Micro-grants for cartoonists
SAW is committed to offering small grants between $250-$500 to practicing artists. Two small $250 grants will be awarded on Sept 15, 2012 and then again on April 15, 2013. Eligible artists must be developing and dedicated to a current project.
Instructions for applying: please complete and sign the form at http://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/grants/ and submit to SAW at the PO Box 13077, Gainesville, FL 32604.
Include any useful or supplemental art/stories or information. Information in URL form is appreciated. Grants are chosen based on combinations of need and merit. SAW regrets that it can not inform all applicants of their application status. Awardees will be notified via e-mail or usps and awardees will be posted on the SAW website. Applicants agree to allow their work to be linked and/or utilized on the SAW website for purposes of advertising the grant program, its winners and applicants as well as SAW’s mission to further excellence in comics and sequential art.
Our press release:
The Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) has announced that it will be awarding four $250 micro-grants, two in September 2012 and two in April 2012. Interested applicants can apply at http://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/grants/
SAW Executive Director Tom Hart, who wishes the amounts could be bigger, says that he sees a big hole where the Xeric Foundation once was. “The general belief is that the internet and Kickstarter has replaced the services that the Xeric grant once provided, but in fact, the Xeric board provided two other services: first, they acted as a small, expert board who existed above the marketplace and could carefully review a work and give a small nod of artistic approval to new or struggling creators, and second, they allowed for the quiet but dedicated creators to be noticed. Today’s rise-above-the-chatter method of being seen is very fruitful and productive, but wearying to those who are invisible to the market trends of the day or are incapable of the constant social contact necessary for promoting.”
Applications for the two small micro-grants will be accepted from now until Aug 15, 2012. Awardees will be announced on Sept 15, 2012. Applications for the April 2013 grant will be accepted until March 15, 2013. The grants will continue into Sept 2013 and April 2014, but it is uncertain whether grant cycles beyond that will occur. Ideally they will, and they will be larger. “If the funds are there,” Hart says, “we’d love to continue. Maybe we’ll even crowdsource the funding of the grant.”
Awardees will be decided by a committee of SAW co-creators Tom Hart and Leela Corman, publisher Annie Koyama, and two or three working cartoonists. Grants will be awarded based on merit but also on dedication, potential and the need of the particular artist to have his or her project visible.
More info can be found at: http://www.sequentialartistsworkshop.org/grants/
This is wonderful! I agree that the loss of the Xeric was bigger than some may think. I’ve read through all the documents you’ve posted, and I’m left with a few questions. I hope I haven’t just overlooked the answers.
1. This is labelled a grant “for individual creators.” Does this mean that creators who work in collaboration are ineligible?
2. Are there any limitations on what the funds may be used for, as is common with most grants? For instance, I could see myself using funds to help print a project, or to pay an artist to illustrate a script I’ve written. Some may just need help with living expenses while they work. Are any or all of these valid uses?
3. Are there geographic limitations? The Xeric was only available to US citizens. Even for collaborations, both parties had to be US citizens. (One of the things that kept me from ever applying, since many of the artists I’ve worked with are abroad.) I imagine this is because of the complexities of international tax law.
For context, I’m a writer currently working with an Australian cartoonist to revise a completed book we hope to print in the coming year. If I wanted to seek funding for that project, would we apply as a team, or would I apply on my own, then simply use the funds for our joint project? Or are we just ineligible?
I hope it’s okay that I’m posting these questions here. I couldn’t find contact info specific to questions about the grants.
Thank you!
Alexander
Hi Alexander-
I don’t think any of these limitations are problems. Our grants are small, and our belief in comics is universal.
I will say that none of these are problems for this round, and then I will consult with our board to have more specifics written up for the next round. I imagine #3 to be the only possible sticking point.
Best
TH@SAW
Tom,
That sounds great! Thanks for the quick reply.
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