South Arts is launching an emergency relief fund to support artists across six southern states affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The initiative will provide immediate, unrestricted grants starting at $500 to artists across multiple disciplines, including writers, in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

“What is especially devastating, looking across the regions, is the fact that Hurricane Helene came and then Hurricane Milton came,” said Charles Phaneuf, VP of strategy for South Arts. “There are a number of counties that were affected by both.”

The initiative launches in partnership with Alternate ROOTS, Mid Atlantic Arts, and National Performance Network. South Arts will distribute funds in all states except North Carolina, where distribution will be coordinated by Arts AVL and the North Carolina Arts Council.

"We looked around and saw there was funding in North Carolina," Phaneuf said. "But there are six states that have FEMA-impacted areas—whether they're counties, cities, or tribal areas. There's no effort at artist relief in those other five states."

While some discipline-specific relief programs exist, South Arts recognized that many creators fall through the cracks. "What if I'm an artist in Tennessee and I don't fit one of those categories?" Phaneuf said. "Theaters aren't performing right now either…, Literary artists, visual artists may have lost their studios—there's all these different needs that we want to address.”

Disciplines eligible for grants include craft, literary arts, media/film, performing arts, traditional/folk arts, and visual arts. Applicants must be 18 years or older and actively engaged in their practice. The selection process will prioritize diversity across disciplines, ethnicity, gender, and disability to ensure broad, inclusive support.

South Arts is also planning to provide additional services beyond immediate financial assistance, with plans to address medium to long-term challenges faced by the arts and culture sector in disaster recovery forthcoming. The fund, Phaneuf said, will continue to evolve as regional needs shift.

“We're part of several relief networks and will be offering support to folks beyond just money,” Phaneuf said. “For folks who've really lost everything, they're probably not going to everything they need in one stop. There's different places and different types of support that are available. We’ll be convening people on calls and sharing resources.”

Applications for artists in North Carolina are now open through Arts AVL. Other states’ applications, to be made through South Arts, launching within the next two weeks.

New Southern Prize for Literary Arts

The disaster relief program adds to South Arts’ growing portfolio of support for individual artists. In September, the organization awarded its inaugural Southern Prize for Literary Arts, which comes with a $25,000 award, to Yurina Yoshikawa, and named Constance Collier-Mercado as finalist—an honor that comes with a $10,000 award—during a ceremony at the Mississippi Book Festival.

The Southern Prize and State Fellowships program, established in 2017 to address regional funding disparities, expanded in 2023 to include literary arts alongside visual arts. In May, the program awarded 9 writers, one from each state covered by South Arts, with unrestricted $5,000 prizes.

South Arts partnered with Hub City Press in Spartanburg, S.C., to publish an inaugural literary anthology featuring work from all nine state fellows. The book, title What We Are Becoming, includes an introduction by John T. Edge, and was debuted at the Mississippi Book Festival in August.

Founded in 1975, South Arts is a nonprofit organization with a mission of “empowering artists, organizations, and communities, and increasing access to arts” in the American South. Its programs are designed to support artists and arts providers in the South, as well as address the arts-related needs of Southern communities.

Artists seeking information about the relief fund can sign up for updates at South Arts' website. Those interested in supporting the fund can make tax-deductible donations directly through the organization. For information about making a gift, contact Charles Phaneuf at cphaneuf@southarts.org or (404) 201-7923.