Suzanne’s Tips

Application Process

1. Really think about your proposed project:

• Artistically > Is this project within your current wheelhouse?
• Practically > How much of this project is within your current skillset? Do you have a network of people to help you realize this project?
• Financially > How much will this project cost—including what will and won’t be covered by the ArtSpark grant? Do you have other funders and/or means to help pay for your project?

2. Choose to upload a résumé or CV depending on which one is most relevant!

3. If applicable, present your idea as part of a continuum of extant work.

4. Choose carefully those for whom you ask for letters of recommendation. Are they already established artists? Are they locals plugged into the Acadiana community? Are they willing to write their letters on the letterhead of the organizations they represent?

5. Take advantage of the draft review service!

If you are awarded the grant:

1. Set two HARD deadlines.

• For your mainstage event.
• A creative deadline BEFORE your mainstage event. I recommend at least one month before, if possible. Two would be better.

2. Take advantage of EVERYTHING offered by ACA and Opportunity Machine: professional development seminars and webinars; networking opportunities; ACA exhibits and events. In other words, get plugged in to the artistic community!

3. Keep track of everything IN REAL TIME.

• I kept my documents, but I did not collate them into folders and on spreadsheets until after the fact. This made my final report process very nerve-wracking.

4. Find at least one ACCOUNTABILITY buddy to meet with regularly.

• I recommend an ACA staff member AND a fellow artist. Perhaps someone else in your cohort.
• Keep in dialogue with ACA staff.

5. Do not make everything about MONEY.

• What can you do without cost to make your project become a reality?

6. That said, CONTINUE to seek funding and other in-kind assistance for your project from other sources.

7. At some point, cross items off your To Do list! You can’t do everything!

8. Excellent advice that I received: Remember that this process is not only about bringing this one project to fruition, it is also about activating your career beyond this one event.

9. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF!!

 

Suzanne E. Wiltz is a New Orleans native and a graduate of Tulane University and received the ArtSpark award in 2022. Her poetry has appeared in Spires, The Southwestern Review, The Heartland Review, and MockingHeart Review, among other publications. She is a member of the Louisville-based group, Green River Writers. She edits two newsletters – Poetry Newsletter and The Spark. In addition to poetry, her great loves are learning, reading, traveling, visiting museums, making collages, and her beloved cat, Mikey Alexander Wiltz.

 

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