Emergency Readiness, Response & Recovery

hurricane sandy recovery resources

With extraordinarily widespread destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, grantmakers across the country will be looking to help with the cleanup and rebuilding.

Grantmakers in the Arts is aggregating resources and information for funders and others interested in supporting hurricane recovery efforts. Our goal is to serve as a conduit for information for our members and constituents.

GIA Members and Others Providing Emergency Funding

• CERF+’s emergency relief assistance for professional craft artists
• The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Community Foundation of New Jersey's New Jersey Recovery Fund (donations can be earmarked for the arts)
• New York Foundation for the Arts has an extensive list of local resources posted
• The Joan Mitchell Foundation has funding allocated specifically for emergency assistance
• The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and Lambent Foundation (a project of the Tides Center) announced a Sandy relief effort here
• Brooklyn Recovery Fund at the Brooklyn Community Foundation
• Emergency grants from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation
• Emergency grants from Artist Fellowship, Inc.
• Emergency grants fom the Haven Foundation
• Emergency Grants from Max's Kansas City
• Emergency residency opportunities at the Santa Fe Art Institute
• MusiCares Foundation
• Episcopal Actors Guild
• Change Inc. emergency grants for artists. No website; call 212-473-3742
• The Actors Fund provides a number of emergency services for individuals in the performing arts.
• A Brooklyn Artists Relief Fund has been set up at the Art (c) Group.
• Foundation for Contemporary Arts
• American Society of Journalists and Authors
• Poets in Need
• The Mayer Foundation
• Herbert and Irene Wheeler Foundation, Brooklyn; No website, call 718-951-0581
• Housing and Emergency Assistance Grants from Jazz Foundation of America
• Financial Aid from the Society of Singers
• American Guild of Variety Artists' Sickness and Relief Fund
• Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
• Emergency grants from The Pollock Krasner Foundation
• Alliance for Response, NYC

Emergency Resources

• Info on post-disaster legal topics from CERF+
• Guide to Navigating FEMA and SBA Disaster Aid for Cultural Institutions
• Huracán Sandy: Informacion Oficial en Español
• The Red Cross provides a series of mobile apps that link users with local sources for emergency services
• FEMA also provides a questionnaire that generates a list of the programs you are eligible for
• The FEMA FAQ page

Arts-specific Resources

• ArtsReady is a web-based emergency preparedness platform designed to provide arts and cultural organizations with customized business continuity plans for post crisis sustainability
• Heritage Preservation provides a Guide to Navigating FEMA, complete with application forms, and related free downloads
• FAIC Cultural Recovery Center

State of New York

• Disaster Relief Resources for the Cultural Community is a document maintained by New York Department of Cultural Affairs
• Federal Aid Programs for State of New York Disaster Recovery
• Office of Emergency Management

State of New Jersey

• The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Community Foundation of New Jersey's New Jersey Recovery Fund
• Federal Aid Programs for State of New Jersey Disaster Recovery
• Office of Emergency Management

State of Connecticut

• Federal Aid Programs for State of Connecticut Disaster Recovery
• Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection

State of North Carolina

• Federal Aid Programs for State of North Carolina Emergencies
• North Carolina Community Foundation

Other Resources

• The Federal Government's Hurricane Sandy Recovery resource site
• The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has a Hurricane Sandy hub
• The Council on Foundations' Disaster Resource Center

Hurricane Sandy/Arts Stories in the Press

• Dancing in the Dark in Dance Magazine
• Broadway to Sandy: The Show Is Back on on NPR
• New York's art world counts the damage done by Hurricane Sandy in The Guardian
• Where Creations Faced Destruction in The New York Times
• Sandy's impact touches NYC theater, arts world in Illinois State magazine
• Chelsea Art Galleries Struggle to Restore and Reopen in The New York Times
• Museum of Modern Art to Offer Presentation on Conserving Flood-Damaged Artwork in ArtsBeat

Please let us know if you have any further information that should be shared with the grantmaking community!

The National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response is a cross-disciplinary, voluntary task force involving over 20 arts organizations (artist/art-focused organizations, arts agencies and arts funders) and individual artists, spearheaded by Craft Emergency Relief Fund/Artists’ Emergency Resources(CERF+) and South Arts. Coalition participants are committed to a combined strategy of resource development, educational empowerment, and public policy advocacy designed to ensure that there is an organized, nationwide safety net for artists and the arts organizations that serve them before, during and after disasters. GIA members active with the Coalition have been meeting at GIA’s annual conference to guide and educate foundations, arts agencies, art service organizations and corporate grantmakers interested in becoming more emergency ready and effective in their emergency relief efforts and grantmaking.

Recommended Resources & Publications

Emergency readiness:

• Checklist for Effective Disaster Response: Insigts for Wise Humanitarian Action
• Disaster Preparedness & Recovery Plan (Council on Foundations)
• Emergency Preparedness Plan from the Mississippi Arts Commission
• ArtsReady, an initiative of the Southern Arts Federation
• Studio Protector: The Artist’s Guide to Emergencies

Emergency response & recovery:

• Disaster Grantmaking: A Practical Guide for Foundations and Corporations (Council on Foundations)
• The Actors’ Fund: resources on emergency relief, disaster aid, health insurance, mental health, etc.
• New York Foundation for the Arts: NYFASource Emergency Resources
• Studio Protector: The Artist’s Guide to Emergencies
• After The Flood: Some “Out Of The Box” Options For Foundations

Reports on Emergency Funding:

• Summary of New York Arts Recovery Fund (NYFA)
• Artists’ Quake Aid Final Report 2001 (Artists Trust)
• When the Hot Dishes Stop Coming: The ‘97 Flood Clearinghouse, An Evaluation Performed for the Bush Foundation

Sources on the GIA website include:

• Coalition for Artists’ Preparedness and Emergency Response
• Hurricane Katrina, 9/11: Helping artists and arts organizations in times of extreme emergency
• Artists’ Quake Aid