

UPDATED: Upcoming deadlines for COVID-19 relief grants benefitting North Carolina craft artists
- Shokai Sinclair
- November 1, 2020
- 10:45 pm
Times being hard for artists is the understatement of the decade! Between sheltering in place and a global recession, artists are struggling to replace lost income. So we thought we’d take one thing off of your plate and research all of the national, state, and local emergency relief grants for artists. Because of unprecedented demand, many grantors have closed their applications. Others are between rounds of funding. But there is still monetary support out there for local artisans!
We have focused here on cash grants currently available to artisans living in North Carolina. Some have deadlines coming up. Some are rolling deadlines. If you know of other grants, please email us. The North Carolina Arts Council also shared this directory of opportunities for artists with us, and they are updating the list weekly.
We gathered this list of grants (in part) by reviewing similar lists compiled by artnet, ARTS North Carolina, and North Carolina Arts Council. If you’d like to re-share this list, please credit NC Handmade as a source — as we have done. We are a brand new, local, family-owned North Carolina business that’s dedicated to helping NC artisans to make a living wage in these socially distant times. We appreciate the boost you can give us in search results by linking to this article when you share it.
Thank you 🙂
Funding available to North Carolina individual craft artisans (by county)
All counties
The Adolph & Esther Gottleib Emergency Grant
Rolling 2020 application deadlines (for painters, printmakers, and sculptors only)
Grant amount: $5,000–$15,000
Artists’ Fellowship, Inc.
Rolling 2020 application deadlines (for medical bills only)
No grant amounts have been listed.
Artist Relief
Application deadline: November 18, 2020
Grant amount: $5,000
Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund
Rolling 2020 application deadlines (BIPOC artists and arts administrators only)
Grant amount: $200
CERF+ Emergency Assistance
Rolling 2020 application deadlines (for medical expenses only)
Grant amount: $3,000
North Carolina CARES for Art Grants
Application deadline: Varies, with many counties listing a November 9, 2020 deadline
No grant amounts have been listed.
Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants
Application deadline: January 5, 2021 (for medical expenses only)
Grant amount: $0–$5,000
Chatham County
CARE: Chatham Artist Relief Effort
Rolling 2020 application deadlines, with decisions made ever Thursday
Grant amount: $50–$250
Durham County
Durham Artist Relief Fund (Northstar Church of the Arts)
Rolling 2020 application deadlines
No grant amounts have been listed.
Durham Arts Council Arts Recovery Fund
Rolling 2020 application deadlines
Grant amount: $0–$500
Madison County
Artist Relief Fund for Madison County
Rolling 2020 application deadlines
Grant amount: $200
Pitt County
Pitt County Arts Relief Fund
Rolling 2020 application deadlines
No grant amounts have been listed.