Sputnik Emergency Artists Fund
Donation protected
Artists, freelancers and zero-hours workers in the creative industries have been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Many artists are self-employed, and work in industries that have shut down completely in this crisis. For many, their sources of income have disappeared almost overnight. Those who work in theatre, music, dance; those who rely on income from exhibitions that have been shut down; those who have side-gigs in teaching or the service industry that have similarly dried up.
On top of all of the other challenges that we’re all getting used to, many artists are dealing with huge financial uncertainty, with no clear way forward as yet, and no guarantee of sick pay, or recompense for cancellations and so on.
There is always a level of uncertainty in the creative arts, and that's why we have been funding artistic projects over the last 2 years, as part of our vision to support creative professionals within the UK church.
In the circumstances, we've decided to re-route the funds we'd allocated to artist grants for this coming term into helping the immediate needs of artists who are caught in this situation and reimagining their lives. We've been inspired in part by the efforts of other West Midlands organisations and our friends in Morphe Arts .
We recognise that we don’t have huge resources and we can’t give as much as we’d like, but we want to help, and also to gather anyone else with a similar sense of concern for the wellbeing of artists, looking to love and support the church in this time.
Our goal is to raise £4,000 that we can then distribute to artists in need across the Sputnik network. We would be looking to typically distribute these funds in small gifts of £200 each, although each case will be considered individually.
If you are in need of help, and want to contact us, you can find all the relevant information here on our Sputnik Patrons page.
We believe this a time for the church to come together and distribute what we have amongst those who need it. If your salary is unaffected or you could spare some money - and if you find yourself watching more Netflix and feeling grateful to the artists who make it! - please consider donating to our fund.
Thankyou for all your support - with love, the Sputnik team.
Many artists are self-employed, and work in industries that have shut down completely in this crisis. For many, their sources of income have disappeared almost overnight. Those who work in theatre, music, dance; those who rely on income from exhibitions that have been shut down; those who have side-gigs in teaching or the service industry that have similarly dried up.
On top of all of the other challenges that we’re all getting used to, many artists are dealing with huge financial uncertainty, with no clear way forward as yet, and no guarantee of sick pay, or recompense for cancellations and so on.
There is always a level of uncertainty in the creative arts, and that's why we have been funding artistic projects over the last 2 years, as part of our vision to support creative professionals within the UK church.
In the circumstances, we've decided to re-route the funds we'd allocated to artist grants for this coming term into helping the immediate needs of artists who are caught in this situation and reimagining their lives. We've been inspired in part by the efforts of other West Midlands organisations and our friends in Morphe Arts .
We recognise that we don’t have huge resources and we can’t give as much as we’d like, but we want to help, and also to gather anyone else with a similar sense of concern for the wellbeing of artists, looking to love and support the church in this time.
Our goal is to raise £4,000 that we can then distribute to artists in need across the Sputnik network. We would be looking to typically distribute these funds in small gifts of £200 each, although each case will be considered individually.
If you are in need of help, and want to contact us, you can find all the relevant information here on our Sputnik Patrons page.
We believe this a time for the church to come together and distribute what we have amongst those who need it. If your salary is unaffected or you could spare some money - and if you find yourself watching more Netflix and feeling grateful to the artists who make it! - please consider donating to our fund.
Thankyou for all your support - with love, the Sputnik team.
Fundraising team: Sputnik Team (1)
Sputnik Arts
Organizer
Jonny Mellor
Team member