Greetings all!
I am still in the thick of my editing process so I will continue to only post when I briefly come up for air. But I wanted to alert you to the fact that I just noticed today that some of your personal emails to me have been landing in my spam folder. Dang! And most of the messages were clearly from people who actually read my FAQs but still needed more in-depth information. So I sincerely apologize for that. I haven't been checking my spam folder as I get hundreds of spam messages that I usually just ignore or delete. I guess the thing to do is this: if you have thoroughly searched my FAQs for grant and fellowship information, info on residencies, retreats and art colonies, or Fulbright Grants, then do write me (mirabartok@yahoo.com) but be patient and if you don't hear back from me after a couple weeks, write me again. Hopefully you won't get sucked into the vortex of SPAM. I apologize for the inconvenience.
And speaking of FAQs, probably the most frequently asked question of all is: What grants are out there for funding a residency? In my FAQs I do touch on this a bit in regard to international residencies but probably should go more in-depth. Basically, here's my take on this issue—most, but not all, of the residency opportunities that I post are highly competitive but if you get in one of these places, they will be free or not cost that much. I really try to post announcements for places that either cover room and board and studio space or at least offer partial scholarships. That said, I realize you need money to GET THERE. Some of these places are far. And the other issue is that if you do take off from your normal life for a month or two, how will you support your life back home, even if your room and board is covered at a residency?
These are great questions. Hard to answer, unfortunately. There are very few grants out there that specifically finance residencies. So what do you do? Well, you get creative. One possibility is to see if your regional arts council (not just state arts council in the U.S. but local council, i.e. your town) and see if they offer any professional development grants. I know the UK and Canada also have regional councils but I don't know about other countries. Anyway, I have gotten these kinds of awards in the past and have used them to pay for residency travel. They aren't huge but every amount helps.
Other things I've done in the past to help fund residencies that are free but that don't offer travel assistance or stipends:
1. I apply for other kinds of grants! I plan ahead and apply for grants that are solely to support the production of new work. Big ones and small ones. So if you get a little extra money from some foundation to work on your next book of poems or a new series of paintings, why should anyone know that you are going to do that in Brazil or Southern France or Alaska? It all comes out of the same place. It's all about your work anyway.
2. I contact the residency and ask if they offer any stipends or financial aid to people in need. Most places post this info on their website but not all. Once I wanted to go to some big conference but couldn't afford the airfare. No scholarships existed for people who couldn't afford to go and who did not have university affiliation (and therefore, had their expenses covered, unlike me). The people running the conference sent me money for a plane ticket! I couldn't believe it. And there was enough to also pay for the hotel.
3. If you are going to a foreign residency, contact the embassy or cultural institute connected to the embassy in your home country to see if they offer any assistance. You'd be surprised how rarely any artists do this. I've even gotten free language courses in Italy this way. THREE TIMES.
4. Go on a funding-raising campaign for yourself. Be unabashedly self-serving for once. Offer on your website a poem or a small print for a certain amount of money. Have a sense of humor about it. I really wanted to go to a particular place in France years ago and I made a bunch of small paintings, called all my friends over and had a bidding war. They all knew I was trying to raise money to go to an art colony. Guess what? It worked.
5. Start saving. Do things the old-fashioned way and get another part time job.
6. Oh yeah. There's that credit card burning a hole in your pocket. I know you didn't want to hear that one but that might be your reality.
Any other ideas? Write them here. Send your comments, suggestions, innovative ways you've paid for your dream residency. Until then....more great stuff on the way but first, back to the grindstone for this gal.
Cheers,
Mirabee