Portland Institute for Contemporary Art Announces Emergency Relief Grants | $60,000 For Visual Artists

Precipice Fund Emergency Relief Grants
Applications Open | Monday, May 4, 2020 at 9a
Applications Close | Sunday, May 10, 2020 at 11:59p
Applicants Notified | Monday, May 18, 2020
Funds Issued by | May 31, 2020
More info: pica.org

In light of the severe economic impacts of COVID-19 on artists’ livelihoods and practices, Precipice Fund will convert its grantmaking for Round 8 (2020) to awarding $60,000 in emergency relief grants for independent visual artists based in the Portland Metro Area who are experiencing financial hardship. At the invitation of parent funder The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and in solidarity with partners in the Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Network, PICA has quickly shifted course to adjust and adapt Precipice Fund’s core values, criteria, timeline, and giving priorities to implement and distribute this short turnaround, need-driven aid.

Through an application-based selection process, a total of 120 grants of $500 each will be awarded to eligible visual artists based in the Portland Metro region. This effort reflects the centrality of artists to PICA’s mission and the ways in which the organization remains committed to artists, their lives, and their work, in crisis, and always.

The grantmaking process will be administered by PICA, and applications will be reviewed by a panel of local cultural workers, artists, and members of the PICA staff. Panelists will evaluate applications based on a combination of eligibility; application content, including demonstration of both financial need and active artistic practice; and a commitment to equity that ensures diversity among awardees and the inclusion of artists whose communities are underrepresented in relationship to visual art opportunities, economies, and funding streams.

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Re-granting program supports the creation of independent, non-traditional, public-facing artists’ projects by partnering with leading cultural institutions in communities across the country. Re-granting programs currently exist in sixteen cities: Albuquerque, Baltimore, Chica- go, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Portland (ME), Portland (OR), Saint Louis, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

Full application information including application details, eligibility, and frequently asked questions can be found at precipicefund.org.