The Portland Art Museum and Northwest Film Center announce The Re:Imagine Artist Fund, an expanded initiative to support visual, cinema arts, and new media artists, both to provide immediate assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to sustain their creative practices long-term. The Fund will provide emergency relief grants and longer-term sustainability grants, as well as increase programming stipends to artists from across Oregon and Clark County, Washington. At this critical moment of change, it is crucial to the health of our arts ecosystem to distribute resources, and PAM/NWFC joins the important relief efforts of area organizations in directly supporting artists.
To address immediate economic needs, the first phase, the Re:Fresh Fund, will distribute 25 unrestricted grants of $2,000 as emergency COVID-19 relief funding to visual, film, and new media artists whose livelihoods have been severely impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The second phase, Re:Imagine Fund, will focus on supporting 10 artists with grants of $5,000 as they reimagine their practices and pivot towards the post COVID-19 future. Applications will be evaluated for both innovative potential and economic need. Please refer to the FAQ for more information about review criteria.
We acknowledge the power imbalance between artist and institution while affirming our intention to generate and offer resources to bolster our arts ecosystem. Selections for both phases will be made by members of PAM/NWFC staff and a panel of arts workers and community partners that are diverse and reflective of our region’s communities. Submissions will be evaluated with attention given to our equity statement: commitment to equity means including, serving, resourcing, validating, and centering our BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and colleagues and neuro-diverse communities and community members with disabilities.
We strongly encourage applicants to apply to one fund only after careful consideration of their needs and the development of their artistic practice at this moment.
The third phase of the initiative, which has been integral to Museum and Film Center work for decades, focuses on artist-driven programs, services and support. Each year, the Museum allocates on average $100,000 to pay artists stipends for collaborating with PAM/NWFC, and this fund will strengthen this capacity as we embrace the future and forge new models of engagement. This effort will focus on artists who are currently less represented in the collection and in programs, specifically Black artists and filmmakers, those who identify as women and LGBTQIA+. It will include a new visiting artists program, a reimagined artists talks series, podcasts, social media takeovers, and other programmatic collaborations that will go beyond the walls of PAM/NWFC. This program will engage artists through an invitation process led by our curatorial and learning departments in conjunction with our existing community partners.
Funding for the Re:Imagine Artist Fund is made possible by the Museum’s Art Gym endowment, established with support from the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, and from Tim and Mary Boyle. If you are interested in supporting PAM/NWFC to continue this work, please contact Director of Development Karie Burch, karie.burch@pam.org, 503-276-4240.
The project development team is Amy Dotson, Director of NWFC & Curator, Film & New Media at PAM (she/her/hers, identifies as white); Jaleesa Johnston (she/her/hers, identifies as Black), Programs Lead in the Learning and Community Partnerships Department, Grace Kook-Anderson (she/her/hers, identifies as Asian), The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Northwest Art, Sara Krajewski (she/her/hers, identifies as white), the Eichholz Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Portland Art Museum, Ben Popp (he/his/him, identifies as white) Head of Artist Services, NWFC.
APPLICATION PHASES, DETAILS AND REQUIREMENTS
Phase 1- Re:Fresh Relief Grants
Applications for the Re:Fresh Relief Grants will open July 7 and the deadline to apply is July 28. The applications will be reviewed by a panel of arts professionals including artists, arts workers, PAM/NWFC staff, and community partners that are diverse and reflective of our region’s communities. We strongly encourage applicants to apply to one fund only after careful consideration of their needs and their artistic practice at this moment. This program will distribute unrestricted grants of $2,000 to 25 recipients. Due to the sensitive nature of emergency relief funding, recipients will remain confidential.
Eligibility qualifications for applicants:
- Open to artists 21+ who have experienced dire financial emergencies due to the cancellation of events, exhibitions, screenings, programs, and other professional presentation opportunities
- Open to artists living and working in Oregon & Clark County, WA
- Must have a Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
- Open to artists working in the following fields
- Visual Arts (installation, painting, performance art, social practice, photography, sculpture, sound art, video, etc.)
- Cinema Arts (short & long-form animation, narrative, documentary, episodic, experimental,etc.)
- New Media Arts (work at the intersection of technology, aesthetics, storytelling, and digital cultures including but not limited to XR, VR, AR and audio based storytelling, etc.)
- See FAQs for additional details
Application Questions:
- Tell us about yourself, include demographic information if you wish. Submissions will be evaluated with attention given to PAM/NWFC’s equity statement: our commitment to equity means including, serving, resourcing, validating, and centering BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neuro-diverse individuals, and individuals with disabilities. (limit 600 characters)
- Share one link (for example: your website; a link to an event, exhibition, screening; your Instagram or social media platform) to demonstrate your professional artistic practice. The link shows the review panel that you are a committed, practicing artist and that art is central to your livelihood.
