After over four years of publishing our content on Medium, Fractured Atlas is launching a new-and-improved blog: Inciter Art.

Inciter Art will continue to be the place for artist spotlights, resources, tips, tricks, and tools to ignite your artistic and creative progress. We’ve updated the blog to reflect our sleek new look and to provide more functionality in the long-term.

The best part is you don’t have to do anything! You’ll still be able to access all of the content you’re used to at blog.fracturedatlas.org. On Wednesday, October 2nd, the new blog will appear at your old links like a shiny new sports car parked at your front door.

Thank you, Medium, for giving us a platform to share resources for artists, creatives, and anyone willing to rethink #HowWeWork. We’re excited to share even more!

Sincerely,

The Fractured Atlas Team

Making Moves From Medium was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The New York Foundation for the Arts is accepting applications for The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre.

Description: The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre provides grants to encourage and support the creation of digital, film, music, television, and live theatre content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.

The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre is the latest in a groundbreaking series of initiatives by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) to address the underrepresentation of those who identify as women in film, music, television, and theatre. New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is proud to administer this Fund, which this year adds music as a category.

The Program Will Provide:

• Finishing grants for film, television, and digital projects
• Funds for the creation of music recordings or videos
• Production funds for live theatre

In addition to being made by, for, or about all who identify as women, projects are eligible if they feature a strong female perspective; and/or include a female-identified director and/or producer and/or writer/songwriter and/or engineer (for recordings) and/or female protagonist(s) or lead musical role.

Geographic Focus: New York, NY

Deadline: October 1, 2019 at 11:59pm

The Eastman School of Music’s Paul R. Judy Center Grant Program is accepting applications for its Applied Research Grant Program.

Description: The Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research is a division of the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music. The Center’s research and programming emphasizes the 21st Century evolution of the innovative ensemble, influenced by both the symphony orchestra and the chamber music traditions, with a focus on creative, artist-centered ensembles that reflect new models of artistic innovation, organizational relationships, and operational sustainability.

The Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research Grant provides funding for research and projects related to innovative ensembles. Anyone based in North America may apply.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: October 1, 2019

The Robins Foundation is accepting applications for The Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins, Sr. Community Innovation Grant.

Description: Robins Foundation believes strongly that one must connect the past with the future and align closely with innovation and transformation. It is the Robins Foundation belief that nonprofits have the answers to the most pressing challenges facing children and families today.

Awarded annually the Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins, Sr. Community Innovation Grant (CIG) funds one proposal that celebrates the imaginative, cooperative spirit of Greater Richmond. The award is designed to support a project that addresses unmet community needs or issues in emerging neighborhoods.

Proposals should demonstrate an innovative approach to solving the need, strategic collaboration and the potential for wider, long-term impact on the affected audience.

Geographic Focus: Richmond, VA

Deadline: October 4, 2019 at 5pm

Bronx Council on the Arts is accepting applications for their Arts Fund, New Work, and Community Arts programs.

Description: Arts Fund (AF)Bronx-based professional and pre-professional artists, artist collectives and Bronx-based 501(c)(3) organizations with an organizational budget below $100,000 are invited to apply for grants of up to $5,000 for high-quality arts projects that contribute to the cultural life of the borough. In 2016, Arts Fund distributed $69,000 to 25 artists and organizations.

The Arts Fund aims to develop Bronx artists and small arts organizations through its support of high-quality arts projects that engage Bronx audiences in a diverse array of artistic works in all disciplines, genres and styles. Bronx-based 501(c)(3) organizations with organizational budgets below $100,000 and individual artists living in the Bronx may apply directly to this program.

New Work (NW) supports individual Bronx-based artists through a commissioning grant in the amount of $2,500 for the creation of a new work in a community setting. Projects must engage a segment of the community through a public program, such as an exhibition or performance that is open to the public, and/or the inclusion of community involvement in the development and creative process of the artist’s project.

With a maximum of only four (4) awards made each year, New Work is a highly competitive grant process for Bronx artists of all disciplines.

Community Arts (CA) supports local arts projects and activities that enable Bronx communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media, and visual arts. All projects must be community-based and open to the general public. Local non-profit organizations may apply directly to this program; individual artists or collectives must apply either through a Bronx-based fiscal sponsor or in partnership with a community-based non-profit organization based in the Bronx. Grants range from $1000 t0 $5000.

Geographic Focus: Bronx, NY

Deadline: October 7, 2019

Chamber Music America is accepting applications for the 2019 Presenter Consortiums for Jazz.

Description: Presenter Consortium for Jazz provides support to consortiums of three U. S. presenters that collectively engage up to three professional U.S. jazz ensembles (consisting of 2–10 musicians each) to perform at each presenter’s venue. Incentives are available to each consortium partner that invites one of the CMA New Jazz Works grantee ensembles to perform its entire CMA commission.

The Board of Directors of Chamber Music America has made diversity, inclusion, and equity a primary focus of the organization’s work. CMA’s goal in this program is, through the panel review process, to arrive at a final slate of grantees that is representative of the field in terms of the race, gender and jazz style of the ensembles that the consortium partners have chosen to present.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: October 11, 2019

Chamber Music America is also accepting applications for its 2019 Residency Partnership Program.

Description: The Residency Partnership Program supports professional ensembles and presenters in building audiences for classical, contemporary, and jazz chamber music through residency projects. The program funds activities that take place in community settings and that are not part of a regular concert series.

Community settings must be accessible to the specific audiences you plan to reach. Examples of community settings are classrooms, libraries, healthcare facilities, senior centers, and parks. The program does not support private lessons or coaching for K-12 students, or activities for college- or conservatory-level music students.

The Board of Directors of Chamber Music America has made diversity, inclusion, and equity a primary focus of the organization’s work. CMA’s goals in this program are, through the panel review process, to arrive at a final slate of grantees that is representative of the field in terms of the ensembles’ race, gender, and style of chamber music.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: October 18, 2019

Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) is accepting applications for the Queens Arts Fund (QAF).

Description: Queens Arts Fund (QAF) offers grants to Queens-based individual artists and nonprofit organizations offering distinctive arts and cultural programming that directly serves the citizens of Queens.

The Queens Arts Fund is committed to supporting emerging artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, working within all disciplines to create work that provides open and equal access for audiences in all communities of Queens, to further racial and cultural equity.

Geographic Focus: Queens, NY

Deadline: October 29, 2019

Japan Foundation New York is accepting applications for Performing Arts Japan 2020–2021.

Description: The Japan Foundation is now accepting project proposals for Performing Arts Japan (PAJ) touring and collaboration grants for the 2020–2021 fiscal year.

This program is designed to provide financial assistance for non-profit organizations in the US and Canada that aim to introduce Japanese performing arts to local audiences. PAJ Touring Grants help present Japanese performing arts at multiple locations in the United States and Canada, with an emphasis on locations outside major metropolitan areas. PAJ Collaboration Grants help Japanese and American/Canadian artists develop a new work, which will further an appreciation of Japanese culture when presented to American/Canadian audiences.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: October 31, 2019

Puffin Foundation is accepting proposals for its 2020 grant cycle.

