The Bay Area Arts Readiness Network (BAARN), a new project launching in early 2025, will combine two critical forces to build Bay Area artists’ resiliency: Readiness and
Networking. BAARN will engage artists in all disciplines throughout a ten-county region
to provide preparedness training, networking, and funding. Supported by the William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation, BAARN combines the experience and resources of the nation’s two leading organizations promoting readiness, response, and recovery in the arts sector, NCAPER, and the Performing Arts Readiness project. This large-scale pilot project will create infrastructure to prepare artists facing increasing and overlapping crises. It will result in strategies, models, and curricula that can be replicated in other regions. Read the full press release.
While the August storms and the resulting flooding were deadly and devastating, they
have been met with resilience and an increased capacity by the arts and creative sector
to rebound and rebuild. We can’t capture all the amazing efforts, but here are a few.
This is the first large-scale disaster occurring with new FEMA regulations in place, which
allow artists and other self-employed individuals to request FEMA funds to replace tools
and equipment lost or damaged. NCAPER and other partners led by the Craft Emergency Relief Fund have long advocated this regulatory change. While the training
and the implementation process will, as we expected, take some time we’re grateful to our
colleagues within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of
Interior and HENTF, the Heritage Emergency National Task Force, for activating this
critical means of support.
NCAPER Steering Committee members are critical actors in response and recovery,
many having experienced and managed disasters themselves. Since the
storms hit:
Steering Committee members and other concerned partners have offered expertise and support during our seven NCAPER Response Facilitation Calls to date, which has had over 250 participants.
Steering Committee members of Americans for the Arts, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and Grantmakers in the Arts sponsored North Carolina arts leaders to attend a special North Carolina response meeting at the annual GIA conference in Chicago, IL, which included locals who worked through Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and Fiona
Americans for the Arts has connected resources to Local Arts Agencies in all five impacted states
Staff at the National Endowment for the Arts, also a Steering Committee member, met with North Carolina arts leaders last week while they visited DC and are currently on site in North Carolina to ensure that the arts and culture are represented in FEMA’s recovery needs assessment. The Endowment has also created this section of its website, offering Disaster Readiness and Recovery resources for the arts sector.
Steering Committee members have responded through expanded grantmaking. South Arts has created the new Southern Arts Relief and Recovery Fund, and NYFA extended its Rauschenberg Emergency Grant deadlines for artists who had lost power, internet, and access to their records. Discipline-specific members supported their artist communities: the Entertainment Community Fund through emergency funds to impacted entertainment professionals and MusiCares through grants to over 600 musicians, engineers, and venue staff in the Asheville music community and another 75 music industry professionals in the Florida community. The Craft Emergency Relief Fund has supported 716 Emergency Relief Grants to date, totaling almost $2 million, and has just awarded 150 Extended Relief Grants to artists in Western North Carolina, totaling $900,000.
We’ve been humbled to see the many others who have also stepped up and the resilience we are witnessing by artists and arts organizations. The North Carolina Arts Council, with support from the North Carolina Arts Foundation and ArtsNC, has created the NC Arts Disaster Relief Fund for impacted organizations. “Love Asheville from Afar” was established within weeks after the disaster to provide online sales opportunities for western North Carolina artists and other small businesses. Numerous artists and musicians inside and outside North Carolina have created fundraising events to help artists recover. Last weekend, NBC News highlighted the Asheville Ballet’s “Nutcracker” performances at the reopened Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, which served as a supply distribution center for first responders in the days immediately following the flooding.
Last year, our 12 Days/12 Ways to Readiness was a holiday hit, so we're bringing it back as the ultimate re-gift—because who doesn’t love a timeless classic?
NCAPER needs your support to continue providing support and connection before,
during, and after crises. We are the only national organization serving all arts disciplines, providing readiness, response, and recovery guidance, and making sure that artists and arts organizations know where to go to find vital resources. Please help through a gift of any size. Thank you!
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