ArtSake

An artist’s creative practice shares time and energy with family, financial, and other necessities of life. In our conversations with working artists, we’ve asked: How do you balance the unconventional challenges of an artist’s work with other aspects of your life?

Huckleberry Delsignore, crochet artist
My daughters are ages 3, 5 and 7. Balancing life as a single mother is complicated but they are proud of what I do and love playing with (my) masks. I make art to preserve my sanity. I must be actively engaged in a creative project or I feel myself wilt. Fortunately, my work is easily transportable, so I am often crocheting at the park while they play. I also stay up very late and get a lot done while they are sleeping.

Joan Leegant, writer
The crazy late night hours are an inconvenient aspect of my writing life that I’ve more or less learned to live with. Sure, every now and then I tell myself that now, this time, I’ll write during the day, but invariably the experiment falls apart after a few days or a week when everything I attempt comes out wooden, and I’m pulling teeth and grumbling at everyone in my path. So then I’m back to keeping hours that make it hard to do a “regular” life and require all kinds of compromises. There are times, for instance, when I don’t go out with people in the evening because it takes too many hours afterward to unwind and get down to work. There are other times when I don’t write at all, weeks or months, because I’m teaching and need to have a more normal sleeping schedule, or I can’t throw myself into the teaching and the writing at the same time. There are still other times when I’ve chosen not to write because there are other opportunities I don’t want to ignore… What has helped me with this question of balance – or, more accurately, perhaps, the lack of balance – is to try to fully embrace whatever it is that is keeping me from the writing, including things I didn’t choose, things that are difficult or painful but are simply part of the messy business of life.

Holly Lynton, photographer
My family is hugely important when it comes to my creative work. My husband is extremely supportive of what I do, and has also been a model in many photographs… Both of my children can articulate clearly what it is that I do. Involving them in my art is a sign of respect, and they understand the ups and downs of it, as they see it firsthand… I also want to teach them what it means to have ambitions, creative desires, and a goal to pursue, and how one goes about pursuing one’s goals. I believe this is important behavior to model directly, so the more they are involved the more they see how that all works.

Sharon Howell, poet
I have a husband – who is an artist – and two children under 10, so my life has some significant delightful chaos in it. One thing we’ve been doing as a family over the past couple of years has been helpful, if difficult: my husband and kids have been spending about half the year in the rainforest of Costa Rica, living on a farm and riding horses to a little bilingual school. I miss them terribly, but the unaccustomed solitude here in Cambridge has allowed me the mental space to write in a way otherwise impossible. I also get to visit them and hike through the mountainous jungle looking out to the Pacific Ocean, where giant blue morpho butterflies float by and you see toucans and monkeys regularly. This provides a healthy contrast to winter in Massachusetts.

Allan Reeder, writer
I’d say it’s more juggling than balancing. Getting to my desk at five in the morning or even earlier used to be the solution, until my son decided that he, too, liked the early morning (a writer-in-training?). So now I write during whatever moments I can. It’s continually surprising – and reassuring – what can happen, what can fall out of the imagination and into words, if I just sit down to let it happen. But I know that when only twenty minutes of writing produces a promising new turn in a scene, it wasn’t just those twenty minutes that did it – there were hours of previous writing in the mind that contributed. And reading.

Further research: Somerville artist Tim Devin surveyed artists to find out how they managed their time, in terms of hours and routines. You can read what he found out by visiting his web site and downloading the “Creative people and time management” PDF.

Image: a crochet mask by Huckleberry Delsignore, photo by Jay Elling.

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On the blog, we’ve had the chance to exchange ideas with dozens of Massachusetts artists, exploring their work and the way they make it.

A number of these artists, along with creating their own work, also teach. What do they try to instill in emerging artists? Here, we share some of their insights into the creative life.

Melinda Lopez, playwright
Break your characters. Don’t protect them. That’s the number one thing I see — a playwright has everything lined up, beautiful words, great characters, and killer story, and then they can’t follow through because they love their characters too much. You have to break their little spines, and leave them in the dirt and see if they can get up. If they can, then it’s a comedy.

Daphne Kalotay, writer
Of course it’s possible to over-revise, but most people don’t revise enough. I know it sounds schoolmarm-ish, but it’s true. The ability to revise is probably the most underrated and necessary skill, even more important than imagination. Because your imagination will only get you so far; then you need to fix everything up – develop it fully, make sure it flows and is well-formed, that it isn’t under-baked or overly wordy or unnecessarily confusing. From what I’ve seen as a writing teacher, in most cases what stops aspiring writers from reaching their goal is an unwillingness to revise as much as is truly necessary.

Holly Lynton, photographer
A teacher of mine once told me that it was not talent but persistence that carries you through as an artist. I firmly believe she is right. There are many aspects that go into a creative practice. Determination, critical evaluation, perseverance, challenging oneself, and staying true to a vision. I was taught to work to find my own point of view and perspective, to have as a goal the ability to create photographs that would immediately be recognized as mine. If I showed you a slide show of images by truly great photographers (assuming you had a good photo history background), I bet you’d be able to name most of them. That is a lofty goal of course, so I also try to encourage artists to find balance. Happiness. Happiness for me is key, as it’s an attribute that so often seems highly unattainable. At least among several people I’ve known. I try to encourage emerging artists to find a way of living and working as an artist that gives them a happy, balanced life, because I also believe that self-esteem can be fragile when developing an art career. For me, having a family enabled me to stay grounded, that and moving to the country. It took me a while to learn an important lesson, again taught to me by a great teacher, that being an artist is a way of life, a way of seeing the world, a way of thinking, and that you are that no matter what. Having an art career is something separate.

Steven Bogart, playwright and director
Be patient and give yourself permission, lots of permission, to explore anything that stirs your heart and imagination. We hear the word “no” way too much in our lives and it puts a vice grip on our creative impulses. I see this all the time in schools. As a director and theater teacher, my mantra to them is to be invested in the success of every other person in the room with you. I don’t believe the art of theater can be achieved without this kind of commitment.

