PEN America's Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)

PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) safeguards the right to artistic freedom of expression around the world and works to ensure that artists of all disciplines and cultural professionals everywhere can live and work without fear. ARC plays the critical role of liaising between threatened artists and the 800 organizations in our global network that support them. We raise awareness around threats to artistic freedom and mobilize arts and cultural institutions to play a more prominent role in assisting their field’s most vulnerable members. Since its inception, ARC has supported more than 500 artists from over 71 countries in receiving direct support, including residencies, emergency funding, legal assistance, and advocacy, from partner organizations. To respond to the growing needs of artists in conflict zones, ARC has established a grantmaking initiative for at-risk visual artists from Ukraine and Eurasia, including an emergency fund for basic living expenses as well as a resilience grant to help artists sustain their creative practices.