Vines Art Festival launches Cultivating the Creative: A Symbiotic Artist Care Fund
The new funding will support diversity and well-being in the artistic community
Marisa Gold and Janelle Reid. Photo by Sheng Ho.
Vines Art Festival is introducing a new grassroots, community-based program to enrich and support diverse artists.
Highlighting holistic and genuine care, Cultivating the Creative: A Symbiotic Artist Care Fund as the next branch in its community-based tree.
Funds will be allocated for myriad reasons, be it healing and wellness practices, culturally relevant training, accessing supplies and tools, or time-sensitive emergencies. The financial support is aimed at alleviating undue stress in the arts community and furthering Vines Art Festival’s continued commitment to the overall wellbeing of the diversity within the community. The program will provide opportunities to give artists holistic support without the bureaucratic processes.
Cultivating the Creative is visioned and held by artists whose knowledge comes from their lived experience facing marginalization that leads to financial barriers. It’s rooted in the belief that the ability to create art needs to be accessible, safe and accountable. The initiative is being led by Black, Indigenous, of-colour, migrants, houseless, queer, trans, and disabled artists to ensure no one is left behind. This was an important nuance for Vines Art Festival because it believes deeply in the idea of “Nothing for Us Without Us”, a way to prioritize and self actualize with community members at the helm.
Vines began as a summertime multidisciplinary arts festival responsive to and nurturing of artists that are working toward land, water, and relational justice. The Cultivating the Creative fund takes that idea further. Based on community discussions during Vines Art Festival 2019, the organization saw the need grow during the pandemic. Art has become more important than ever, not just as the creative expression of individuals, but as a larger commentary on the environment surrounding it.
The program model combines mutual aid, peer-to-peer fundraising, volunteer support, and community outreach, all with the goal of providing nimble, timely support for artists to meet their essential physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs.
Vines is launching a matching fundraising campaign thanks to the support of Vancouver Foundation. Its goal is to turn a collective matching pledge of $15,000 into $30,000 by July 15. To support or find out more click here.
Post sponsored by Vines Art Festival.