Allan Reeder, director of Writing and Publishing Program at Walnut Hill School for the Arts
I like what novelist Zadie Smith wrote in an essay a few years ago – that “[r]eading, done properly, is every bit as tough as writing.” I agree with her that good reading is not only a skill but an art, a talent. I try to cultivate this through my teaching, in part because the possibilities for development of a literary piece depend so much on a writer’s being able to see what’s already there in a draft, or potentially there, if she can read it and re-read it with imagination, with vision – to see it on the screen in the mind. Go back and look again, see again. I strive to help our writers to get better and better at finding the possibilities that are inside that scene, that moment, that line, that gesture they put there in a draft originally for no clear purpose. Once a detail on the page is picked up again for its promise or potential, then it’s time to pick up the pen again and get to work on the language, making it more specific, more precise. The possibilities open in achieving precision.

Lois Roach, playwright and director
Life is messy. I tell my students that all the time. And that’s where your scripts and your stories come from. They don’t just come from four friends sitting in a coffee shop.

Jamie Cat Callan, writer
Follow your muse. Don’t worry about where you’re going or where you’ll end up. Write from the heart and believe that there is a place in this world for your voice, your story, your style. No one else can be you. You are completely unique and amazing in your own way. And as long as you stay true to yourself, your contribution to the world will be completely true and unique. Oh, and one other thing. Be kind to your writing. It lives and breathes outside of you. It’s a gift to you from your muse, so if you are kind to your own creations, your muse will make a habit of visiting you often. I don’t believe in tough love when it comes to teaching writing. I believe in love. Kindness. Gentleness. And of course a whole lot of joie de vivre.

Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, playwright
Keep a journal, write two hours a day, read hundreds of plays, go to a play a week, get to know your local playwrights and rush to see their plays, when you have writer’s block distract yourself with a 10-minute play and submit it to the innumerable festivals in your favorite cities all over the country, have close friends (other than yourself) that you study and know inside out. Never give up, never despair – after three decades of doing what you love most, the Huntington might give you a call. (Ed. note: Alfaro will premiere her play Before I Leave You at the Huntington Theatre Company in October 2011. The above is quoted from Adam Szymkowicz’s blog.)

Justin Casinghino, composer
As a teacher, I have two primary concerns. I want my students to stay open minded about everything they hear and everything they create, keeping them unafraid to go out on a limb and try something they are unfamiliar with. At the same time, I am particularly concerned with teaching composition as a craft. In other words, it is important to me that my students be aware of and study what and how the past masters of the craft have done. I think that allowing students to explore their own path, while also keeping them in touch with the lineage of composition, is the most beneficial method of study for the young composer.

Adam Schwartz, writer
Keep writing because it brings meaning to (your) life and not because (you) have visions of fame and success.

Image: East Somerville Community School mural project led by artist David Fichter, part of MCC’s STARS Residencies.

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The Massachusetts Cultural Council 2012 Artist Fellowships Program guidelines are now available. Here’s some advice on navigating the fellowships application process.

In the MCC Artist Fellowship Program, we instruct our panelists to make their grants decisions based on two criteria*: 1. Artistic quality, and 2. Creative ability.

“But wait!” exclaims an imagined ArtSake reader. “If all decisions are based on artistic excellence, what advice could you possibly give other than ‘make great art?’”

And here, our conjured, exclamatory reader has a point. Do make great art. But we thought we’d share some ideas on optimizing your application, which really means avoiding choices that might distract panelists from the excellence in your work.

(We’re not even going to mention that you should carefully read – and follow! – the guidelines, and that you should familiarize yourself with the guidelines and instructions ahead of time, so you’re not rushing on the evening of the deadline. You know that already. So. No reason to even bring it up.)

Which work samples should I submit?
Since the work sample(s) you submit are the only evidence the panelists will have to understand you as an artist, what you decide to include is an important choice. That said, don’t overthink it. Rather than strategizing about what style or genre you imagine will click with what you assume to be the judges’ tastes, just send your strongest work. Truly. Individual panelists have stylistic preferences, but you can expect arts professionals working at a high level to be able to recognize excellence in a style not their own. And besides, the work that does well in panels, that emerges from the group, is the work that excites a juror, that makes a strong enough connection that he or she will advocate for it when the panel’s final recommendations are made.

Spend your best hours and your best energy on the work itself rather than on estimating what an imagined juror might like.

How do you know what’s your “strongest” work? If you have any question, enlist the opinion of a trusted peer. They are not you, after all (not that you’re not awesome), and that non-you-ness can offer some helpful distance and objectivity.

We ask for recent work (past four years), but it doesn’t necessarily have to be your newer-than-new, “Have I revised it? Heck, I’ve hardly spell-checked it!”-type work. “Be aware of how highly competitive it is,” said one panelist. “What separates the strong applications is revision.”

What if you want to send the same work you sent the last time you applied – work that didn’t win you a fellowship? If you still consider it your strongest, send it again. The panelists change every cycle, and plenty of times, we’ve seen work that was passed over one cycle be successful the next.

One question we often get is whether it’s better to send a group of excerpts from different work (to show range) or a longer section of just one. (This is particularly key in categories requiring printed pages or CDs/DVDs, where one work or one excerpt could easily constitute your entire work sample allotment. In visual arts, the equivalent might be five images from different series vs. five from the same series.)

Illustrating your range as an artist can be helpful, but in your hierarchy of considerations, “showing range” should come second to “giving the panelists a great artistic experience.” Ideally, your sample will compel the panelists as it would any audience, while conveying your unique voice as an artist.

Start strong. The beginning of your sample – first image, first pages, first few minutes – makes an impression that impacts the entire experience. Also, if you’re sending an excerpt of a longer work, send a meaty part. If the portion you send is all set-up, the panelists might say, “Well, it’s good craft, but how do I know this artist can effectively develop this?”

If you’re sending a group of images, keep in mind we project all five at once. Successful applicants tend to excel at demonstrating a cohesive vision – with room for variety.

Preparing Your Work
In disciplines that include jpg images, MAKE SURE to optimize your images by setting the longest dimension (length or width) at 768 pixels. The lesser the dimensions are from 768 pixels, the worse the projection quality. If the pixel dimensions are too small, your image will look pixelated when projected. Applicants often ask us what the optimal dpi would be; dpi affects print quality but not projection quality, so 72 dpi is fine. Again, it’s the pixel dimensions you want to focus on.

In disciplines that ask for pages: readability is your friend. Avoid diminishing margins and fonts just to fit more in. More is not better.

In disciplines that include CD or DVD submissions, tracks/chapter marks are highly encouraged.

If your work is interactive, conceptual, or performance-based, think hard about how to best convey to the panel in a compressed time period what your intended art experience is. A past Choreography applicant who did this really well was Alisia Waller (Choreography Fellow ’08).

