This week, we began paying out grants to 121 musicians who applied through our unified submission process in partnership with ArtsMemphis. We’re thrilled to announce the applications will remain open as we have received a generous $85,000 commitment from the Kresge Foundation to support this effort.
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This week, ArtsMemphis and Music Export Memphis are distributing $77,190 to 159 artists across Shelby County in direct response to their establishment of the Artist Emergency Fund, made possible by a Community Foundation of Greater Memphis COVID-19 Regional Response Fund grant and compounded with generous gifts from the Assisi Foundation, Crosstown Arts, Hyde Family Foundation, and many individual donors to Music Export Memphis.
“We are so proud to be a convener and conduit for Memphis’ cherished arts community,” said ArtsMemphis President & CEO Elizabeth Rouse. “This is what we do every day; we just don’t typically do this in a crisis. It’s an honor to play this role in every stage of an artist’s or organization’s trajectory, and we’re committed to helping them weather this storm. We of course couldn’t do any of this without the financial support of our donors and our partnership with Music Export Memphis.”
“Music Export Memphis has been funding individual musicians since 2016, so it made sense for us to stand in this gap and it equally made sense to join forces with our long-time partner and funder ArtsMemphis,” said Elizabeth Cawein, Executive Director of Music Export Memphis. “Aligning efforts in this way allowed us to simplify the application process, grow the pot of funding available to artist applicants by leveraging our supporter base, and ensure as equitable a process as possible for accessing relief.”
To support the ongoing need in Shelby County, the Kresge Foundation has stepped in with generous commitments of $100,000 to ArtsMemphis and $85,000 to Music Export Memphis to make continued Artist Emergency Fund granting possible.
“The Kresge Foundation is pleased to partner with ArtsMemphis and Music Export Memphis to support Memphis-area artists in response to the pandemic.” said Regina R. Smith, Arts & Culture Managing Director, Kresge Foundation.
The application deadline for the next round of Artist Emergency Fund grants is April 22. Among applications of all artistic genres, Music Export Memphis will continue to partner with ArtsMemphis in receipt, review and reallocation of funds to local musicians.
“In our first round of applicants we saw an average reported loss for musicians of more than $4,000, just for gigs canceled in March and early April,” continued Elizabeth Cawein. “The hit to music professionals who rely on live performance to make a living is truly catastrophic, and it’s far from over. Music is a cultural and economic force for the city of Memphis, but that force is powered one musician at a time. We’re grateful to Kresge for this tremendous contribution to our city’s culture and the individuals who keep it alive.”