Association/Club/Group/Guild - Education - Literature/Poetry - Nonprofit
Website: https://ASST.art
2 Haggis Court, Durham, NC 27705
Artists Standing Strong Together (ASST, “assist”) is a nonprofit artist support organization whose mission is to connect independent artists with resources.
Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic by professional storytellers, ASST swiftly organized online to identify and respond to the pressing needs of artists. With the internet as our home base, what started in crisis continues to blossom into limitless opportunity.
We are artist-driven, open to all.
Our Vision
A world where all artists have equal access to education, funding, and community.
Every single day, ASST works to create opportunities for people to discover, collaborate, grow, and share.
What We Do
Administer the Storyteller Relief Fund, a small grants program that provides critical financial support to free-lance artists in need.
Produce online storytelling programs — at least four every month — creating a platform for artists at all phases of their careers to practice their crafts. These programs are commonly free of charge and always open to the public, and we pay all artists to perform.
Conduct Youth Standing Strong Camp, where youth ages 4 – 18 are paired with individual mentors online, creating a global artist cohort across continents, languages, backgrounds, and cultures.
What We Value
1. UNCONDITIONAL WELCOME
We believe that our greatest asset is each other, so we actively seek participation
from everyone.
We invite you to show up, just as you are.
When you show up, you are embraced and empowered.
2. ELEVATION
We intentionally engage with people who have been historically underserved,
creating space for diverse voices to be heard and uplifted.
Our art is enlivened and enriched by our differences.
3. ADAPTATION
We encourage flexibility.
We don’t pine for perfection.
We get things done.
4. INTEGRITY
We adhere to the philosophy of plenty — believing there is enough of everything to
go around — so we share what we have, unequivocally.
5. CREATIVE SUSTAINABILITY
We boldly honor the continuum of ancestry by building programs that bring youth
and elders together.
By resolving early on that we would not be a membership organization, we
determined that our base of financial support would come from outside of those
we were created to serve.
We proactively invite investment in our work from a broad spectrum of sources.