Pared down, lo-fi, but set in an environment that perfectly suits the choreography, this clip makes specific use of video as a way of conveying dance. That’s not to say recordings of live, on-stage performances won’t work, too (they can and do) but the point is, the artist selected and documented her work in a way that well-suited the panelists’ experience of it.

Another great video sample by Nick Rodrigues with Automotive Armor, which does a terrific job portraying the experience of the piece, while also editing the video in a way that’s consistent with the work’s humor.

Work Sample Description
In all categories, applicants have the opportunity to include a brief work sample description to give, if necessary, context to the submitted sample(s). We believe the Work Sample Descriptions can be useful. But sometimes panelists complain that descriptions are distracting when they read like self-promotional marketing copy, or when they spell out themes or emotional responses that should be implicit in the art experience.

Well then what is the MCC looking for with this Work Sample Description? you might ask. We just want the panelists to understand your work sample; “invite us into the world of the (work),” as one panelist put it. Put yourself in the panelists’ shoes: sitting in a meeting room, reading a sample or experiencing your work projected or played. Things that would be obvious in a book or a gallery or a performance venue may not be obvious in that context. Any time panelists spend wondering how they’re “supposed” to be experiencing your work is time they’re not discussing its good qualities. Even details that seem self-evident to you – for instance, whether your work is a full piece or an excerpt from something longer – may not be clear to someone approaching your work without context.

Beyond that? Be brief, including only enough information to allow reviewers to understand the piece. And if your work needs no explanation, don’t feel you need to fill in the box. No description is fine, if none is needed!

The X factor
There’s always a touch of mystery to what makes a particular work click with a particular audience. It’s a given that the level of artistic quality should be high, but what makes a juror (or any audience) love love LOVE it? To some extent, it’s an X factor, out of your control. So we’d suggest you control what you can, avoid distracting application choices, and continue to do your great work.

And email us or add a comment below if you have a question not covered here.

Image and media: Christy Georg, CIRCUMNAVIGATING (2007), wood, steel, and cotton, 16x3x11 ft; video of Alisia Waller’s GENDER ANGER.

* Except in the case of Traditional Arts, which has additional criteria.

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In May 2011, artists Tim Devin and David Taber organized a conference in Cambridge called Play-Jurisms, exploring the complex thicket of copyright, appropriation, and ethics in the work of contemporary artists. We asked the two collaborators to share their observations from that weekend, which approached the idea of creative property from all angles.

How does copyright really work? How can you protect your creations from being stolen? How much of another person’s work can you include in your own before getting into trouble?

We started talking about appropriation last fall. The more we looked into it, the more interested we became – and the more we learned how complex it was. We figured that other creative people in the area would want to know about these things as well, so we organized Play-Jurisms. The conference took place May 21- 22, 2011, at the Democracy Center in Cambridge. All of the sessions were free, and all of the speakers were volunteers.

Two intellectual properties lawyers led things off. Between them, they delivered easy-to-understand explanations of intellectual property law as it relates to creative work, and provided an incredible amount of background information.

Miguel Danielson, principal at Danielson Legal LLC, began by explaining some basics including what copyright is and how it is enforced. He told us that every expression that “shows a modicum of creativity” and is “expressed on a tangible medium” is automatically copyrighted. The phonebook, for example, is not copyrightable. Even though copyright is an automatic right, if you want to make sure you have undisputed standing in court, it is best to register your work with the US Copyright Office, which costs $35.

Danielson also spoke about legal provisions for fair use. Fair use exceptions to copyright law allow for the use of other peoples’ work for educational purposes; commentary; parody (comedy that mocks the original work – but not satire, which makes broader social statements); or “transformative” uses that create a unique work. One important limit to fair use is that the new use cannot have a “negative market impact” on the original work, he said.

In general, he said, case law does not provide a particularly clear guide for how future copyright disputes will turn out.

Danielson’s presentation is available here. The examples he used are worth checking out – including a case that pitted 2 Live Crew against Roy Orbison, and one involving Demi Moore’s body and Leslie Nielsen’s head.

Sheri Mason, who is an associate at Morse Barnes-Brown and Pendleton PC, and is the Director of Legal Services at the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, presented next.

Discussing recent trends in copyright law, Mason said the courts have been increasingly tough on people using “fair use” defenses in recent years. In particular, she cited Richard Prince V. Patrick Cariou, in which the court found that Prince’s alterations of Cariou’s photographs were not transformative.

Mason also discussed recent developments in moral rights – rights explicitly offered to visual artists in the United States under the Visual Artists’ Right Act of 1990, and given to other creators to some extent through other laws. Moral rights include the right to be credited and its opposite, the right to publish work anonymously or under a pseudonym. They also include the right to the “integrity” of visual works; that is, the right not to have your work mutilated, distorted, or modified. There are limits to moral rights, however. For example, Mason spoke about a case where landscape design was found to not be copyrightable, and therefore not protected from mutilation.

Mason also discussed Creative Commons – a license that allows others to use your work for free, as long as they agree to certain conditions. (Such conditions could include making the new work available for reuse as well, or not reusing the original work for profit.) Creative Commons works are still copyrighted, but the creator is voluntarily giving up some rights, she said.

Next, we heard from James O’Keefe, the founder of the Massachusetts Pirate Party, a newly formed political party that pushes for copyright-reform and open government.

O’Keefe spoke about how copyright had evolved, and why the way it is now isn’t necessarily the best thing for us. He began by telling us how copyright had been created in Europe to protect religious and political interests, then business interests, rather than individual creators’ rights. He then talked about extensions of copyright that we’ve seen since the early 20th Century in the U.S. – from 14 years to life-of-the-author plus 70 years – pushed for by corporations, particularly one seeking to protect a particular large-eared cartoon character.

O’Keefe made the important point that culture is what has come before, and for culture to move on, we must build on that past. As copyright bars more and more uses of previously created material, it bars what forms culture can take. (Here’s O’Keefe’s presentation.)

We finished up the first day by watching Craig Baldwin’s documentary Sonic Outlaws. This film explores the legal issues around Negativland‘s parody of U2 and Casey Casem. It also included a number of interviews and short vignettes about other copyright-questioning artists such as John Oswald and the Barbie Liberation Organization.

The next day started with Don Schaefer, an artist and artists’ rights advocate. He is part of the Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition and is the founder of Pro-Imaging, an international group aimed at promoting artists’ rights.

