ASHEVILLE, NC (December 09, 2024) —Craft artists and organizations can now apply for up to $10,000 in recovery grants through the Center for Craft’s Craft Futures Fund. These recovery grants will support stabilizing and re-establishing new operating norms after Hurricane Helene. Applications are open through January 13, 2025.

After raising $1.2 million, the Center for Craft reactivated the Craft Futures Fund, originally launched in 2020 to support craft communities and their creative response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 1 granted $500 in emergency relief funding to over 850 area artists, makers, creative manufacturers, and culture bearers in the aftermath of Helene.  

Through two grant opportunities, phase 2 of the Craft Futures Fund will support longer-term recovery for Western North Carolina craft artists and organizations. Craft Futures Fund - WNC Recovery and WNC Craft Futures Cohort are open to regional craft organizations and artists, respectively. These unrestricted grants provide foundational resources to our local craft community and help to strengthen the critical role craft plays in collective healing, both during and outside of times of crisis. 

Craft organizations may apply for either $5,000 or $10,000 WNC Recovery grants. Priority will be given to nonprofit or artist-led craft organizations, including artist-run shared studio spaces and collectives. “Craft organizations are community hubs, where people of all skill levels and backgrounds can connect, teach, and learn,” notes Center for Craft Board Member and former Tzedek Community-led Grantmaking fellow Ray Hemachandra. “They have also shown up tirelessly to aid their communities. The Center for Craft has been working alongside many of these craft organizations to do the essential work of recovery.”  

Through the WNC Craft Futures Cohort, individual craft artists may apply for $10,000 grants to recommit to or rebuild their artistic practices. The approximately 30 grant recipients will also receive an exhibition opportunity and be invited into a six-month peer-to-peer cohort. Four cohort members will also receive studio space onsite at the Center for Craft in downtown Asheville's Broadway Arts District. Priority for onsite residency will be given to artists who lost studios during Helene.

“Craft plays an essential role in the health and wellness of our communities, and artists are the heart of that connection,” says Center for Craft Executive Director Stephanie Moore. “Artists have the unique ability to reach and uplift spaces that other organizations often can’t touch in meaningful, authentic ways. By funding artists, we empower them to lead recovery efforts that are truly community-driven. These grants are about more than support—they’re about securing a lasting future for the legacies these artists have worked tirelessly to build.”

Get full details about Phase 2 of the Craft Futures Fund for artists and organizations at www.centerforcraft.org/craftfuturesfund.

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ABOUT CENTER FOR CRAFT Founded in 1996, the Center for Craft’s mission is to resource, catalyze, and amplify how and why craft matters. A 501(c)3 national nonprofit, the Center increases access to craft by empowering and resourcing artists, organizations, and communities through grants, fellowships, and programs that bring people together. The Center is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential organizations working on behalf of craft in the United States. For more information, visit www.centerforcraft.org.