#nysca

We are thrilled to congratulate three artists with #MTAArts projects currently in the works, on receiving NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship grants!

Hey #NewYorkArtists - Apply now for the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, an $8,000 unrestricted cash grant available to artists living in New York State and/or one of the Tribal Nations located therein.

Details: www.nyfa.org/awards-grants/nysca-nyfa-artist-fellowship/

@nyscouncilonthearts

Reposted from @nyfacurrent One month left to apply!⁠

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If you're a NY State-based artist working in Craft/Sculpture, Digital/Electronic Arts, Nonfiction Literature, Poetry, or Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts, you may be eligible to apply for a 2026 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship.⁠

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This $8,000 unrestricted cash grant is not a project grant, but is intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice at all levels of their artistic development.⁠

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We're accepting applications through 5:00 PM ET January 27.⁠

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I received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts that made it possible for me to develop the paintings the way that I have wanted to for years. This time, I am able to make the paintings on canvas and the mural with fewer restraints than I have in the past. Especially when it comes to painting public murals, the planning can take so long and involve so many hoops to jump through that by the time you are painting your mural, the process has over-complicated the work and it does not turn out the way you expected.

This time I am able to design a mural that I can paint without much or any help and really be able to focus on both the painting and the documenting of the process. Also thanks to the grant from NYSCA, I was able to rent a studio space that allowed me to build larger canvases and have a dedicated work space outside of my apartment The studio space was something I had wanted for so many years and it was great to have it while it lasted. After a year there and while in the middle of working on my project, I was forced to move.

My landlord decided he wanted to sell the house I lived in so my family and I had to move into a smaller place 30 min away from my studio space. Without a reliable car to make the commute, I had to give up that awesome workspace.

This has slowed down my progress but not stopped it. The large canvas paintings (some of them finished, some almost finished) have been safely stored away until I have a space to work on them again. Not being able to paint is frustrating because it is the way I prefer to make art, but downsizing has had some benefits. Moving to more digital work has been fun and looks like something that will stay with me and be a larger part of my process in the future.

I was able to make a digital mock-up of the mural that I want to paint which will be the coolest part of my project! Being able to complete the design this way was a relief after losing my workspace. Seeing the mock-up of the mural reignited my passion for making public art. The grant writing process helped me develop a stronger meaning and concept behind the painting and in general, has me feeling great about how the mural will turn out.

I am so excited to explain the meaning of this mural and the paintings on canvas that go with it to people as I document the mural installation and get to share the paintings that started in my studio. But because nothing ever goes too smoothly, there is still time that I have to wait. I will be moving again in the next few months, hopefully somewhere that I can have a painting studio again. And while the mural has been positively received by the director of parks and recreation in Corning, a new committee on public art must give it the final green light.

I know that these things can take a lot of time, but I am hoping that I will be able to paint the mural in Denison Park in Corning in the summer of 2024. In the meantime, I will remain passionate about completing the project and keep my ears open for a backup location to paint the mural. Public art can come with lots of added challenges and red tape but I believe it is a gift worth giving to communities. I have all the paint and materials ready for when I get the green light.