Schaefer argued in favor of copyright, saying that while its current iteration is a “bad performance,” protection is necessary to ensure that creative people are reimbursed for their time and effort. “We live in a predatory culture,” he said. “There’s no reason for us to be predatory towards each other.”

Schaefer recommended that people collaborate, instead of appropriating from each other; besides being a legal alternative to appropriation, collaboration helps build community, and can lead to further creative opportunities.

After Schaefer, we had a panel discussion about appropriation. On the panel were Danny Mekonnen, Dirk Adams, and Alana Kumbier.

Mekonnen, founder of the Debo Band, a local Ethiopian group, discussed the ethics of cultural appropriation. Mekonnen, himself an Ethiopian-American, spoke of appropriation as being a potentially meaningful exchange and bridge between cultures. During his career, he has worked with a number of Ethiopian musicians here and in Ethiopia. His group has covered their songs, and given them credit. Part of the importance of his work, he said, involves giving recognition and credit to older artists; he also believes in educating his audience about Ethiopian culture.

In his opinion, talk about appropriation as all-or-nothing isn’t right – the reality is more nuanced. Borrowing is fine, but hiding where you borrowed it from is problematic. (Mekonnen explores this idea further in this article.)

Dirk Adams spoke next. Adams is a performance and sound artist, and is also half of the multimedia group Gang Clan Mafia. He said we live in a pervasive information culture, where media has become part of our language. Since this is our culture, it doesn’t make sense to not refer to that culture in creative work. He uses snippets of pop culture to tell stories and create sensations through his work, which he wouldn’t be able to do without appropriating those snippets.

The third panelist was queer burlesque performer and zine-maker Alana Kumbier. Kumbier told us about a zine she edited called “Because the Boss belongs to us” and a cabaret show she’d put together called “Queers Do the Boss.” During the cabaret event, performers did imaginative interpretations of Bruce Springsteen songs. The zine told stories about Springsteen’s influence in the writers’ lives. Kumbier viewed the event (and book) as commentary and social satire, and therefore completely defensible. She said being able to freely discuss and interpret the work of iconic cultural figures who have influenced us is important for self-expression and self-understanding.

The panel raised a number of interesting issues. For instance, do the ethics of appropriation change if the performer is or isn’t making money? Second, there are two ways to reimburse the original creator – through a change of money, and through attribution, which helps get the original creators’ name and work out to a larger audience? In recent history, being reimbursed with money has been the primary goal – but is money really more important than attribution?

After the panel, we had a workshop by Heather McCann and Alana Kumbier. McCann and Kumbier are both librarians, and are part of Boston Radical Reference, a group of librarians who offer their help for free to cultural and left-leaning groups. For Play-Jurisms, they had created an online reference guide listing sites that had legal, free sound, video, and images that creatives can use.

After a short break, we had some free food, and then saw two performances. The first was by Gang Clan Mafia, who performed their new piece, created for the event, called “Gang Clan Mafia Sing Happy Birthday to You, Pac Man.” The piece involved sampled and sequenced sound snipped, as well as video and performance actions.

Factory Seconds, a Somerville-based brass band, closed out the weekend. Dressed in their teal-and-black colors, they played fun and imaginative interpretations of familiar tunes.

- David Taber and Tim Devin

Tim Devin is a Somerville-based artist. His projects have involved community, public space, books, zines, maps, walking tours, and giving things away for free. Tim is a member of the Rise Industries art group, and is on the board of the Somerville Arts Council.

David Taber lives in Somerville, plays low-brass for the Factory Seconds, occasionally writes zines, and thinks much about politics, culture, how to write fiction. Full time, he is a reporter at a newspaper in Boston.

All images courtesy of Tim Devin and David Taber.

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We just announced our most recent Artist Fellowships (more on that program below), and, with awards on the brain, we thought we’d take the opportunity to revisit a post we first created in 2008. It’s a look at funding opportunities for artists in Massachusetts (though there may be an opportunity or two in here for those of you who live out-of-state).

So here, artist funding-seekers, is the post, its split ends snipped, its lapels straightened, its chocolate-stained cheeks cleaned by a licked thumb: updated, improved, and re-posted.

Direct Funding for Artists
When Massachusetts artists contact us (us meaning Kelly and Dan at the Massachusetts Cultural Council) to ask about grant support for individual artists, our first response is, of course, to strongly encourage they investigate our Artist Fellowships Program. It’s a competitive, anonymously judged program to recognize artistic excellence in Choreography, Crafts, Drawing, Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, Film & Video, Music Composition, Painting, Photography, Playwriting, Poetry, Sculpture/Installation, and Traditional Arts. The program currently offers unrestricted individual fellowships of $7,500 and finalist awards of $500, to categories that alternate each year, and two deadlines in any given year. (Always a good idea to sign up for the MCC’s Artist News e-newsletter to receive the upcoming deadlines, and to check current guidelines to see what the current grant amount is, as this can fluctuate based on our agency’s legislatively-allotted funding.)

So, if you’re a generative artist who lives and works in Massachusetts, check out MCC’s Artist Fellowships. However, we thought it might be useful to list some of the other grant opportunities we share with artists looking for funding for their ongoing work.

Not every grant opportunity listed here will be right for every artist. Before applying, you need to decide whether that particular grant is a good fit and thus worth taking time and energy away from your work. Also, this is by no means a comprehensive list, so feel free to let us know about other funding opportunities for individual Massachusetts artists.

Other MCC Programs for Artists
Local Cultural Council Grants
Another MCC program that includes support for individual artists is the Local Cultural Council Program. Massachusetts has 351 cities and towns that support community cultural activity through Local Cultural Councils (LCCs). LCCs award smaller grants (typically averaging $200-$500) for projects that benefit a specific Massachusetts community. Most LCCs accept applications from individual artists (and in fact, several LCCs – Somerville Arts Council, Worcester Cultural Commission, and Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire – offer individual fellowships similar to MCC’s Artist Fellowships, as well).

When applying for an LCC project grant, you must explain how your project will benefit that particular community and engage its residents. Funding criteria and priorities vary from town to town, so the best way to see if your project is right for a particular community is to contact that LCC (here are a list of LCC contacts). The deadline is generally mid-October.

Traditional Arts Apprenticeships
If you’re a master artist of a traditional art form, and you’re looking to pass on your knowledge, our Traditional Arts Apprenticeships program offers funding for exceptional master artist/apprentice teams.

