3Arts Emergency Response

published: Jan. 4, 2021

In December 2020, we launched the first cycle of 3ER (3Arts Emergency Response) for artists in the 3Arts network. 3ER is intended as both an immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on artists’ livelihoods and an effort to establish an ongoing fund for artists in any time of personal crisis.

The first cycle was seeded by individual contributions and grants from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, The Field Foundation of Illinois, the HMS Fund, and the SIF Fund at the Chicago Community Foundation. By the end of 2020 we were able to provide $1,500 grants to 35 artists.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of an anonymous donor advised fund at The Chicago Community Foundation, we are refuelling 3ER in early 2021 with an additional round of grants for at least 150 artists.

3ER aims to provide swift, short-term relief when artists’ basic livelihoods are precarious and to utilize a distribution process that puts as little administrative burden on artists as possible. The purpose of the funding is to help cover living expenses and family/childcare.