Legal and visa issues
Artistic Freedom Initiative
Provides pro-bono immigration representation and resettlement assistance to artists at risk. Aids artists in finding temporary housing, studio space, employment, fellowships, residencies, and networking opportunities.
Artistic Freedom Initiative FAQ on US Visas and Immigration Options
Document provides answers to common questions about options for at-risk artists, writers, and scholars wishing to travel to the United States or extend their stays.
Artists From Abroad
The most complete and up-to-date online resource for foreign guest artists, their managers, and performing arts organizations.
Avant Garde Lawyers
Defends artists subjected to harassment, censorship, and imprisonment for their politically engaged art (based in France but works internationally).
Cornell Immigration Law and Advocacy Clinic
Provides legal and visa assistance through Cornell University’s Law School.
Immigration Equality
Provides specific immigration services for LGBTQ and HIV-positive immigrants through direct legal services and policy advocacy.
Immigration Law Help
Addresses the lack of reliable information available to low-income immigrants by providing an easy-to-use online directory of legal services providers. Searchable nonprofit legal services by state, county, and detention facility.
Lawyers for the Creative Arts
Provides pro bono legal assistance to clients in all areas of art, culture, media, and entertainment, including the visual, literary, and performing arts.
National Immigration Law Center
Online directory of providers of legal services for low-income immigrants.
US Department of Justice Fraud & Abuse Prevention Program
Investigates complaints of fraud, scams, and unauthorized practitioners, and takes actions to address the issues. Also makes referrals to law enforcement or disciplinary authorities where appropriate.
US Department of Justice Pro Bono Portal
Provides names and contact information for pro bono legal services. Not frequently updated but can be useful.
Visual Artists Immigration Clinic
Designed to guide emerging visual artists through the process of obtaining a visa to the United States.
Job-seeking and professional development
Academic Jobs Online
Searchable database and application portal lists US and international jobs at academic institutions. Free for job-seekers.
Chronicle of Higher Education
Database lists more than 30,000 administrative, faculty, and executive positions at academic institutions worldwide. Also provides alerts and other job hunting tools. Free for job-seekers.
Directory of Associations
Bills itself as the world’s largest free associations directory, with more than 37,000 listings.
H-Net Online
Job guide maintained by Humanities and Social Sciences Online lists positions in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Free for job-seekers.
How to Customize Your Resume
Eighteen-minute video from Upwardly Global provides advice and tools for optimizing resumes for online submission. Skills apply to all job types.
Idealist.org
"The world's largest social-impact job board" includes opportunities ranging from entry-level to executive roles in nonprofits, social-impact businesses, and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Immigrant Artist Program
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) program connects immigrant artists with services and resources to foster their creative careers, gain support and exposure for their work, and integrate into the cultural world of New York and beyond.
Inside Higher Ed
Job board lists more than 40,000 positions in higher education and allows job-seekers to upload resumes. Free for job-seekers.
JobHero
Dashboard helps job seekers manage their applications across many different job boards.
Jobscan
Subscription service provides tools for creating and improving resumes, writing cover letters, tracking job applications, and more.
Jobversity Resource Library
Upwardly Global’s curated collection of resources from trusted partners provides essential information about the job search process for newcomers and the organizations that serve them.
The world's largest professional network with more than one billion members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Provides a range of opportunities for job-seekers to connect with colleagues and employers.
My Next Move
Designed for people contemplating a career shift or entry into a new field. Provides tools for learning about career options and discovering your interests.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Learning
Build essential skills and gain insights from trusted experts in the arts industry in this learn-as-you-go platform for artists and cultural workers of all disciplines.
NYFA Professional Development Program
Provides artists, creators, students, and arts administrators with tools, strategies, and advice for building sustainable careers.
O*NET
Searchable database maintained by the US Department of Labor contains keywords and skills lists for nearly 1,000 different occupations and links to job-seeking tools.
Skills Transferability Table
Tool developed by Upwardly Global for the ONWARDS project provides lists of careers that may be compatible with the skill sets possessed by scholars, artists, and journalists. It also includes wage information.
Upwardly Global
Nonprofit organization provides training, mentorship, self-guided courses, and other assistance for immigrant and refugee professionals in all disciplines. Coaching may be available to qualified job-seekers.
Security, health, and wellbeing
Artists Health Insurance Resource Center
Provides personalized health insurance counseling, guidance and enrollment support, referrals to health care resources, and primary and specialty care at the Friedman Health Center in New York City.
Open Briefing
Provides funding and free resources to help activists and advocates enhance their safety and resilience under threat of physical, digital, and psychological harm.