STARS Residencies
Grants in the STARS Residencies go to MA schools to fund residencies for artists, scientists, and scholars. The program provides $500-$5,000 to support creative learning residencies of three days or more. Check out the recently funded schools – with much of that funding going to compensate artists.

Non-MCC Programs
A number of other groups offer funding for Massachusetts artists:

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Artist’s Resource Trust
These grants, ranging from $1,500 to $10,000, are for New England visual artists who demonstrate a financial need. Painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, or mixed media artists who have lived in New England for at least two years at time of application are eligible. As of this writing, the guidelines call for (among other things) up to ten images of the artist’s work, a one-page letter describing what the artist plans to accomplish with the grant, and some IRS forms (per the “financial need” criteria). Received-by deadline is August 1.

Artadia
Founded in response to the decline of NEA funding for individual artists, Artadia offers unrestricted grants to visual artists in specific communities. In 2007, Boston was added as one of those communities, and 17 local visual artists/collaborating groups have received awards, ranging from $1,500 to $15,000, to date.

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s Lillian Orlowsky and Wiliam Freed Foundation Grant
Grants are offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The fund honors its namesakes, in particular Lillian Orlowsky, who sought to provide financial support to mature artists due to her passionate commitment to art. The goal of the grant is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, as well as encouraging interest in artists who lack adequate recognition. Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000. Generally, there will be three or four grants awarded annually. Applicants need to fill out an application, send 10 images on CD, and complete financial disclosure form. In 2011, applications need to be postmarked or hand-delivered by August 15, 2011. Read a Studio Views with past winner Morgan Russell.

LEF Foundation
Founded in 1985, the LEF Foundation has played a key role part in fostering and promoting contemporary art in New England. Currently, LEF’s funding is focused on supporting independent documentary film through its Moving Image Fund. New England documentary filmmakers applying for LEF grants will need to find a nonprofit organization to act as fiscal sponsor (Filmmakers Collaborative, Independent Center for Documentaries, Documentary Educational Resource all offer this service, as does the New York-based organization Fractured Atlas). Currently, LEF accepts proposals for pre-production, production, and post-production funding. More information is available online. Numerous prominent Massachusetts filmmakers have received recent LEF funding including Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Film & Video Fellows ’11), Jane Gillooly (Film & Video Fellow ’07), and Jeff Silva (Film & Video Finalist ’09).

Mass Humanities
Mass Humanities offers pre- and post-production and distribution grants to film projects that support humanities themes (check out Executive Director David Tebaldi’s post on The Public Humanist blog about what makes a good humanities film). Similar to the LEF application process, individuals will need a fiscal sponsor to apply. As with other programs, the best way to see whether this funding is right for your project and to learn more specifics is to contact the organization.

The Awesome Foundation
To win one of the The Awesome Foundation‘s $1,000 grants, you’d be well advised to do awesome work, since that’s their only funding criteria. The foundation, which was launched in Boston and also has chapters in LA, New York City, San Francisco, and throughout the world, gives no-strings-attached grants to “crazy brilliant” projects (such as a Cotton Candy Cannon, vibrant DIY basketball nets to invigorate neighborhood courts, or a Big Hammock in the Rose Kennedy Greenway).

Iguana Music Fund
Club Passim in Cambridge fosters a vibrant and exciting music community not only as a music venue but also as a funder. The Iguana Music Fund offers seed grants to aspiring local musical artists. The fund awards grants between $500 and $2,000 to individual artists with a New England residence or affiliation to support recording, publicity, instrument repair/purchase, special projects, or other activities related to career or creative growth. The 2011 application deadline will be October 15, 2011. ArtSake favorite Kristin Andreassen is one of the past winners. Read a Boston Globe article about the award.

By nomination only
Why mention grants that are by nomination only? Well, I was thinking this might save you the trouble of hearing about these grants, thinking, “Hey, maybe I should apply,” only to find unsolicited applications are not accepted. Or, maybe you’ll be nominated, in which case, yippee!

Foster Prize: the James and Audrey Foster Prize, awarded by The Institute of Contemporary Arts, is a $25,000 biennial award for nominated Boston-area artists. Though there’s only one big winner, all finalists are featured in an ICA exhibition.

Brother Thomas Fellowship: this nomination-only award offers $15,000 unrestricted grants to Boston-area working artists of all disciplines. The award is administered by The Boston Foundation and sustained by sales of world-renowned porcelain ceramics by Brother Thomas Bezanson, a Benedictine monk. See an ArtSake post on the inaugural winners.

St. Botolph Foundation Grants: the foundation offers awards of $2,500 for emerging New England artists, plus an award for a distinguished artist. See the past emerging artist grant and distinguished artist award recipients.

Tanne Foundation: created in 1998 by an artist, the Tanne Foundation gives awards (administered by the Boston-based GMA Foundations) that “recognize outstanding achievement and are an expression of gratitude to artists for their passion and commitment to their work.” Award levels vary depending on the foundation’s assets. The foundation’s trustees nominate artists, then convene to decide on individual artist awards. Past recipients include THINK AGAIN (David Attyah and S.A. Bachman), kanarinka, and Joanne Rice.

Further research on arts grants

artSource
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston offers an index of arts-related employment opportunities, internships, civic engagement partnerships, grants, residencies, exhibitions, competitions, public art commissions, artist workspaces, and related community resources called artSource.

NYFA Source
NYFA Source is a searchable database of national grant opportunities, sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts. Don’t be alarmed that the site is hosted by a New York organization; the database includes opportunities from throughout the country. You can set your own search criteria, which is useful for filtering out those that don’t apply.

Mira’s List
Whereas artSource and NYFA Source are the stately institutions of grants databases, think of Mira’s List as the Mom & Pop shop. It’s a terrific blog run by generous and industrious Massachusetts artist/writer Mira Bartok, listing useful grants deadlines and info for artists of all disciplines. Also highly recommended is Mira’s Primer on Grants and Residencies, a great resource for grant-seekers at any stage.

The Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing
This book takes a pragmatic, step-by-step approach to finding funding as an individual artist. Read our interview with author Gigi Rosenberg.

In conclusion…

Of course, we wish there were more funding sources, and more funding from those sources. If we hear of new opportunities, we’ll add them here. And if you’re interested in seeing MCC’s funding for individual artists continue and grow, find out more about advocacy opportunities on our Advocacy Action Center.