Description: The Puffin Foundation Ltd. seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy. For the upcoming 2020 cycle they will accept proposals in Music, Photography, & Theater.

Application forms are not available electronically, but can be requested by sending a SASE (#10 business letter sized, self-addressed stamped envelope) to the address below beginning in September 2019. Requests for application forms must be received by December 15, 2019. Completed applications for the 2020 cycle will be accepted from September 1st until the deadline of December 30, 2019 postmarked by midnight. Applications postmarked after this date will not be reviewed.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: December 30, 2019 postmarked by midnight (Requests for application forms must be received by December 15, 2019)

Join Us: Click here to become a member.

Fractured Atlas on Social: Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit technology organization that helps artists with the business side of their creative work. To find our more about Fractured Atlas, or get involved, visit us here.

Upcoming Grant Deadlines and Opportunities (9/19/19) was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Julia Barry, along with co-organizers Rev. Adriene Thorne, Dusty Francis, and Dionne McClain-Freeney, is the creator of “Habitat: Home,” a nationwide community-building project powered by art. Through collaborative making and multidisciplinary performances about ‘home,’ artists and residents across America work toward a more peaceful, healthy country. Julia is based in Brooklyn, New York and has been a Fractured Atlas member for almost a year.

How has Fractured Atlas benefitted your artistic practice?
Supporting a career in the arts can be a solitary and draining ongoing job, including time spent submitting many applications to (and getting many rejections from) grants, residencies, competitions, etc. However, keeping at it wholeheartedly is necessary to maintaining a meaningful creative life, and Fractured Atlas is the sunlight coming through the clouds in this arena, providing feedback and suggestions on how to strengthen grant applications sent through their auspices! I am very thankful to have expert help and the feeling of a bolstering community tangibly cheering my work on.

How has Fractured Atlas benefitted your income generation or fundraising efforts (please quantify if possible)?
We are in the middle of crowdfunding via Fractured Atlas’ platform right now! We of course hope to reach — or even better, exceed — our goal, but also feel confident using Fractured Atlas because we can use whatever funds are raised, regardless of this individual campaign’s outcomes. Fractured Atlas also helps us process checks and keep our funds all in one place, with all monies given being helpfully tax-deductible for our donors.

What specific Fractured Atlas services/programs have you used?
General fundraising, crowdfunding, internal support and services, and we plan to use Artful.ly for registering attendees before our events.

Why do you think artists and organizations should become members of Fractured Atlas?
Fractured Atlas is a wonderful resource because it so comprehensively covers all the different needs that artists have from funding to promoting and sharing their work. The Fractured Atlas staff is knowledgeable, available, timely, and encouraging, which helps to remove obstacles and get artists motivated and on to their next step! Practically speaking, being able to provide tax-deductible status to donations is a real selling point for donors, and likely helps artists raise more money for their projects.

What has been one of the biggest challenges for your arts project and how did you push through it?
Our biggest project challenge is the same question as the project was developed to address: How can we surmount and heal social divides? As “Habitat: Home” participants work to shift current power dynamics and biases, we are paradoxically operating from the very system that perpetuates these issues. In recognition of this challenge, we are consciously using the creative process as a framework in which issues of identity, belonging, and human responsibility can be discussed safely and expressed freely.

We are specifically using a collaborative and participant-influenced process to guide healthy communication and work together. While sub-teams of 2–5 artists each make new art together, meetings with the full group are dedicated to learning about, discussing, and practicing collaborative principles, interactive styles, and work strategies and methods. Via an artistic common goal, we have purposely created a new, respectful space in which we can support each other and celebrate our differences. In this way, we can highlight individual cultural producers from diverse backgrounds, while also building community, solidarity, and empathy.

We are also sharing our process and work online and at in-person events to connect a large number of diverse residents in meaningful — and dare we say, fun— experiences. Overall, we aim to enact and spark a new way forward for resident-led American revitalization. Let’s inspire courage, hope, and civic action together!

Do you have any upcoming events that people should know about?October 19, 2019 @ 6pm: Performance at St. Michael’s Church, 225 W 99th St, New York, NY 10025.

October 20, 2019 @ 6pm: Performance at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Sanctuary — 124 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Both events are free and open to all! We also plan to web-stream them for community members at home. (Details forthcoming.)

What is your biggest accomplishment as a result of being a Fractured Atlas member?
Bringing “Habitat: Home” to life!

You can learn more about and follow Habitat: Home at http://habitathome.us and on social media on Facebook @habitathomeus, on Instagram at @habitathomeus; on Twitter at @habitathomeus; and on YouTube: http://bit.ly/youtube-hhus; and on Fundraising By Fractured Atlas at http://habitathome.us/makechange

Join Us: Click here to become a member.

Fractured Atlas on Social: Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Member Spotlight: Julia Barry of Habitat: Home was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The more your artistic practice thrives, the less time there seems to be for doing the thing you want to be doing — creating. More time goes into billing hours, managing a growing list of patrons, keeping up with the newest social media marketing trends, and figuring out how to keep financially supporting your work than into making art. How can you manage all of these and create your art?

Many of Fractured Atlas’s team members are practicing artists. We know first hand the difficulties of juggling every part of your artistic practice. Every day, we utilize digital tools that are easily available on our phones or laptops. And now we’re sharing some of our favorites with you.

Below are some low-cost, handy, digital tool recommendations from various Fractured Atlas team members. While they can’t get rid of all of the business aspects of your practice, we hope they will decrease the time you spend managing and increase the time you spend creating.

Business Management Tools for Artists

Running a creative practice isn’t just about you as a creator working in isolation. Perhaps you will be collaborating with another artist who lives in a different part of the country or you discover that, as your client list grows, you’re juggling too many different communication platforms. Either way, digital tools can keep you organized and moving forward. The following tools are staff favorites for managing multiple moving parts in a project.

Airtable

Part spreadsheet and part database with tons of features you can tailor specifically to your creative project, Airtable is a tool that the Fractured Atlas’ External Relations team uses. It’s a flexible platform that has built-in templates that you can choose from or you can build your own to fit your needs. There are four different pricing levels ranging from free to $20 per month. We recommend this if you are handling project management for your studio or organization, and want to keep track of everything that is happening for a project. Our External Relations Specialist, Courtney Harge, loves Airtable for the ability to upload attachments into a cell: that way a person’s documents (or links to drafts of documents) can all be stored together.

Asana

Asana is a more traditional project management tool. If you are running a long-term, multi-person project such as a theatrical production or art exhibition, Asana can make sure everyone’s on track to success. You can assign tasks, email comments/notes, and set due dates all inside the app. You can also break complicated projects down into manageable steps. Pricing ranges from free to $19.99 depending on the features you want for your team.

Financial Management Apps for Artists

Running a creative practice means you are your own boss and you need to keep track of those finances. Luckily, there are some digital platforms that are making financial tracking and planning much easier, even if you are not a large business.

