Behind every artist is an encouraging herd of supporters. Our herd can include family, friends, teachers, counselors, mentors, partners—often growing and changing shape over time. Whether it’s my fellow staff members (many of whom are artists in their own right) or the artists we serve on the daily, I’m perpetually curious: who helped you become an artist? What support does an artist need from their community? And in turn, how does art sustain and strengthen a community?

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.

Fellow perfectionists, I invite you to imagine the following scenario: you just printed a huge, adhesive sticker. It’s the height of a fully grown hobbit, and feels like a perfect, two-dimensional newborn (“they have your eyes!”). Now, imagine slowly unpeeling it, heart pounding, painfully aware that you have one chance to get it right. To your horror, the sticker begins clinging desperately to every surface it can find, including your skin, your clothes, and itself.

I’ll never forget the first time I took myself on an artist date. Okay, to be honest, I forget most of the details. But I’ll never forget how it felt. The clarity! The creative freedom! The subversive undertones. It was my first taste of anti-productivity.

In our new series of interviews “Seeding Collaborations” we discuss the rumblings of the art world and explore the possibilities blossoming from current movements. We interviewed Laura Zabel, Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts (Springboard), an artist-run organization based in Minnesota. They have offices in St. Paul and Fergus Falls, both of which are on Anishinaabe and Dakota land.

Our new series of longer interviews “Seeding Collaborations” discusses some of the changes that the art world is undergoing and how we can move forward in a more just path. To kick it off, we interviewed Hope Mohr and Daniel Park from Guilded, a cooperative of freelance artists incubated by the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC).

Being transparent with your followers, friends, and family is scary. I’ll go first:

There are tectonic shifts taking place in workplaces, indicated by movements like the Great Resignation and the continued unionization efforts across the art world. Even before the pandemic, career growth and how our careers impact livelihoods have been on many people’s minds. Typically, the further on you get into your career, the more complicated the next steps become. As you grow, it’s more likely that you’ll end up in managerial roles, leading teams, and having others report directly to you.

Fractured Atlas has undergone some big changes in the past few years, including entering into a period of interim leadership led by Theresa Hubbard, who is also our new Chief Operating Officer.

Funding your project takes a multitude of methods, one of which is applying for grants. Artists apply for grant funding constantly, and it takes great effort to get through the application process. Narratives need to be well-written and concise, budgets must tell a comprehensive financial story of your project, and you’re probably applying for more than one grant application at a time. Given the challenges, it can be tough when you don’t see the results – whether it’s because you haven’t been successful yet or you had one big win but haven’t been able to replicate it. It’s really tough and honestly, it’s probably not your fault.