Artist Resources, Grants for Artists, Creative Projects, Making Money for Artists

Fractured Atlas's mission is to make the journey from inspiration to living practice more accessible and equitable for artists and creatives. We are routinely getting curious about our practices and policies to ensure we are holding true to this mission in every inch of our day-to-day work. That’s why we are excited to announce a big change in policy coming your way!

As we head into tax season this year, and your feelings and fears about taxes begin to swell, remember: there is no tax education in this country. And that’s bananas! It’s no wonder that US tax literacy is so low. So if taxes confuse you, I want to reassure you that you are not alone, and you’re not broken. Your creative work is shifting the culture for good, so let’s make sure you stay on the right side of the law and get the most out of your taxes. That way, you can keep your focus where it belongs: on your amazing work. As an artist and tax pro who helps self-employed creative people manage their taxes, I want to help you navigate the top five tax pitfalls I see in my work.

In the Gentle Reminders series, we provide working artists with essential and convenient reminders for the care and maintenance of a nimble and flourishing creative practice. If your art is a garden, this series is about the continual weeding, watering, and miscellaneous upkeep it requires. A few months ago, we reminded you to review your *!%# contracts. This month, we are exploring how tidying up your virtual workspace can jumpstart your creative practice.

It’s rejection season, baby. For creative beings who bravely put themselves out there this fall and winter, I tip my hat to you—regardless of the outcome. The first months of the year are a notoriously brutal season for artists because, while a small percentage of us just received happy news (you finally got that grant!), the vast majority of working artists are questioning why they poured hours of their precious free time into applications that go nowhere.

Whether you’re a deductions nerd (👋) or an artist with a zest for building something in the world (❤️‍🔥), this guide offers quick, actionable information for navigating the tax implications of fiscal sponsorship with confidence and ease. With a little planning, research, and tidy documentation, tax season can (and should!) be a breeze. Begone, tax headaches!

Nobody becomes an artist because they secretly want to become their own accountant (“If I could do it all over again, I’d drop out of art school and become a CPA!”). But once you're deep into your creative practice, managing the financial realities becomes a real and undeniable part of the work. Creative success can become a double-edged sword, saddling you with budgets to manage, contracts to negotiate, and quarterly estimated taxes to calculate. To say nothing of the receipts scattered across medieval costume pockets, battered cello cases, and buried email threads.

In this installment of our new CEO Chronicles series, I sit down with David Blasher, Executive Director at the MAP Fund, to speak about the unique challenges and opportunities of interim leadership. Both of us have navigated interim roles at our respective organizations and share what we've learned about building trust, managing uncertainty, and supporting organizational transitions. Give it a listen and let us know what questions you have for Blasher (or myself) in the comments 💬

Being a creative professional is difficult. It's an undervalued commodity that many people need, but no one wants to pay for. Developing a reputation in this industry requires years of dedication, and there's no guarantee of success. Most artists endure the difficulty because they love the craft. I, on the other hand, got into it because I thought it would lead to money and women. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with the craft, though, and now I have no choice but to continue. Even without the money and women, which never came…

Here's something we shouldn't have to say but will anyway: your creative work has value. Your time has value. Your expertise, your vision, your late nights and early mornings — all of it counts. And yet artists are still routinely asked to work for free, work without contracts, or get outright swindled when it's time to cut the check.

My measuring stick for rising inflation is the cost of an iced lavender matcha latte. It used to be $5, then $6, now a harrowing $7. Every time I reach the checkout screen, a familiar, condescending voice comes blaring through my head: