Creative Pinellas helps artists apply for CARES money 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Struggling or not, there’s a good chance most people working in the arts community are not better off than they were in 2019.    
 
“It’s changed, it has definitely slowed down a bit,” said Christian Cashmir runs Litewave Media, a film and video production company in St. Petersburg.  

He says sales are down, and up until now there’s been no help.  
 
“I’m really glad they are doing something like this because I feel that a lot of the larger corporations were able to get some funding and now they are giving it to some smaller artists,” he said.  
 

The Pinellas County government carved out some money for artists in federal CARES dollars and Creative Pinellas is the agency helping people take advantage.  
 
“If the money isn’t used by December 30, it goes back to the federal government. We lose it. People are in such great need I want to make sure we get the money into the community,” said Creative Pinellas CEO Barbara St. Clair.
 

The money could go to any type of artist as long as they filed federal taxes in 2019 and made at least $4,250 in 2019.   
 
Creative Pinellas said it will help artists complete the application. Click here to learn more,