2020-901-E Arts Commission-Ryan Dean arts support relief grant

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Please explain how your general livelihood has been impacted by COVID- 19. I prev iously worked as a full-time graphic designer from 2008-2019 at the Splinter Group in Carrboro, Red Hat in Raleigh, and Riv ers Agency in Chapel Hill. I began working as a freelance graphic designer under the name “Anchor Eye Design” during the summer of 2019. This sudden shift in employment was the result of a forced resignation from Riv ers Agency, due to a lack of av ailable work for multiple designers and major downsizing to the design team. Because none of this had been planned for in adv ance, I spent the remainder of 2019 scrambling to make ends meet, while tracking down any freelance work I could find, and dev eloping essential marketing materials such as a logo and website, which can be found at www.anchoreyedesign.com. Operating as Anchor Eye Design, I was able to earn $800 in freelance graphic design projects in January 2020. Business increased to $1,875 in early February and jumped up to $6,720 between late February and early March. Then ev erything immediately crashed when the majority of small businesses were forced to drastically scale back operations and adv ertising budgets, due to the effects of COVID19. I hav e only been able to secure one graphic design gig since then, which paid only $300, since the majority of my project av ailability depends on the functionality of v arious serv ice industries, small businesses, and the liv e entertainment industry. Fortunately, I was able to qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Insurance, which functioned as a total lifesav er for a short period, but has since been exhausted, and I no longer hav e any source of income or financial support. I’v e been able to cov er expenses for basic necessities such as food and water during the pandemic by selling the majority of my musical instruments and recording gear. It has been a dev astating loss. In effort to stay financially afloat in 2020, I initially planned to supplement my freelance graphic designer income with whatev er money I might be able to earn from liv e music performances, merchandise sales at shows, and through the intended release of a new full length recording for my music/art project, HOLY BOUQUET (www.holybouquet.net). The project is currently a solo endeav or, so I’m operating as singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, recorder, sound engineer, mixer, designer, producer, and booking agent. The first HOLY BOUQUET show I booked for 2020 was at Slim’s in Raleigh on March 12th, 2020. I spent the week prior to this performance purchasing ev erything needed for my liv e show, only to find out a few hours before showtime that the show had been cancelled in response to the NC Gov ernor’s address regarding COVID19. It has been impossible to book any liv e shows since then, as all local music v enues hav e been closed. Ov er the course of 2020, I’v e made absolutely nothing from HOLY BOUQUET and lost what little I prev iously had, so I hav e not been able to pay to master the new album and officially release it for sale. Have you applied for unemployment benefits? Yes DocuSign Envelope ID: 4D9549E3-4EAE-49D4-A60C-068E21B407A4