I’m thrilled, honored and excited to have been selected as a finalist for the Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant.

What is the Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program?

The Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant is a three-year pilot program designed to support writers whose work addresses contemporary visual art through project-based grants issued directly to individual authors. The first program of its type, it was founded in recognition of both the financially precarious situation of arts writers and their indispensable contribution to a vital artistic culture.

In its first year, the Arts Writers Grant Program issued awards for books, articles, and experiments in new and alternative media. This round, it introduces a new grant category for short-form writing (texts of 1,000 words or less). In addition, the program seeks an increased engagement in the coming grant round with article-based projects and with art of the current moment. Of particular interest are articles that identify and explore pressing issues in the contemporary visual arts. Also of interest are texts that illuminate the value contemporary art holds for all viewers through its ability to complicate and enrich our understanding of our world and ourselves and to offer a space of freedom from and critical engagement with prevailing norms.

Through all its grants, regardless of topic or category type, the Arts Writers Grant Program aims to honor and encourage:

• Writing about art that is rigorous, passionate, eloquent and precise
• Writing about art in which a keen engagement with the present is infused with an appreciation of the historical
• Writing about art that is neither afraid to take a stand, nor content to deliver authoritative pronouncements, but serves rather to pose questions and to generate new possibilities for thinking, seeing, and making
• Writing about art that is sensitive to both the importance and difficulty of situating aesthetic objects within their broader social and political contexts
• Writing about art that does not dilute or sidestep complex ideas but renders accessible their meaning and value
• Writing about art that challenges creatively the limits of existing conventions, without valorizing novelty as an end in itself

The Creative Capital | Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant is spearheaded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of its broader Arts Writing Initiative and administered by Creative Capital.

The program will support approximately 15-20 projects. Grant amounts will range from $3,000–$50,000, depending on the scope and complexity of the project.

I applied in the short-form writing category.

Short-Form Writing. This category is designed to support writers working on texts of 1,000 words or less that respond to current exhibitions, events, and issues in the visual arts (magazine and newspaper reviews, blog entries, etc.). Applicants to this category will propose to write an approximate number of texts over a fixed period of time, not to exceed one year. Of particular interest are writers who work outside established art-world centers; writers whose work is geared to non-specialized readers; and younger authors for whom the opportunity to spend an extended period of time devoted to writing would have a transformative impact on their careers.

Eligibility Requirements: Short-form writing grant applicants must have published a minimum of one of the following:

• five published pieces of arts writing of at least 500 words each; or
• eight published pieces of arts writing of at least 250 words each; or
• regular blog postings for at least a six-month period.

All proposals are evaluated based on:

• The strength, clarity, and potential impact of the proposed project
• The capabilities of the applicant to realize the project effectively
• The feasibility of the project

The review has two steps:

Step One: Each application will be reviewed by a distinguished professional in the field of arts writing and read by the program director.

Step Two: Selected applications will advance to a final panel round. In this phase, a national panel of arts writers, editors and other distinguished professionals will consider the proposals. (Panel recommendations receive final approval by the board of Creative Capital.)

I’ve made it through step one and am on to step two. If selected, the grant will allow me to continue writing about contemporary art and bring a broader scope and perspective to readers in Southwest Colorado.

Thanks must go out to my husband Rich and my boys for perhaps not understanding, but respecting my time and allowing me to get lost in my words and spend time writing. Thanks also to my friends for supporting my career and especially to my friend Monica Goldsmith, who has continually encouraged me and believed wholeheartedly that I would make it this far and to Kate Petley for also telling me to keep trying. Additionally, thanks to Michael Coffee, Denise Coffee, Al Olson and Shaun Martin for encouraging my first application last year. Though I didn’t make it through step one, the initial ideas we discussed formed the foundation for this year’s application. To the Durango Herald, Four Corners Business Journal, Farmington Daily Times, Pagosa Springs SUN, Pagosa Daily Post, Coloradan, Arts Perspective, Art in the 4 Corners, and other publications that have provided a venue for my ideas and writing, I also say thank you. And to everyone who reads my words, whether we agree or disagree–thank you.