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tiktok.com/@monsterboylives
Greetings!
This is the temporary home for the Arkansas Music Office. While we are working on getting the website designed and preparing for the official launch, we will be using this off-shoot from our music page. We will be providing this blog style page with links and information to musicians in need of resources to help them build their music careers. Send us an email at [email protected] if you would like to be added to our newsletter for Arkansas music related workshops.
Thank you for you interest and patience,
Veronica Wirges and Chris Long
This is the temporary home for the Arkansas Music Office. While we are working on getting the website designed and preparing for the official launch, we will be using this off-shoot from our music page. We will be providing this blog style page with links and information to musicians in need of resources to help them build their music careers. Send us an email at [email protected] if you would like to be added to our newsletter for Arkansas music related workshops.
Thank you for you interest and patience,
Veronica Wirges and Chris Long
March 20th - Music Resources for Teens and Young Adults
Arts Across Arkansas by the Arkansas Arts Council - composition contest with mentoring and cash prize for teens
https://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-programs/arts-across-arkansas
New Music USA has a composers program for film scoring - this is more all ages program https://newmusicusa.org/program/reel-change-film-fund/
BMI https://bmifoundation.org/by-application
ASCAP https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/scholarships
Grammy U has a summer program and is a great community to connect with
https://www.recordingacademy.com/membership/grammy-u
Arkansas Arts Council has the Get SmART Series which has free workshops:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/arkansas-arts-council-18034756737
Check with the instruments and tools you use to create music, often times you can find they have program designed for young creatives. Also check with the schools you are interested in attending.
These links will often have other funding program options, its a bit of a rabbit hole to fall into but just keep digging into that more funding option that will connect you to more groups that support music creation. One important tip - I have never won a grant I had to pay a submission fee, so I have learned through experience that charging a submission fee is a red flag and I just skip those entirely.
I will also be doing a Get SmART Workshop on March the 28th - here is a link to it. It has in-person and zoom options. I will be talking about music as an art practice, from those that are gigging artist to those creating projects. My hope is that regardless of a creatives starting point, they walk away with new resources and new ways to see their practice. It is completely free thanks to the Arkansas Arts Council and Stickyz. Here is that link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/getsmart-how-to-sell-out-venues-build-opportunities-in-the-arts-tickets-852991950887?fbclid=IwAR3njUGYqUsuEBBklJNgc-_8YB6VekEdAEUCyO1KUbUt_OqQhtSItMR6rd4
Arts Across Arkansas by the Arkansas Arts Council - composition contest with mentoring and cash prize for teens
https://www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-programs/arts-across-arkansas
New Music USA has a composers program for film scoring - this is more all ages program https://newmusicusa.org/program/reel-change-film-fund/
BMI https://bmifoundation.org/by-application
ASCAP https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/scholarships
Grammy U has a summer program and is a great community to connect with
https://www.recordingacademy.com/membership/grammy-u
Arkansas Arts Council has the Get SmART Series which has free workshops:
https://www.eventbrite.com/o/arkansas-arts-council-18034756737
Check with the instruments and tools you use to create music, often times you can find they have program designed for young creatives. Also check with the schools you are interested in attending.
These links will often have other funding program options, its a bit of a rabbit hole to fall into but just keep digging into that more funding option that will connect you to more groups that support music creation. One important tip - I have never won a grant I had to pay a submission fee, so I have learned through experience that charging a submission fee is a red flag and I just skip those entirely.
I will also be doing a Get SmART Workshop on March the 28th - here is a link to it. It has in-person and zoom options. I will be talking about music as an art practice, from those that are gigging artist to those creating projects. My hope is that regardless of a creatives starting point, they walk away with new resources and new ways to see their practice. It is completely free thanks to the Arkansas Arts Council and Stickyz. Here is that link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/getsmart-how-to-sell-out-venues-build-opportunities-in-the-arts-tickets-852991950887?fbclid=IwAR3njUGYqUsuEBBklJNgc-_8YB6VekEdAEUCyO1KUbUt_OqQhtSItMR6rd4
June 25th - Musicians and Help with Medical Expenses
When health issues occur to those of us in the creative space, it can upend our universe. Even with those of us with health insurance, there are still deductibles, uncovered treatments, and monthly bills that can put creatives in difficult situations. It seems like everything has either a max payout a year or a deductible that has to be met first. Dental, health, and prescriptions are all independent, of course. Finding a proper diagnosis can sometimes take years while exhausting your savings and running up credit card bills. The emotional and fiscal strain that this puts on families is heartbreaking.
This is quite frankly what happened to us. We came at this process after the fact when we had paid our medical bills with our credit cards. I am here to help you with some resources and recommendations so that your path can be easier than my own. If you have come to this blog after having paid some or all your bills and are wondering if you can get assistance to recover some of your expenses? The answer is yes. However it is more steps, and you will need to be good at keeping track of a spreadsheet. The organizations I am listing will be able to assist you with additional steps if you are coming about this after you have paid your bills yourself, you will need additional guidance from each organization on how they can assist you best.
