Creative Portland disburses first round of artist relief funding

PORTLAND — Creative Portland has awarded $31,000 through its Portland Artist Relief Fund to artists impacted by the coronavirus.

The fund was set up in March.

“After fundraising $77,000 of the $50,000 goal, with the help of fellow artists, generous community patrons, anonymous philanthropists, and art lovers from the private, public and nonprofit sectors,” the Portland Artist Relief Fund Review Committee paid out $500 awards to all 62 eligible applicants, Creative Portland said in a press release.

The award winners include local performing artists, visual artists, writers and teachers. Creative Portland hopes the recipients of the grants will pay it forward in some way by volunteering their time or talents to the community.

“The pandemic has created an awful period of uncertainty for so many in our arts community, and although we can’t prevent fears for the future, Creative Portland wants artists to know that we value their creative contributions and sincerely hope that they will weather this storm,” Creative Portland said in a press release. “Together, we will try to hold each other up.”

Donations to the fund will be accepted and a second cycle of relief will be announced in early June. To donate visit creativeportland.giv.sh/0937.

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