Good morning all...I just came across this interesting item about
micro-grants for artists a couple days ago on the blog,
Another Limited Rebellion (
http://www.alrdesign.com/blog/2009/05/micro-grants-for-artists.html) They mentioned another site called
Society6 that has started this system of
micro-grants and opportunities for emerging artists. If you don't know about the micro grant system, it's a grassroots system of
helping fund individuals who want to jump start their careers. Up until now, as far as I know, projects like this have mostly been set up for individuals in developing countries, the most well known of these organizations is
kiva.org. These, however are loans, not grants, although perhaps that has changed. The way kiva.org operates is like this: say a woman in Afganistan needs a couple sewing machines to start a textile business out of her home, she can contact
kiva. org and they will publicize how much she needs, etc. and people from all over the world can give her a small loan, usually around $100 to $300. Anyway, it looks like Society6 is doing that for artists now but in the form of grants and opportunities, not loans. Read what ALR has to say about it:
“Society6 makes the grant-making process easy and accessible to all individuals, non-profit organizations and corporations who want to support the future of the arts. “When we started to look at the existing support infrastructure for artists and other creative people, we realized that it was particularly bureaucratic, exclusive and wasn’t designed for scale. We’ve re-imagined the entire process in the form of a meritocracy, where a greater number of artists can receive unrestricted grant assistance based solely on the merit of their work as determined by their peers”, said co-founder, Lucas Tirigall-Caste.
Another Limited Rebellion also explains:
"Society6 micro-grants are currently available in two forms, money or opportunities. Opportunity grants provide a nice recession-friendly alternative for cash-constrained supporters to offer assistance through free products (e.g. supplies), free services (e.g. studio time) and other distinctive opportunities that money just can’t buy (e.g. feature in a magazine).”To learn more about
Society6 and what they offer to artists, go to:
http://www.society6.com/grants/open. Also check out the
ALR site while you're at it!
2 comments:
Mira, thanks very much, this looks interesting, and I'll continue to follow it and see what is offered.
However, one caution for fellow artists out there. Illustration is something you are supposed to be paid a fee for, particularly true when it is a cover, because covers pay more than interior illustrations, so the 'opportunity' currently listed at the bottom to have your artwork on a scout book is actually a better opportunity for the scouts than it is for you.
While it is nice to get 100 free samples of the product produced, most art directors give at least a few free samples to artists at the end of the assignment anyway, or if they can't pay as much as you would like they would provide payment plus the extra free samples.
Excellent observation and comment Mona. Thanks for your input. Like anything, nothing is for free so if anyone is interested in these micro grants, make sure you carefully look over what is offered. I'm sure some of it is great but there will be people who will also try to take advantage of young artists. Anyway, thanks for writing! Best Wishes, Mira
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