The South Carolina Arts Commission (SCAC) is announcing emergency relief for South Carolina arts organizations and individual artists who can prove lost income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications for South Carolina Arts Emergency Relief grants will be accepted beginning Wednesday, April 29. Guidelines for the grants and a link to the application are available now at SouthCarolinaArts.com.

Income loss must have occurred during the fourth quarter of FY2020 and be caused by COVID-19 related cancellations and closures. This relief may support salaries and administrative costs to the nonprofit arts sector including salary/fringe, rent/mortgage, and other operating expenses. However, emergency funds may not be duplicated (for example, if you have received other emergency funds to cover a month’s rent, you may not also use this grant to cover the same month’s rent).

“The South Carolina Arts Commission understands the difficulties our artists and arts organizations in South Carolina are facing right now, and it is imperative that they get assistance. We are happy to be able to provide some help during trying times, and are doing our best to make the process simple and fast,” South Carolina Arts Commission Executive Director David Platts said.

Relief funding for arts organizations will be based on the applying organization’s budget size, and they must apply as either a current (FY2020) or non-current operating support grantee of the SCAC. Funding for these grants is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, which received a $75 million allocation in the $2.2 billion CARES Act signed into law March 27.

Individual artists currently residing in South Carolina for at least one year may receive up to $1,000. The South Carolina Arts Foundation and the corporate and private donors to its South Carolina Artist Relief Fund campaign are supporting the grants to artists.

The SCAC anticipates notifying recipients of funding within two weeks of the application deadline.