::writing about your art

I imagined my life as an artist would be filled with making art but alas, I spend most of my time writing. I have written artist statements, cv's and bios, all of which have to be constantly up to date. I have written numerous grant proposals and each of these require reports to be written. The truth is, the artist's life is about writing about art as much as it is about making art.

Writing is an excellent exercise in working through ideas. If I have to explain what I want to do, it means I have first think things through. Writing helps to clarify my thoughts and guide my actions.

:: artist statement
A statement should be brief yet explain the essence of your practice, your guiding principles. It gives the viewer insights into who you are and answers questions like: What drives you to create? What does creating mean to you? Your statement isn't a bio, nor a resume. It tells viewers what YOU think and feel, not what they should think and feel.

Here are some good step-by-step exercises for writing an Artist Statement
Here are some examples of statements from EICAD

:: grant proposals
1. Start with a good artist statement
2. Create a simple and concise summary of your proposed project
3. What are you going to do?
4. Who will do the work? and what are their credentials?
5. Who is your traget audience
6. Workplan with when and where work will take place
7. What will be the impact of these activities?
8. Support Materials that prove you are capable of doing what you propose

Once you've assembled this MASTER document, cut and paste into each grant proposal, stating clearly how the goals and criteria of the grant as defined by the funder are met by your project.

Here are some links to resources for Writing grant proposals
EICAD's advice on grant writing
Great advice from someone who knows

:: your cv
The College Art Association of LA have a great resource on CV writing.
Emily Carr's Resources include examples

:: finding funding
Here are a whole whack 'o links to Canadian funding