Early & Longer Draft of the Article Recently Published in BUST Magazine
Get Up! Stand Up!
A Lady Artist’s Guide to Grants
by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
As someone who has hosted many arts-related workshops, it never ceases to amaze me how often male artists/writers can be so fearless about sharing and submitting their work - regardless of the actual quality.
And in contrast, how often extraordinarily talented women artists/writers can hold themselves back by not sharing their work or submitting it for career-rocking opportunities.
The excuses women artists give me range from feeling like their work “is not good enough,” to feeling like it “isn’t ready yet,” to the most heartbreaking of all: that they aren’t sure if what they do is “real art.”
“Ladies,” I tell them, “we have been held back by others for so long. Now is not the time to hold ourselves back!”
And so, it is in that spirit that I present to you a brief guide to submitting for grants and residencies.
It is my goal to inspire you, lady artist, to put yourself out - no matter how new or established you are - and challenge yourself and your art for the better.
Step One: Believe in yourself. That might sound silly to state, but it’s important. You need to realize that you are talent worth rewarding, and that your ideas deserve attention and support. No matter if you are still freshly learning or have been doing your thing for a while, you need to value what you bring to the table. Please know that there will always been people your age (or younger!) that you will see as being much more impressive than you. Allow these people to inspire you, as opposed to discourage you. Believe in yourself, and go to Step Two.
Step Two: Evaluate Yourself. Note I did not say “Cast Judgment on Yourself.” No, evaluate yourself means looking at everything you bring to your art. What have you done related to your art? Have you won any awards? Has your work been published anywhere? Have you worked alongside respected artists in your field? Be specific and catalogue it all. Again, please know that every minus you feel like you have, can be a plus. There are just as many grants and fellowships for new/emerging artists (for which artists already knee-deep in their career cannot apply) as there are for more established artists. Where ever you are in your career, there are grants and funding opportunities for you!
Step Three: Figure Out What You Want To Do. What do you need to help you take your art to the next level? Would it be funding, to help buy supplies? If so, how much (or really, how little) money would it take to make a real difference? Would you prefer a residency, to give you time and focus? If so, how long could you leave your life to participate in a residency: two weeks? two months? a year? Be honest and specific, but don’t be afraid to be ambitious too!
Step Four: Research Opportunities. Now here’s the fun part, if you allow it to be fun. Too often, artists will get overwhelmed at this stage, but that’s because they put too much pressure on themselves to get started on grants immediately. Instead, I would suggest making it a two week long game for yourself, where you collect as much information on grants, residencies and fellowships as you can which fit you and your vision of where you can go with your art (now, or in the future). It’s as easy as creating a Word doc, and copy & pasting information. The name of the grant or fellowship, a sentence-long descriptor, a URL and the deadline date is really all you need. Put the information in chronological order, closest deadline date to farthest, and pretty soon you are creating a super fun to-do list.
“But how do we find about grants, residencies and fellowships?” you are probably asking.
The easiest answer is the most obvious one: Google. Just plug in your chosen art form (“writing,” “painting,” “music,” etc…) and the word “grants” (or “residencies” or “fellowships”) and see what comes up. (FYI: Grants typically provide artists and writers with financial support (aka money), while residencies offer a space to create for little or no cost, and fellowships tend to be hybrids of both.) I’ve stumbled upon some really great grants that way, so don’t discount it.
However, please take into consideration that the smaller the pool of applicants, the greater your chance at a success. So instead of just searching “writing grants,” try searching “poetry grants.” How about searching grants that are just within your state or your city (googling the name of your city or state with the phrase “arts council” can yield great results)? There is a lot of “women only” funding and residencies out there too. And if you are still student, schools can be treasure troves of obscure awards that only savvy students know about; be that savvy student!
Two more final tips on digging up the best grants for you:
One, look up the bios of artists you admire to see what awards (grants, etc…) they won when they were at your stage in their career. And then, of course, google those awards (grants, etc…).
Two, use the NYFA National Artists Grants. It’s the largest of its kind in the county, and it’s absolutely free to use:
http://www.nyfa.org/source/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
And now the big one, Step four.