- Describe your need for relief funding? (limit 1500 characters)
- Optional: Is there anything else you would like to tell us? (limit 1500 characters)
Timeline:
- Launch Announcements: July 7
- Applications Open: July 7
- Application Close: July 28 (11:59 p.m. PDT)
- Review Process: July 29 – August 14
- Awardees contacted: mid-August
Phase 2- Re:Imagine Sustainability Grants
Applications for the Re:Imagine Sustainability Grants will open July 7 and the deadline to apply is August 11. The applications will be reviewed by a panel of arts workers including artists, curators, PAM/NWFC staff, and community partners. We strongly encourage applicants to apply to one fund only after careful consideration of their needs and their artistic practice at this moment. This program will distribute unrestricted grants of $5,000 to 10 recipients. Careful consideration will be given to artistic innovation, shift and response in the wake of COVID-19.
Eligibility qualifications for applicants:
- Open to artists 21+
- Open to artists living and working in Oregon & Clark County, WA
- Must have a Social Security or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
- Open to artists working in the following fields
- Visual Arts (installation, painting, performance art, social practice, photography, sculpture, sound art, video, etc.)
- Cinema Arts (short & long-form animation, narrative, documentary, episodic, experimental,etc.)
- New Media Arts (work at the intersection of technology, aesthetics, storytelling, and digital cultures including but not limited to XR, VR, AR and audio based storytelling, etc.)
- See FAQs for additional details
Application Questions:
- Tell us about yourself, include demographic information if you wish. Submissions will be evaluated with attention given to PAM/NWFC’s equity statement: our commitment to equity means including, serving, resourcing, validating, and centering BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neuro-diverse individuals, and individuals with disabilities. (limit 600 characters)
- Share one link (for example: your website; a link to an event, exhibition, screening; your Instagram or social media platforms) to demonstrate to the review panel that you are a committed, practicing artist with a sustained commitment to your work, career, and a public audience.
- How has your artistic practice changed due to COVID-19? How are you planning to innovate or shift your work to address the new artistic potentials created by the changing social and cultural landscapes? (limit 3000 characters)
- How would this funding help support your practice? (limit 1500 characters)
- Optional: Is there anything else you would like to tell us? (limit 1500 characters)
Timeline:
- Launch Announcements: July 7
- Applications Open: July 7
- Application Close: August 11 (11:59 p.m. PDT)
- Review Process: August 21 – September 18
- Awardees announced: mid-September
Phase 3- Re:Imagining Our Work
PAM/NWFC will strengthen its long-term artist services & sustainability programming and advance its commitment to artists who are less represented in the collection and in programs, specifically Black artists, film and mediamakers, and women. This will include a new visiting artists program and further inclusion of artists voices through talks series, podcasts, social media takeovers, and other programs and events that extend beyond the walls of PAM/NWFC, including the ability to pay artists stipends for collaborating with PAM/NWFC as we embrace the future and create new models of engagement.
Expanding our Capacity for Artists Services & Support
- Expanded Programming Opportunities — Art Unbound Podcast series, PIFF 2.0 filmmaker talks, and partnership with the Numberz.FM
- Digital + Visiting Artist Residencies, Talks and Screening Series launching this summer with Malia Jensen’s Nearer Nature online exhibition and programming
- Guest Curating Opportunities at PAM & NWFC
- Expanded Artists Services Programming such as Equipment Membership, Professional Development Labs, & Fiscal Sponsorship at NWFC
- Artists will be selected by an invitation process led by our curatorial and learning departments in conjunction with our existing community partners.
Frequently Asked Questions
For Applicants:
Please review thoroughly; if your questions are not answered below, please contact us at ArtistFund@pam.org or 503-276-4259.
How do I apply?
Please submit your application for the Re:Fresh Relief grant, through pam.to/relief_grant
Please submit your application for the Re:Imagine Sustainability grant, through pam.to/reimagine_grant
Am I eligible for this funding?
To be eligible for funding, you must be 21+ and have a Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The funding is intended to support artists based in Oregon and Clark County, WA. The application is open to artists working in the following fields: Visual Arts (installation, painting, performance art, social practice, photography, sculpture, sound art, video, etc.); Cinema Arts (short & long-form animation, narrative, documentary, episodic, experimental,etc.); and New Media Arts (work at the intersection of technology, aesthetics, storytelling, and digital cultures including but not limited to XR, VR, AR and audio based storytelling, etc.)
For the Re:Fresh Relief Grant, you must have experienced dire financial emergencies due to cancellation of events, exhibitions, screenings, programs, and other professional presentation opportunities.