Expensify

Expensify is a one-stop tool for recording your expenses and tracking your receipts. It also offers integrations with a huge list of other apps such as Quickbooks, TSheets, and more. One tool that Fractured Atlas staff members use is the ability to forward your receipts into Expensify so you don’t have to worry about finding that one specific receipt for your expense report. Expensify can also automatically scan and categorize receipts based on the rules you set. With basic functionality that is free and plans available for individuals (they also offer plans for companies) that are $4.99 each, it’s very affordable.

Quickbooks

If you are managing a growing creative practice, Intuit’s Quickbooks may be a great tool for you. Quickbooks allows you to manage bills, track income and expenses, compensate contractors and workers, and more. The pricing is slightly higher than other platforms ranging from $20 to $150 a month depending on the plan. Quickbooks is used by multiple Fractured Atlas staff members who are artists themselves.

Digital Portfolio Tools for Artists

Growing an audience in our current times relies heavily on digital tools and apps. There are many ways to present and bring attention to your work. Before you go about promoting and marketing, it’s important to have a readily available digital portfolio that you can present to your patrons. Here are some platforms that make it easy for you to put your work up and introduce yourself to the world:

Squarespace

Squarespace boasts itself as an all-in-one platform that also considers beautiful, user-friendly presentation as part of the package. They have various tiers of payment from $12 a month (Personal plan) to $40 a month (Advanced Commerce plan). Depending on the plan, you have access to a comprehensive platform that puts design, analytics, and commerce options into one place.

Wordpress

Wordpress is another option to show off your portfolio. One of the best parts of Wordpress is that they have a tier that is completely free. For paying tiers, the prices range from $3 a month (Blogger level) to $45 a month (eCommerce level). With Wordpress, you also have access to design customization, analytics, and commerce options depending on the tier you choose.

Small Victories

If you just need a space to hold your work, Small Victories may be the right choice for you. The basic idea is that they take files from Dropbox, and turns it all into a website. Pricing is very affordable with a free Basic plan as well as a Plus plan at $4 a month.

Format

Format is a website-building platform that boasts dynamic themes and flexible layouts along with commerce abilities. Pricing begins with the Enthusiast level at $6 a month to Unlimited at $25 a month. An additional perk to Format is their Magazine: it offers a wide range of resources for artists to build their businesses.

Promotional Tools for Artists

Now that you have your portfolio up and available, how do you go about promoting it? What accessible tools can you use to make sure your future patrons see your work? The world of social media is extensive, and there are even more tools to help you manage it. Here are a few social media platforms and tools that’ll get you started:

Instagram

There are over 500 million daily active users on Instagram. As a primarily visual tool, whether photo or video, it is a great way to share your work as an artist. For example, you can use the platform not only to share your newest work but also give a sneak peek into your studio. You can also share a work in progress to engage with your potential patrons. The ability to use it on your phone (plus a recent desktop option) makes this an ideal promotional tool. Additional features such as Instagram Stories, IGTV, and commerce tools make Instagram a powerful resource.

A bonus tip is to turn your profile into a business profile so that you can see insights and analytics. This will help you understand when people are visiting your profile and who your visitors are. If you’re unsure how to make Instagram work for you, check out this article for more insight on using the platform as an artist.

UNUM

UNUM allows you to plan the story you would like to tell through your Instagram grid and provides analytics tools as well. The app also has a sleek, user-friendly interface and 17 different features including editing tools, best time analytics, calendar reminders to post, and more. Pricing is affordable with a free plan, Select plan at $4.99 a month, and Elite plan at $6.99 a month.

Hubspot

Communicating with your new patrons will allow you to grow your arts business. Hubspot offers a free marketing, sales, customer service, and contact management system. You can build your emails in Hubspot, and manage your growing list of patrons in one place so that it’s easy to let everyone know when your next showcase is or if you’re starting a crowdfunding campaign. It can get pretty pricey if you want to pay for additional tools, but Hubspot has a powerful free plan that lets you access many of its features.

Money Making Tools for Artists

Models for how artists make money are varied and no longer as linear as before. An artist can bring in money a variety of ways from contributed to earned income. For more resources ways this happens, check out our article on making money as an artist. The following are some apps with a focus on crowdfunding capabilities:

Kickstarter

If you have a specific creative project in mind that you would like to fund, Kickstarter provides a platform for raising that money. If a project is successfully funded, Kickstarter will apply a 5% fee to the funds raised and payment processing fees ranging from 3–5%. If your project does not reach its funding goal, there are no fees.

Patreon

For creatives who do not have a specific project to fund, but want to develop a more in depth relationship with their fans, consider Patreon as a platform for membership-based funding. With three different plans ranging from 5–12% fees taken from monthly income raised on Patreon and small processing fees, it’s an affordable, flexible way of bringing in money while getting to know your patrons more.

Seed&Spark

For filmmakers, Seek&Spark is another crowdfunding, project-based platform that is a great option for generating revenue. The focus on storytelling, the ease of use (with an option to use a fiscal sponsor), and its own streaming service makes Seed&Spark stand out. Pricing is dependent on the project, but there is a platform fee of 5% (which your backers have the option to cover the fee) and credit card processing fees that are 2.9% of the pledge and an additional $0.30.

Online Store Apps to Sell Your Art

A great opportunity for your patrons to support your work is to give them a storefront to purchase art directly from you. There are multiple digital storefronts that streamline this into an easy process. That equals more art from your buyers and more money for you to keep creating.

Square

Michelle Martir is one of our UX engineers and a great visual artist as well. She recommends Square to sell art because of its great digital storefront that’s also user-friendly. Additionally, they provide hardware options that you can take with you for times you may be selling at an art fair or outdoor space. Pricing depends on what features fit your needs.

Etsy

Etsy is a global online marketplace that strives to support independent creators. In 2017, more than 33 million buyers around the world spent more than $3 billion on Etsy-listed products. It’s easy to sign up with affordable plans. Etsy takes a $0.20 listing fee to publish items. If sold, they take a commission fee of 5%, and a payment processing fee of 3% plus $0.25.

Time Management Tools for Artists

There are so many digital tools to make your creative practice more efficient and easier to handle on a day-to-day basis. Not only can we use digital tools to help the business side of a creative practice but we can also use them for other purposes such as timekeeping. Here are some fun time-keeping apps that Fractured Atlas’s team members utilize for unplugging and creating.

Toggl

Our Senior UX Engineer Angelique, who also has great tips for working virtually, recommends using Toggl as a time-keeping tool even if you don’t have to keep track of billable hours to make money. Features include reporting and billability on a user-friendly dashboard. You can try out a 30-day free trial and if you decide to keep using Toggl, the pricing ranges from $10 a month to $20 a month depending on the plan. Toggl offers syncing abilities between all the devices you have the app on, making it a seamless experience to keep track of how long you spent on that one section of that painting or (let’s be real) in that YouTube hole.

