Application Process for New York’s Guaranteed Income for Artists Program

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From The Authors Guild:

As we advised you in February, Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY) has instituted a program that will provide $1,000 per month for 18 consecutive months to 2,400 New York State artists—defined broadly to include writers—who have demonstrated financial need. The deadline for applications is March 25, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

This program is intended to provide a safety net for artists, who as a group have undergone great financial suffering over recent years. We encourage you to take advantage of this long-awaited opportunity, which can allow authors not only the time, but the financial support which they so desperately need to write. If selected, you will have the chance to submit a written description of your commitment to your writing, as well a link to your website, social media, press links, or other digital presence demonstrating your work.

We have put together these guidelines for you to review and reference while filling out the application.

To be eligible to take part, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older as of January 1, 2022.
• Have primary residence in New York State at the time of application.
• Demonstrate financial need, meaning your household income must be below the Self-Sufficiency Standard. Click here to use the Self-Sufficiency Standard Calculator.
• Identify as an “artist, culture bearer, or culture maker,” which they define as “someone who regularly engages in artistic or cultural practice to: express themselves with the intention of communicating richly to or sharing with others; pass on traditional knowledge and cultural practices; offer cultural resources to their communities; and/or co-organize and co-create within communities toward social impacts. Artists aspire to sustain themselves through their practice and maintain a commitment to continuing their practice. Artists can work both individually and collaboratively, or as educators within their field of practice.” This includes artists in the literary arts.

Grant recipients will not be selected based on the quality of their art. Rather, they will be selected randomly through a process that prioritizes people who hold the following identities or community conditions (in no particular order):

• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
• Deaf/Disabled
• LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic, Pansexual+)
• Caregivers
• Immigrants
• Criminal Legal System Involvement
• Lack of Financial Safety Net
• Rural

. . . .

In addition to such basic information as your name, address, and other contact information, you will be asked to provide:

• Demographic information, including your racial/ethnic background, gender identity, whether you identify as deaf or disabled, or if you have any involvement with the criminal legal system, as mentioned above.
• Household and Community Conditions. Examples might include being a caregiver for someone else or whether you have a “financial safety net,” which includes factors such as whether you are financially vulnerable to a medical emergency.
• Information about your Artistic Practice, including your approach as an artist, whether your work is solo or with other artists, or if it requires public or community involvement.

Link to the rest at The Authors Guild

PG hasn’t visited New York City in a few years, but he’s quite skeptical that $1,000 per month will keep an artist from starving, regardless of racial/ethnic background, gender identity, etc., etc.

That said, upon walking up on some mornings, PG does identify as disabled and, on such occasions, PG also might be uncertain as to whether he has a gender identity or not, all before his meds kick in.