| In March, Neruda Arts Artistic Director Isabel Cisterna brought together MT Space Artistic Director Pam Patel and Artists Terry Barna and Jennifer Cornish to create Plan B, a crowdfunding campaign directed at raising money to support K-W artists in need in the face of COVID-19. COVID-19 has seen mass cancellations of gigs in the arts world, and in an arts-focused, heavily diverse region like Waterloo, we understand that this loss of freelance work is detrimental to the livelihoods of our artists. COVID-19 has seen months of work stopped and cancelled, often with no financial aid, and artists have been placed in dire situations. Plan B was created to provide support to artists that need it most in our community. We are so pleased to announce that to-date we have raised half of our goal! But to keep the momentum going so that more artists can receive help, we ask that you please continue to share. Art in all its forms is what’s going to carry us through this pandemic and into the world again as we come out of it, and we must protect our artists in the face of financial loss. If you have not donated yet, but wish to, the link below will direct you to the GoFundMe page directly. If you don’t have the means during these times to donate, but you know of people who do, please share amongst your friend groups. A little from everyone goes a long way! |
| Thank you to Isabel, Pam, Terry, and Jennifer for creating this lifeline and truly working to lead by example in uncertain times. And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far. We are lucky to have a community rich in giving spirits and loving people. |
| PLAN B: Apply for funds! |
| To all artists in need! Since Plan B has successfully raised half of its goal so far, we are pleased to be rolling out our application for funding! If you are in need and are facing financial struggles due to COVID-19, please visit our website and fill out the application. All applications will be reviewed by our jury, and decisions will be made based on urgency. |
| Deadline to fill out and submit the application is April 8th, 2020 at 5:00pm! Please note: We will not be disclosing any names or individual amounts. We will only specify how many artists we helped, and how much was distributed as a whole. Should there be any questions during your application period, please don’t hesitate to reach out to MT Space via email. |
| Other COVID-19 Resources |
| If you are not in a state of emergency just yet, but your financial situation will change quickly over time if this pandemic stretches months, we have provided links below of some helpful resources that you can access! Please see below to find resources that can help you further. |
| Thank you to everyone for helping make MT Space what it is! We hope to bring you more soon, but let’s work on taking action to flatten the curve and keep those who are most vulnerable safe. In the meantime, let’s keep creating space for our stories! Sincerely, |
| The MT Space Team |