Helping Artists Through the Storm

With brutal tornadoes in April, and now again in May, 2011 has become the deadliest tornado year since 1953, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (NOAA began tracking tornado fatalities in 1950).

As communities in the Midwest begin the long process of rebuilding – still ongoing for tornado survivors in Alabama and neighboring states – CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund + Artists' Emergency Resources) wants to remind people in affected areas that the nonprofit provides disaster relief assistance to professional craft artists.

Craig Nutt, CERF+ director of programs, flew into Kansas City on Monday to talk to FEMA VOAD (Volunteer Organization Active in Disaster) liaisons about CERF+'s efforts to create better safety nets for artists, according to his post on the Studio Protector blog. (If you haven't seen it, CERF+'s Studio Protector website is full of artist-geared information not only about emergency preparedness, but what to do after disaster strikes.) Nutt also recently visited Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and his blog posts have been touching reminders of how disasters affect people working in the arts.

"There was a certain mix of courage and vulnerability in the voices of the artists I visited in last week," Nutt writes. "It was clear that it will be a long time before they are over the trauma, but they are doing what they need to do to get their lives back on track - a step at a time."