RESOURCE
HUB

A growing stash of tools, stories, and useful things from artists, organizers, researchers, and everyday people trying to keep culture alive. Take what helps. Pass something on when you can.

A place to share what we know

Artists — and the communities around them — survive on shared knowledge. Grants somebody found. Spaces somebody heard about. A tool that makes life easier. A printer, a rehearsal room, a friend who knows how to navigate city permits.

The Resource Hub is where we start collecting that kind of wisdom without dressing it up in a bunch of nonsense. Good information should move. It should be useful. It should help more people make more art.

If you’ve got something worth passing along — funding tips, studio leads, residency opportunities, neighborhood hacks, things that make artist life a little less hard — this is the place for it.

Does this sound like something you want to be a part of? Join us and help shape it.

✦ MUTUAL CARE     ✦ SHARED ECONOMICS     ✦ UNABASHED CREATIVITY     ✦ KNOW THE TOOLS     ✦ KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALONE     ✦ MUTUAL CARE     ✦ SHARED ECONOMICS     ✦ UNABASHED CREATIVITY     ✦ KNOW THE TOOLS     ✦ KNOW YOU'RE NOT ALONE    
All Resources
Stories & Case Studies
Articles, Reports & Data
Practices
No resources match your search.

Stories & Case Studies

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Manhattan Plaza in NYC turned blighted Hell's Kitchen into a thriving neighborhood — by housing artists.
Built in the 1970s as subsidized artist housing, it became home to Alicia Keys, Larry David, Samuel L. Jackson, and thousands of performers.
Source: Miracle on 42nd Street documentary
Documentary · Free on Tubi

Miracle on 42nd Street (2017)

Manhattan Plaza in Hell's Kitchen — 3,500+ residents, 70% performing artists, housed in subsidized housing that transformed a neighborhood and launched careers. A powerful case for artist housing as civic infrastructure.

Watch Free on TubiWikipedia
Case Study · San Francisco

Warfield Commons — SF's New Arts & Media Hub

CAST and KALW acquired the 9-floor Warfield Building at 988 Market St. for $7.3M — a permanent, below-market home for artists, journalists, and cultural workers in Mid-Market. A live, local proof of concept that creative infrastructure can be essential infrastructure.

Warfield CommonsSFistKQEDBroke-Ass Stuart
Case Study · Mississippi

Cooperation Jackson, Mississippi

Worker cooperatives, a community land trust, and a cultural center — built on the cooperative economics of the Black freedom movement. Now entering its second decade, and one of the most-cited models nationally for what a solidarity economy looks like in practice.

NPQ: 10-Year LessonsNPQ: Build & FightGEO OverviewHome
Case Study · San Francisco

Red Poppy Art House, San Francisco

A 650-square-foot Mission District storefront that's been a community-governed, artist-run cultural space since 2003 — hosting 150+ performances, exhibitions, and workshops annually. Proof that you don't need scale to build something essential.

Red PoppyMission & VisionBold Italic
Case Study · New York City

The Laundromat Project, NYC

A Black-rooted, POC-led nonprofit embedding artists in everyday neighborhood spaces — laundromats, bodegas, parks, gardens — to build social cohesion and civic imagination. Two decades of proof that art as everyday infrastructure works.

HomeNext CityArtnetWallace Study
Article

A Brief History of Black Cooperatives in the United States

Essential historical grounding — from Reconstruction-era mutual aid societies through today's solidarity economy movement. The lineage this work stands in.

Civil Rights Teaching · civilrightsteaching.org
Article

The Cooperative Movement: A Brief History

From the Rochdale Principles (1844) to Mondragon to today's platform cooperatives — the sweep of cooperative economic history, spanning nearly two centuries and every continent.

NCBA CLUSA · ncba.coop
Essay · 1968

The Black Arts Movement — Larry Neal

The foundational text of the Black Arts Movement — the aesthetic and spiritual arm of Black Power. Neal argues the artist's primary obligation is to the community, not the marketplace. Written to consolidate dignity and coherence among people under siege.

National Humanities Center · PDF
Video · 17 min

Emory Douglas: The Black Panther Artist (PBS)

Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party and the visual architect of the BPP newspaper — at its peak the highest-circulation paper in the country. He speaks plainly about art as service, not mystified genius.