Forest

Another app recommended by Angelique is Forest, an app that helps you put down your phone by combining sustainability and your love of games. When you put down your phone, Forest has a digital tree that’s planted and the more time you spend away from your phone, the more the tree grows. It’s easy to use, especially because there is a Chrome Extension. Forest also helps in the real world by partnering with Trees for the Future to actually plant trees.

Conclusion

While digital tools and apps cannot replace the art that you create, they can help your practice run more smoothly and have greater impact. It’s also great to make sure you have systems in place to support your work. Fractured Atlas builds tools and resources to catalyze your creativity: we’re also looking for new tools that would be valuable to our members! Is there a platform we didn’t cover that you think can be helpful for other creatives? Is there a workaround you’ve discovered that is helpful to you? As a member of Fractured Atlas, have you encountered a tool of ours that you love? Are you a member yet? Join today to receive more helpful tools and resources to support your work. And let us know if there are tools you’d recommend! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share your insights with the hashtag #LongLiveTheArtist.

Join Us: Click here to be a member.

Fractured Atlas on Social: Instagram| Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

The Best Digital Tools to Boost Your Artistic Practice was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Alice Sheppard is founder of Kinetic Light, an organization working in the disciplines of art, design, architecture, and social justice, that creates, performs, and teaches at the intersections of disability, dance, and race. Their work seeks to showcase freedom of movement as a pathway for others to understand how mobility is fundamental to participation in civic life and to our understanding of American national identity. Alice became a member of Fractured Atlas in July 2016 and is based in Los Altos, California and New York City.

How has Fractured Atlas benefited your artistic practice? What specific Fractured Atlas services/programs have you used?
I primarily use Fractured Atlas as my fiscal sponsor for grants. When I came into the field, I had no idea how the business of dance really worked. Fractured Atlas’s annual report mechanism and budget materials helped me get organized. I also realized that funders would not know who I was. Fractured Atlas provided them with a level of security. Fractured Atlas is a big organization, but I would like to thank Courtney Harge and Aisha Jordan in particular. Both Courtney and Aisha have calmly received some of my more panicked emails as I picked my way through grant applications and reports. They meet artists where they are and have helped me along every inch of what has been a steep learning curve.

What has been one of your biggest challenges as an artist and how did you push through it?
I’m not sure “pushing through” a problem has ever helped me, to be honest. In fact, the times when things have gone most wrong are the times when I have tried to push through. I think the pressure to keep going when things are tough is actually unhelpful. I know there are certain narratives that we tend to want to valorize about art and artistic production, but I am not always sure that they are helpful.

Not pushing through is not the same as not giving up. When things are tough, I try to stop and figure out why they are tough. I pull back a little if I can and try and learn. Many things are tough: space, time, and money. Pushing hard won’t necessarily change access to these things. Some ideas really won’t work at a certain point in time. That doesn’t mean they won’t work later, but it may mean a different approach is necessary now.

My tendency is to push through. The learning for me is having the courage to stop.

Do you have any upcoming events that people should know about?
Kinetic Light is embarking our on Fall 2019 tour, performing DESCENT and other works in Miami, FL; Atlanta, GA; Wilmington, NC; and Burlington, VT. Visit kineticlight.org for performance dates and tickets!

We are also creating our next production, Wired, which will premiere at The Shed in 2020.

What would you consider some of your biggest accomplishments?
My biggest career achievement is not an award or even a work. I am proud to be in a place where I can choose the artists I want to create with. My Kinetic Light partners, Laurel Lawson and Michael Maag, are my dream collaborators, and Kinetic Light is the place, time, and people with whom I am making some of the most creative and meaningful work of my life.

What does winning the Bessie Award mean to you?
I am uncomfortable with the concept of “winning a prize.” I am sure the meaning of the award will change over time, but for the moment I am seeing the Bessie not so much as a “prize,” but as a promise to live in and up to the space the award creates.

Why do you think artists and organizations should become members of Fractured Atlas?
I thought I would join Fractured Atlas to help me get started and launch the administrative side of my career. In actuality, Fractured Atlas became a kind of resource base. Questions about insurance? Fractured Atlas. Need an initial contacts database? Fractured Atlas. Need to know your grant application is headed in the right direction? Fractured Atlas. Fractured Atlas became a kind of first look resource, and Fractured Atlas guaranteed to the outside world that I was serious. I needed that.

What words of wisdom do you have for other artists aspiring to bring their creative projects to life?
Trust yourself. Don’t be afraid to talk to other people as often as you can. These are not conflicting ideas, I promise.

You can learn more about Alice and follow their work online at https://kineticlight.org and http://alicesheppard.com; on Facebook at @KineticLight; on Instagram and Twitter at @wheelchairdancr; and on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-sheppard-movement/.

Join Us: Click here to become a member.

Fractured Atlas on Social: Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Member Spotlight: Alice Sheppard of Kinetic Light was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This is part of a series. If you read part one, two, or three, skip the intro and head straight to the interview.

At Fractured Atlas, we really love sharing many of the inner workings around how our organization works. By sharing the things that work (or don’t) for us, we hope to help out in making the sector, as a whole, stronger. A few years ago, we shared our How We Work site so that anyone could see how we work at Fractured Atlas. We’ve also shared how our use of OKRs increases transparency, alignment, and accountability (that post even included a free template). We’ve shared updates on our Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression journey, why we have race-based caucusing, and so many other things.

One thing that you may not know is that about one-third of the Fractured Atlas team works distributed across 11 U.S. states and that there are an additional four people who we work with from Africa through Andela. This means that more than half of our team works virtually. Even the majority of the team who work in our NYC office have one or more work-from-home days.

Over the years we’ve gotten pretty good at working as a distributed organization. In the coming months we’ll be sharing stories about how different people at Fractured Atlas work virtually (thanks Lifehacker for the inspiration).

Last time in this series we featured Theresa Hubbard and today we’ll be featuring Laura Jorgensen, the Senior Director, Financial Operations and Analysis here at Fractured Atlas who generally works from home but sometimes works across the US while bike racing.

What do you do at Fractured Atlas?
I create the company’s financial forecasts and then monitor results to see how we’re doing in regard to those projections. Beyond forecasts and reporting my day is filled with slicing and dicing numbers to derive actionable insights which will help Fractured Atlas meet its strategic and financial goals.

What is a favorite object in your workspace?
Oh, my new coffee grinder. Those who know me would probably agree that I live by the ‘go big or go home’ philosophy so when I opened the package of this beauty and read the disclaimer that it was only intended for commercial use, I knew it was the perfect new addition to my coffee arsenal.

What is your daily routine?
I usually wake up and do 15 minutes of meditation/coffee drinking before hopping on my bike to knock out the day’s training plan. When I get back, I eat breakfast while challenging my wife to see who can get the answers to the newspaper’s daily word puzzles first (we’re not competitive at all.) That tends to get my brain firing and then comes the long commute/walk downstairs to start the workday. I usually check emails and Slack then start ticking through the day’s to-do list. This can include an array of things ranging from basic financial reporting to more complex analyses with some meetings thrown in between. Each day tends to be different, but regardless of what goes down, I always end the day by creating a detailed list of what needs to happen the next day so I can seamlessly pick up where I left off when I come back to it the next morning.

