Mayor London Breed announces relief for San Francisco artists

San Francisco Mayor London Breed (C) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (L) and San Francisco Department of Public Health director Dr. Grant Colfax (R) look on at San Francisco City Hall on March 16, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a shelter in place order for residents in San Francisco until April 7. The order will allow people to leave their homes to do essential tasks such as grocery shopping and pet walking. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) less San Francisco Mayor London Breed (C) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco police chief William Scott (L) and San Francisco Department of Public Health director Dr. Grant Colfax (R) look on at San ... more Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Mayor London Breed announces relief for San Francisco artists 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

LATEST: March 26, 9:30 a.m.: Mayor London Breed's office revealed more details about San Francisco's arts grant program and opened the application process.

For grants, individual must be full-time San Francisco residents and not currently on or eligible for unemployment. Organizations must have an annual operating budget below $2 million dollars, with funding based on budget ($10,000 for budgets up to $999,999, $15,000 up to $1,499,999, $25,000 up to two million).

Loans will be capped at $50,000, with a 2.5% interest rate and must be repaid within 12-24 months, with repayment plan to be determined between Northern California Grantmakers and the borrower. Applicants will need to submit their current yearly operating budget, financial statements, board roster, and several other documents.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, and there is currently no deadline listed to apply.

March 23, 2:10 p.m.: Artists are some of those hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis and San Francisco Mayor London Breed's office appears to have their back.

This morning Breed tweeted out a press release announcing an Arts Relief Program funded by $2.5 million from the city.

“Our artists and cultural institutions are at the heart of who we are as a City and a community,” said Breed in the release. “This community is also getting hit hard right now as people are suffering from job loss, business closures, and economic disruption during the COVID-19 outbreak. We need to do everything we can to stabilize our arts community now. I hope our public investment will encourage private donors to join us in supporting our vulnerable artists during this challenging time.”

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The program has two options: grants and low interest loans. According to the release, $1.5 million of the budget will go towards "individual artists, teaching artists, and small- to mid-budget sized arts and cultural organizations administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation" and prioritizing the needs of organizations serving the most vulnerable — "black, indigenous, immigrant, trans, and people with disabilities." The cap for awards is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 to $25,000 for organizations, scaled to their budget.

An additional one million dollars will be allotted to low-interest loans for arts and cultural organizations administered by the Arts Loan Fund of Northern California Grantmakers.

In a phone call with SFGATE, a city official confirmed that they hope to have applications for the grants and loans online on Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, they've directed artists to visit the San Francisco Arts Commission website for more resources.

The city is also accepting tax-deductible donations via the website Give2sf.org.

Dan Gentile is a digital editor at SFGATE. Email: Dan.Gentile@sfgate.com | Twitter: @Dannosphere



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