Over the last two years, we’ve worked hard to provide artists with the resources and tools to support their resiliency during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, we launched our Readiness and Resilience series, featuring workshops, conversations, and webinars to help artists across Washington State prepare for unexpected change. The topics covered were community building, risk assessment, resource sharing, tips on financial assistance and insurance, emergency preparedness in the face of natural, personal, and social disasters, and more. This series was made in partnership with CEFF+ the Artist’s Safety Net with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Our second annual Mental Health and Wellness Monday series was launched in October 2021, featuring artist stories, resources, music, and a workshop to support artists mental health and wellness. Below are resources from 2020 and 2021.
Additionally, there are other resources to support artists in this unprecedented times and moving forward.
Readiness and Resilience Program Series
Kickoff Presentation with CERF+ with Director of Education & Outreach Carrie Cleveland
In this kickoff presentation of our Readiness and Resilience five-part program series in partnership with CERF+ the Artist’s Safety Net with funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CERF+ Director of Education & Outreach Carrie Cleveland does an overview of CERF+, their tools and resources to help artists prepare for natural and personal disasters.
Community Conversations: Readiness and Resilience
Moderated by June T. Sanders, Chai Adera, Shantell Jackson, Roin Morigeau, and Dujie Tahat spoke to a range of topics, including being ready for unexpected change, building resilience through building community, and how the current pandemic and racial injustices has shifted our thinking around readiness and resiliency.
Building Resilience by Building Community Workshop with Shantell Jackson
What role do our communities play during unexpected change? How can we collectively build resilience by coming together as creatives? During this hour-long workshop, artist and educator Shantell Jackson will discuss how embracing community can play a central role in the stability and well-being of artists.
Risk Assessment for Creatives Workshop with Fumi Amano
During this hour-long workshop, artist Fumi Amano will talk about risk assessment and how to center safety and preparedness as a creative. Topics surrounding, studio safety, working with hazardous materials, protecting your body, and working internationally will be covered.
Ready and Resilient: Tips and Resources for Artistic Career
During this hour-long workshop, Program Managers Lydia Boss and Luther Hughes share tips and resources on how to prepare yourself for emergencies related to your artistic career. Topics include planning for unknowns and share resources related to insurance, emergency preparedness, and finding stability in uncertain times.
Mental Health and Wellness Mondays
Ever-growing List of Mental Health and Wellness Resources
Over the past two years, we have created an ever-growing list of mental health and wellness resources for artists of all disciplines across Washington State. The list includes therapy directories, community groups, podcasts, and more. Check out the list here.
Rest, Restore, and Refresh with Music from DJ Sharlese
The visuals that accompany this playlist were created by Velvet Lux.
Well-being with Confidence: Finding Your Therapeutic Fit with Dalisha Phillips (LMHCA, ATR-P)
Well-being with Confidence: Find Your Therapeutic Fit with Dalisha Phillips was a workshop offering guidance, clarity, and resources to help artists find the right therapist and culturally relevant approach. Here is the slideshow from this workshop.
[pdf-embedder url=”https://media.artisttrust.org/assets/2022/01/Well-being-wConfidence-Artist-Trust.pdf” title=”Well-being wConfidence – Artist Trust”]
Artist Stories
Uncertainty as Catalyst by Mary Pan
“I eventually realized this time was rich in a kind of subconscious creative energy. Perhaps it was a different kind of productivity. I found myself with fits and starts of sentences, themes, poems. Waking in the middle of the night, there was almost an avalanche of these snippets, a phrase or a line or a connection between a news headline and a patient encounter, between waving to my parents or my children through glass windows and the solitary nature of existence, between overcoming the discomfort of constantly seeing yourself on video and the mirrors placed on our identity through the isolation of quarantine.”
Read the entire story here.
Mary Pan is a writer and physician with a background in global health and narrative medicine. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in McSweeney’s, Creative Nonfiction, Intima, and elsewhere. She is a Tin House 2020 Nonfiction Winter Workshop alum and a 2020 Media & Medicine Harvard Medical School fellow. The recipient of a 2019 Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects Award, she was runner-up for AWP’s 2020 Kurt Brown Prize for Creative Nonfiction. She is currently working on a book exploring mental illness and identity. More at marypanwriter.com
photo credit: Jennifer Wohrle
Dragging My Baggage into Paradise by Jane Orleman
“The reception of the work gave me impetus to do talks with trauma survivors as well as with sexual offenders. As the work evolved, I continued to share it with over 20 solo exhibits, primarily in university galleries. My childhood experiences are not unique. Viewers shared their secret traumas with me and with each other. Change through art happens, on a personal level and societal level. The first step in stopping the crimes against ourselves and our children is to speak our truths.”
Read the entire story here.
Jane Orleman was born in upstate New York during WWII. Leaving home at 18, she wandered around the country attending universities in New York, Florida, Oregon, and Washington. After eleven years and many major changes, she finally discovered her calling. Jane received a degree in art from Central Washington University where she met her husband, Richard Elliott. They dedicated their lives to art, each following their own path. Together they created Dick and Jane’s Spot, where Jane continues to maintain, expand, and create new yard art.
Moving Forward with My Community by Program Manager Grace Nakahara
“I want to serve my community to the best of my ability. My job has allowed me to work closely with artists across Washington State. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that the already pressing need for emergency assistance for artists has grown these past few years.”
Read the entire story here.
Grace Nakahara was born and raised in Seattle, WA. She’s a mixed-race painter and horror film fanatic. Her passion for all things spooky stems from her research of representation in media. Her current work explores self-representation and performative behavior. She graduated from Gonzaga University in 2019 with degrees in Creative Writing and Fine Art. Originally a Program Intern for Artist Trust, she worked for the org as a contractor, the COVID-19 Relief Fund Coordinator and now is proud to be working on the team as a Program Coordinator.
Monthly Income Loss Calculator
This downloadable monthly loss income calculator was created by Artist Trust to assist artists with determining their lost income during the current COVID-19 pandemic and could be helpful when applying for emergency funding, unemployment, and other financial assistance.
Instructions:
- Download this excel sheet.
- Fill out the table based on work that has been canceled for the month. This could include work as an independent contractor or official employee, as well as separate gigs.
- The table will automatically calculate your loss total for you. For this reason, when referring to a gig, please use the number 1 in Column D.
- Your running monthly total will be at the very bottom on the table.
Washington State Food Bank Map
We encourage you to use this food bank map to help you find alternative food sources in your area.
COVID-19 Response & Recovery Resources
We at Artist Trust recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and the need for support has not gone away. Our team will continue work toward more funding opportunities for artists impacted by the pandemic and other emergencies, as well as promote other relief funds and resources for artists on this page.