Grant Mania

I am applying to two grants and two fellowships between now and November.

First: Regional Artist Project Grant (www.ashevillearts.org)
This application is done, less the two letters of reference, and just needs to be photocopied and dropped off. I’m asking for funding to cover a February 2009 trip to Chicago so that I may attend the annual AWP Conference there. This is for about $1,000.

Second: Arts Writers Grant Program (www.artswriters.org)
This application is lengthy and now that I’ve completed the above listed grant app, I can begin this one. It’s due in two months and it might just take me that long to put it together. As their site explains, “The Warhol Foundation Arts Writing Initiative is a three-year, three million dollar pilot program to support independent, progressive, nonprofit arts publications and individual arts writers…The initiative amplifies the foundation’s longstanding support of critical writing about the arts by focusing attention on arts writing as an essential component of a thriving visual culture.” Awards could be as small as, say, $2,000 or as much as $50,000.

Third: North Carolina Arts Council Writers Fellowship (www.ncarts.org)
Every three years, NC writers are invited to apply for this fellowship. This application is relatively simple, but the fellowship is so difficult to get that I must make every word seriously. The applicaiton is so simple I could complete it in one evening—but the decisions are complex and require more time. I must send 20 pages of my best work—what does that mean? Do I include fiction and nonfiction? Both? Either you’re in or you’re out. $10,000 to support the creative development of an NC writer and generate the creation of new work or not. No letters of reference (darn!).

Fourth: Top secret!

I’m also being considered for two grants that regional organizations have applied for already, including my name on the bill.

First – A spoken word event sponsored by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in which I’d perform creative, written responses to contemporary art (funded by the NC Arts Council if it’s awarded).

Second – A book about NC’s quilt trails in our mountain counties (written by me, funded by other organizations).

Here’s to the future! Here’s to the unknown! Here’s to all the artists everywhere getting the support they need! Here’s to the writing life! (Wish me luck!)