James McAnally, director of the Luminary on Cherokee Street, said the venue and artist platform plans to send out $30,000 in checks by the end of April. Later, another round of grants worth $30,000 will be awarded. 

"We have received a dozen applications in the first hour and are expecting 250+ in round one based on conversations with grantors around the nation," McAnally said by email Thursday morning soon after sending a news release about the program.

The money is targeted for artists most in need of help; they do not have to use it for a project. It comes in collaboration with the Warhol Foundation, McAnally said. 

"Artist and arts organizers are among those hit the hardest not just by the arrival of the coronavirus, but by the unpredictable effects of the closure of art spaces, suspended teaching engagements, cancelled commissions, exhibitions, and events of all kinds, not to mention the many contract and service jobs lost that sustain many artistic practices," the news release says. "The Futures Fund: Emergency Relief for Artists grant is meant as a small intervention and expression of solidarity and support; we wish to stitch together enough support for now so that there is a horizon for us to live into."

The Futures Fund is created and administered by the Luminary as a partner in the Regional Regranting Program of the Andy Warhold Foundation for the Visual Arts. It is one of 16 regranting programs across the country, according to McAnally.

The fund will also accept donations online or by check to the Luminary at 2701 Cherokee Street, St. Louis, MO 63118. "All contributions received will be given directly to artists in our region impacted by COVID-19 and its related economic fallout," says the release.

For more information and to apply for a grant, go to the Luminary's website.