Grants and sculpture 2015

Grants and Artist Professional Practice Sarah Cunningham Executive Director, VCUarts Research November 2014

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What would you do with $50K? Grant making review panel role play The importance of grants to artists “Grantmakers” in the arts Support for individual artists Successful “grantsmanship” Resources for finding grants

What would you do with $50K? Any project ideas?

Tips for Project Development 1. Your work will often be carried in a web of words. Try to drive that conversation in your artist statements and applications.

2. Never claim to be the only person doing something original.

3. Look, look, look. Read, read, read. Know the context of your work.

4. Write, write, write. Seek the right words for your work.

Develop your own vernacular.

5. Proofread. Then have someone proofread again for you.

6. Play off sources outside of your own voice to illuminate your voice/work.

7. Be able to have source material/images/work samples for an immediate deadline/opportunity.

Tips for Project Development 8. Be able to articulate your work in terms of other’s ideas or the zeitgeist.

9. Define artistic excellence in your own terms.

10. Know what kinds of other projects were funded by that funder/partner.

11. Know that the mission of the funder / partner, and how you fit perfectly into that mission – or at least can convince them that you fit perfectly in their mission.

12. Use a budget to tell a detailed story. Have others check/proof your budget.

13. Always have 3-5 dream ideas in your back pocket to pursue. When one fails, lean on the others.

14. Understand how your dream ideas translate into other funding areas: public art, community engagement, science or environment. It’s not about betraying the core concept but understanding that concept’s expandability.

15. Show up, support others. Make a scene. Make the scene.

Mock panel review • You are a member of the Coffee Cups Foundation grant review panel • Read the proposal and score it using the instructions on the score sheet • Be prepared to give feedback to the panel on how you scored it and your impressions of the proposal

Why grants are important to artists

Grants support artists to: • create new work and develop studio practice • pursue a fellowship, residency, apprenticeship, or graduate studies • collaborate with other artists or with arts organizations • work in the community with non-profits • publish articles, books, etc.

• conduct research in discipline • improve credentials and credibility

Grantmakers in the arts

Grantmakers in the arts • Grantmakers are public and private organizations that disburse funds to support activities related to their mission • Some grantmakers support arts organizations rather than artists directly • National, regional, state and local governments provide arts grants • Grant opportunities for artists are often very competitive

Artist-endowed foundations “The sleeping giant of philanthropy” – Art Newspaper, January 2011

Helen Frankenthaler Foundation

in Appendix C. The review covers roughly fifty sources, stretching back to Joan Jeffri’s first installments of the Information on Artistsseries, begun in 1989, and the start of the RAND Corporation’s contributions to arts policy research, which began in 2001. The focus is on research in the United States. We hope that other researchers will build on this preliminary review, with the goal of generating a shared understanding of what the literature tells us about artist support, and identifying gaps in knowledge.

Support for individual artists

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Source: Wolf Brown

For example, nonprofit artist support organizations such as Springboard for the Arts and Creative Capital are defined by their commitment to artist support. Many other types of nonprofit organizations, including presenting and producing arts organizations as well as non-arts organizations such as social service agencies provide support to artists through employment and commissioning new work. These organizations handle direct monetary transactions with artists, but also provide more indirect transactions specifically intended for artists, such as information programs or residency opportunities that benefit artists but not involving a monetary transaction.

Support for individual artists

While intermediaries play a critical role in the support system for artists, the flow of dollars through intermediaries complicates the challenge of benchmarking artist support. Existing data collection systems do not provide a clear view of funding through intermediaries. For example, a foundation that makes a large grant to an artist support organization may, in fact, be supporting a range of different artist awards and services including grants, professional development, apprenticeships, etc.

Source: Wolf Brown

Selection of opportunities in visual arts

Selection of opportunities in painting/printmaking • College Art Association Professional Development Grant – early career • http://www.collegeart.org/fellowships/ • The Grant Wood Art Colony Fellowship in Painting – early career • http://www.art.uiowa.edu/gw_pt_appl.html • Creative Capital • http://www.creative-capital.org/ • John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Award – mid-career • http://www.gf.org/

• The Pollack-Krasner Foundation Grant – mid-career • http://www.pkf.org/grant.html

• Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Awards – emerging to mid-career • http://chenvenfoundation.org/how-to-apply/

• The Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant – mid-career • https://www.paam.org/lowf_foundation_grant.html

Diversity-focused opportunities in painting/printmaking • Asian Cultural Council Individual Grants • http://www.asianculturalcouncil.org/our-programs/individual-grants • The Astrea Global Arts Fund • http://www.astraeafoundation.org/grants/apply-for-a-grant#global_arts • National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Grants • http://www.nalac.org/programs/nalac-grants/nalac-fund-for-the-arts-nfa

• Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship – emerging • http://nacf.us/programs

• William H. Johnson Prize – African-American arts mid-career up to 12 years post MFA • http://www.whjohnsongrant.org/grants.html

Successful grantsmanship Start with the basics: • Who: who will be doing the project (collaboration, individual) and how you are uniquely qualified, if applicable • What: what exactly will you be doing? Describe in detail, both in content, materials, and execution • Why: why are you doing this project? What is your inspiration, reason?

• When: when will this project be started and finished?

• Where: where will the project be made? Is it site-specific? If so, describe in detail.

• How: how will you make this project happen? If you don’t get funding, what other means will you use? Are you willing to invest your own money? Have you sought other funding sources?

Successful grantsmanship Good formatting Follow the formats they require Use online or downloadable forms (pdfs, word documents, online) Use the font and formatting requested Follow specific questions requested in the order given Create a format that is readable and concise it

This is an expository writing exercise. You can make interesting, but not impenetrable.

Consider using bolded headers and statements, or other ways to make the formatting clean.

Use a font with a known track record for being readable

Sample Budget Project Expense

Amount

Explanation

Personnel Travel Equipment Supplies

describe ex. Number of days x amount per day type, price

Project Expense Total

Amount

Project Income

Amount

Unearned Income

Amount

Earned Income

Amount

Other grants Corporate sponsorships Donations

Revenues, for instance from sale of work

Explanation

In Kind Contributions

Amount

Project Income Total

Amount

Equipment Space

Total Request

Amount

Explanation

not received funds can be marked “request”

Explanation Explanation

(Expense – Income)

Notes on budgeting • There are a number of formats possible, unless a form is provided. Make it easy to read!

• Make your budget balance. If you have a huge surplus or deficit, it will show a problem with the project.

• If the granting org clearly states they don’t cover a particular expense, create an income line to cover that expense. Make a notation by color coding, asterisk, explanation, etc.

• Funders like to see that a project is not only well thought out, but also not wholly reliant on one grant to make it work.

Resources for finding grants

Resources for finding grants Funding Searches: • NYFA Source • http://www.nyfa.org/source /content/search/search.asp x?SA= 1

• Foundation Center • http://foundationcenter.org /pnd/rfp/ cat_arts.jhtml

• COS Pivot • http://pivot.cos.com/rhome

Artist Residencies: • Alliance for Artist Communities • http:// www.artistcommunities.org

• Trans Artists • http://www.transartists.org

• ResArtis • http://www.resartis.org/en/

Resources for finding grants

Other Resources • Art Work Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career, by: Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber • The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing what you Love, by Jackie Battenfield • Starting Your Career as an Artist, by Stacy Miller and Angie Wojak • The Artist’s Guide to Grantwriting, by Gigi Rosenberg

Contacts • Sarah Cunningham, Executive Director, VCUarts Research, sbcunningham@vcu.edu

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts

Thank You