Warhol Foundation Commits $350,000 to Ukrainian Emergency Relief

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts today announced that it is committing $350,000 to four agencies supplying emergency relief to the visual arts community in Ukraine. The funding comes as Russia continues its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, launched in February and resulting in tremendous devastation across the country, with some twelve million citizens displaced. Among the efforts the money will sustain are those intended to bring artists to safety, protect artworks and institutions, and provide arts and culture workers with food, shelter, and medical care.

“As artists and cultural workers are caught in the center of conflict in Ukraine, it is critical to establish structures of support that will allow them to survive this period of crisis and endure as cultural practitioners,” said Warhol Foundation program director Rachel Bers. “These organizations provide a channel for the Warhol Foundation to offer emergency relief to independent artists and cultural workers who are at risk or displaced due to the war.”

The funds will be divided among Emergency Support Initiative, a grassroots emergency relief effort overseen by the directors of the Kyiv Biennial; the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund, an effort organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art NGO that strives to help affected artists and cultural workers meet basic needs; Artists at Risk, a program run by the Helsinki-based Perpetuum Mobile that facilitates safe passage for artists from the war-torn countries in which they reside to residences provided by partner organizations around the world; and PEN America endeavor Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), whose recently established Emergency Fund for Visual Artists will provide at-risk Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian artists with grants aimed at covering basic expenses.

“The war in Ukraine has thrust the entire country into a state of emergency, threatening the security of the visual arts community and its institutions,” said foundation president Joel Wachs. “The Warhol Foundation stands in solidarity with the arts community and is committed to working towards its safety, while facilitating continued creative practice when possible.”

ALL IMAGES