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

Inciter Art

a writing, co-learning, and resource sharing space for an arts ecosystem with big ideas and bigger questions.

Julie Nowak

Julie Nowak (she/they) is a writer, multimedia artist, accessibility consultant, and disability justice educator who specializes in nature accessibility through their project “The Seasonal Body.” Their work is influenced by their own lived experience as a multiply-disabled and neuroqueer person, as well as by their professional experience in education and nature-related fields over the past 20 years. Julie holds an M.Ed. in Adult Education and Community Development, and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish. Based near Tkaronto (Toronto, Canada), Julie is a white person with Celtic and Germanic ancestry. They view both the #LandBack movement and ancestral connection as integral to nature-related work. You can follow Julie at SeasonalBody.org and @TheSeasonalBody on social media.

Artist Opportunities Are Ableist. Here's What I Did About It.

By Julie Nowak
October 28th, 2025

I applied for an arts grant, and the process broke me. With my drooping eyes glued to my computer screen, I reviewed my responses to the essay questions one final time. The grant application was due the next day, and I was almost ready to submit. I had spent the last several weeks laboring over every word, trying to increase my chances in this competitive hellscape for artists. This was my first time applying for a big artist opportunity, and I couldn’t believe how much time and energy it had taken. I lost track after about 50 hours, resigned to the need to overextend myself. My head ached, and I knew my chronically-ill body was rebelling. But I had to keep pushing. This was a huge opportunity that could change my life as a disabled, low-income artist.

All posts