How do you decompress or recharge during the day?
If we’re talking about during the actual workday, my go-to is either a coffee break or being outside. Bonus if these two things happen together. Outside of work, there aren’t too many things a good bike ride won’t fix.

What has been a work changing tool you especially love?
I especially love Zoom for meetings. While I don’t miss going into a physical office, I do find huge value in face-to-face interactions with coworkers. Zoom allows these interactions to continue to happen without being in the same physical space.

If you were to give advice to someone who wants to know more about working virtually, what would you say?
It’s not for everyone, but if you are self-motivated and don’t need someone constantly prodding you to get your work done, there is nothing better. It allows you to decide what type of physical space elicits your best work, an opportunity that I think is priceless.

How do you organize your day? (This question was suggested by Theresa who wanted to ask this of the next person featured.)

I have a few mindless, daily tasks that I open my day with and from there I try to do the hardest things first while my brainpower is high, then fade back into easier things later in the day when I don’t feel as sharp. (Represented graphically below)

Note: I self-sabotaged this concept by leaving the easy task of answering these questions until late in the afternoon and then trying to write the word ‘difficulty’ sideways (it’s harder than it looks).

What question do you want to ask the next person we feature?
What do you personally find to be the biggest benefit of working virtually?

Thanks, Laura! If you liked this feature, stay tuned for the next in the series. Also, if you want to draw how you organize your day, we’d love to see!

Nicola Carpenter is the Associate Director, People Operations at Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit organization that uses technology to help artists with the business side of creative work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

How We Work, Virtually: Featuring Laura Jorgensen was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is accepting applications for USArtists International (USAI).

Description: USArtists International supports performances by U.S. artists at important cultural festivals and arts marketplaces around the globe. Committed to the presence of U.S.-based artists on world stages, USArtists International provides grants to ensembles and individual performers in dance, music and theatre invited to perform at significant international festivals and performing arts markets.

USAI encourages and promotes the vibrant diversity of U.S. artists and creative expression in the performing arts by expanding opportunity and exposure to international audiences, encouraging international cultural exchange and enhancing the creative and professional development of U.S. based artists by providing connections with presenters, curators and artists around the world. USAI extends the reach and impact of professional touring artists and ensembles from the United States and is committed to expanded touring opportunities for continued sustainability of U.S. artists.

USAI provides grants of up to $15,000 towards support of artist fees, travel, accommodations, per diem, shipping and visa preparation.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: September 5, 2019

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) is accepting applications for UMEZ Arts Engagement Grant Program, administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC).

Description: UMEZ Arts Engagement is a grant program designed to enhance the diversity and frequency of arts and cultural presentations in Upper Manhattan. The program provides direct support for these activities to Upper Manhattan’s artists and nonprofit arts organizations under the guiding principle that support for artists of diverse disciplines, practices, cultural backgrounds, and career stages contributes to the vibrancy and sustainability of the communities in which they live and work. UMEZ Arts Engagement invites proposals from artists and arts organizations that are 1) based in Upper Manhattan and 2) presenting arts projects or programming in Upper Manhattan between January 1–December 31, 2020.

Geographic Focus: Upper Manhattan, NY

Deadline: September 10, 2019

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) is accepting applications for the Creative Engagement grant program.

Description: Creative Engagement is an arts funding program that provides seed grants to individual artists and nonprofit organizations for projects and activities that offer Manhattan communities diverse artistic experiences. Each year, the program supports over 150 arts projects in Manhattan, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings and more. Through this grant program LMCC will award over $600,000 for projects in neighborhoods from Inwood to the Battery taking place between January 1–December 31, 2020.

Geographic Focus: Manhattan, NY

Deadline: September 10, 2019

The Amphion Foundation is accepting applications for its 2019 Fall Grant Program and the 2019 Elliott Carter Special Grant Program.

Description: The Amphion Foundation, Inc., founded in 1987 by Elliott and Helen Carter, was established to encourage the performance of contemporary concert music, particularly by American composers, through support to performing and presenting organizations that have demonstrated sustained artistic excellence, in addition to service organizations.

• 2019 Fall Grant Program: The Amphion Foundation’s grant program’s objective is to encourage the performance of contemporary concert music, particularly by American composers, through support to non-profit performing and presenting organizations that have demonstrated sustained artistic excellence, in addition to music service organizations and other organizations that support contemporary music.
• 2019 Elliott Carter Special Grant Program: Funds are available for Special Projects involving the music of Elliott Carter for professional performing ensembles, presenting organizations, and other organizations with plans to carry out a substantial project involving the music of Elliott Carter. The Elliott Carter Special Grant Program also provides Project Support for first time recording projects relating to the music of Elliott Carter.

Geographic Focus: National

Deadline: September 15, 2019 (deadline for both)

The New York Community Trust is accepting proposals for the Mosaic Network and Fund (the Fund).

Description: The Mosaic Network and Fund (the Fund) invites arts organizations that are led by, created for, and accountable to African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) people in New York City to apply for grants that will help their organizations work towards thrivability , a state in which 1 they can flourish and prosper. Organizations are encouraged to identify longer-term activities, excluding capital projects (brick-and-mortar costs are not permitted, but limited equipment costs are acceptable), that will lead to meaningful change, as defined and measured by the organization itself. This includes but is not limited to efforts to increase staffing, expand key programs, strengthen marketing, or undertake a number of other efforts that will lead to thrivability.

ALAANA arts organizations with annual operating budgets between $20,000 and $3 million are 2 eligible to apply for three-year grants of up to 25 percent of their annual operating budget, not to exceed $100,000 annually. Additionally, after the first year, each grantee will be eligible for an up to $25,000 supplement to engage mentors or consultants for key enhancement support. Grantees will have the opportunity to select their own mentors or consultants or choose to be paired with a mentor, consultant, and/or peer-based group at the Fund’s recommendation.

For more information about the Fund, please contact Salem Tsegaye at snt@nyct-cfi.org.

Geographic Focus: New York City, NY

Deadline: September 17, 2019

Brooklyn Arts Council is accepting application for the 2020 Brooklyn Arts Fund.

Description: Brooklyn-based artists, collectives, and 501c3 organizations are invited to apply to Brooklyn Arts Fund (BAF) for up to $5,000 to support high-quality arts projects in all disciplines, genres and styles. Funded by the New YorkCity Department of Cultural Affairs, this program aims to cultivate Brooklyn’s artists, arts organizations, and audiences through its support of performances, exhibitions, pop-up galleries, workshops, reading series, festivals, public art and more, all across the borough. In 2019, Brooklyn Arts Fund distributed over $570,000 to 158 projects across Brooklyn.