Images: Elizabeth Alexander, KEEPING UP APPEARANCES NO. 2 (2009), mixed media installation, variable dimensions; Caleb Cole (past Artadia awardee), THE LAST PAGE (2008), Archival Inkjet Print, 20×30 in; still from NIGHT SIDE (2008) by Rebecca Meyers (past Foster Prize Finalist).

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In a post for the Vox Mom blog, Massachusetts poet Jennifer Jean writes engagingly about her belief in Literary Citizenship. In her case, that means contributing her time and energy to the poetry community despite the already robust demands of being a poet and working mother. As a Literary Citizen, she makes sure to impart a love of poetry in those around her. She also takes an active role in organizing poetry community-building events like the upcoming Massachusetts Poetry Festival (May 12-14 in Salem) – even if that means meeting with fellow literary citizens/moms, kids in tow, at a local bounce house emporium.

Now, here’s your chance to be a poetic citizen. Take part in the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, a three-day schedule of events, workshops, performances, and readings. Celebrate the literary heritage of this state, experience captivating poetry, and write with (and draw inspiration from) some of the most trailblazing poetic citizens at work today. One festival button ($10 donation, $5 for seniors/students) will grant you admission to all events (though the workshops will require pre-registration).

Some ArtSake picks from the amply excellent line-up:

• The Poetry Dress, a collaborative art project showcasing the layers of female voices in contemporary poetry, on display at The Roost
• Salamander Reading, (The Gathering, 5:30-6:30 PM, 5/13), a reading from editors and contributors to Salamander Literary Journal, including Simeon Berry (Poetry Fellow ’06)
• A performance of Charles Olson’s dance play Apollonius of Tyana (Main Stage, 11 AM, 5/14), with performers including Sarah Slifer (Choreography Fellow ’10)
• Grub Street Poem Generator (Green Land Cafe, 12-1:30 PM, 5/14) Grub Street instructor and past MCC Poetry Fellow Ben Berman (’08) will lead poets through innovative, verse-stimulating exercises
• What We Want (Old Town Hall, 12-1:30 PM, 5/14), a panel of independent publishers advises emerging poets on how best to get their attention
• The Headword Poetry Presentation (Main Stage, 1:30-2:45 PM, 5/14), Regie Gibson (Poetry Fellow ’10) hosts performances by area spoken word poets
• Steve Almond (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) will read his own (good) poetry (Main Stage, 2-2:20 PM, 5/14), before exploring bad poetry (The Gathering, 3-4 PM, 5/14) as judge of the Mass Poetry Festival’s Bad Poem Contest
• Patrick Donnelly (Poetry Fellow ’08) offers a workshop on How to Be a Good Public Reader of Your Own Poetry (House of Seven Gables Hooper House #1, 2- 3:30 PM, 5/14)
• BEG, BORROW, AND STEAL (House of Seven Gables #1, 3:30-4:45 PM, 5/14), featuring Perugia Press poets including Frannie Lindsay (Poetry Fellow ’06) and Nancy K. Pearson (Poetry Finalist ’10)
• AND DON’T MISS: Follow the Fellows (Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, 4:30-5:45 PM, 5/14), with readings by MCC Poetry Fellows, including Ben Berman, John Canaday, Patrick Donnelly, Regie Gibson, Sharon Howell, Rosann Kozlowski, and Leslie Williams

The headline events will feature Brian Turner, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Jericho Brown and Mark Doty, Kim Richey, and Patricia Smith.

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In our modern world, mysteries abound! On the other hand, so do plastic water bottles. And twist ties (see above). In fact, lots of things abound. Information. Celebrities. Blog posts and websites. Haters and their hatin’. Makers and their makin’. All abound.

It’s been suggested that curation will be increasingly key to our navigation, as a culture, of the overly abundant information-scape in our lives. In that spirit, we thought we’d round up some of the abundantly intriguing, or mysterious, or just plain keen stuff going on.

On The Public Humanist, blog of Mass Humanities, Natasha Haverty and Adam Bright share the backstory of their radio documentary-in-progress about a debate society formed in the 1930s by inmates in a Norfolk, MA prison – and how the team defeated debate squads from more hallowed MA institutions like MIT and Harvard.

Why should James Franco work at Grub Street, the Boston-based writers service organization? Answer this question by 5 PM today (Friday, April 15), and you may win a pair of tickets to Cocktail Hour with the Francos, an unscripted conversation with writer/actor/conceptual artist James Franco and his mother, writer Betsy Franco, at Grub Street’s great Muse and the Marketplace Conference. Just tweet “James Franco should work at Grub Street because…” and your answer, and include @GrubWriters and #musefranco in your tweet.

How big a wave could one week’s worth of plastic bottles create? The good folks of Citizens for Salem/Beverly Water Resources suspect it will yield A Mighty Wave. They’re encouraging artists to converge at Salem Common in Salem on the morning of May 7 to create a one-day public art display, creating a wave of plastic from bottles collected in just one week in Salem. All will be broken down in time for a recycling truck to break (and recycle) the wave by afternoon. Find out more.

Not since the Mayors’ Arts Challenge have two MA cities had so vigorous a rivalry! Responding to a remark by a Cambridge city councilor that Somerville doesn’t have many interesting places, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone has challenged Cambridge to an “Interesting City Challenge.” He even invokes the arts:

It’s called authenticity, and we’ve got it in the arts too. The City and local businesses weave art into everything we do. Public art absolutely needs to be part of this Challenge, though it’s not fair because most of the artists Cambridge had long ago moved to Somerville. And we’re talking everything from painters to sculptors to comic book artists. Oh, if you happen to catch a band in Cambridge anytime soon, make sure to ask them where in Somerville they live.

(As a state agency, we are not taking sides.)

Speaking of rivalries: watch Governor Deval Patrick go head to head with The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart! Actually, it’s a really friendly conversation. They talk about Gov. Patrick’s new book, former MA governor Mitt Romney, and why The Daily Show should move production to Massachusetts.

New England Film has a terrific article on five films from New England talent screening this month at the International Film Festival of Boston (April 27-May 4, 2011).

GO SEE ART. Where? Find out at GO SEE ART. It’s a compendium of New England art exhibitions. So go there. And then go. You know. To see art.

