About the South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund
Why this Fund?
This pandemic and its impact on the arts will impede the ability of many South Asians to remain in the arts, which is what this fund seeks to stem.
In the last five years, there has been a significant growth in the number of South Asians in the United States making the leap to pursue careers in the arts.
While it can often be an uncertain career choice, this has led to an increase in the visibility of South Asians in the arts. In industries that have historically been devoid of South Asian representation, when the pandemic subsides, we want to ensure that artists and arts professionals have the resources they need to help in continuing to narrow this gap.
The South Asian Arts Resiliency Fund is a means to continue building representation in the field while supporting arts workers to do what they do best: innovate and create.
Arts in the time of COVID-19
With necessary physical distancing in place for the foreseeable future to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, this pandemic has had a huge economic impact on the arts. In an ongoing survey, ‘Americans for the Arts’ estimates a crippling loss of over $115 million USD for the industry.
Artists and arts professionals — producers, agents, managers, administrators, technicians, and more – have lost months to a year worth of income or have been laid off. Many have limited options to generate alternate revenue.
In spite of their own financial challenges, the arts community is stepping up in these times to provide solace and entertainment in our homes by continuing to share their work through streaming concerts, online workshops, and more – very often for free.
Through this fund, you can give impacted arts workers hope and encouragement to continue creating and sharing art. Now more than ever, human beings are counting on the arts to gather, to find connection, and to rally.
Losses will only continue to grow well into the “recovery period” and will become detrimental unless we choose to support them now.
Who does the Fund Support?
Eligible applicants are United States based arts workers of South Asian descent (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) South Asian arts workers in the performing arts, film, visual arts, and/or literature, who can demonstrate they have had a loss of income because of canceled or postponed engagements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arts workers are defined as:
- Artists such as: dancer, choreographer, musician, poet, actor, comedian, playwright, director, filmmaker, writer, composer, visual artist, etc.; and
- Arts personnel such as: technicians (lighting, sound, costume, stage management, production, editor), independent curator / presenter, producers, agents, and managers, etc.
The fund will support South Asian arts workers in the US through project based grants.
With grant amounts of at least $1000 per project, this fund:
- Gives arts workers the ability to focus on the development and creation of work instead of leaving the arts
- Necessary moral support and acknowledgment of the value of their talent and work
The initial project grants will be funded by the India Center Foundation. With your tax deductible donations we can support even more people!
If you have additional questions, please email artsfund@theindiacenter.us
Fund Visuals by Aashna Shah.