You want to first gather your documents. This includes your artist documents: your resume/cv, discography, press clippings, and bio. Then gather your financial documents - a few years of taxes, monthly bills, and monthly budget. Finally, gather your timeline of what has occurred so far in your health event and what is coming up. Do stay in contact with your medical billing companies and let them know you are applying for help with your bills. Try not to pay your bills other than co-pay until you have found out if you can receive help. From my experience, the copay will not be paid directly by an organization, but do keep a record of the expense being paid out medically. Some organizations may pay other bills to put that money you spent on medical back in your pocket.
I understand that this gathering of things is overwhelming. Find what you can and get it organized, then build the rest as you need it. It really seems like a lot, I have done this as well. The people at these organizations are so patient and understanding as they know we have a lot of heavy emotions going on at this time. The second part to remember is that most of these groups want almost the exact same data, so each application gets easier and faster. Each one can help out in their own way, they are used to multiple organizations helping the same artist.
This is also a good time for me to say Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive are amazing free resources that store information on the cloud. I love these resources for storing my statements, organizing my spreadsheet data, and storing documents and copies of my medical bills. This way I know where to find these documents I have used countless times with this process.
https://www.musicares.org/get-help
The Recording Academy aka The Grammys - turns out they do some pretty amazing things including advocacy and grants. Their aid is generalized and I recommend getting your funding secured, but holding off on sending them bills until after you have used all the other organizations that do more specialized work. They will pay a broad range of expenses.
https://www.musichealthalliance.com/
These wonderful folks have two funds. The Ben Eyestone for Diagnostic expenses (scans, labs, exploratory surgery, endocrinology). This is where you wouldn't want to have Musicares pay these particular expenses if you can send them to the Ben Eyestone Fund instead.
Also, they have a dental fund that can go up to 500. This is much smaller than their main grant, but $500 is a significant help to our budget.
https://jazzfoundation.neonccm.com/index.php?section=approveClientApplications&action=newInitialApplication
Jazz Foundation, don't let the name fool you - they also cover blues and soul. Really sweet people and they can help you out with up to 1000 in bills.
https://www.sweetrelief.org/request-assistance.html
Sweet Relief - great people they have a fast process and an easy application
https://www.musiciansfoundation.org/apply/
Musicians Foundation - will generally pay only one bill, so send them a large one.
https://blues.org/hart-fund/
The Hart Fund is for older blues musicians, we did not qualify, but I wanted to include this for those that need it.
www.thehavenfdn.org/
The Haven Foundation
This is a very detailed application - it is by far the largest fund I have found. It serves a lot of artistic disciplines including music. The people at this foundation are amazing, however, funding does take a while to be reviewed. They will send you the funds directly to use. I would not recommend asking for less than 1,000. On the application it asks what is the least amount that would be helpful, look at your rent and car payments and all the things the other funds can not help with and base your answer on how much will stabilize you. I would recommend a range.
The rest of the links that I know very little about but might be helpful:
https://entertainmentcommunity.org/am-i-eligible-help
backline.care
https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-do-i-obtain-charity-care-1738515
https://www.findhelp.org/
https://www.carecredit.com/
Feel free to email additional organizations for this list. These people helped us out a ton and we are passionate about sharing resources with fellow artists.
Veronica Wirges
When health issues occur to those of us in the creative space, it can upend our universe. Even with those of us with health insurance, there are still deductibles, uncovered treatments, and monthly bills that can put creatives in difficult situations. It seems like everything has either a max payout a year or a deductible that has to be met first. Dental, health, and prescriptions are all independent, of course. Finding a proper diagnosis can sometimes take years while exhausting your savings and running up credit card bills. The emotional and fiscal strain that this puts on families is heartbreaking.
This is quite frankly what happened to us. We came at this process after the fact when we had paid our medical bills with our credit cards. I am here to help you with some resources and recommendations so that your path can be easier than my own. If you have come to this blog after having paid some or all your bills and are wondering if you can get assistance to recover some of your expenses? The answer is yes. However it is more steps, and you will need to be good at keeping track of a spreadsheet. The organizations I am listing will be able to assist you with additional steps if you are coming about this after you have paid your bills yourself, you will need additional guidance from each organization on how they can assist you best.
You want to first gather your documents. This includes your artist documents: your resume/cv, discography, press clippings, and bio. Then gather your financial documents - a few years of taxes, monthly bills, and monthly budget. Finally, gather your timeline of what has occurred so far in your health event and what is coming up. Do stay in contact with your medical billing companies and let them know you are applying for help with your bills. Try not to pay your bills other than co-pay until you have found out if you can receive help. From my experience, the copay will not be paid directly by an organization, but do keep a record of the expense being paid out medically. Some organizations may pay other bills to put that money you spent on medical back in your pocket.
