AK 015 - Grants for Artists

You may wonder why when you go the ArtKrush resources section there are scant listings in "Grants + Scholarships" this is because grants for artists are incredibly hard to come by and very competitive when they are on offer, not because our darling Krushies aren't hard at work. I know you guys visit anyway - and everyone likes money so here's the deal. The reality of the situation is that you aren't going to be able to live off of grants - simply not possible my loves. If you manage to get a grant it might give you a little breathing room or be able to finish a large project but it will take a lot of perseverance and sometimes applying to the same place over and over again.

I like to think of the arts funding system as one big sticky, messy trickle down phenomena - the government distributes our tax dollars and rich people their capital gains through a complicated web of smaller agencies and organizations. Just to give you an idea, here are the basics of the types of funding out there.

Public Sources: At the top of the money tree is the National Endowment for the Arts which spent over $115 million in 2002. Sadly, the NEA no longer provides grants directly to individual artists after all the hullabaloo with Andreas Serrano and Karen Findley. These days they funnel their money through the States, non-profits and other arts agencies. Most state agencies like NYFA here in New York and the Illinois Arts Council have granting programs for individual artists, you just need to figure out when to apply. These grants (as most) are made on the basis of a project or series of works an artist would like to undertake and are not for general subsistence, a few can be found for specific opportunities like "professional development" or exhibitions. Some states support other organizations - for example Washington State has The Artist Trust, which is a non-profit making grants to individual artists. Most public grants are made at the state level "democratically" by a panel of artists and specialists and are annual.

Non-governmental: Creative Capital is a very interesting funding model and from what I hear is an excellent experience for artists, not only providing cash but also support, marketing and professional development. The unusual part is that they ask the artists actually give back a portion of any earned income to the Creative Capital Fund. Their next deadline for applications in the Visual Arts and Film/Video will be late this year or early 2004. There are a few other arts organizations that provide specific funding for artists like Franklin Furnace's Fund for Performance Art and Arts International's Fund for US Artists.

Another way of getting funded is through "fiscal sponsorship." Fiscal sponsorship means that you apply through a non-profit organization using their 501[c][3] status to apply for money and then if you get it they cut you a check. If you offer to write the grant, do the legwork and give them an "administrative" fee of roughly 8 - 15% they will be might very happy to help you out. The partnership might even extend to your realizing the project in their space. The Foundation Center has a really good explanation of the process on their website. Fiscal sponsorship is an good approach for many reasons - being incubated by a non-profit often leads to more opportunities (I call it the shampoo effect) and it opens the field of where you can apply enormously. Artists who are pro-active in getting funding are very attractive and partnering with a non-profit can only be a win-win situation if you are successful.

Private Foundations: There are still a few private foundations that give funds to artists - some of the really big ones like Tiffany, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Joan Mitchell and Macarthur that give artists enough money to knock off trying to earn money for awhile to do their art work. The only problem with these is that you have to be nominated by their mysterious panels and they are a long shot. Other Foundations like Pollack-Krasner (established artists), Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Gottlieb Foundation (mature artists), Gunk Foundation (public art) Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (under 31 years old) and Aaron Siskind (photography) who give out grants for specific artists or mediums. There are also obscure foundations like Puffin Foundation that gives tiny bits of money for politically active artists promoting peace. The Foundation Center or Donors Forum in your neck of the woods has giant haystacks of information you can search through for grants to individual artists - it should take just a few hundred hours to find your needle!

Here are a few steps to get you started:

· Call your nearest state arts council or city agency and ask them very nicely if they are giving away money and when.

· Get to know what non-profit arts organizations are in your area, serve your artistic specialty or otherwise cater to artists of your ilk.

· Anytime you see an artist's CV peruse the section called "Awards and Residencies" and you will find the places that are spreading around money to artists like yourself. The art world is a cutthroat place so you gotta be sneaky.

· Google Google Google! Use key words like grants for artists, residencies, project funding, exhibition grants, travel funds etc.

If all of this is overwhelming and sets you a trembling you could always just hire your own grant writer.

I always say that applying for and getting grants is eerily like dating, so should you fail and receive one of those "its not you, its me" kind of rejection letters just get right back on that horse and try again. If your especially tenacious call them up and ask (with your sexiest voice on) why you didn't get whatever you were applying for - sometimes they will give you some helpful feedback, occasionally they will tell you to drop dead but don't take it personally!

Good Luck and may the Gods of envelops stuffed with grant checks smile down upon you!

Mistress Esa