Guaranteed, No-Strings-Attached Income Scheme For Creatives Begins Payouts In NY
Photo 97929370 © Mollynz | Dreamstime.com
The arts scene in New York is picking up again, and with it, more financial security for creatives.
Earlier this year, an initiative called Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY) was announced to provide struggling creators with guaranteed monthly incomes of US$1,000, with no strings attached, as a result of a difficult time that saw much of the sector shut down.
As of November 17, the nonprofit has begun distributing the US$1,000 stipends to 2,400 “artists, culture bearers, and culture makers” living in New York State.
With a pool of US$43.2 million set aside to be handed out over 18 months, the CRNY program is the largest statewide guaranteed salary service in the US. Most of the funding comes from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional contributions from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
The creative sector was hit especially hard during the lockdown, despite New York State’s artists raking in over US$126 billion for the state’s economy in 2020 alone, according to CRNY. Shutdowns and an overturn in the workforce drove many to sign up for less sustainable but extremely competitive grants and fellowships.
CRNY says it rolled out its Guaranteed Income for Artists program with the understanding that all artists “are deserving of financial security” and to have their basic needs met. It was inspired by similar schemes that proved beneficiaries continued producing meaningful work even when they knew the monthly incomes were assured. One such case study took place in San Francisco in 2021.
Pretty much anyone in New York who considered themselves a creative was eligible for the program, so long as they could demonstate financial need. CRNY deliberately keeps its definition for the term “artist” broad for a larger outreach, saying that it takes into account anyone “who regularly engages in artistic or cultural practice to: express themselves with the intention of communicating richly to or sharing with others; pass on traditional knowledge and cultural practices; offer cultural resources to their communities; and/or co-organize and co-create within communities toward social impacts.”
About 22,000 candidates signed up for the scheme, and CRNY selected 2,400 applicants through a weighted randomized process that made sure the money was distributed fairly, with an emphasis on aiding marginalized or minority artists.
As per diagrams published by CRNY, 62% of artists who are receiving the payments shared that they had no other financial safety net, with more than half of the selected noting that they were carrying debt they could not afford to pay. 41% of recipients said they were vulnerable to a medical emergency.
62% of the selected creatives identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC); 51% belong to the LGBTQIAP+ community; and 15% identify as deaf or disabled.
The direct cash program will take place over a course of three years, with a total of US$125 million being dedicated to creators living in New York State.
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[via Hyperallergic and Creatives Rebuild New York, images via various sources]