Step Four: Just Do It. It’s a corporate slogan, yes. But it’s a good one. Don’t overthink the applications. As long as you qualify at the basest level, submit. The first application you do will be the hardest: guaranteed! But that’s just because you are starting out, and likely creating everything you need from scratch: bios, artistic resumes, samples, project summaries, etc. But once these have been created once, you’ll be able to repurpose them for every future application. So don’t let the first one scare you.
And if you freeze up in the middle of your application, use my favorite trick to help you cross the finish line: think about what the granting organization NEEDS to hear from you, instead of what you WANT to say. It’s basic enough advice, but you’ll be surprised how often artists get caught up polishing the bells & whistles of their application, and ignore its heart: who are you, and how will awarding you this opportunity ultimately benefit you (the artist) and the organization (whose mission is to help artists just like you).
And of course, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and/or mentors to help, or at least double check. It might surprise you to see how supportive people will be of you taking this step forward.
Step Five: Be Proud of Yourself. The moment you submit an application, you’ll immediately be obsessed with knowing if you’ve won or not. That’s natural, so be forgiving. But also be proud. The moment you submit your application is the moment that you prove to yourself that you are worthy and deserving. Regardless if you win or if you lose, that new sense of self is something you should honor and celebrate. Congrats! You did it! Woohoo!
And lastly, Step Six: Spread the Word. This is the final step, but in many ways, it’s one of the most important. As women, we need to empower each other to take these steps forward, and the best way I’ve found is to match artist friends we believe in with grants that would make good fits for them. It’s natural to feel territorial about grants you yourself are applying to, but if you stumble across a good grant that you can’t (or aren’t) applying for, try to find to match it with an artist you know. Even artists who seem more established and in the know may be extremely grateful at your thoughtfulness, and poets who are peers (or are even less established than you) will surely be heartened and inspired by your attention.
And that's it. The first few times you submit can be rocky, but as you get more comfortable with the process, you might even find yourself looking forward to it. Grant applications can be interesting new ways for you to examine your art and your process. They can ask you questions about your projects that you’ve never thought of, and force you to create things (budgets, time lines, etc…) that will only help you and your project in the long run, regardless if you get the funding or not.
Before I wrap this up, I want to tell you two short personal stories about me and grants.
The first is about not getting them. For my first book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam (Soft Skull Press, 2008), I applied for every grant, fellowship and residency I could find. And got exactly none of them. But over the course of applying for all these opportunities, my vision for my project got more refined; my outlines, more specific; my time lines, more doable. Thanks to the applications, Words In Your Face began to feel less like a project I wanted to work on, and more like a book I was already writing. And with that, I hit a turning point in my process, and the book was finished (relatively!) shortly thereafter. Therefore, I can confirm, with an absolute certainty, that my book would not have been written if it weren’t for those all those “unsuccessful” grant applications. Something to consider when the (inevitable) rejection comes to your own mailbox.
And the second is about getting one. Last year, I was drowning in a sea of rejection letters when I saw the deadline for the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) Fellowships was on the horizon. As much as I preach about submitting no matter what, I had to admit that “rejection for rejection’s sake” was losing its luster. And as a non-MFA-having slam poet, winning an NEA was not going to happen for me. So I would literally be submitting just to be rejected.
Still, I remembered two things: one, I would be a total hypocrite to every person whose every taken a workshop with me if I didn’t at least apply. And two, one of my favorite poets of all time, Denise Duhamel, applied to the NEA thirteen times before winning one. And I remembered how impressed I was at that, at her resiliency and hope, how it taught me that sometimes you don't apply to win, but to prove to yourself that at least you think you are worthy.
So I applied, and eight months later, I was absolutely floored to be told that I had been named a 2011 NEA Fellow in Poetry. Me, a working class girl from Philly, a cubicle jockey, a slam poet. To say that this news was shocking would be an understatement. It was foundation shaking, in the best possible way.
And proof of what I know to be true: sometimes the best way to surprise yourself is to be willing to step outside of what you think you are capable, and give yourself a chance to shine.
