Today, I have some very exciting news to share with you. Some of you may already have seen on social media that I was chosen as one of ten recipients for the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant.
“Grantees receive $2,000 each and are encouraged to decide how to use the award for their benefit and growth as artists. [They] will be assigned an artist mentor to help develop new artwork for the Emerging Artist Exhibition (EAE) in the Spring of 2024.” (from the CP website)
The group art exhibit takes place in The Gallery at Creative Pinellas – a beautiful large space with several huge rooms and high ceilings to display large-scale art work. It’s the nicest art gallery I’ve seen in the Tampa Bay area – just short of being an art museum. Around here, this grant is rather prestigious and exhibiting work in that gallery in Largo is a great honor. I’m so excited to be part of Creative Pinellas Grants fellows.
Congratulations to all the 2024 recipients – including friend and Historic Kenwood Artist Enclave neighbor David McCauley!
Obviously, I’m super psyched and grateful to have this outstanding opportunity. Just having been chosen, has already given me a great boost of confidence and creative energy. I can’t wait to find out who my mentor is and get started on the creative journey.
Already the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant application and selection process gave opportunities for learning. The application required the usual artist statement and a CV. But then instead of writing a proposal for a specific project, we had to submit a broader vision statement of where we see ourselves going as an artist. And we had to share our ideas about mentorship. Both great exercises to consider and formulate visions, dreams, hopes, trajectories, and plans.
If you support me on Patreon, you can read the artist statement and the vision statement from my grant application.
The most intense (learning) experience was watching the jury live via zoom discuss all of the applicants who made it to the second round – and assign point values. There were 44 of us artists whose work was discussed in front of everyone. None of the artists’ names were given, just their application number and one example from our submitted art. My application didn’t get talked about until one hour into the event.
It was quite unnerving. The work by the other artists was so impressive! I was quite nervous – especially because I wasn’t sure if we would be asked any questions and had an opportunity to talk about our vision. At the same time I appreciated what I was learning about how juries discuss art. And I very much liked that the focus of the panel was not just the artwork itself, but on the artists’ overall vision and their community engagement.
Then it was my turn – and the only things I remember are the ones that I wrote down. They were wonderful and astonishing. What followed was another hour of other people’s artwork and applications being discussed.
By the end of a 2 1/2 hour zoom session they announced the 10 artists with the most points as being the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grantees. And I was one of them!
Huge THANKS to the jury and Creative Pinellas for making all of this possible. And thank you, dear friends, family, patrons, and collectors for supporting and encouraging my art. Via this blog and the Creative Pinealls website, I will keep you posted as this journey continues…
Actually there was already one next step. We were asked to submit head shot photos, so my photographer friend Lisa Presnail took these photos of me. Which one do you like better? (BTW Lisa also took a few more *fun* photos that I may share some other time or other place.)
Well done, my friend! (And, I like the picture on the right but both are great.)
Thank you, Dianne! It’s the picture on the right that I submitted as the official photo.