SALT LAKE CITY – Help is on the way for hundreds of artists impacted by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a work session Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Council unanimously supported an emergency funding package.
The program will take money originally allocated the Salt Lake Arts Council to provide a one-time grant of $500 to artists who qualify.
“These funds are going to help a little bit for situations like that, where they just give you a little bit of help through a sticky situation,” said Felicia Baca, the Executive Director of the Salt Lake Arts Council.
The grants will help the entire spectrum of artists, including photographers, painters, photographers and musicians.
The application is available from now until April 28 at artsandmuseums.utah.gov.
Chris Madsen, a Salt Lake based photographer, is grateful this program has been created to offer assistance.
“It helps quite a bit. $500 is more than half my rent for a month,” Madsen said.
He estimates he will lose at least $30,000 because gatherings where he sells his work have been canceled.
“Without shows, it’s definitely going to change the landscape of what my year is going to look like,” Madsen said.
The money is meant to help artists weather this storm, so they will be able to share their talents with the world, once the pandemic is over.
“We are going to make it through it,” Baca said. “We are going to be the ones bringing the community back to feeling good.”
