Class

Sustaining a Creative Career with Grants: An Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing

Session one:
In the first session, students will be introduced to the resources and structures that will benefit their grant writing process. We’ll walk through 990s, the various prospecting tools, and get to know fiscal sponsorship. Additionally, students will discuss their planning processes; get familiar with their goals, metrics for measuring success, and the elements of their creative practice that need financial support. Students will leave session one comfortable talking about their goals, creative output, and creative process through quantifiable/tangible costs.

Session two:
In the second session, students will come ready to write a mock grant and then participate in a mock panel review process. Students will have time in the class to write short, succinct answers to two sections commonly seen in grant applications. Then the whole class will conduct a mock panel review that will include a brief summary of the grant opportunity they applied to, how the grant panel was assembled for a fun role-play component, and ultimately the process for how to review anonymous grant answers against the criteria.

Students will leave the second session with a well-rounded understanding of the grant prospecting to reviewing process, ultimately preparing them to secure grants on their own.

Students of all levels are welcome. Whether just at the start of a creative career or an already established artist looking to hone their fundraising skills, students should come ready to discuss their creative and artistic process, goals, and financial need. The recommended reading list is not a requirement to have read at the start of the first session; however, discussion prompts will engage themes and topics in the reading that the students might find helpful.

(Optional) The Message by Ta Nahisi-Coates
(Optional) Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villenueva
(Optional) Art & Fear; Observations on the perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland

Accessibility: If you have any accessibility requests for this class, please submit this request form at least two to three weeks in advance. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.