Beyond the Grant: Investing in Artists After Disaster

Online
November 16, 2026

Following Hurricane Helene, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+), in collaboration with Center for Craft, Mountain BizWorks, River Arts District Foundation, Kenan Institute for the Arts, Penland, and ArtsAVL, launched the Extended Relief pilot to explore what longer-term investment in craft artists after a disaster could look like. The New York Foundation for the Arts provided additional administrative and evaluation support. The pilot provided 150 North Carolina craft artists with $6,000 in unrestricted funding, distributed in monthly installments of $500 from January through December 2025.

In this webinar, Ruby Lopez Harper, executive director of CERF+, and Mollie Quinlan-Hayes, program officer for NYFA Grants, will share what we learned from the pilot and, importantly, what participating artists told us about their experiences.

Together, they will explore questions the pilot raises for funders, arts organizations, and the broader field: What becomes possible when support extends beyond an initial disaster relief grant? How does unrestricted, longer-term investment support artists in making decisions about their own lives and practices? What can we learn from artists about how resources are structured, timed, and delivered after a disaster?