Granted Workshop at Chicago Artists Coalition

I hope I see you tonight at Chicago Artists Coalition! Granted: Crafting a Winning Proposal, starts at 5:30 with a panel discussion and is followed by sold-out one on one application reviews. I'm excited to join some local art heroes for an artists' Q & A after the formal grant-makers panel (ask me about my budgets).

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Update: I thought I'd include some of the best advice that came out of this panel, from the artists and also the granting organizations.

The maybe-obvious but never-over-stated suggestions:

Ask questions about your application--well ahead of time!

Double check budgets.

Submit early, especially if it's an electronic application.

Other excellent tips:

Show your commitment to the project. This could mean including personal financing in your budget, or by already having started it (at least in a small way). For last year's DCASE application specifically, there was a question that asked whether you would complete the project even if you didn't get the grant. While this wasn't explicitly stated–and I assume wouldn't be a deal-breaker anyway–it seems a good idea to say yes to this kind of thing ('cause you would, wouldn't you?).

It's completely acceptable to get in touch after a rejected application to ask what you could have done differently (not something I've ever done but will try to start).

Build a relationship with the organization and the people who work there, even if you don't get the grant. Allyson Esposito, Director of the Cultural Grants Program at DCASE, talked about receiving invitations to shows and email updates from some applicants even after they'd been rejected from that year's grant cycle, and how she finds that kind of relationship-building incredibly valuable.

Contrary to most visual art applications, grant panels often read statements before they look at images, so be sure that your writing makes sense on its own.

Juries and panels are often made up of people from many cultural fields (art, music, dance, etc.) so again with the writing making sense–your readers may have different vocabularies, so be as straight-forward and jargon-free as possible.

Things to do After you've done the whole new york times Xword Early on Sunday

So, I know it's a little early to be thinking about this, but I'm in a git 'er done kind of mood, so I decided to start figuring out my taxes. This is the first year I've saved all my receipts for art supplies and travel and things (also one of the first years that I have any real income from my work), so there's a lot to figure out. Obviously I'm not qualified to give anyone tax advice, but I thought I'd share what I've learned so far:

Some great sites that have helped a lot:

Riley & Associates accountants for artists and performers are incredibly generous and have posted downloadable spreadsheets to keep track of your income and your annual expenses.

June Walker, accountant for artists and self-employeds of all kinds, answers all your questions online.

The first question, before I waste a ton of time, is if my art practice is a business or a hobby (ugh what horrible options). The reason to figure this out is that if my business shows a loss, I can deduct that loss from my other income, whereas income from a hobby can only be deducted down to zero, so no carry-over and thus, no point. Businesses, according to the IRS, are supposed to make a profit, sometimes, or at least be intended to sometime, some day, make a profit. For most businesses that means three years out of any consecutive five. Discouraging for me, because that sounds highly unlikely, but here's a Federal Court ruling on artists v. profit:

"It is well recognized that profits may not be immediately forthcoming in the creative field and many artists have to struggle throughout their careers. This does not mean that serious artists do not intend to profit from their activities. It only means that their lot is a difficult one." YES. A difficult lot.

Another great quote from the Federal Court, over-ruling the IRS, who don't like fun: "A 'business' will not be turned into a 'hobby' merely because the owner finds it pleasurable. Suffering has never been made a pre-requisite to deductibility."

Other ways to determine if you're in business:

Do you conduct your activities in a professional manner? Oh yes, yes I do.

Do you have the knowledge and/or training to be successful? Terminal degree...

Do you change your methods in an attempt to improve success and profitability? All the time. Constantly.

Do you put in consistent time and effort (material participation) in an attempt to profit? The IRS suggests 100 hours a year if you're the only person involved in your practice, which is 12.5 eight-hour days, or roughly half an hour every day. I definitely do this. I'm doing it right now. (Also if you happen to have a spouse, and that person sometimes does things for you, that counts too, for time and for their expenses.)

There are other criteria too but these are the ones that are most applicable for my work, so I'm going to go ahead and start adding things up. The income tally goes depressingly quickly. Sales, prizes, awards, grants--I've read fellowships as well but not mine, more on that in a second--trades for things other than cash, and income from workshops or other activities that are part of your practice. I have a teaching fellowship at the moment, but I'm an employee of the university and I get a W2 for that, so that's separate income which I'll deduct my self-employed loss from.

Schedule C deductible expenses... this part is fun and also depressing. The bigger the hole of loss and poverty I can dig for myself, the less money I'll owe the American government, who isn't giving any of it back to me in social programming anyway! My supplies are deductible, as well as office supplies, business cards or show posters, shipping costs, travel to install shows (if only I'd saved the receipt for that gross sandwich I bought on Amtrak, that would also be deductible), application fees, residency and workshop fees, dues to organizations, admission to museums and exhibits, books and magazines and other research material, studio rent if I had it (in-home studios are also deductible but more complicated), and equipment--but equipment that will last you longer than a year has its own special form to fill out (4562). You can choose to depreciate the cost to future years, or expense it all this year, which I'm going to do because depreciation is just too boring.

Next up: Self-Employment tax and health insurance deductions...

Artist Story on Chicago Artists Resource

Last week I was invited to submit an artist story Chicago Artists Resource, and to share my thoughts on balancing part-time teaching with a studio practice. This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, so it seemed like a great opportunity to spend a little bit of time with my ideas.

"It’s a privilege for me to be able to write this. Someone asked me a few months ago what I wanted to do with my life and I could, perhaps for the first time, say that I was already doing it. I’m teaching two classes a semester and working in my studio—on the surface an entirely sweet deal, and it is, but the reality of teaching is a little different than I imagined it to be. " Read the entire post here.