The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
City accepting COVID-19 relief fund applications
All intown neighborhoods can follow along for the latest news on Twitter: @atlnewsnow
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms recently announced the city is accepting applications for the creATL Relief Fund to support Atlanta’s independent creative workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible applicants may receive $1,000 each to support essential financial obligations such as food, housing, utilities, medical expenses and transportation costs affected by project cancellations and other pandemic-related disruptions, according to a news release.
Launched through a public-private collaboration between the Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Mayor’s Office of City Planning, Invest Atlanta and City National Bank, the fund was initially capitalized by donations from these entities and other local leaders in the industry. The fund also received additional donations through a fundraising campaign to increase resources made available to independent creatives. Grant funds will be awarded in accordance with a scoring system.
Atlanta residents who work in the creative industry are eligible to apply for the creATL Relief Fund. To receive a grant, applicants must be part of the creative industry workforce, including film, television, media, music, eSports and digital entertainment, and live and operate within the city of Atlanta. Applicants must be able to demonstrate loss of job opportunities, contracts, freelance or other work in the creative or entertainment industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact on their ability to cover living expenses and basic financial needs.
Artists, creative entrepreneurs and entertainment professionals generate an estimated $62.5 billion in economic impact each year in Georgia and represent 5% of all employment and 4% of all business revenue in the state.
Applications are open through 9 p.m. July 3.
Information: investatlanta. com/creATL or contact Sheoyki Jones, Creative Industries Program Manager for Invest Atlanta at sajones@investatlanta.com.
On July 17 the High Museum of Art will bring another fanciful installation to its outdoor Sifly Piazza.
series of mesh tents supported by a metal superstructure, “Murmuration” will go on view July 17, and remain through Nov. 29.
A “murmuration” is a flock of starlings, and the structure at the High is intended to echo the city’s famous tree canopy and perhaps provide a place for Atlanta’s many bird species to perch.
Beneath this man-made canopy, guests can use the space as a shaded respite and participate in their own “nesting and perching” by using benches and “pods” suspended from the upper
Astructure.
“Our guests will enjoy the opportunity to relax and reflect,” said the High’s director, Rand Suffolk, in a statement. “(T)his latest project welcomes visitors of all ages to enjoy some fun, or take a quick break, in our outdoor space before heading into the museum.”
The installation is created by SO – IL, the New York-based joint practice of architects Florian Idenburg, who was born and raised in the Netherlands, and Jing Liu, a native of China.
The projec t was originally scheduled to open in April but was delayed by the pandemic.
The museum will provide a hand-sanitizing station to help reduce the possibility of contagion.
“Murmuration” will be introduced as the High reopens, after being closed for almost four months due to the COVID19 outbreak.
Members will be welcomed back July 7 and the public can return July 18.
“Murmuration” is the latest in a series of playful structures commissioned to enliven the High’s outdoor area.
In 2018 Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki brought the “Sonic Playground” to the piazza, Spanish designer Jaime Hayon introduced Atlanta to the “Merry Go Zoo” in 2017 and “Tiovivo” in 2016, and Mexican designers Héctor Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena installed “Mi Casa, Your Casa” and “Los Trompos” (“The Spinning Tops”) in 2014 and 2015.