This program is appropriate for arts and culture makers developing projects that contribute to the rich creative experiences that engage audiences all across the borough. Competitive applicants will clearly identify the audience they strive to reach, and articulate how the project’s outcome(s) will impact the cultural life of the borough.

Program areas of funding include: dance, film/video/media, folk arts, interdisciplinary arts, literary arts, multi-disciplinary projects, music/opera, theatre/musical theatre, and visual arts/crafts.

Geographic Focus: Brooklyn, NY

Deadline: September 19, 2019

The Arts Council of Santa Cruz County is accepting applications for Create and Develop Grants.

Description: The Arts Council of Santa Cruz County’s mission is to promote, connect, and invest in the arts in order to stimulate creativity and vibrancy in Santa Cruz County.

• Create Grant Program: The Create Grant program is for individual artists and organizations to support the creation and public exhibition of arts and culture projects in Santa Cruz County. Projects must be fully executed within one year of the grant award and must be fully accessible by the public.
• Develop Grant Program: Develop Grants support artists and arts organizations interested in improving their artistic skills or expanding their business and professional capacities. The program is open to all Santa Cruz County artists and arts organizations, including current grantees.

Geographic Focus: Santa Cruz County, CA

Deadline: September 20, 2019 (deadline for both)

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Upcoming Grant Deadlines and Opportunities was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It is almost impossible to explain the impact of a phenomenon like Toni Morrison. It is infinitely more impossible for me to explain, as a Black woman and artist, what it means to lose her less than a year after losing Ntozake Shange. I have more feelings than language and have asked my colleagues at Fractured Atlas to help me honor a great by sharing their reflections of her persona, words, and work.

Before we get to their words, I need to begin with Love.

Toni Morrison wrote a novel showcasing many different types of love while rarely using the word. From the November 2003 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine:

[Morrison] said she was alarmed when she realized the title of this book might be Love, but the fact of her alarm was so interesting to her, it kept her from dismissing the idea.

“It is easily the most empty cliché, the most useless word, and at the same time the most powerful human emotion — because hatred is involved in it, too. I thought if I removed the word from nearly every other place in the manuscript, it could become an earned word. If I could give the word, in my very modest way, its girth and its meaning and its terrible price and its clarity at the moment when that is all there is time for, then the title does work for me.”

It was magical to see such complicated relationships so authentically depicted. She mined love as a concept for every ore it contained and presented those ores as gifts to the world. She made us question our relationship to love; to the people we love; to the institutions we love; to the countries we love.

I am grateful to have lived in the world at the same time as Toni Morrison. I am also grateful to have colleagues who will share the impact she had on them as well.

Marcus Swift, Software Project Manager

I loved reading Song of Solomon in my “Intro to Critical Theory” class in college, and I also really enjoyed Sula. This article is one of my favorite pieces of writing about her. It’s full of great quotes like this one:

She wasn’t too interested in her 84th birthday, she said, until President Obama’s office called the other day to plan a lunch. When she told us this, oohs and aahs went around the room. Someone asked her where she was going to have it. “Huh,” she said, as if this were the silliest question ever posed. “At their house! At the White House!” Of course. “Well, actually, it isn’t a lunch; it is a dinner, and they said, ‘Now, Toni, this will be very informal, don’t put yourself out, you can even wear jeans if you like.’ ” She paused and shook her head slightly, saying to no one in particular: “Jeans! I’ve never worn jeans in my life, and I’m certainly not going to wear them to the White House. I mean.” Then she sighed. As if she couldn’t even explain it all to us, because we wouldn’t get it. Like we wouldn’t get how far she had come.

From the New York Times.

There’s a great moment in the article where she talks about the joy of freshly ironed sheets, and I frequently think about how I will probably never live up to that in my own life.

Em Heinz, DevOps Engineer

There are two quotes in particular I love, one from Beloved (1987):

“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”

And one which I hadn’t heard until this morning reading the BBC’s reporting on her passing, but which I also love:

”We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

Molaundo Jones, Social Media Specialist

Song of Solomon was the first book that I read by Toni Morrison and made me understand why she is considered one of the greatest. It’s a wild ride of a read and as relevant today as when it was written. Her creative brilliance is inspirational.

June Lee, Program Associate

“You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. ‘Floods’ is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was. Writers are like that: remembering where we were, what valley we ran through, what the banks were like, the light that was there and the route back to our original place.”

From a talk given at the New York Public Library in 1986.

From a 2011 commencement speech given at Rutgers University:

“Personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice, is more than a barren life, it’s a trivial one.”

So much gratitude for her time here and all she gave us.

Keka Sircar, Senior Director, Program Strategy

I came across this quote today [from The Nation in 2015], and it really fits for me nowadays.

“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

Katherina Thompson, Program Associate

Toni Morrison is one of the most powerful voices in American literature. Her work spoke strength into the existence of black women and black people as a whole. The Bluest Eye was one of the first required readings I had in high school, and I’m so grateful for that introduction to her work as a young girl.

It was powerful, bittersweet in a way that holds up a mirror to the real world, and most importantly, centered femme blackness in a way I had never experienced in literature before. Toni Morrison put me on the path to knowing my place in the world as my own woman, owning my strength in my identity, and I want to honor that message in my work.

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Remembering Toni Morrison was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

One of the most frustrating things about making art is figuring out how to finance making said art. What does it even mean to “make money as an artist”? What is fundraising? How do I get paid? This guide will walk you through what it means to make money as an artist and give you some tips on how to get started. We’re going to go step-by-step so you can develop a money-making plan.

1. Plan to Make Money as an Artist
2. Make Money as an Artist
3. Track the Money You Made as an Artist
4. Spend the Money You Made as an Artist

We’ll cover steps one and two in this article. We’ll hit three and four at a later date.

First, An Introduction

I’ve worked with artists since I was 13-years-old. I’m a theater producer and director. I’ve worked in grant writing and development. I’ve also been working in arts service for almost a decade. In my time, as both an artist and administrator, I’ve amassed some insight into how artists can navigate these complex systems and work toward a financially sustainable career.

Plan to Make Money as an Artist

Have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry? You start throwing things in your cart that sound good at the moment but may not make a full meal. You end up spending more money than you would have if you came in with a plan and the right mindset. Making money is like that: if you don’t have a plan, you’ll end up getting and spending cash randomly without knowing if you’ve actually addressed your needs. If you’re getting $5 here, $50 there, and $30 in six months, it’s easy to lose track of how much money you’ve received or if it’s even enough to cover what you’re looking for.

Here’s a quick test — list the last ten transactions you made, in order, from memory. How much money do you have right now based on those numbers? How many transactions did you remember exactly? When you’re trying to make money as an artist, you need to know how much you’re getting and where the money is coming from. It’s great to have dollars flowing in. How do you know how much you’ve got if you aren’t tracking it or planning for it?

