Black Artist needs funding
Donation protected
Hey everyone,
I'm Courtney Roberts. A visual artist and musician living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Over five months of widespread closures and cancellations have devastated Philadelphia's arts & culture community and service industry, both of which I depend on to make a living.
Nearly all artists have lost wages as a result of COVID-19. I am one of the many. In addition to lost opportunities, the pandemic has amplified systemic inequities within American society. The arts community is facing a long-overdue change as BIPOC and historically marginalized creative workers are harshly impacted.
I, as well as other marginalized artists and cultural workers, continue to create because that is how we make sense of the world. We even sometimes provide our art for free or less than what it is worth for the sake of social inclusion, and that is still the case during these fraught times.
Two weeks ago my unemployment benefits stopped without any notice of if or when they might be back. Food and housing insecurity, no health insurance, and mental health are things I am now having to deal with and combat. While dealing with these immediate concerns, I am also in need of funds to continue to create my art, as an outlet for all of this uncertainty. I am in the process of having prints, totes, and shirts made as an auxiliary source of income, and I will be putting some of these funds towards finishing that project. If you have the means to donate, it would mean so much to me at this time. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to hear me out, and I appreciate any and all contributions.
Love,
Courtney Roberts
I'm Courtney Roberts. A visual artist and musician living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Over five months of widespread closures and cancellations have devastated Philadelphia's arts & culture community and service industry, both of which I depend on to make a living.
Nearly all artists have lost wages as a result of COVID-19. I am one of the many. In addition to lost opportunities, the pandemic has amplified systemic inequities within American society. The arts community is facing a long-overdue change as BIPOC and historically marginalized creative workers are harshly impacted.
I, as well as other marginalized artists and cultural workers, continue to create because that is how we make sense of the world. We even sometimes provide our art for free or less than what it is worth for the sake of social inclusion, and that is still the case during these fraught times.
Two weeks ago my unemployment benefits stopped without any notice of if or when they might be back. Food and housing insecurity, no health insurance, and mental health are things I am now having to deal with and combat. While dealing with these immediate concerns, I am also in need of funds to continue to create my art, as an outlet for all of this uncertainty. I am in the process of having prints, totes, and shirts made as an auxiliary source of income, and I will be putting some of these funds towards finishing that project. If you have the means to donate, it would mean so much to me at this time. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to hear me out, and I appreciate any and all contributions.
Love,
Courtney Roberts
Organizer
Courtney Roberts
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
