Applying for exhibits, residencies, grants, and opportunities is part of the journey of a working artist. The process can be discouraging to say the least. I’ve heard it said many times: never give up on applying regardless of the chance of success. You never know where your work will land, and every opportunity is so unique.
I recently went through this application process for Artist Trust SOLA grant (Support for Old Lady Artists). It fits. 🙂 This grant was described to me during Artist Trust’s helpful one-on-one prep meeting as a lifetime achievement award. That is, the reviewers look at the breadth of your work over the years, even young work. I suppose they look for growth, seriousness, consistency (and who knows what else). This approach is very different from other grant applications, where the emphasis is on your current best work.
Applications are successful sometimes! In August, “Illumination”, a painting from my “Some Mornings” series will be shown at Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, in its “Resilient and Creative” juried exhibit. And “Some Mornings” – the title piece of the series – is on exhibit at Northwind Art Best Gallery “Lost Words” exhibit through August 1.
I see that the effort alone has its rewards, whether I win or lose. Articulating my work is an interesting exercise, and preparing samples is a discipline of curation and evaluation. In a longer post than usual, I thought I’d share the samples portion of my recent SOLA application. The narrative begins in 1999 and continues right on till now – and beyond.