You may be saying “Courtney, I don’t have dollars coming in to track” and I would argue that may not be not entirely true. You may not have money coming in from your artistic endeavors, but I will assume that some money to cover your basic needs is coming in from somewhere. Knowing how your non-artistic funds are flowing is as important as tracking your creative money. Do you work a day job? Do you have residuals from previous artistic work? Do you have a trust fund and/or rich relatives? Do you receive a form of public assistance? It’s all a valid part of your financial picture and making money as an artist means knowing what that picture looks like.

Understand Your Expenses

That’s why the artist’s first step to making money is knowing how much they need through a budget or strategic financial plan. A great place to start is by tracking your monthly expenses, using a service like Mint.com or You Need A Budget (YNAB). If you don’t already track your expenses, you can start a basic budget with expenses you most likely know because they don’t change monthly (e.g. rent and utilities).

For example:

Let’s say you spend $1,200 on housing, $400 on transportation, $300 on food, and $200 on entertainment monthly. That’s a total of $2,100 in expenses. You can then divide that by 30 — the average number of days in a month. That gives you your daily expenses; in this case, that’s $70. You can then divide that number by the number of hours in a workday. The average workday is 8 hours, so that’s what we’ll use. That leads us to $8.75 — that is your hourly cost in this example. That means it costs you $8.75 every hour just to exist. Once you know that, some magic can happen.

Let’s say someone offers you a quick gig: $50 for about 4 hours of work. If you don’t have a sense of your costs, that might seem like a good deal. However, that works out to $12.50 an hour. If your expenses are $8.75 an hour, this gig is only providing you with $3.75 an hour. You’re actually only making $15 total on this which is significantly less appealing than $50. Money is definitely nothing to scoff at, but if you know what you’re really making, you can be more discerning about which opportunities are worth your time. If you want to dive further into budgeting and rates, I strongly suggest a resource like Artists U.

Get Advice from Professionals on Making Money as an Artist

Think of making your plan as an ideal opportunity to connect with any professionals you may need to enlist in support such as lawyers, accountants, or financial planners. Even your bank or credit union can talk you through the systems that you may need to get paid properly.

• A lawyer is great to connect with for advice on your business model or legal structures. You may be able to connect with a local chapter of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts or your area’s bar association to receive pro bono legal services.
• You should reach out to an accountant to understand the tax implications of money you receive, to set up your bookkeeping/accounting systems, and/or to assist in filing whatever taxes you may need to file for your work.
• A financial planner can help you manage your personal and professional funds. They can be especially helpful if you’ve received a large grant or award as an individual. They can also help if you’re trying to understand how to better manage your money even if you don’t have a large windfall.
• Banks often have advisors who can talk you through your accounts and financial choices. See if you can connect with someone there for advice.

Know Your Values and Plan Accordingly

When making your plan, it’s also helpful to remember that all money is good money (except when it isn’t).

Only you can know what your values and needs are. The best way to fund your project or practice is however it gets funded. The only bad money is the money that doesn’t align with your vision and values. There isn’t one path to making money, so don’t get caught up on how your work “should” be funded. For example, if your work is supported through ticket sales or commissions, you aren’t required to get grants. If you’re selling objects, you may not need to crowdfund. Be intentional about where you want your money to come from (how to decide is discussed in the next section) because every tactic requires planning, resources, and effort. Focus instead on how it can be funded and on finding multiple funding streams.

Your plan should include:

1. A basic understanding of your expenses including your hourly costs.
2. A list of professionals you may want to follow up with for more information.
3. Potential revenue streams that you may want to pursue.
   These are covered in the next section.
4. A set time to revisit your plan as you get more information and opportunities (at least every 3 to 6 months).

Now that you’ve got the outline for your plan, let’s review some ways you can actually receive revenue!

How to Make Money as an Independent Artist

Your money-making tactics will largely fall into two categories: earned or contributed. Oftentimes artists think that one is better or easier than the other. That’s simply not true. Each type of income requires its own skills and resources to receive successfully. Both types of income involve networking, marketing yourself, and being willing to step outside of your comfort zone. Earned income can be more transactional — you provide a product, a buyer purchases it. Contributed income is more intangible — you’re convincing people who may not benefit from what you’re making to support it. Below are some ways you can receive each type of income.

Earned Income

Money is considered earned income when the person providing money will receive a good or service of equal or greater value in exchange. In other words, it’s when you’re selling something. This includes (but is not limited to) ticket sales, advertising, class/camp/workshop fees, artwork sales, and merchandise fees. Basically, if someone is giving you money and they expect anything in return, you are earning that money. Here are some examples of ways to earn income:

Commissions

If you are asked to create a work for someone, that is a commission. These can be large-scale, long-term projects or small, one-offs. Sites like Patreon and Etsy operate on commission-style models. On Patreon, people can pay monthly to receive specialized works. Things like poems, songs, YouTube videos, and comics are all available to be commissioned. On Etsy, people can pay for any handmade or crafted goods. Any place that allows you to display your work and connect with potential patrons is ripe for commissioning: Facebook (particularly Facebook Groups or Pages), Tumblr, or Instagram are all great for commissions.

Is there something you can do with your art that is commissionable? Is there a tangential skill or a secondary discipline that you practice which could be supported in this way? Sometimes, we get so focused on our primary craft that we forget we have other skills to offer the world. If we operate from abundance as opposed to scarcity, we can be surprised at all we have to offer.

Ticket Sales

Ticket and merchandise sales are some of the most common ways artists make money but they are not without their challenges. Often, ticket sales are considered a byproduct of doing great work and not a money-making strategy in itself. That is a missed opportunity to be intentional about funds coming into your work.

What is your ticketing strategy? A ticketing strategy details not only what your tickets will cost, but also when they’ll be released, how many comps you’ll provide, and whether or not you’ll offer discounts. Are you doing pay-what-you-want or tiered ticketing? Are you offering premium seats or other perks to people who pay more? Are you doing low-cost admissions while limiting comped tickets so that everyone has to pay (even if it’s just a little bit) to see what you’re offering? High costs can be limiting but more financially fruitful. Low costs can get more people into your work but may not allow you to recoup expenses.

You may have to do some research to see what your intended audience can handle. There are many ways to think about setting ticket prices to generate income that also takes care of your audience.

Merchandise Sales

The same principles for ticketing can apply to merchandise sales. How are you being thoughtful about what you could be selling? Maybe it’s worth it to get a professionally-designed, high-quality t-shirt that you can charge a bit more for and sell year-round. Or is there a fun item that references your work that people could purchase? Merchandise sales aren’t just an add-on to your creative endeavors; they can be lucrative income streams in their own right. Please note, you need to be mindful of sales tax and/or regulations around sales in the areas in which you operate.

Consulting

You are the expert on what you do. If people are reaching out to you in order to “pick your brain,” you can charge them for that expertise. I have often said that one shouldn’t be both busy and broke — if people are able to use your time, they can pay you for the privilege. You are always in control of who you wish to support and feel free to donate your time in service of building relationships or for causes you believe in. Know, however, that your expertise has value — it is worth being compensated for.

