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

Many of us, myself included, were raised in a world where competing with the people around you is the norm — even when it leads us nowhere. Don’t get me wrong: I’m an incredibly competitive person at heart and have been forcibly removed from a number of casual board game groups. But when it comes to art, I believe that competition creates a false sense of scarcity among artists and keeps all of us hungry for the everyday magic of art.

I think of a grant strategy as a tool of creative liberation — from the cycle of reactive, haphazard applications fueled by anxiety or uncertainty; from the feelings of defeat that come with a cascading series of impersonal email rejections; from starting your grant fundraising plan from scratch each year, or with each project, or worse — not having one at all. A grant strategy is a way out of the riptides of random applications, and into a sense of intentionality and control over the outcomes.

Here's something nobody tells you when you start fundraising: the mysterious, elusive donor you're imagining — the one strolling around with gold clinking merrily in their pocket, just waiting to discover your work and open their checkbook — probably doesn't exist. Or rather, they almost certainly already know you. They're in your phone. They've been to your shows. They liked your last three Instagram posts and haven't said a word.

Whether you've never thought about insurance a day in your life (no judgment 🙈) or you've been burned by an uncovered claim and vowed never again, this guide is your no-nonsense starting point. Insurance can feel overwhelming — a sea of jargon, a pile of paperwork, and a lot of "wait, do I actually need this?" We're going to cut through it like a hot knife through cold butta.

When I serendipitously checked out a library book about sustaining a creative life, I was certain it was a cipher to my own journey of making. It was a moment when I was searching for a rudder. In several different personal essays, artists praised the subsidized housing and/or studio space they received. Others acknowledged the importance of their “day jobs” to creative risk-taking, which, ahem, turned out to be full-time teaching positions, replete with salary and benefits. As I turned the pages, I couldn’t help but think that the very ingredients they deemed essential for building their careers now seemed scarce.

The importance of strengthening our communities has never been more collectively emphasized. Everyone is talking about it. As an artist, this seems like the #1 piece of advice to make it through these times: lean on your creative community.

Our society and social engagement with celebrities and corporations are changing. So much has happened in the beginning of 2026 alone, and it doesn’t seem like the time of unprecedented news is slowing down. You are just one person, and you might feel overwhelmed right now, not knowing what to do or where to start to help stop the world from burning. There is a lot of active trauma our bodies are going through, and as a response, many people, myself included, have begun isolating and turning to old shows, movies, and music to find comfort in the familiar.

If you’re getting the feels as Tax Day approaches, you are probably human. There’s no tax education in this country (and how bananas is that?!?), so feeling confused or misunderstanding what’s required are common. As a tax educator for creative people, I see people frequently misunderstand how their taxes work, and Tax Day is the moment where it hits all at once. As we approach April 15, I’d like to clear up some common misconceptions about the tax deadline.

In this installment of the CEO Chronicles, I speak with Jessica Solomon, facilitator, cultural worker, and organizational development practitioner, about one of the most overlooked dimensions of leadership: care — for your organization, your team, and yourself. Jess worked with Fractured Atlas beginning in 2021, helping us rebuild trust and culture during a period of real upheaval, and she brings that same depth and honesty to this conversation. Give it a listen and let us know what questions you have for Jess (or myself) in the comments 💬

When you think about your biggest supporters, who comes to mind? It’s probably not the foundation that gave you a grant, and it’s probably not members of your online community who have given you donations in the past. While you’re absolutely grateful to all of them, they aren’t who you think of as your biggest supporters. The faces you conjure up are most likely going to be members of your family and your closest friends. The reasons are obvious: they believe in you! They’ve got your back! They’ll do anything to support your passion. So it begs the question: why haven’t you asked your biggest supporters for donations?