People working in the East Bay's arts and culture sector can apply for funding to help them survive the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the East Bay Relief Fund for Individuals in the Arts.

Grants of up to $2,000 are available to artists, teaching artists, culture bearers, and others working in the arts and culture sector in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The application period opened last Tuesday and continues to Sept. 28.

More than $400,000 is available this year in the third year of funding.

"Artists, culture bearers, teaching artists, and individuals working in the arts and culture sector have been hit hard by the pandemic and the resulting economic challenges," Ted Russell, director of arts strategy and ventures at the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, said in a statement. "Simultaneously, federal and state funding programs have not been readily available to this sector."

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation is leading the fund with support from the Hellman Foundation, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Gerbode Foundation, and East Bay Community Foundation.

The Center for Cultural Innovation, a group concerned with the economic security of artists, will administer the fund.

"Artists and arts workers play a significant role in making our communities healthy and vibrant," Laura Poppiti, CCI program director, said in a statement. "We can't risk losing them."

CCI will distribute the grants and aims to reflect the East Bay's diversity in the grants by including artists from historically underserved groups and artists financially vulnerable due to COVID-19.

Individuals can go to https://www.cciarts.org/EastBayReliefFund.html for funding guidelines and to apply.