PBS / American Masters · pbs.org
Know a story or case study that should be here? Send it to jawno [email protected]

Articles, Reports & Data

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Why This Matters
Artists need to know our value. Not so we can perform it for funders — but so we can be better advocates for ourselves, our work, and our peers. This data arms us. Know the numbers. Own them.
Arts and culture jobs grew faster than the overall US economy every year from 2014 to 2022.
The sector reached $1.17 trillion nationally in 2023.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Data

Arts & Culture = 7.5% of California's Economy

Arts, culture, media, and innovation contribute $288 billion and employ 820,000+ people statewide. The single most powerful data point for making the case to any policymaker or funder.

California for the Arts · caforthearts.org
Data

Arts & Cultural Production Satellite Account (BEA / NEA)

Annual, state-by-state data on arts and cultural GDP contribution, employment, and compensation. California consistently ranks among the top four states nationally.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · bea.gov
Article

The Science of Awe (Greater Good Science Center)

Research on awe: how experiences of vastness reduce self-focus, increase prosocial behavior, and strengthen community bonds. The intellectual grounding for why art in public life matters.

Greater Good / UC Berkeley
Article

Why Awe Is Such an Important Emotion — Dacher Keltner

Foundational work on awe as a civic emotion — how it makes us more cooperative, generous, and connected.

Greater Good Magazine / UC Berkeley
Article / Data

The Case for Public Art (NEA Research Brief)

Data on how public art builds civic attachment, reduces isolation, and improves neighborhood wellbeing across income and race lines.

National Endowment for the Arts · arts.gov
Toolkit

Artwork: A Guide for Artists Building the Solidarity Economy

Art.coop's foundational guide — how to build collective structures, price your work, and build power without sacrificing artistic freedom. Essential reading for any culture circle.

Art.coop · art.coop/artwork
Article

What Is the Solidarity Economy?

Clear, accessible explainer covering principles, history, and practices. The best single-page intro for someone coming to this fresh.

New Economy Coalition · neweconomy.net
Toolkit

Economics for Emancipation

Framework readings for understanding the solidarity economy — what it is, how it works, how to build it where you are. Good for study groups and culture circle sessions.

New Economy Coalition · neweconomy.net
Directory

Solidarity Economy Funding Library

A curated directory of funders, grants, and fellowships aligned with solidarity economy work. Start looking for money that won't compromise your values.

New Economy Coalition · neweconomy.net
Article · Major Key

Will the Revolution Be Funded?

The canonical text on the relationship between liberation movements and institutional funding. Foundation money has a gravitational pull that can redirect organizations away from their most radical work. Not a reason not to seek funding — a reason to seek it with your eyes open.

The Forge · theforge.press
Report

Solidarity Not Charity: Arts & Culture Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy

How arts and culture funding can align with solidarity economy principles — moving from extractive philanthropy toward reciprocal, community-driven investment.

Grantmakers in the Arts · giarts.org · PDF
Know a report, dataset, or article that should be here? Send it to jawno [email protected]

Practices

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✦ Money Health
From the Room
"The non-judgmental quality feels very important. I have so much self-judgment and shame. Our money stories are not necessarily true, but they are advertised."
— Money Health Collective participant

Money is hard to talk about. The shame, the scarcity mindset, the voice that says "artists aren't supposed to care about this" — we know. The goal isn't to turn you into a finance person. It's to help you understand your own money story, build real economic resilience, and find community around the stuff we were never taught.

The Black Panther Party's free breakfast program fed 20,000 children a day at its peak — before the federal government created its own version.
Communities can build their own economic infrastructure from scratch.
Source: History.com / Smithsonian Magazine
Community Sessions · Confirmed ✓

Money Journey Sessions — Money Health Collective

Free, virtual group sessions where participants share money experiences, learn together, and build real financial skills in a non-judgmental community. New cohort starts March 2026. Facilitated by Lin Shi.

Money Health Collective · moneyhealthcollective.com
Tool

Rocket Money (Budget Tracker)

Free app that syncs with bank accounts and makes your actual spending visible. Excellent starting point for artists with irregular income.

