.culture@phoenix.gov. This webinar is presented by the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and Arizona Citizens for the Arts.
Grants Deadline Today
The application period for Fiscal Year 2021 Office of Arts and Culture Grants is now open! Applications will be accepted through today.

Applicants will apply through our new online grants portal  MARGO (Municipal Arts Resources Grants Online) and not through the previous online system. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Past grant awards are no assurance of future awards.
The Office of Arts and Culture is asking all cultural organizations to take the Americans for the Arts COVID-19 Impact Study survey. Please take the survey today! The survey will capture a broad spectrum of data and stories that will collect how the arts and culture workers triumphed and survived this crisis as well as the effect of the outbreak on operations through canceled events, lost wages, and additional expenses. The Office of Arts and Culture can pull Phoenix-specific data from Americans for the Arts to report to local authorizers on the impact COVID-19 has on the arts and culture sector in our city.
Federal COVID-19 Relief Bill
Last week, the federal  Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”)  was signed into law, and the arts and culture sector is part of it! Significantly, the package includes a $75 million allocation to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Of the NEA allocation, 40% will be distributed to the United States’ 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies, including the Arizona Commission on the Arts. At present, the amount that will be distributed to the State of Arizona, when that funding will arrive, and any requirements of awardees are all unknown.

What does the whole bill mean for the sector? On April 8, Americans for the Arts will host a free webinar that will lay out the various pieces of the legislation and how it pertains to the arts and culture sector beyond the NEA. With $2.3 trillion of funds, there are several sections of the legislation that can directly, and indirectly support artists, arts organizations, and small businesses in the creative economy.