City To Offer Emergency Prep Workshops For Artists, Art Organizations

BERKELEY, CA — The city of Berkeley is offering a series of emergency preparation workshops for artists and art organizations beginning this week.

The workshops, scheduled for June 8, 15, and 22 can help better prepare artists and the organizations that support them to survive in the event of a disaster, according to a news release issued by the city.

Attendees will learn how to obtain insurance, craft emergency plans, and fund relief efforts in the series of virtual meetings to plan for natural or man-made emergencies.

There will also be a preparedness session to identify dangers, create business continuity plans, and access resources.

This three-session series will give those in attendance a chance to talk directly with staff from CERF+, a national and well-respected non-profit that provides a safety net of resources and support to protect and sustain artists’ livelihood, studio, and art.

Each of the three virtual sessions will have a different focus and artists can choose to come only to the sessions that interest them or all of the sessions.

The first session, Emergency Planning and Business Insurance for Artists on June 8, focuses on artists themselves where artists can learn about risk assessment, documentation and archiving, business insurance, and resources for preparedness and recovery. Register here.

The second session, Arts Organizations Preparedness 101 on Thursday, June 15, focuses on art organizations and will identify the hazards most likely to impact an organization’s operations and programming. Participants will begin to craft a business continuity plan which includes communication planning, protecting critical assets, and personal safety. Attendees will also learn
about risk assessment, creating a communications plan, business insurance, storing critical information in the cloud, emergency supplies, and how to test the business continuity plan.
Register here.

The final session, Emergency Relief Funding and How to Access It on Thursday, June 22, focuses on tactics to identify areas of opportunity, research funding options, and organize a plan. Attendees will also receive access to a suite of resources and information. Register here.

For more information, visit the City of Berkeley, Civic Arts Program online or send an email.

Artists are also encouraged to sign up for the Civic Arts Newsletter.