I understand that this gathering of things is overwhelming. Find what you can and get it organized, then build the rest as you need it. It really seems like a lot, I have done this as well. The people at these organizations are so patient and understanding as they know we have a lot of heavy emotions going on at this time. The second part to remember is that most of these groups want almost the exact same data, so each application gets easier and faster. Each one can help out in their own way, they are used to multiple organizations helping the same artist.
This is also a good time for me to say Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Drive are amazing free resources that store information on the cloud. I love these resources for storing my statements, organizing my spreadsheet data, and storing documents and copies of my medical bills. This way I know where to find these documents I have used countless times with this process.
https://www.musicares.org/get-help
The Recording Academy aka The Grammys - turns out they do some pretty amazing things including advocacy and grants. Their aid is generalized and I recommend getting your funding secured, but holding off on sending them bills until after you have used all the other organizations that do more specialized work. They will pay a broad range of expenses.
https://www.musichealthalliance.com/
These wonderful folks have two funds. The Ben Eyestone for Diagnostic expenses (scans, labs, exploratory surgery, endocrinology). This is where you wouldn't want to have Musicares pay these particular expenses if you can send them to the Ben Eyestone Fund instead.
Also, they have a dental fund that can go up to 500. This is much smaller than their main grant, but $500 is a significant help to our budget.
https://jazzfoundation.neonccm.com/index.php?section=approveClientApplications&action=newInitialApplication
Jazz Foundation, don't let the name fool you - they also cover blues and soul. Really sweet people and they can help you out with up to 1000 in bills.
https://www.sweetrelief.org/request-assistance.html
Sweet Relief - great people they have a fast process and an easy application
https://www.musiciansfoundation.org/apply/
Musicians Foundation - will generally pay only one bill, so send them a large one.
https://blues.org/hart-fund/
The Hart Fund is for older blues musicians, we did not qualify, but I wanted to include this for those that need it.
www.thehavenfdn.org/
The Haven Foundation
This is a very detailed application - it is by far the largest fund I have found. It serves a lot of artistic disciplines including music. The people at this foundation are amazing, however, funding does take a while to be reviewed. They will send you the funds directly to use. I would not recommend asking for less than 1,000. On the application it asks what is the least amount that would be helpful, look at your rent and car payments and all the things the other funds can not help with and base your answer on how much will stabilize you. I would recommend a range.
The rest of the links that I know very little about but might be helpful:
https://entertainmentcommunity.org/am-i-eligible-help
backline.care
https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-do-i-obtain-charity-care-1738515
https://www.findhelp.org/
https://www.carecredit.com/
Feel free to email additional organizations for this list. These people helped us out a ton and we are passionate about sharing resources with fellow artists.
Veronica Wirges
May 25th -
Thank you for taking our class! Here are the links that may have been mentioned in the class. These links not only have grants but also programs and education for artists to better their practice.
These programs vary as some are for artists, collaborations, and others for organizations. Its good to familiarize yourself with the entire portfolio of options. In a market where resources are frequently hoarded and not shared, I ask you not just to look for yourself, but introduce this to those creatives in your life.
Arkansas Arts Council www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-home
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1474349702811167
Mid-America Arts Alliance https://www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/
Artist Inc https://www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/artist-inc/
Arkansas Arts Council Youtube: www.youtube.com/@ArkansasArtsCouncil
Feel free to introduce what we do to community organizers that you feel would love to hear about these resources and methods. We are looking for organizations who would like to bring us to their communities.
Thank you for taking our class! Here are the links that may have been mentioned in the class. These links not only have grants but also programs and education for artists to better their practice.
These programs vary as some are for artists, collaborations, and others for organizations. Its good to familiarize yourself with the entire portfolio of options. In a market where resources are frequently hoarded and not shared, I ask you not just to look for yourself, but introduce this to those creatives in your life.
Arkansas Arts Council www.arkansasheritage.com/arkansas-art-council/aac-home
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/1474349702811167
Mid-America Arts Alliance https://www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/
Artist Inc https://www.maaa.org/artists-grants-fellowships/artist-inc/
Arkansas Arts Council Youtube: www.youtube.com/@ArkansasArtsCouncil
Feel free to introduce what we do to community organizers that you feel would love to hear about these resources and methods. We are looking for organizations who would like to bring us to their communities.
We do accept tips for all the work we do in education and art - you can find digital payment options at this link:
https://linktr.ee/monsterboylives
We also know that money is tight right now for so many. Finding a video and sharing it with your network and helping us connect with more people is also a lovely way to help our cause.
While you are here, please have a listen to our music. THX, Veronica and Chris
https://linktr.ee/monsterboylives
We also know that money is tight right now for so many. Finding a video and sharing it with your network and helping us connect with more people is also a lovely way to help our cause.
While you are here, please have a listen to our music. THX, Veronica and Chris
