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(Brooklyn, NY) |
Total Award: $100,000 over 2 years |
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Arts Outreach |
Program Contribution |
To support "Arts Outreach," a project that will target artists so that they begin to identify themselves as part of the independent workforce, a growing group of workers that deserve basic benefits and protections. Working Today will engage in a two-part strategy that includes 1) mobilizing artists to call for changes in the policies and regulations that affect them and 2) offering affordable insurance products for the arts community. Working Today was established in 1995 as an advocacy organization for independent workers who comprise one third of the nation's workforce. This nation's social policies assume that workers will receive benefits from their employers and the neediest will receive benefits from the state. These policies do not address the fact that over 30 million individuals work independently. Given their large number, independent workers need to become a constituency to call for basic benefits and protections. Artists are part of this constituency because most artists are self-employed and like other independent workers, they need to be part of a support structure. A recent study revealed that almost one third of artists working in New York City do not have health insurance. Working Today will begin the process of educating this constituency by organizing a subway awareness campaign, administering on-line surveys assessing artists' health needs, publishing articles in arts journals, publishing a monthly electronic newsletter, creating public service announcements for radio stations and collaborating with existing arts groups to coordinate their efforts.
This grant also satisfies:
Arts and Culture Program: Objective II, Strategy 1Interprogram Initiatives for Social and Economic Justice: Objectives I & II
