On shaky ground, artists gain the city’s support
The local museums are closed. Concert venues are closed. Theaters are closed. Most of the city’s art galleries are closed or open by appointment only. Artist talks, exhibitions, concerts, and performances are being canceled or postponed. Many of these events, originally slated for March and April, were paying gigs for professional artists, musicians, actors, and other arts professionals. While the closings, cancellations, and postponements are necessary to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, artists may be wondering how they’ll be able to continue to support themselves. But Santa Fe is a city that cares about its artist base, and one new initiative is responding to the needs of local artists with a plan to help mitigate their financial burdens.
On March 20, the City of Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department announced a partnership with the locally based arts support organization Lannan Foundation: the Culture Connects Coalition Artist Relief Fund. “Artists don’t get to collect unemployment,” says Pauline Kanako Kamiyama, director of the Santa Fe Arts and Culture Department. “If they don’t work, they don’t get paid. We realize that people are going to suffer. I don’t mean to say that in a bad way, but it’s going to hurt.”
Her department, in conjunction with the Lannan Foundation, started the fund in March, following the lead of the City of Boston, which established a similar fund to support working artists.
Santa Fe’s own Artist Relief Fund began with a single phone conversation. “I called Lannan and they immediately said that they were in,” Kamiyama says. At first, Lannan offered a $10,000 challenge grant. Then, Jourdan Abel, Lannan’s director of Art and Public Programs, spoke with the Culture Connects advisory committee and upped the amount. “She came back and said, ‘We’re going to change it. We’re going to do $10,000 as a seed grant and $15,000 as a challenge grant.’ And that is amazing.”
What this means for working artists is that, come April, they’ll be able to apply for funding online (santafenm.gov/culture_connects_coalition) or by obtaining a hard copy application from the Arts and Culture Department (201 W. Marcy St.) that can be mailed in. Once approved, artists can receive between $500 and $1,000 in funds.
“I know there are many artists who depend on exhibitions and giving workshops in order to make a living,” says multimedia artist Matthew Chase-Daniel, co-owner of Axle Contemporary. “Some artists have other resources, but some are living on a month-tomonth basis. I think it’s wonderful that the Arts and Culture Department is doing what they can to look out for that sector of the community because that’s their mission, to serve artists and the art community.”
A joint exhibition between Chase-Daniel and his wife, Julie Chase-Daniel, The Blue Fold, opened in March at the Center for Contemporary Arts (1050 Old Pecos Trail). That venue is temporarily closed due to the health crisis, but he hopes the exhibition will be extended when it reopens.
“My first objective is to raise as much money as we can because that’s going to allow us to distribute more funds to more people,” Kamiyama says. “We’re in the process of taking pledges now.”
And, with the press release that went out on March 20, the pledges are pouring in. Meow Wolf’s chief executive officer, Vince Kadlubek, committed $5,000; that alone puts the fund a third of the way to meeting Lannan’s challenge grant. “This is a tremendously tough moment, and my heart is truly with everyone struggling with this new reality,” Kadlubek said in a statement. “Independent artists in Santa Fe are in an especially difficult situation, as independent contractors are already feeling a massive impact from economic impact. We all need to do our part to lift each other up in this moment.”
In addition to pledges from individuals, Kamiyama is developing an application, which should be available in April, for fiscal sponsors. But her department is also looking at other ways to boost artist support during the crisis. On March 18, she held the first of several WebEx webinars for cultural stakeholders to engage in brainstorming sessions. The webinar convenes every other week. “We’re in the midst of putting together a Facebook group page to share ideas,” she says. “Part of that includes activity plans and lesson plans for stay-at-home parents. Kids are at home now because the schools are closed.”
Such programs would include the participation of local artists who could, say, lead an online workshop on activities for children for a fee, and earn some extra income. “We know that artists are super-generous with their time and often do things like that for free, but they should be compensated,” Kamiyama says.
In the meantime, she hopes to see the Artist Relief Fund grow far beyond the initial challenge grant. “We are going to continue to raise funds for as long as we can,” she says. “I have a lofty goal of $100,000, and I’m going to keep it at that and see where that gets us. I believe that this community can pull that together.”
A formal donation process is still in development.Interested parties can email their pledges to pkkamiyama@santafenm.gov, with “Artist Relief Fund Donation” in the subject line, or call 505-955-6653. ◀