CERF+ Emergency Relief Grants

The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) offers $3,000 Emergency Relief Grants to craft artists who experienced a recent and substantially disruptive emergency or disaster.

The CERF+ emergency relief grant focuses on materials-based craft and folk/traditional artists who have experienced a recent, career or practice threatening emergency, such as an illness, injury, theft, fire or climate related disaster and/or incurred significant medical expenses related to treatment and recovery from COVID-19.

Due to the high demand for emergency relief assistance and limited funding, cases based solely on economic losses due to COVID-19 are not eligible.

If you are assisting an artist in an emergency situation, you may apply on their behalf provided you have their permission. Ensure the artist meets the eligibility criteria and gather all necessary contact information and materials required for the application.

CERF+ currently accepts applications on a rolling basis as needs arise.

Requirements

To qualify for an Emergency Relief Grant, applicants need to be craft artists who are eighteen years of age or older. They must have been living and working in the US or US Territories for the past two years.

Additionally, artists are eligible to receive one grant per emergency and no more than one emergency relief grant per calendar year. Artists are eligible to receive a maximum number of four emergency relief grants over the course of their lifetime.

This grant program supports individual craft artists who make original three-dimensional visual art objects by hand, including folk and traditional art forms.

Eligible Materials
CERF+ welcomes handmade art made from clay, glass, textiles/fiber, wood, metal, concrete, plastic, gourds, shells, bones, leather, recycled materials and many other materials to create three-dimensional craft art. They look for objects in which the artist transformed the materials into something new.

Eligible Forms
Craft forms CERF+ supports are handmade jewelry, vessels, dishes, sculptures, chairs, purses, hats, masks, garments, quilts, baskets, embroidery, musical instruments, beadwork, regalia or ceremonial clothing, printmaking such as etching or woodcut, papier-mâché, mask making, knitting/crochet, dolls, bookmaking, blacksmithing, and knife making.

Application Instructions

To apply, visit CERF+‘s website and complete the online application with supporting documentation. Incomplete applications will not be considered. For questions, contact programs@cerfplus.org or (802) 229-2306.