San Francisco plans to support artists with $1,000/month income during pandemic

“In an effort to assist the city’s struggling arts community in bouncing back from the pandemic, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced last week that she’d be rolling out a cash transfer program for artists,” writes Christian Britschgi in Tuesday’s (10/13) Reason.com. “Under the mayor’s plan, 130 artists in the city will receive a $1,000 monthly cash stipend for a period of six months starting early next year. It’s one of several arts-themed policies sourced from the city’s Economic Recovery Task Force final report released last Thursday, which also includes funding for ‘artists to paint murals with a public health theme on boarded-up businesses and deploy performance artists to promote COVID-safe behaviors in high-foot-traffic areas.’ … The proposal is drawing both interest and criticism from UBI [Universal Basic Income] advocates…. The COVID-19 pandemic is generating increased interest in UBI as a more streamlined way of providing assistance to those in need. Included in the coronavirus relief bill passed in March was a $1,200 cash payment to all legal residents making $75,000 or less…. Breed announced last week a host of other policies intended to help the city recover from the pandemic.”