on institutions
In the aftermath of taking a grant writing course for artists, I’ve been thinking about the professionalization of art. In my several years as a grant writer, I’ve raised millions of dollars for other organizations. This year, I vowed to make a concerted effort to apply for resources for myself.
The class, taught by Faylita Hicks, asked some big questions - where did we want to be in 20 years, or 10 years, or five years? What would we do if we had $25,000 to write the book of our dreams?
It stumped me. I was never too future-oriented in regards to my art. I assumed I’d have to juggle it alongside something else to pay my bills, and I was okay with that because most “full-time” artists are starving. I do not want to starve. What a privilege it seemed, to make money solely off of my creative labor.
Poetry and the literary world, like all 21st century art spaces, has a career trajectory often linked to academia and institutions of prestige: attend the MFA programs, get mentored under certain faculty, get publication credits in literary magazines that a select few read, get the fellowships, the residencies, the book deals and lauded figures writing your book blurbs, the awards, the grants.
To get into residencies, it takes having done residencies. To get published, it takes past publications. To get grants, it looks better to have previous grant awards. How is anyone meant to get anywhere in this abyss of gatekeepers? There is room for precious few. And so, these institution-sanctioned career paths are very hard to come by.
Publishing my Soft & Solid - second edition still available - has pulled me into the world of DIY publishing, of chapbooks and zines and posters by artists who run their own presses, who attend zine fairs, and who make community outside the sterility of institutions financed by ill-begotten gains. It’s rad. These days, I'm more interested in checking out small presses such as Pity Milk Press (who will be publishing some of my work this year!), Printed Matter, and Rose Metal Press. And artists who just sell their books on their IG pages or simple websites.
We can’t rely on institutions. I say this as the US government appears to crumble in real time, taking down institutions with it. Some of these entities have no morals. We become beholden to them, but which ones can we opt out of? In a matter of time, we may not have the choice anymore.