HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – COVID-19 had impacted virtually everyone, especially those in the arts community. With the closure of performing venues, art galleries, and festivals, artists whose work is their livelihood are facing difficult economic challenges.

The Huntsville community is stepping in to help. Arts Huntsville has created an Individual Artist Emergency Relief Grant Fund (ARF) to provide individual artists – musicians, visual artists, writers, dancers, theatre artists, etc. – with grants of $250 to $500 to cover immediate expenses.

Arts Huntsville launched this Individual Artist Emergency Relief Fund with $25,000.

Now they are accepting community contributions to raise additional funds.

One hundred percent of community contributions will be disbursed for Relief Fund grants.

And if you are an artist in need, they are still accepting applications.

T-shirts being sold to make money

Every year the Panoply Arts Festival sells shirts featuring the Panoply Poster painting. Though the 38th Annual Panoply Arts Festival will be streamed online this year, they are still selling the shirts.

Proceeds from shirt sales will go toward the Individual Artist Emergency Relief Fund.

This years shirt features a painting by local artist Jahni Moore. Soon you will be able to purchase the original piece.

It will be auctioned off, the date has not been set, for more information visit the Arts Huntsville Facebook page.

Arts Huntsville will announce on their Facebook page when the T-shirts are available and details on cost and shipping. They have not announced a date but say they will be available soon.

More about the artist 

Jahni Moore is originally from Huntsville. He is a multifaceted artist,

“I Take what happens in real life, couple that with my imagination and then I birth paintings, drawings, plays, anything that comes to me creatively.”

He says when Arts Huntsville contacted him about this particular painting he wanted to do something that embodied “Hope, the power of the arts, the manifestation of the undying spirit.”

The painting features a young woman tagging. 

“We see tagging as illegal, but we know a lot of things that were at one point illegal brought about a whole new way of life for certain groups of people so it’s still an art form,” Moore says. “So I looked at that and I wanted to put that in the piece as well.”

He also placed a bridge, which he says has many different metaphors.

Moore says his goal was to create a piece that not only an older crowd could enjoy but everyone.

“The crowd that doesn’t go to museums, they don’t go to galleries, they don’t attend art functions. I am talking about everyday people because everybody deserves art.”

During this time Moore says he hopes his art students are out creating art, “Because that’s how you feel, take all of your negative feelings and use that to as I said before give birth to something beautiful.”

Right now Moore’s artwork is featured in shows in New Orleans, Troy University he is also featured in Monroe Louisiana but because of the recent tornado there that show will be pulled early.

His website is JahniTheArtist.Com He also has a blog that he updates weekly you can find it at Afroblastik.com

You can also view his Facebook page Jahni The Artist