Tag: artlife

Why An Artist Should Write Project Grant Proposals (even if you never get one).

I just spent the last week after taking down our exhibition for the Medium of Exchange Collective show, Process, writing a project grant proposal. It’s the second one I’ve done this year and I will likely write at least one more. I have probably written one a year for the last 10 years. Although I am getting faster they still take me a while to write, and I have never gotten one.

So, given my terrible track record (no one is going to be hiring me for grant writing services anytime soon) why would I continue to write them?

Once upon a time I wrote them for big projects that I could not accomplish without taking time off from my day job. So they were always written for projects to start after the adjudication process, as I’d have to know if the project were funded before I could commit to doing it. Then one day I decided I was tired of leaving the fate of my projects in the hands of strangers.

I decided to write a grant for a project I was going to do regardless of the results of the application. In fact, I wasn’t even going to wait for the results, I was just going to write it, submit it and start working on the project. And guess what? Did I get the grant? Well, I’ll just say that the project is complete and the jury is still out on the grant, BUT the tortuous process of writing a grant proposal really helped me clarify what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how I was going to do it.

I really thought through what I was capable of doing both in terms of time and finances given my current circumstances, and what level of risk or sacrifice or economization I was willing to take on without compromising myself or the project. Simply put, the project had a better chance of not going off the rails midway due to anything that I could control (as we know from the last year there are circumstances which one cannot control, such as pandemics).

The result was that my project went smoother and faster, and the results were more impactful, because I wasn’t second guessing myself or wandering down the garden path anymore, but executing the decisions I had already weighed before hand.

That is not to say that once defined there is no room for inspiration, but the big picture is in place and everything else needs to fall in line to support that big picture. If the inspiration better supports that big picture then I could by all means follow it.

So this is why I am saying that artists should write project grant proposals, whether or not they ever get one. We only have so much time to make our visions real, whether that time be spent making or waiting. Taking the time upfront to really define a project, think through and explain the value of it, work out the logistics of it, can only enhance the outcome of the project. If the grant application looks weak even to you, maybe the project should be rethought. And hey, if you actually get the grant, all the better.

Art/Life: Monday – Friday

I am so close to releasing the video about planning a timeline for an art exhibition. Behind schedule but still on task, and planning to have that uploaded for this Friday, but in case there are further delays, SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube channel so you will not miss it when it finally does come out. In the meantime, I recorded a wee video diary over the week I began the research and script for the above mentioned video project:

http://youtu.be/bBs_-hm3KXs

You’ll see in the video the foreshadowing of future delays on that project. But I really was not thinking of this video as an explainer for my shocking lack of adherence to self-made deadlines. Rather when I recorded it I was thinking about providing a window into my workweek for all the people in my life who don’t have any idea what I do as a full time artist Monday to Friday since I am not producing reams and reams of art like a human printer, or clinking wine glasses at art openings every night.

This diary represents a limited window as my typical workweek does not usually end on Friday, and if I seem tired in the video clips, it is likely because I am; I recorded them at the end of my workday, usually between 10 and midnight. Although I do aim for balance, I don’t always achieve it.

Fellow artists with day jobs and/or young families (believe me I sympathize, I have been there) look wistful while saying “it must be nice to be able to make art all day,” and family simply cannot conceptualize that at middle age I am no longer able to handle being up to 2 am every morning and all weekend to finish writing proposals that I deferred so I could do things with them or for them “because I am just at home in the studio/office anyhow.”

If you are my family and you are reading this, know that I still love you and still love spending time with you, I just can’t be your ‘go to’ person with time during the day. We can visit in the evening or on the weekend, just like we would if I were in an office or shop somewhere Monday to Friday 9-5.

Aside from the assumption that studio time is free time, the idea that as an artist I spend all day making art is misleading as well: As a picture framer (my former day job) I spent all day making picture frames, so the idea that as an artist I would spend all day making art is logical. However I was hired to fulfill the service being sold while the business owner dealt with administration, vision, strategy, and bringing in customers. As an artist I am both the business owner and sole employee. I don’t hire someone to make the art while I concentrate on selling, promoting, marketing, administering etc. etc. etc. Potentially, I could produce a painting a day every day for all 260 working days of the year, if that were the entire scope of my job. However the majority of my week as a working artist is spent on activities that support the studio financially and lead to the opportunity to make artwork. So networking, marketing, developing projects and writing proposals, which may (or may not) result in the creation, exhibition, promotion or sale of artwork.

Hopefully this video gives part-time artists an idea of what to expect when transitioning to being full-time. You may not be making as much art as you think. In fact you may be making more art now, in the tiny pockets of time you currently have, as it is not split between art and administration. I also hope this video gives non artists, who have artist friends/family, an understanding of why you may not see them (me) more often.

Are you a full time working artist? What does your 9-5 look like, and what do you wish others knew about being a full time artist?