When it comes to setting your rates, it’s helpful to understand what it costs you to live (as we talked about earlier). What are your expenses (office/desk space rental, supplies, travel, labor)? What professional memberships do you have? You can then begin to see what an hour of your time actually costs and then base your rates on that. You can definitely negotiate or offer bargains as you see fit. The important thing is to be thoughtful about how you’re spending your time and whether or not you’re getting what you need (i.e. money) in return.

Earned income streams are great to consider because they don’t usually come with the limitations of contributed income (which we’ll talk about next.) Simply, you are providing something for sale and your audience is purchasing it. The above examples are just a few ways you can make money as an artist using earned income. What are other ways you can think to generate earned income? Brainstorm items you could sell or small projects you could make to generate both interest in your work and income. Use your creativity and challenge yourself to expand your opportunities.

Contributed Income

Money is considered contributed income if it is donated and/or the payer receives no benefits in return. This is the case with donations, grants, and (sometimes) corporate sponsorships. Oftentimes, and especially for individuals, these funds are project-based: that means the funds are given to support a specific event or initiative. For example, a donor might give to an organization that runs an after-school program even if their kids don’t attend. The donor is supporting the program but not receiving a direct benefit. If that same person gave money and expected their child to be given preferential admission to the program, that would not be a donation. General operating support and/or unrestricted grants (i.e. funds to keep the lights on) are both rare and very competitive. Following are some examples of contributed income and ways that artists could access them.

Individual Donations

This is one of the most popular ways to generate income for your artistic work. Donations are dollars given to the project with no expectation of any goods or services in return. People can give just because they believe in what you do and how you’re doing it. If the donor would like a tax-deduction for their gift, however, the recipient needs to be a tax-exempt charitable organization (or fiscally-sponsored).

There are a variety of ways to solicit individual donations: direct asks, crowdfunding campaigns, and matching gift campaigns, for example. Direct asks are self-explanatory: you reach out to people you have a connection with and ask them for donations. Crowdfunding is asking your online network for contributions in a time-limited campaign. Matching gifts are funds that are given to match previous donations under specific criteria.

These all involve making a personal connection with your potential donors. If you don’t want to pitch yourself to the public (donor prospecting, scheduling meetings and talking about your work to as many people as you can) soliciting individual donations may not be the best tactic for you.

On that note, almost all institutional funders (foundations and corporations) want to see that your artistic endeavor has a pre-existing base of support. Individual patrons are the lifeline of any creative project: they are the people who love what you’re doing enough to give to it with no expectations of a personal benefit. Those people can be hard to find but they are more than worth the effort. They are likely to already have an emotional connection to you and your work. If you take care of them, your individual supporters will be with you as your success ebbs and flows. Cultivating and stewarding individual donors is a great way to consistently sustain yourself and your art.

Grants and Foundation Awards

Grants from foundations are another common way to make contributed money as an artist. Grantmakers can reward the body-of-work for an individual artist or a specific project. Grantwriting is a skill that can be very lucrative for some artists. If your work connects with the mission of the funding organization, you can definitely make money using grants. A resource like the Foundation Center can help you research grants to see if your work is the right fit. Grant applications often require extensive documentation of your work, which can include:

• Videos
• Photographs
• Organizational Documents
• Financial Records
• Works-in-Progress
• Marketing Materials/Programs
• Résumés and Bios

It’s important to review all of the requirements for a grant to make sure you and/or your project are the right fit.

Corporate Sponsorships

Corporate sponsorships are ideal if your project has a big audience, is large-scale in nature, and has highly-visible naming/marketing opportunities. Oftentimes, corporate sponsorships aren’t given with charitable intentions: they are cleverly disguised advertisements. Generally, corporations want to put their logo or name in front of as many people as possible. If your project isn’t playing to huge audiences, consider connecting with small or local businesses. Otherwise, corporate sponsorship may not be the best source for financing your work.

Conclusion

Making money as an artist is by no means a simple endeavor. It requires planning, perseverance, and intentionality. And some luck doesn’t hurt. I understand that it can all feel so overwhelming. How can anyone be expected to do all of this and make something creative? How do you invest in yourself and in the work? Approach all of this through a lens of resilience and self-care. Be kind to yourself. Take small steps and celebrate each win. Give yourself grace and patience. Your work is valuable even if the dollars aren’t showing up yet. Keep at it. Build your money-making repertoire and refine your business skills as you refine your artistic ones.

Reach out and let us know ways you’ve made money with your creativity! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and share your insights with the hashtag #LongLiveTheArtist. We’d love to hear from you.

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Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Making Money as an Artist or Creative was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Eva Steinmetz is co-creator of “The Boy Project,” a theater piece in which Philadelphia boys ages 12–15 imagine their futures as men. Eva is based in Philadelphia and has been a member of Fractured Atlas since November 2017. “The Boy Project” currently has a fundraising campaign running on our crowdfunding site, Fundraising by Fractured Atlas.

How has Fractured Atlas benefitted your artistic practice and goals?
As a fiscally-sponsored project, I’ve been able to apply for grants and fellowships that wouldn’t otherwise have been available to me, which feels like a big deal in the world of scrappy self-producing.

How has Fractured Atlas benefitted your income generation or fundraising efforts?
In 2017 we made a piece for under $1000. This year, we’ve received over $20,000 in funding for a project (which is still not much in the world of theater). The most substantial benefit is that we’re finally able to pay the artists a modest fee for their work.

What specific Fractured Atlas services/programs have you used?
I’ve used Fundraising By Fractured Atlas and received grant application guidance.

What has been one of your biggest challenges as an artist and how did you push through it
As a collaborative artist, the greatest challenges almost always seem to be about personality and humanity — differing experiences, interests, and priorities coming together in an attempt to unify toward a shared goal. Time management can also be a big challenge (why do emails take up so many hours of the day?).

Do you have any upcoming events that people should know about?
The rest of this year is really about project development. But in 2020 people should definitely keep eyes out for both “Sad Boys in Harpy Land” and “The Boy Project” at FringeArts in Philadelphia!

What would you consider some of your biggest accomplishments?
Directing and self-producing “Shuttlefish” was a joyful and healing process, which feels like an immense accomplishment. I’ve taken lessons from that experience into every project since. “The Appointment” was another piece that I’d consider a big accomplishment. I feel super lucky to have directed it.

Why do you think artists and organizations should become members of Fractured Atlas?
I hate to be so un-romantic but it really is all about money and fundraising. Artists and organizations should become members if they’re looking to boost their practice of applying for grants or if they need fiscal sponsorship in order to accept tax-deductible donations.

What words of wisdom do you have for other artists aspiring to bring their creative projects to life?
Trust your gut!

You can learn more about Eva and “The Boy Project” on Instagram at @believa_me and www.nellbangjensen.com.

Fractured Atlas on Social: Instagram | Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook

Fractured Atlas is a nonprofit organization that helps over 1.2 million artists of all stripes with the business aspects of their work. To learn more about Fractured Atlas, or to get involved, visit us here.

Member Spotlight: Eva Steinmetz of The Boy Project was originally published in Fractured Atlas Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.