Disaster Preparedness and Recovery: Assessing the Needs of Individual Artists During Hurricane Harvey

This thesis explores the impact of natural disaster on individual artists in Houston, Texas after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Included is an analysis of current artist preparedness and recovery policy, a review of resilience strategy, interviews with Houston-based artists, and interviews with the Harvey Arts Recovery Fund (HARF), an arts recovery group created in response to Hurricane Harvey. These sources provide evidence to show that professional artists often experience multiple layers of loss due to disaster, including loss of income, loss of tools and materials, loss of artwork, loss of studio and residential space, and emotional loss. Because artists often sustain damages to both their living and work spaces at the same time, there is also evidence to show that individual artists require additional assistance in creating more comprehensive personal preparedness plans. This thesis provides recommendations to better assist artists in preparedness and recovery based on resilience strategy, the HARF model, and key takeaways collected from artists who have experienced disaster.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201