Inclusive Therapists
Mental health resource directory committed to connecting people with culturally affirming and responsive care, destigmatizing and decolonizing mental health care.
Mt. Sinai Human Rights Program
Provides psychological, physical, and gynecological evaluations and continuity care to US asylum seekers who are survivors of torture and human rights abuses.
The Center
Provides community services to the LGBTQ+ community in New York City, including mental health counseling, immigrant services, and resources for enrolling in health insurance.
Grants and fellowships
Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant
Provides financial assistance to visual artists facing an unforeseen medical emergency or a sudden, unexpected loss of income.
Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)
A project of PEN America, ARC helps artists and cultural professionals by referring them to a wide range of services, including emergency funds, legal assistance, temporary relocation programs, and fellowships.
ARC Emergency & Resilience Funds for Eurasian Visual Artists
For Belarusian and Russian visual artists facing threats to their freedom and their lives for being in opposition to the regimes and the war unleashed by President Putin. Emergency grants are for artists who urgently need help with basic living expenses. Resilience grants are for those who are able to continue their work but who need funds to do so.
ARC Emergency and Resilience Funds for Ukrainian Visual Artists
For Ukrainian visual artists living inside or outside Ukraine. Emergency grants are for artists who urgently need help with basic living expenses. Resilience grants are for those who are able to continue their work but who need funds to do so.
Artistic Freedom Initiative
In addition to providing pro-bono legal help (see legal section above), AFI aids artists in finding temporary housing, studio space, employment, fellowships, residencies, and networking opportunities.
Artists’ Charitable Fund
Provides financial assistance to artists who have suffered a catastrophic event such as a natural disaster, medical emergency, or personal tragedy.
Artist Communities Alliance
Provides a searchable residency directory that spans disciplines along with other resources to help artists find, apply, and fund a residency experience.
Artists Fellowship
Provides emergency aid to visual artists and their families and a list of resources for emergency aid for artists and freelancers.
Authors League Fund
Provides interest-free loans to professional authors, journalists, poets, and dramatists in financial distress.
CERF+ The Artist’s Safety Net
Provides emergency grants and loans for artists in need, in addition to networking and educational opportunities.
Creative Capital
Provides grants for artists with at least five years of working experience.
Freedom House
Provides short-term support to human rights defenders, employees of civil society organizations, and survivors of severe religious persecution.
Freelancers Union Relief Fund
Provides educational resources and emergency funding to freelancers in various fields.
International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN)
Provides referrals to two-year residency opportunities for writers and artists with local governments and civil society groups in more than 80 cities of refuge around the world.
JX Fund
Offers training and fellowships to enable media professionals who have fled conflict zones to continue their work in exile.
Mayer Foundation
Offers grants to New York City-area residents struggling with poverty, low income, or lack of financial resources.
Modest Needs
Offers self-sufficiency grants to people in dire need but “because they are working and live just above the poverty level, are ineligible for most types of conventional social assistance.”
MusiCares
Provides financial assistance and other services to musicians and music industry professionals who have been affected by a medical emergency or financial hardship.
Musicians Foundation
Provides emergency financial assistance to professional musicians.
National Endowment for Democracy
Provides a variety of fellowship programs aimed at helping individuals deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to strengthen democratic progress.
New University in Exile Consortium
Provides academic positions for threatened scholars at colleges in the US, Bangladesh, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
Provides over $4 million in cash grants to individuals pursuing artistic excellence in all forms.
Office of Refugee Resettlement Career Pathway Grants
Helps eligible refugees to achieve self-sufficiency by obtaining the necessary credentials, education, experience, and job skills to secure employment in professional and/or skilled career fields.
Poets in Need
Provides emergency assistance to poets with a substantive body of published work who have an established presence as innovators in the literary community.
Rauschenberg Emergency Grant
Provides one-time financial assistance of up to $5,000 to artists who have suffered an unexpected medical emergency or a natural disaster.
Resources for At-Risk Individuals from Afghanistan
Compiled by Scholars at Risk, list includes information on fellowships and other opportunities for Afghan scholars, artists, students, human rights defenders, and others. Also includes links to visa, transit, and digital security resources.
Resources for At-Risk Individuals from Ukraine
Compiled by Scholars at Risk, list includes information on fellowships and other opportunities for Ukrainian scholars, artists, students, and others. Also includes links to visa, transit, legal, and digital security resources.
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Provides retreats and fellowships for writers and artists, who are given an individual studio, a private bedroom and three prepared meals a day so they can focus on their work.