St. Louis COVID-19 Artist Relief Fund

WE HAVE INCREASED OUR GOAL FROM $10,000 to $20,000. See updates for more information.

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The St. Louis Artist community is a diverse, broad group of very DIY artists - they bring amazing music, photography, visual art, dance, theater, and other art forms to our city on the regular, and they do it with performances that are overwhelmingly free or affordable.  Perhaps you've recently seen a show at a theater; maybe your cousin is a wedding singer; or you may have art hanging in your home from a local artist. Artists bring tremendous cultural and personal value to our lives. 

Now, as the COVID-19 crisis continues to force cancellation of all group gatherings in the St. Louis metro region, many artists have had to cancel their exhibitions, gigs, and shows. Artists in the St. Louis area rely on their art (and people paying to see, listen to, or purchase their art) to pay their bills. Singers, actors, technicians, DJs, musicians, painters - they all need people to come out in public to see or purchase their art at a theater, a gallery, a trade show, a convention, or some other event.

The loss of money is real, and, for many artists, that may mean they risk getting their power cut off, can't buy groceries, or, worst of all at this time, cannot afford the healthcare they need. These cancellations are hitting our creative community hard. Many are not able to weather this storm without support.  

If you love St. Louis art - music, theater, performing or visual art, or any other kind of art -  if you love the St. Louis arts community, and if you have the resources to, please contribute to our relief fund. The money we raise will go directly to artists. Those of us organizing this event are artists - no middle people here - we will send that money directly to the artists who need it. 

Please give your support to our local storytellers, performers, filmmakers, technicians, musicians, and artists!

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Who are we? 

We are three artists from the St. Louis region - Jessica Pautler (a costumer and textile artist), Jeremy Goldmeier (an actor and musician), and Kyle Kratky (a writer and director). We are not currently impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, but we are connected to the art community in our region and know firsthand the need for this support.

Who will receive money from this? 

Using the survey link above, any individual artist living in the St. Louis metro area who has had an event, gig, or paying opportunity canceled due to the COVID-19 crisis can apply for funding. Preference will be given to artists who are living in the St. Louis region, who have had a cancellation for this reason, who have urgent expenses, and who make most or all of their income from their art. "Artist" here can mean a musician, actor, writer, painter, photographer, dancer, or those who create in other artistic disciplines. None of the money will go to the organizers of this GoFundMe, and we are not funding any organizations. 

How will the donations be spent?

Money will go directly to impacted artists, with a higher level of funding given to those who identify an urgent financial need (rent, medical bills, utility bills, etc.). We will ask artists how much money they lost from any jobs or gigs, and we will also ask artists about the cost of any upcoming urgent expenses. The money can be spent however that artists needs to once they receive it, but the intent is that this money will support their essential needs in this time of crisis. 

How will we get money to the artists?

We have set up an independent bank account and an independent PayPal account for these donations. All money received will be disbursed via PayPal directly to those who qualify. 

If you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to contact us at [email redacted].

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ARTISTS: we are immensely sorry to say that, due to overwhelming response from artists in need, we are unable to accept any new requests for aid at this time. We have received more than 100 responses and have earmarked all funds through our initial $10,000 goal. We have raised our overall goal to $20,000. If we are able to fund everyone in our current waitlist, we will resume intake for funding requests.