COVID-19 UPDATES

**NEW JAN 2021**

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) began issuing letters in late 2020 to recipients informing them they may or may not have been eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments they received.

When the CERB was rolled out last spring, the government said eligibility would be based an individual having employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application.

Changing the eligibility rules now and suggest recipients may need to repay benefits they have already received, is being met with advocacy action:

Our colleagues at ACTRA have initiated a letter-writing campaign.

As well as Visual Arts Alberta – CARFAC have this resource page of information

NEW**Volunteer Alberta – Equipping the nonprofit sector to thrive and supporting volunteerism during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is an overwhelming amount of information and resources about COVID-19. Volunteer Alberta has curated resources, relevant provincial news with many more resources to come.

Calgary Arts Development Short-Term Artist Relief Fund Program Announcement

The Short-Term Artist Relief Fund is a temporary one-time program to help address some of the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on artists in Calgary (known as Mohkinstsis in Blackfoot). This fund is intended to support artists and freelance cultural workers who have lost income or incurred unrecoverable expenses, related to their artistic work, due to event cancellations or travel disruption for events or opportunities meant to occur between March 12 – April 30.

Applicants may request up to $1,500, and must provide proof of event/work, cancellation/disruption, and financial loss. The program guidelines and applications will be available on April 3. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until April 30 or until funds are depleted. Applications will only be accepted through Calgary Arts Development’s online grant interface.

Program guidelines and criteria can be found here as of April 3.

AMAAS have partnered with Calgary Arts Development to provide support for this program, and are available to answer questions if needed.

March 15, 2020

Update from AMAAS

The AMAAS Board is concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on our media arts community and will work to advocate with levels of funders as well as government. We recommend documenting loss of revenue, wages, staff changes, cancellations and closures. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or suggestions.

Also the April 1 deadline for AMAAS Sponsorship and Bursaries could certainly be an option for support for social distancing related media arts projects.

Click here for Sponsorship application and here for Bursary application.

Do take care,

Sharon Stevens
Executive Director, AMAAS