Rocket Money · rocketmoney.com
Article

Managing Money as a Freelance Artist

Practical, judgment-free guide to budgeting on irregular income: separating accounts, saving for taxes, building an emergency fund, pricing your work.

The Creative Independent
Toolkit

The Freelancer's Guide to Taxes

Step-by-step guide to self-employment taxes, quarterly payments, and deductions for creative workers. Free and printable.

Fractured Atlas · fracturedatlas.org
Article

Money Stories: Understanding Your Financial Autobiography

Reflective framework for exploring the emotional and cultural roots of your money beliefs — scarcity thinking, family patterns, shame.

Soul of Money Institute · soulofmoney.org
Toolkit

Rotating Savings Circles (ROSCAs) — How It Works

Tandas, susus, osusu — a centuries-old community wealth tool. Structure, practice, and how to start a rotating savings circle in your community.

Mission Asset Fund · missionassetfund.org
Course · Free

Khan Academy Personal Finance

Free, self-paced personal finance covering budgeting, credit, saving, and insurance. Zero jargon.

Khan Academy · khanacademy.org
✦ Collective Practice & Community Building
Podcast

Remember the Future — Art.coop

QTBIPOC creatives discuss building livelihoods rooted in care and cooperation — firing bosses, freeing land, and creating on their own terms. One of the best on-ramps for artists new to solidarity economics.

Art.coop · art.coop/podcast
Fellowship · $15K + TA

Remember the Future Fellowship

$15,000 plus technical assistance to arts/culture groups challenging dominant economic paradigms. Rolling applications.

Art.coop · art.coop/fellowship
Course · Free

NO STARVING ARTISTS! NO SELLOUTS! — Intro to Creative Work in the Solidarity Economy

A free course laying out principles and practices for building creative livelihoods outside the starve-or-sell-out binary. A practical on-ramp for cooperative economics.

Creative Study · creativestudy.com
Book

Emergent Strategy — adrienne maree brown

Building adaptive, resilient movements using lessons from nature. The most widely read text in the community organizing / artist collective space right now.

AK Press · adriennemareebrown.net
Toolkit · Free

Liberating Structures

33 practical facilitation methods for building participation and collective intelligence in groups of any size.

Liberating Structures · liberatingstructures.com
Toolkit · Free PDF

Mutual Aid 101 — Dean Spade

What mutual aid is, how it differs from charity, how to build it. Essential for artist circles moving toward resource-sharing.

Big Door Brigade / Dean Spade
Article

Mutual Aid Is Essential to Our Survival

The durable case for mutual aid as permanent infrastructure for communities that can't afford to wait for rescue.

Truthout / Dean Spade
Community

The Conscious Citizens

A newsletter, directory, and global community dedicated to building collective consciousness and community power.

The Conscious Citizens · theconsciouscitizens.org
Toolkit

Conflict Resolution for Collectives

Practical toolkit for navigating conflict within artist groups — collective agreements, repair practices, facilitation guides. Open source and adaptable.

Transform Harm · transformharm.org
✦ Grounding & Presence
The Invisible Infrastructure
Making art while the world is on fire requires practices that keep us tethered — to ourselves, to our communities, to the reasons we make things in the first place. These aren't add-ons. They're the foundation.
Books

Peace Is Every Step + The Art of Power — Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace Is Every Step grounds mindfulness in daily life. The Art of Power reframes power as freedom, understanding, and love. Find both at your local library.

Plum Village Press · plumvillage.org
Course · Online

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet — Online Course

A transformative online course bringing Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings to life. Balance personal wellbeing with climate action, master difficult emotions, train in deep listening, and turn climate concern into sustainable action. Join a community of changemakers.

Plum Village · plumvillage.org
Essay

Trying to Write in a Terrible World — Susan Muaddi Darraj

Darraj explores the Palestinian value of sumud — steadfast presence, refusing erasure — and what it means to write while bearing witness. An invitation to every artist navigating their practice in a world that gives many reasons to put down the pen.

The Conscious Citizens
Know a practice or tool that should live here? Send it to us info@eachartist.org
Experiencing awe — a great performance, a mural that stops you cold — makes you measurably more generous and cooperative.
Research by UC Berkeley's Dacher Keltner shows awe reduces self-focus and increases prosocial behavior.
Source: Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley