At a Glance
The Guaranteed Income for Artists initiative of Creatives Rebuild New York provided regular, no-strings-attached, cash payments of $1,000 per month for 18 consecutive months, to 2,400 artists across New York State. At the time, it was one of the largest statewide guaranteed income programs in the United States. The guiding premise of this work was that all artists are deserving of financial security. CRNY joined municipalities, policymakers, community leaders, and activists from across the U.S. to advance the movement for economic justice.
Dive Deeper
Learn more about the origins of the program and the 2,400 participating artists by downloading the following PDF documents or browsing the graphics below. CRNY also relied on several key partners to operate this program at scale, and conducted multiple research evaluations to assess the program’s design, implementation, and impact.
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Timeline
A subset of the 22,000 artists who applied for guaranteed income are selected via weighted lottery.
Henry Street Settlement and Work Without Limits provide benefits counseling as part of CRNY’s monthly enrollment and onboarding process for artists.
Monthly cash payments begin for first cohort of artists.
CRNY releases anonymized, aggregate data about all 2,400 Guaranteed Income for Artists participants.
CRNY offers virtual and in-person community building activities for artists throughout the program.
Fellow program administrators, scholars, and advocates gather in New York as part of CRNY’s GI Working Group.
CRNY and partners provide transition support as artists offboard from the program between November 2023 and April 2024.
Monthly cash payments end for final cohort of artists.
Artist Power Building School is launched to organize artists within the movement for Guaranteed Income.
CRNY establishes New York State Cash Alliance alongside over 20 member organizations advocating for unrestricted cash policies across the state.
Program Guidelines
The Guaranteed Income for Artists program was a one-time opportunity that ran from 2022-2024. The archived Program Guidelines detail the context, vision, timeline, and application process for the Guaranteed Income for Artists program—as well as additional information on eligibility, selection, confidentiality, and payment support. Guidelines were distributed and available in eleven languages, and CRNY brought on partners to provide application assistance and translation/interpretation services in multiple languages. For artists, researchers, or administrators who may use this resource for future consideration or implementation, download the PDFs below or visit the archived guidelines online.
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Care Beyond Cash
While payment distribution ended by March 2024, the program took on a “care after cash” approach, supporting artists in the transition period at the end of the program. This support fell into the three major categories: Wrap-around Services and Support, Community, and Collective Action.
Wrap-around Services and Support
CRNY’s GI team provided optional interactive workshops, information sessions, and direct coaching and consultation, all to support participants’ artistry and basic needs. Participants were additionally supported by the CRNY team through a virtual hotline where artists could meet 1:1 with a program administrator for direct support with payment, participation, and offboarding. When the program ended, the GI team created a comprehensive compilation of resources and information to support artists in their transition.
Community
A suite of opportunities to connect with the larger CRNY artist community started in the second year of the program and was continued and expanded during the offboarding period. CRNY provided a digital platform (The Space), a participant directory, a monthly newsletter, virtual gatherings, film screenings, and regional in-personal gatherings as opportunities for program-oriented community touchpoints.
Watch this mini-documentary to witness a snapshot of one of these regional gatherings, in Harlem’s Riverside Church, where artists shared testimony about their experience receiving guaranteed income.
Collective Action
For artists who were activated by the experience and motivated to join the movement, the GI team coordinated the following to build a bridge from the end of payments to the movement for a Guaranteed Income: paid opportunities to engage in research and storytelling, a monthly newsletter, the Pay Day Papers, and the launch of the Artist Power Building School.
Related Resources
If you are interested in supporting artists in your community, or in promoting economic justice by administering a guaranteed income program with a pool of funds, please review the following resources and recommendations. The work we did on this program is most meaningful when it is taken up by others to carry forward the movement for a real and livable income floor and economic justice for all.