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

From the beach to the dating pool, red flags are a form of communal protection: the water isn’t safe, keep out. Green flags, on the other hand, are like lighthouses, guiding us towards safety and belonging. In my time navigating these choppy arts industry waters, I’ve learned to trust my gut when it comes to people, institutions, and opportunities. If someone feels too good to be true, they’re probably not real. If a workplace leaves you feeling emptier than a box of fruit snacks on the playground, it’s time to clock out (early). But when an application portal prioritizes accessibility or a job listing includes a salary? Those people probably know what’s up. “Trust your gut” is an awfully short blog post (3 words okay, boss?), so let’s dive in and categorize some common arts industry experiences.

Every month, Fractured Atlas provides a list of upcoming grants and opportunities for artists and arts-based projects so that you can discover more opportunities to get financial support and other resources for your work. As a fiscal sponsor of over 3,500 artistic projects, we provide access to grants for artists in every discipline.

It’s no small feat to hold the anxiety, worry, and fear that comes from living through these turbulent times, while also having to continue working our jobs, doing laundry, and finding joy where we can. With the U.S. presidential election tomorrow, these feelings may be heightened, as the country and the world prepares to face another unknown. It’s likely that we’ll be in a similar position as the 2020 election, where we won’t know the results until well after election day. And no matter the result, we may be in for a tense few months.

My blood still freezes in my veins when I think about that hot, summer night. I arrived drenched in sweat and stressed about keeping to the agreed time. I had just retrieved a box of my CDs — this story takes place in a distant, pre-Spotify era — a precious treasure that a friend had kept safe for me while I lived and toured in New Zealand. I was finally returning to Chile, and this gig would be my first concert in my country in a long time. Little did I know that my joyous homecoming would soon morph into an arts worker's horror story.

Every month, Fractured Atlas provides a list of upcoming grants and opportunities for artists and arts-based projects so that you can discover more opportunities to get financial support and other resources for your work. As a fiscal sponsor of over 3,500 artistic projects, we provide access to grants for artists in every discipline.

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:

Every month, Fractured Atlas provides a list of upcoming grants and opportunities for artists and arts-based projects so that you can discover more opportunities to get financial support and other resources for your work. As a fiscal sponsor of over 3,500 artistic projects, we provide access to grants for artists in every discipline.

Hold up. Gig work is work? We know this news may come as a shock to some readers. Unless you’re an artist, in which case you are intimately familiar with the hidden costs, expectations, and contradictions of 1099 work. Like many other unacceptable realities of American living, the financial precarity of gig workers has been normalized in day-to-day life and entrenched in our laws. But there are growing networks of people working to change this reality and offering promising visions for the future of gig work for artists. We’re here to bolster 1099 arts workers with a bundle of statistics, a not-so-secret stash of resources, and a heaping spoonful of hope:

It may still be summer, but fall's around the corner and we have exciting news here at Fractured Atlas. The entire team will be convening in the Twin Cities — Minneapolis and Saint Paul — from Monday, September 23rd to Friday, September 27th. It will be the first time many staff members meet each other in person, and there's a fun public event in the works, too. Give this interview a read (or listen!) to get the full scoop.

Dancer, director of La Rosario Proyectos, yoga practitioner — these are just three of Awilda Rodríguez Lora’s countless, shapeshifting forms. Born in Mexico, raised in Puerto Rico, and working across the Americas and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Rodríguez Lora's lifelong practice is defined by its movement — bodily movement, political movement, and moving the field of experimental performance forward with every step. To learn more about Rodríguez Lora and La Rosario Proyectos — a creative project fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas — keep reading or listening.