Our Network of Support

Published: May 15, 2020

Categories: COVID-19 | Featured

Artwork detail: Liz Tran, 2013 GAP recipient

As of today, May 15, $475,000 from The Artist Trust COVID-19 Relief Fund has reached 271 artists, and our relief efforts have provided resources, community, and support for artists of all disciplines across Washington State. This work is possible because of the generous support of nearly 600 individuals and community partners who have chosen to stand with artists during this crisis. You can see a full list of these generous supporters here. Today we’d like to highlight just a few of those partners. Some are long-time supporters of our work, while others are donating to Artist Trust for the first time. 

  • The Seattle Office of Arts and Culture has supported Artist Trust since the founding of our organization in 1986! They were a key partner in the creation of our racial equity framework in 2015, when they offered city-wide training as part of the City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative. In early March, when it first became clear that we needed to create an emergency relief fund for artists, the Office of Arts and Culture was one of our first significant partners, contributing $50,000. Many thanks to the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, especially Director Randy Engstrom and Deputy Director Calandra Childers. 
  • The Dale and Leslie Chihuly Foundation founded the Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award in 2010 – the largest merit-based award currently available to Washington State artists. Financial support provided by grants was critical to Dale Chihuly’s early artistic development and inspired him to fuel future artistic innovation through this award.  This year, the Foundation granted an additional $50,000 to support The Artist Trust COVID-19 Relief Fund. 
  • Jody Allen, philanthropist, community leader, and co-founder and chair of Vulcan Inc. provided significant support to our COVID-19 relief efforts. “Artists and their contributions are the cornerstone of building a strong, vibrant society,” said Jody. “I am a proud supporter of Artist Trust because their funding helps ensure that creators across the visual, musical, and performing arts have emergency support – and can get back to enriching all of our lives as soon as possible.” 
  • All In Seattle is a group of like-minded community members who are quickly deploying resources directly to proven non-profits who can deliver to those most in need, including Artist Trust. Support from All In Seattle resulted in numerous new donors to Artist Trust, many from the Technology sector. They have continued to grow their support of our region over the past several weeks, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for this dedicated group of philanthropists. Follow them at allinseattle.org for updates. 
  • $3 from the sale of each glassybaby is donated to the glassybaby white light fund to provide hope and healing. A $5,000 “baby grant” was awarded to support Artist Trust’s relief efforts, and we are grateful to welcome this new member of our donor community this year. 
  • Jones Soda amplified our COVID-19 relief efforts and the work of Washington State artists through their Support the Arts campaign. Two artists are featured in a limited-time series of Jones Soda bottles and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Artist Trust’s relief efforts. Purchase the Artist Trust 12-pack here. 

Thanks to this incredible network of support, Artist Trust will be there for artists through this crisis and beyond. To learn more about Artist Trust’s COVID–19 relief efforts, visit www.artisttrust.org.  

To join our coalition of supporters, visit https://artisttrust.org/donate/.