These are troubling and uncertain times.  And financially, many artists are already facing immediate hardship. The Civic wants to play its part to help us come together as a community to try and make it just a bit easier to get through this.

Although we and many of our venue colleagues have made a commitment to honouring wages and fees on co-productions currently in progress and on hold, this cannot meet the emergency needs of artists.

Artists, arts workers and performers are one of the most instantly impacted groups of people in this unprecedented crisis that we find ourselves. Thirty percent of artists, performers and arts workers earn under the minimum wage already (https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/well-known-performers-and-actors-earn-less-than-minimum-wage-1.3757750). Artists in Ireland are living with no safety net, working from gig to gig, event to event. The grim reality is that some are living in poverty with no security, no pensions, no sick leave, no parental leave and no means to plan for the future. The impact of this pandemic is particularly savage for artists in Ireland at this time.

As venues, festivals, schools etc have closed, artists are finding that some or even all of their work in the coming weeks or even months has been cancelled or postponed without any kind of payment. This trend and its impact is likely to be felt well beyond the spring season. To make matters worse, a large percentage of artists supplement their incomes with part time jobs, often in the service industry, another industry that hit hard by this pandemic. Resources in the arts are stretched too thin across too many, with arts organisations and artists alike experiencing serious financial pressure.

We  have established a fund to provide financial relief to Irish artists experiencing lost income related to COVID-19. Small grants of up to €500 will be paid rapidly on a first-come, first-served basis to affected artists and groups.

Donations will be accepted by individuals and corporations in order to replenish the fund and continue making payments to eligible artists in the queue. The Civic is covering all admin/processing costs so 100% of every donation goes directly to artists in the community.  Please consider donating using the form below or contact niamh@civictheatre.ie to get involved. No donation is too small.

Grant Guidelines
Are you an artist living in Ireland who has lost income as a result of Covid-19? Are you struggling to make ends meet? Please tell us more about your circumstances in the application form below. Grants will be made on a first come, first served basis within available funds and additional funds will be released as they are received. The application will open on Tuesday March 17 and is anticipated to close on April 30.

Artists can:
– submit one request per artist or group
– receive funds rapidly upon approval via paypal
– receive a grant of up to €500

To qualify for a grant from the Artist Emergency Relief Fund, artists must:

• live in the Republic of Ireland
• have experienced lost income related to COVID-19

Applications open 17th March