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

As we awaited the arrival of our second child, my wife and I decided that it was time to look for a house. We were renting a small, two-bedroom house that felt close to bursting at the seams with toys, clothes, and the equipment one accumulates when caring for a small child, so the prospect of squeezing in another baby felt a bit too much like a circus act. Plus our lease was running out and we really didn’t like our landlord (a story for another time).

Reader, is there anything more painful than driving over a jagged pothole? The crunch of your spine, the desperate prayers for your car’s suspension and steering, and of course, a profound shame for not avoiding the pothole in the first place. Now imagine driving down a beat up backroad, no streetlights, with nothing to guide you and your poor steed to safety except your murky intuition. This is how a lot of us go into the grant application process — vaguely uneasy, completely lost, and proceeding valiantly into a mysterious void (i.e. the review panel). But what if you had a cheat sheet, a map, with every pitfall illuminated by bright, flashing warning signs?

For creative people, text boxes with harsh word limits (or god forbid, character limits) are public enemy no.1. Distilling a deeply personal, evolving artistic journey into a few hundred characters can feel like an emotional and creative abyss—one that you can easily pour hours into with unsatisfying results. From our point of view (as a fiscal sponsor for artists that reviews thousands of grant applications per year), we have a few (humble) recommendations for making the writing process more fulfilling and framing your work to resonate with potential funders.

In our newest series, “Gentle Reminders,” 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. To kick it off, we’re digging into the importance of regularly rewriting your artist statement.

The best thank you note I got this year was a 16-word email. But before we unpack what made it special, we need to talk…

Toni Morrison speaking at “A Tribute to Chinua Achebe — 50 Years Anniversary of ‘Things Fall Apart’”. The Town Hall, New York City, February 26th, 2008 It is almost impossible to explain the impact of a phenomenon like Toni Morrison. It is infinitely more impossible for me to explain, as a Black woman and artist, what it means to lose her less than a year after losing Ntozake Shange. I have more feelings than language and have asked my colleagues at Fractured Atlas to help me honor a great by sharing their reflections of her persona, words, and work.

by Molaundo Jones, Social Media Specialist at Fractured Atlas Susan drennan Gabriel bunn Susan drennan Gabriel bunn has been a member of Fractured Atlas since July 2018. Her project SuzeMuze Studio presents stories and songs to impact solutions and expand public awareness. SuzeMuze Studio’s work explores critical issues ranging from the rise of suicide rates, #MeToo, PTSD, abuse, healing, addiction, and trauma recovery.