Artist Grants

What they don’t tell you in art school is that being an artists requires a lot of writing. Whether you are writing your statement, proposing a show, contributing to an exhibition catalog, or applying for a fellowship, residency or grant, you are expected to speak about your art, however abstract it might be, with compelling clarity.

Writing about your work takes practice. The muse that inspired your work is long gone by the time you have to write about it, or about your vision for the future. So, how do you convey the significance of your work in a short paragraph that requires you to dictate history, aesthetic, and significance in a technical manner?

Control the narrative:

Despite what you may think, your artist statement isn’t a justification for your work, or an instruction manual for viewing and interacting with it. It should be a narrative that supports what your work is already saying. Ditch the qualifiers: of course your work is good, you’re an artist. Of course it addresses a complex topic, folks go to galleries to for complicated topics and the hallmark channel for simple ones.

When you’re writing for a grant, residency or fellowship, the same thing applies