Rent was due yesterday, and with winter holidays coming up, a lot of people could use a little extra financial support.
On Monday, the nonprofit Vital Arts opened applications for its Artist Displacement Prevention Grant. The $2,500 grant will be awarded to five Alameda County artists facing eviction, housing insecurity, large rent increases or homelessness. A panel of artists will select the recipients, who will be notified by Jan. 20. The funds will be disbursed by the end of that month.
The Artist Displacement Prevention Grant is part of Vital Arts’ mission to advocate for safe and affordable housing for artists in the wake of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire, which killed 36 artists at an underground electronic music party in Oakland eight years ago, on Dec. 2, 2016. After the tragedy, friends of the victims pointed out that artists lived and gathered in unsafe spaces like Ghost Ship — which had numerous electrical and infrastructure issues — because of a lack of affordable housing and studio space in the Bay Area.
Vital Arts founder Edwin Bernbaum lost his son Jonathan in the fire. Raised in Berkeley, Jonathan was a talented visual projection artist who toured with DJs like Knife Party and Markus Schulz. Vital Arts’ executive director, experimental musician Sharmi Basu, also lost several close friends and collaborators, and spent years organizing mutual aid and advocacy efforts afterwards.
“Artists have long been a cornerstone of our communities, yet they remain one of the most under-resourced and vulnerable workforces,” Basu said in a statement about the Artist Displacement Prevention Grant. “In these challenging times — marked by economic uncertainty, housing crises, and the lingering impacts of tragedies like the Ghost Ship fire and the COVID pandemic — the need for emergency relief has never been greater.”
Grant applications are open until Dec. 16 and will be considered based on need. Applications and eligibility requirements can be found here.
