Contribute to the Hudson Arts Emergency Fund
Please consider making a contribution to the Hudson Arts Emergency Fund, which supports individual artists with stipends for WPA-like projects focused on life in Hudson during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.
On behalf of the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) Emergency Cultural Task Force, we ask for your help in funding the Hudson Arts Emergency Program, a WPA-style project that will support artists during this critical time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the Hudson Arts Emergency Program we seek to create a means to assist creative workers in Hudson by supporting projects that would benefit both them and the greater community via meaningful employment during this time when their earning potential has been greatly impacted if not totally eliminated. Also, creative artists are often not eligible for government aid programs that are based on job losses rather than loss of income.
In the mid-1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency established in the wake of the Great Depression, employed musicians, artists, writers, dancers, choreographers, photographers, actors, and directors in large arts, drama, media, performance, and literacy projects. People like John Steinbeck, Alice Neel, Jackson Pollock, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, and Ralph Ellison received such WPA grants years before they became household names.
Similarly, the Hudson Arts Emergency Program will grant emergency relief by offering direct stipends to artists and creative workers for projects that speak to this crisis moment.
Some examples of potential projects:
- an artist or group of (appropriately social-distanced) artists could paint a mural or series of murals around Hudson
- a musician or composer could create a song cycle, opera, rap, or instrumental work addressing the emotional impact of the pandemic, culminating in a recording, video, and/or public performance once the quarantine is lifted
- a historian could record residents discussing life in Hudson during the pandemic shutdown, culminating in a radio broadcast, podcast, and an historical artifact
- a filmmaker could create a series of portraits for broadcast on the local cable-TV channel or for streaming on YouTube, Facebook, or other online media platform
- a painter could be commissioned to paint images of life in Hudson during the pandemic shutdown that will culminate in a public exhibition
- a dancer/choreographer could be commissioned to create a piece about life in Hudson during the pandemic shutdown that will culminate in a video or public viewing
- a photographer could document the streets and scenes of Hudson during the pandemic shutdown that would culminate in an online and/or gallery exhibition
- a writer or poet could create texts reflecting life in Hudson during the pandemic shutdown that could culminate in a chapbook, a slam-poetry session, and/or a collection of other writers works
The Hudson Arts Emergency Program will create these employment opportunities for artists and creative people in the form of stipends that will support projects with a four-week deadline. Stipends will be awarded in increments of $500, $1,000, and $2,000, depending upon the scope of the project. If we raise $100,000, we could help approximately 100 people. Please consider helping us reach that goal today.
Potential grantees will complete a simple application form including a project plan, as per our specifications. We will review the proposals as quickly as they come in and begin funding immediately and continue on a rolling basis.
The program will be administered through the HDC, which is a 501C3 and therefore equipped to collect tax-deductible contributions and to distribute funds for such a program. All funds raised will go directly to individual artists, with a very small amount set aside for administrative costs.
Contributions can be made via PayPal at the top of this page or by sending a check made out to Hudson Development Corp. with Arts Fund in the memo line, mailed to:
Hudson Development Corporation
ATTN: Hudson Arts Emergency Program
1 North Front St.
Hudson, NY 12534
Questions? Please contact one or all of us listed below.
Seth Rogovoy, Linda Mussmann, and Jonah Bokaer
HDC Emergency Task Force – Culture
Seth Rogovoy is a longtime cultural critic and a concert and festival producer. He sits on the board of the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) and is an eight-year resident of Hudson, N.Y. seth@rogovoy.com
Linda Mussmann is founder and co-director of Time & Space Limited (TSL). An artist, writer, theatre director and activist, Linda has lived and worked in Columbia County for over three decades. mussmann.linda@gmail.com
Jonah Bokaer enjoys an international career as an exhibiting museum artist; leads a touring multi-ethnic dance company; and oversees a nonprofit foundation that has succeeded in delivering three permanent arts facilities for younger artists, including Space 428 in Hudson. The Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation presents The Hudson Eye, an annual 10-day artist-driven public program and urban showcase with a focus on dance, music, performance, visual art, video art, film, and media. jbk@jonahbokaer.net
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