Will it surprise you that the Boston chapter of the Awesome Foundation, which funds projects it considers awesome (that’s really the only criteria), funded a group that describes itself as “Boston’s mysterious playmate?” Banditos Misteriosos won a $1000 “Awesome” grant for its plan to create a giant puzzle to be put together by the Boston community sometime this summer. Past efforts by the Misteriosos, who aim to answer the questions “Who are these people we pass in the street?” and “How could we use those big open public spaces?” by staging whimsical public events, include massive pillow and water gun fights and a live, “Choose Your Own Adventure” game.

At the recent TransCultural Exchange Conference, attendee Ilana Manolson (Painting Fellow ’08) shared her experiences exhibiting her paintings through the ART in Embassies Program, which places American art in U.S. diplomatic residencies worldwide. Through that program, Ilana’s paintings have been on exhibit at American embassies in The Hague and Sarajevo.

I really like this post by the Our Stories literary journal that lists short stories that employ a very specific device, then carry it off with skill. Massachusetts literary rawk star Steve Almond (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow ’08) is on the list twice!

Finally: arts funding is one thing mentioned in this post that’s not nearly abundant enough. On a federal level, the NEA’s budget is under threat, and here in MA, we have our own issues. Read this testimony by Tim Robbins about how a small investment in the arts can yield a bounty – not just in terms of the tax revenues, but culturally and personally.

Image: Rachel Perry Welty, LOST IN MY LIFE (TWIST TIES) (2009), Pigmented ink print, edition of 3, 90×60 in, Courtesy of the Artist, Barbara Krakow Gallery (Boston), Gallery Joe (Philadelphia), and Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York). Rachel’s solo show RACHEL PERRY WELTY 24/7 is on exhibit at the deCordova Sculpture Park + Museum in Lincoln through April 24, 2011. Currently, Rachel’s video work KARAOKE WRONG NUMBER 2004-2009 is featured in Videonale 13 at Kunstmuseum Bonn, through May 29, 2011.

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It’s a busy time here at the state arts agency – but interesting arts links wait for no one. So we thought it might be a good opportunity to round up some links of interest to Massachusetts artists and art-fans.

The Emerging Filmmakers Series at the Boston Center for the Arts launches tomorrow (Thursday, April 7), with two film screenings, including the premiere of Sospia by Lana Z. Caplan (featured here on ArtSake). Sospira (watch the trailer) is a 50-minute experimental documentary about nine international women and their travels along the Amalfi Coast of Italy. The Emerging Filmmaker Series is curated by Jeff Daniel Silva (Film & Video Finalist ’09).

Need some talking points as you advocate for support of the arts? You could do worse than to borrow from Kevin Spacey (or Abe Lincoln). In this clip from “Hardball” on MSNBC, Kevin Spacey speaks eloquently about why arts funding is important, citing how Lincoln continued attending theatre and reading voraciously during the Civil War: “Lincoln understood that he needed the arts to replenish his soul.”

Cool: the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre is doing yeoman’s work exploring the world of new plays on the Playwrights Perspective blog. I love this post by BPT alum Anne Pattison about good omens she found during her world travels that gave her hope for the plight of the modern playwright.

Are you a writer? Do you like awesome, really super useful things? Okay, then you’ll like this. The Beyond the Margins blog checks in with a bunch of great writers to see what advice they might have for their earlier, not-yet-published selves. The advice ranges from the pragmatic (Ericka Robuck: “Keep it simple.”) to the gallows-ly humorous (Amy MacKinnon: “Become an accountant instead.”) to the poetic (Jackie Mitchard: “This rollercoaster ride will take you higher than swallows fly and lower than worms burrow…”).

Speaking of poetic: you’re planning on attending, taking part in, and/or heartily singing the praises of this May’s Massachusetts Poetry Festival – right? Prime the pump this month by taking part in (or organizing your own) Common Threads’ event to celebrate seven poems by poets with strong ties to Massachusetts.

And finally: the TransCultural Exchange Conference of international opportunities for artists of all disciplines starts tomorrow, April 7 and runs through April 10. Some of the terrific events are free, such as several at the Boston Public Library, including a panel on “First Books” by ArtSake faves Mira Bartok and Jedediah Berry, 1:30-3:30 PM, in the Boston Room, and a Grant Writing Workshop with David Adams of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and Deb Todd Wheeler, 1:30-3:30 PM in Room C05/C06.

Image: still from SOSPIRA by Lana Z. Caplan.

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We’re excited to tell you about Assets for Artists, a program that offers a range of services to advance artists entrepreneurially and financially, including home ownership assistance.

The program is partially funded through MCC’s Adams Arts Program, led by MASS MoCA and supported by local partners in Boston, Lowell, New Bedford, and Pittsfield. Previously, the program had been offered to Berkshires artists – now it’s open to artists statewide!

So, what does the program do? Assets for Artists can explain it best:

Since 2008, Assets for Artists has piloted an innovative matched savings grant program and financial and business training opportunities for low- to moderate-income artists in Berkshire County, and starting in 2011 those opportunities are now being offered state-wide.

By meeting savings goals and by completing the required training, participating artists can receive grant funds as a savings match for “working capital” to invest in their work as an artistic microenterprise, or receive down payment assistance for the purchase of a home.

Who can apply? Funny you should ask – the Assets for Artists blog was just talking about this…

To be eligible, your adjusted gross income can be no more than $45,000 for a household of 1, $52,000 for 2, $58,000 for 3, and $65,000 for a household of 4. The maximum eligible household income increases $5,000 for each additional person in the household above 4.

Artists will be selected based on a combination of need and artistic accomplishment. They need to make savings deposits monthly (for at least 6 months) to meet a savings goal, during which the program contributes to a “matched savings account” in that artist’s name. Artists are required to do some business and professional development training, after which they can use the accrued “working capital” to invest in an artistic microenterprise, or as part of a down payment for the purchase of a home or live-work space.

Assets for Artists has no application fee or tuition. Go here to download the application.

Applications should be received by 5:00 pm on April 21, 2011. Questions? Email Assets for Artists.

Image: Angela Zammarelli (Sculpture/Installation Fellow ’11), COME OVER, COME OVER (detail) (2010), cardboard, textiles, light fixture, extension cord, glue, 5.5 ft

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In the introduction to her recent book, Gigi Rosenberg shares an anecdote about her first grant proposal: an application to the Boston Film/Video Foundation (now, sadly, defunct) for a documentary project. She says that instead of clearly and confidently expressing her goals and intent, she was really hoping that a grant would confirm something more personal: that she really was an artist.

