Frequently Asked Questions

What was Creatives Rebuild New York?

CRNY was a three-year, $125 million initiative that provided guaranteed income and employment opportunities to artists across New York State. Alongside these programs, CRNY implemented research, storytelling campaigns, and policy & advocacy work. CRNY operated between 2021 and 2025.

What was Guaranteed Income for Artists (GI)?

Guaranteed Income for Artists provided regular, no-strings-attached, cash payments of $1,000 per month for 18 consecutive months, to 2,400 artists across New York State. During its operation, it was one of the largest statewide guaranteed income programs in the United States. To learn more, visit our GI pages.

What was the Artist Employment Program (AEP)?

The Artist Employment Program was a 2-year program that funded employment for 300 artists working in collaboration with over 100 community-based organizations across New York State. To learn more, visit our AEP pages.

Wait—have you closed as an organization? Will you offer future program- and/or funding opportunities?

As of July 2025, Creatives Rebuild New York will have ceased all operations as an organization as part of the organization’s planned closure. Both GI and AEP programs sunsetted in December 2024. 

CRNY will not be offering future programming or funding opportunities. To learn more about like-minded organizations and/or opportunities, please visit our Partners and Voices for Creative New York pages as well as the New York State Cash Alliance website.

How were applicants selected for guaranteed income (GI) and artist employment opportunities (AEP)?

GI artists were selected through a randomized process that ensured equitable geographic distribution throughout New York State and prioritized people who face systemic barriers to financial security—and did not put artists in competition with one another based on artistic merit. To learn more about the GI selection process, please refer to our complete GI program guidelines and process evaluations.

AEP artists and organizations were selected through a two-stage process by a group of twenty external peer reviewers alongside CRNY staff. Reviewers represented a diverse mix of artists and organizational representatives from a broad range of artistic disciplines, regions across New York State, cultural identities, and lived experiences that were reflective of the applicant pool. Final selection was balanced across a number of variables. To learn more about the AEP selection process, please refer to our complete AEP program guidelines and process evaluations.

Who received Guaranteed Income for Artists (GI)? Is there a list of grantees?

The GI program honored participants’ individual desires to engage—or not engage—with CRNY’s storytelling and communications work. For this reason, we do not share a comprehensive list of GI participants. To learn more about some of our GI participants and their stories, please visit our GI Artists page.

Who were the participating Artist Employment Program (AEP) artists and organizations? Is there a list of grantees?

Yes. To read about all AEP collaborations and artists, please visit our AEP Collaborations and Artists pages.

I am a researcher, and I’m interested in learning more about CRNY research, data, and reports. Where should I go next?

Please peruse our Portrait of New York State Artists, Guaranteed Income Research, Artist Employment Research, and Deaf & Disability Arts research pages.

I am interested in implementing a guaranteed income or artist employment program, and I’d like to learn more. Where should I go next?

Please refer to our GI and AEP process evaluations.

I’m a reporter, and I’m interested in talking to someone from CRNY about the organization. To whom should I reach out?

Please email press@creativesrebuildny.org.

Now that CRNY has ended, who is picking up this work and what partners are carrying the work forward? What is the future of CRNY’s policy efforts?

CRNY helped launch the New York State Cash Alliance that will build on our GI work and advocate for cash policies across the State. To join the movement, please visit their website. CRNY also launched Voices for Creative New York, a statewide advocacy organization for arts and cultural workers. This work is administered by New Yorkers for Culture & Arts in co-leadership with Arts NYS, Black Artist Collective, Freelancers Union, and Culture and Arts Policy Institute.