Houston Endowment boosts the Harvey Arts Recovery Fund

Two of Project Row House's buildings sustained damage. Art League Houston lost part of its roof. The Pearl Fincher Museum of Art in Spring flooded. A number of Houston artists lost homes, studios and warehouses full of work.

While small arts organizations and artists across the Houston region are still tallying their Hurricane Harvey losses, one thing is clear:  Some of them are in a mess of hurt.

Houston's major performing arts groups are in crisis mode post-Harvey, rushing to salvage seasons that have been derailed by remediations at the heart of the Theater District. But the region's cultural economy also depends on dozens of smaller groups and hundreds of artists who are especially fragile and vulnerable now, with fund raising dollars stretched thin everywhere.

So Tuesday brought some good news for them: Houston Endowment has given $125,000 in seed money to the Harvey Arts Recovery Fund, an online platform for donations and resources aimed at small groups and individuals. Already, virtually every art gallery opening of the past few weeks has acknowledged the fund; some have donated a portion of proceeds from artwork sales.

The fund serves a 10-county region, offering help with navigating FEMA processes and Texas' disaster unemployment assistance program, serving as a clearing house for national grant applications and awarding cash gifts for recovery. (Artists and organizations in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Waller, Chambers, Austin and San Jacinto Counties are eligible.)

"It all coalesced around people raising their hands and saying they wanted to help," said Shannon Buggs, a steering committee member and chief commons director of CultureWorks Greater Houston, an arts management sharing company.

More than a half-dozen non-profit support groups, including the Houston Arts Alliance and Fresh Arts, are collaborating on the effort; with an assist from large "local action" and "national advisory" groups.

"For arts groups, the recovery process is at least two years long," Buggs said.

The Harvey Arts Recovery Fund is still organizing and trying to identify needs, but deadlines are nearing for some federal and state assistance programs. The fund is housed at the Houston Arts Alliance#mce_temp_url#.