January Member Spotlight on Artist Trust
Throughout January, our website photo banner will feature artists supported by GIA member Artist Trust. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Artist Trust has invested over $9 million in artists since its founding. It supports Washington State artists of all disciplines in launching and sustaining successful careers, through financial grants, career training, and professional resources.
Below, in their own words, Artist Trust staff talk about reaching more artists in more ways in the new year:
In 2013, Artist Trust will award over $280,000 to more than 100 artists through our five grant programs and residencies. Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) support new works with up to $1,500; the $7,500 Fellowships go to practicing professional artists of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability. The $10,000 Irving and Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement recognizes a female visual artist, age 60 or over, who has dedicated 25 or more years of her life to creating art. We partner with 4Culture on the $3,000 Conductive Garboil Grant, awarding artists with a connection to the Pioneer Square neighborhood who have demonstrated a profound ability to challenge the limits of conductive creative discourse and its effects on our society, pushing the creative act beyond the accepted limits, definitions, or purposes of art while engaging audiences outside the aesthetic industrial complex. And the $25,000 Arts Innovator Award, the largest grant for artists of any discipline in Washington State and funded by The Dale and Leslie Chihuly Foundation, will go to two artists who are originating new work, experimenting with new ideas, taking risks and pushing the boundaries in their respective fields. Residencies in Seattle and Port Townsend offer artists valuable time for contemplation, research and production.
Artist Trust also provides a comprehensive suite of career training, professional development resources and counseling to help artists achieve their career goals. Our Creative Career Center offers a slew of workshops, from free one-hour webinars to the 52-hour EDGE Professional Development Program. In 2013 we’re expanding to ensure that artists throughout the state and in all stages of their careers know about and take advantage of our programs and services. Coming up are workshops on grant writing, health care, writing artist statements, first-time home buying, being a teaching artist, and much more. We’re also launching a pilot Arts Legacy Leaders program to assist elder artists in ensuring their legacy with archiving and documentation. And our Artist Trust At Large presentations and Artist Trust Ambassadors spread the word about our programs and services to artists across the state.
We look forward to supporting art at its source – the incredible artists of Washington State who enrich our community – for another 25 years!
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Photo: Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects recipient Mary Iverson, Shipbreaking, Yosemite Valley, acrylic, ink, magazine photo on panel, 11x26 in., 2012.