Notes from Art School: Grant Money Means Free Money

Sometimes ideas grow for so long in your head that they'll burst your brain into inconvenient bits you'll have to scrape off the wall before your mother notices. (Eww, fleshy pink splatters and skull shards.) Or maybe that's just an example of an experimental film that has yet to be made due to a problem artists traditionally encounter: a lack of funds. If you are a student artist like me, and therefore young and unestablished, money sometimes represents the only obstacle between you and realizing your vision(s). It's not your imagination's limitations, but rather your wallet's that forces that installation or 'zine or jewelry collection or play to go on hold. But poverty should not discourage you, art school or creative writing program slave, from breathing life into your sketches and drafts. That's why I'm about to reveal a whole realm of financial possibilities you probably have not yet discovered: grants. Grants are monetary awards you receive upon writing up a proposal for a super-cool project that likely benefits a population somewhere, whether that's your campus, battered women, Christian children, war veterans, African-American teenagers, or anyone else. Some grants require an artistic angle, but grants in other fields of interest are also out there.

Many student artists don't approach the world of grant applications. Sometimes it's due to laziness, but more often it's because they are not aware of all the opportunities lurking at museums, non-profit organizations, parks, magazines, and other companies with funding for creative projects. Low confidence in one's talents is another preventing factor. You might think you don't have what it takes to compete against other seemingly more skilled and experienced artists. But if you never take that chance, you'll know (not to mention that a juror's opinion of your work does not necessarily mean it is 'good' or 'bad.')

If you have an idea that just won't go away--and not enough money to support it--it's time to start researching grants. There are several ways to begin, which may overwhelm you at first once you realize how many funding possibilities exist. Go to your college advisor and start asking where to turn. (S)he has probably has access to information you can't find anywhere else. Your advisor should be able to point out what your art school/college's art department offers, as well as what grants the surrounding town or city gives to needy artists. I was able to find funding directly from my school, thanks to two professors of mine, and now have the money to fund a comics magazine and a documentary for the next year.

Some communities that offer varied grants for artists include ones that probably won't surprise you: New York; Chicago; Portland; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; Seattle, San Francisco; Philadelphia; Twin Cities; Austin; Pittsburgh. There are others, of course. Your college advisor should help you find the ones closest to your college, but also look for opportunities outside of your local area for which are you are still eligible, even if you're not a student. If you go to an especially well-connected university, your advisor just has to make the right phone calls before you should have an application in your hands.

I understand that not all college advisors are created equal, however. A sad case, but true; you might get stuck with a dud who's either clueless or never available. In that circumstance, you have to be especially proactive. That's part of being a financially-successful artist, anyway: sprinting, not walking, to the next opportunity.

Go to the Internet. Use social networking and blogging websites like Craigslist (with caution and discretion, search through their 'Gigs' section); Facebook (searching through Groups can be surprisingly helpful); MySpace; ArtBistro.com; and Blogger.com. Also check out the websites of major organizations known for funding artists: National Endowment for the Arts (http://arts.endow.gov/); Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Art Management and Technology (http://www.TechnologyInTheArts.org/); New York Foundation for the Arts (http://www.nyfa.org/default_mac.asp); and others. Googling "artist grants," "art grants," "writing grants," "creative writing grants," and more specific variations on these terms (e.g., "iowa artist grants") can take you a long way. Revel in all the listings, but don't go mad! Apply to a couple, not every single one you come across.

Also, go to local galleries, studios, writing workshops, and other art spaces in person. Check their bulletin boards and stacks of pamphlets. Speak to gallery owners, explaining that you are an art or writing student, and are eagerly seeking funding for your project. They might be able to point you to a great program or organization not well advertised online.

With all these pointers buzzing in your mind, it's time to start the hunt!