Denver Arts & Venues knows there are artists living and working in unsafe buildings and has set up a $300,000 fund to spur tenants and landlords to make repairs.

The Tuesday announcement of the Safe Creative Spaces Fund follows Denver City Council approval in July of the Safe Occupancy Program. That program allows people to continue occupying buildings that have non-life-threatening code violations if they agree to make needed repairs by deadlines set by the Denver Fire Department and other city agencies.

But few have taken advantage of the amnesty program, said Andrea Burns, spokeswoman for Denver Community Planning and Development.

“We have had a lot of inquiries,” she said, “but of all the calls, only three filled out the paperwork.”

During discussions that led to adoption of the Safe Occupancy Program members of the art community expressed concerns about the ability to pay for repairs, Arts & Venues deputy director Ginger White said.

“One thing we heard loud and clear from the community was this provides some level of assurance. But the issue remains how do they get up to code while they are already just scraping by,” White said. “I certainly hope the funding will be an incentive to get people to enroll in the program.”

Funding will be available from Dec. 12 through Jan. 17, 2020, to applicants who own or run a creative space in Denver, such as a live/work collective. Recipients must be enrolled in the Safe Occupancy Program.

Those approved for the funding can receive up to $50,000 per building or space, White said.

The funds will be administered through a partnership with the nonprofit contemporary art center RedLine. Applicants are encouraged to contact RedLine for free confidential guidance before enrolling in the amnesty program or applying for funding.

The city launched the amnesty program after shutting down Glob and Rhinoceropolis, two popular art spaces in the River North Art District, days after a deadly fire in Oakland, Calif., killed 36 people in a former industrial building housing an artist collective called the Ghost Ship.

Four months later, Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based immersive art production company, committed $100,000 to help DIY spaces across the U.S. pay rent, buy materials and make improvements to help bring their buildings up to code. At the time, Meow Wolf had already given $10,000 each to Rhinoceropolis and Glob.