Stanford University supports creative community during COVID-19 pandemic

Members of the Stanford campus community have responded with music ensembles and podcasts to a grant program created by the Office of the Vice President for the Arts to cultivate artistic engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects ranging from musical ensembles and painting classes to podcasts and videogames are among the first recipients of grants designed to cultivate artistic engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 Creative Community Response Grant, created by the Office of the Vice President for the Arts (VPA), is intended to foster creative expression that can connect people at a time when the campus community is geographically dispersed. The program has been spearheaded by Anne Shulock, assistant vice president for the arts, and is still open to proposals. The idea for the grant program came quickly after the university started restricting campus events in early March and then asked students to leave campus, all in an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19. VPA generally awards grants tied to on-campus activities and in-person arts experiences, but when the university became a virtual environment, it was clear that there needed to be a different approach to grantmaking. "With the disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Vice President for the Arts wanted to support the many members of the Stanford community who are feeling the deeply human need to express themselves and connect with others by making and sharing art," explains Shulock.