A Lady Artist’s Guide to Grants
by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
As someone who has hosted many arts-related workshops, it never ceases to amaze me how often male artists/writers can be so fearless about sharing and submitting their work - regardless of the actual quality.
And in contrast, how often extraordinarily talented women artists/writers can hold themselves back by not sharing their work or submitting it for career-rocking opportunities.
The excuses women artists give me range from feeling like their work “is not good enough,” to feeling like it “isn’t ready yet,” to the most heartbreaking of all: that they aren’t sure if what they do is “real art.”
“Ladies,” I tell them, “we have been held back by others for so long. Now is not the time to hold ourselves back!”
And so, it is in that spirit that I present to you a brief guide to submitting for grants and residencies.
It is my goal to inspire you, lady artist, to put yourself out - no matter how new or established you are - and challenge yourself and your art for the better.
Step One: Believe in yourself. That might sound silly to state, but it’s important. You need to realize that you are talent worth rewarding, and that your ideas deserve attention and support. No matter if you are still freshly learning or have been doing your thing for a while, you need to value what you bring to the table. Please know that there will always been people your age (or younger!) that you will see as being much more impressive than you. Allow these people to inspire you, as opposed to discourage you. Believe in yourself, and go to Step Two.
Step Two: Evaluate Yourself. Note I did not say “Cast Judgment on Yourself.” No, evaluate yourself means looking at everything you bring to your art. What have you done related to your art? Have you won any awards? Has your work been published anywhere? Have you worked alongside respected artists in your field? Be specific and catalogue it all. Again, please know that every minus you feel like you have, can be a plus. There are just as many grants and fellowships for new/emerging artists (for which artists already knee-deep in their career cannot apply) as there are for more established artists. Where ever you are in your career, there are grants and funding opportunities for you!
Step Three: Figure Out What You Want To Do. What do you need to help you take your art to the next level? Would it be funding, to help buy supplies? If so, how much (or really, how little) money would it take to make a real difference? Would you prefer a residency, to give you time and focus? If so, how long could you leave your life to participate in a residency: two weeks? two months? a year? Be honest and specific, but don’t be afraid to be ambitious too!
Step Four: Research Opportunities. Now here’s the fun part, if you allow it to be fun. Too often, artists will get overwhelmed at this stage, but that’s because they put too much pressure on themselves to get started on grants immediately. Instead, I would suggest making it a two week long game for yourself, where you collect as much information on grants, residencies and fellowships as you can which fit you and your vision of where you can go with your art (now, or in the future). It’s as easy as creating a Word doc, and copy & pasting information. The name of the grant or fellowship, a sentence-long descriptor, a URL and the deadline date is really all you need. Put the information in chronological order, closest deadline date to farthest, and pretty soon you are creating a super fun to-do list.
“But how do we find about grants, residencies and fellowships?” you are probably asking.
The easiest answer is the most obvious one: Google. Just plug in your chosen art form (“writing,” “painting,” “music,” etc…) and the word “grants” (or “residencies” or “fellowships”) and see what comes up. (FYI: Grants typically provide artists and writers with financial support (aka money), while residencies offer a space to create for little or no cost, and fellowships tend to be hybrids of both.) I’ve stumbled upon some really great grants that way, so don’t discount it.
However, please take into consideration that the smaller the pool of applicants, the greater your chance at a success. So instead of just searching “writing grants,” try searching “poetry grants.” How about searching grants that are just within your state or your city (googling the name of your city or state with the phrase “arts council” can yield great results)? There is a lot of “women only” funding and residencies out there too. And if you are still student, schools can be treasure troves of obscure awards that only savvy students know about; be that savvy student!
Two more final tips on digging up the best grants for you:
One, look up the bios of artists you admire to see what awards (grants, etc…) they won when they were at your stage in their career. And then, of course, google those awards (grants, etc…).
Two, use the NYFA National Artists Grants. It’s the largest of its kind in the county, and it’s absolutely free to use:
http://www.nyfa.org/source/content/search/search.aspx?SA=1
And now the big one, Step four.