The foundation didn’t fund her project. But the experience set her on the path to discovering how best to approach the grant writing process, which she did with the systematic rigor of a scientific researcher. The result, years later, is The Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing, which she calls “the book that I wish I’d had when I didn’t know whether I was an artist, or even when I did know and I wanted both the money and the validation that winning a grant provides.”

We asked her about the book, about her journey from grants novice to expert speaker and grants writing workshop leader, and about some common struggles artists face in searching for funding for their work.

ArtSake: You bring up that artists sometimes seek “permission” for their projects rather than confidently present them as worthy of support. Not to stoke the whole art vs. science notion, but why might an artist be more tentative about proposing a project than, say a scientific researcher?

Rosenberg: I have made this mistake and I know other artists who have too – we apply to the funding organization for money but we’re really asking them for so much more than money – we’re asking them to love our work, to support us in non-monetary ways and to cheer us on. This kind of support really isn’t the job of the funders! I encourage artists to find artist groups, colleagues and friends to support their creative endeavors. Scientific researchers have all kinds of support – their collaborators, research partners, laboratory workers, and so on. They also have a society that has a high regard for scientific research – a higher regard (in some circles) than for artistic endeavors. But don’t let that dampen your spirits – artists need to foster networks, communities, friendships, colleagues, and groups that support them to do their best work.

ArtSake: I really like that you acknowledge the emotional and psychological aspects of looking for artist funding. What’s the first thing you’d say to a disappointed applicant who didn’t receive funding?

Rosenberg: The first thing I’d say to a disappointed applicant is don’t take the rejection personally. This isn’t about you as a person. The second thing I’d say is: Can you use this rejection to learn anything about your proposed project? If you can, find out why the funder rejected your application. Ask them: What could I have done to make this a stronger proposal? You may discover that they only had money to fund 5 projects and you were number 6! Or you may find out that they aren’t interested in a particular aspect of your project or that you made a big goof on the budget. Any information you receive in this follow-up can be a gold mine of information for your next proposal.

To be an artist you have to have the skin of a rhino and the heart of a poet – this is one of the hardest aspects of being an artist – but you could say the same thing about being a human being! Rejection is a huge part of the business of being an artist. People are going to say “No” a lot. Sales people don’t take it personally when a potential customer says no – and if there’s any way you can, in the best way, adopt that attitude it will help you continue to make work and get it out there, any way you can.

Lastly, don’t isolate yourself. All of us need cheerleaders – just don’t rely on arts organizations to be your cheerleaders – find friends and colleagues who can do it.

ArtSake: What are some of the common missteps you see in artist statements that prevent them from effectively representing the artist’s voice?

Rosenberg: It’s very challenging to write about your work in an artist statement because you have to write about your work as if you didn’t make it. Few of us think about our themes when we’re making something – we’re just making it. I think it helps to interview other people to ask them what they see in the work – that can help an artist find the language. Or have someone interview you and get you talking about your big idea.

Artists tend to write clichés in artist statements or use lingo and jargon when they get scared and just want to sound smart. Write past the clichés, talk through your ideas, until you’re expressing them with fresh language that really means something.

ArtSake: In the book, you describe a demo from your workshops, where you have the artists pretend to be funders being asked for grants. Can you talk about your first experience on the “other side?”

Rosenberg: My experience sitting on a panel judging artist applications blew my mind. I realized how many artists have great ideas but don’t know how to write about the idea in a way that engages others or even to follow directions. Also, many applicants don’t understand how daunting it is to be staring at a mile-high pile of applications. As a panelist you want to find any way to make the pile smaller. And if an applicant didn’t follow directions, that’s a great reason to toss them from the pile. Competition for grants is stiff and the margin for error is narrow. I learned how important it is not to give the panel an easy reason to disqualify your application. I also learned how to see the process from the other side of the table. So, now when I apply for a grant, I ask myself: How can I make this project irresistible to this funder? This helps me prepare an application that has a much better chance of succeeding. Don’t forget, however, that you don’t want to tweak your project so much that it doesn’t feel like your project anymore.

ArtSake: Along those same lines: your book has smart, practical tips for grant applicants. Do you have any advice for grants panelists and arts funders? Or just a message they could benefit from hearing?

Rosenberg: Being a panelist and an arts funder is a hard job – they are underpaid and overworked – but they already know that! I’d want to tell them how much I appreciate what they’re doing – trying to find the right artists for the funding they have. They are so underappreciated – so I’d want to say thanks – it’s a hard job you have and you do it with so much integrity!

ArtSake: Your book’s epilogue has the title “Make Art,” a reminder never to let that part of the process drift out of sight. How does your thinking about, writing about, an artist’s career affect your creative work?

Rosenberg: I think what you’re asking is how writing a “how to” book affected my own creative life as a writer – is that right? If so, writing the book turned out to be incredibly creative. It was like editing a documentary film – where you have all these interviews and your own experience and then just plain advice and tips to share and then figuring out how to splice that all together in a way that is coherent – that process was intensively creative. I loved interviewing successful artists and having the right to ask questions about their own creative process and how they are successful with getting their work recognized and funded. I loved having the right to be nosy and the interviews were very inspiring to me. Of course it’s always easier (I think) to cheer somebody else on – but the book gave me lots of practice in being an encouraging presence – on my good days, I follow my own advice – which is to work as deeply as I know how on my own writing and then when it’s good enough to send it out!

Gigi Rosenberg has upcoming events in Seattle (keynote at BizArt Conference, Friday, March 25); New York City (author events at Foundation Center, Monday, March 28, 2 PM and at Barnes & Noble, sponsored by New York Foundation for the Arts, Thursday, March 31, 7 PM); Washington D.C. (Foundation Center, Friday, April 1, 1:30 PM); and Baltimore (keynote at Maryland Writers Conference, Saturday, April 2, 9 AM). See a full events schedule.

Gigi Rosenberg is a writer, speaker, and workshop leader. Her book The Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing (follow on Facebook) grew out of the professional development workshops she launched in Portland, Oregon, and teaches in New York, Chicago, and throughout the Pacific Northwest at colleges, conferences, and arts organizations. Her writing has been published by Seal Press, The Oregonian, Parenting, and Writer’s Digest; performed at Seattle’s On the Boards; and broadcast on Oregon Public Radio.

Images: Gigi Rosenberg (photo by Christian Columbres); cover art for THE ARTIST’S GUIDE TO GRANT WRITING by Gigi Rosenberg (Watson-Guptill, 2010).

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