Step Four: Just Do It. It’s a corporate slogan, yes. But it’s a good one. Don’t overthink the applications. As long as you qualify at the basest level, submit. The first application you do will be the hardest: guaranteed! But that’s just because you are starting out, and likely creating everything you need from scratch: bios, artistic resumes, samples, project summaries, etc. But once these have been created once, you’ll be able to repurpose them for every future application. So don’t let the first one scare you.
And if you freeze up in the middle of your application, use my favorite trick to help you cross the finish line: think about what the granting organization NEEDS to hear from you, instead of what you WANT to say. It’s basic enough advice, but you’ll be surprised how often artists get caught up polishing the bells & whistles of their application, and ignore its heart: who are you, and how will awarding you this opportunity ultimately benefit you (the artist) and the organization (whose mission is to help artists just like you).
And of course, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and/or mentors to help, or at least double check. It might surprise you to see how supportive people will be of you taking this step forward.
Step Five: Be Proud of Yourself. The moment you submit an application, you’ll immediately be obsessed with knowing if you’ve won or not. That’s natural, so be forgiving. But also be proud. The moment you submit your application is the moment that you prove to yourself that you are worthy and deserving. Regardless if you win or if you lose, that new sense of self is something you should honor and celebrate. Congrats! You did it! Woohoo!
And lastly, Step Six: Spread the Word. This is the final step, but in many ways, it’s one of the most important. As women, we need to empower each other to take these steps forward, and the best way I’ve found is to match artist friends we believe in with grants that would make good fits for them. It’s natural to feel territorial about grants you yourself are applying to, but if you stumble across a good grant that you can’t (or aren’t) applying for, try to find to match it with an artist you know. Even artists who seem more established and in the know may be extremely grateful at your thoughtfulness, and poets who are peers (or are even less established than you) will surely be heartened and inspired by your attention.
And that's it. The first few times you submit can be rocky, but as you get more comfortable with the process, you might even find yourself looking forward to it. Grant applications can be interesting new ways for you to examine your art and your process. They can ask you questions about your projects that you’ve never thought of, and force you to create things (budgets, time lines, etc…) that will only help you and your project in the long run, regardless if you get the funding or not.
Before I wrap this up, I want to tell you two short personal stories about me and grants.
The first is about not getting them. For my first book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam (Soft Skull Press, 2008), I applied for every grant, fellowship and residency I could find. And got exactly none of them. But over the course of applying for all these opportunities, my vision for my project got more refined; my outlines, more specific; my time lines, more doable. Thanks to the applications, Words In Your Face began to feel less like a project I wanted to work on, and more like a book I was already writing. And with that, I hit a turning point in my process, and the book was finished (relatively!) shortly thereafter. Therefore, I can confirm, with an absolute certainty, that my book would not have been written if it weren’t for those all those “unsuccessful” grant applications. Something to consider when the (inevitable) rejection comes to your own mailbox.
And the second is about getting one. Last year, I was drowning in a sea of rejection letters when I saw the deadline for the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) Fellowships was on the horizon. As much as I preach about submitting no matter what, I had to admit that “rejection for rejection’s sake” was losing its luster. And as a non-MFA-having slam poet, winning an NEA was not going to happen for me. So I would literally be submitting just to be rejected.
Still, I remembered two things: one, I would be a total hypocrite to every person whose every taken a workshop with me if I didn’t at least apply. And two, one of my favorite poets of all time, Denise Duhamel, applied to the NEA thirteen times before winning one. And I remembered how impressed I was at that, at her resiliency and hope, how it taught me that sometimes you don't apply to win, but to prove to yourself that at least you think you are worthy.
So I applied, and eight months later, I was absolutely floored to be told that I had been named a 2011 NEA Fellow in Poetry. Me, a working class girl from Philly, a cubicle jockey, a slam poet. To say that this news was shocking would be an understatement. It was foundation shaking, in the best possible way.
And proof of what I know to be true: sometimes the best way to surprise yourself is to be willing to step outside of what you think you are capable, and give yourself a chance to shine.