Waiting on an Email....

Today's the day the BIG email comes letting me know whether or not I'm a finalist for the MRAC Next Step Grant. I applied for the grant back in March. (It's an individual artist grant totaling $5000). 

It's hard, really hard, not to just sit by the computer watching for a new email to pop up. I'm sort of failing at that right now. I'm sitting here, watching a House marathon while also watching my in-box. Every time a new email comes in, my heart skips a beat, and then my heart drops as I realize it's not THAT email.

370 artists (of various mediums--visual artists, writers, performers, musicians...) applied for this grant. About 100 applicants will be selected as finalists. Finalists will then have a week to submit work samples (not needed for the initial application). And then approximately 32 of the 100 finalists will be awarded a Next Step grant. That announcement won't come till the end of June.

Obviously a lot of talented folks submitted a grant application, so I'm prepared for the very real possibility of not making the finalist cut. If I'm out of the running, I will give myself a day to feel lousy and then move on. Actually, I also plan to put in a large Dick Blick order, because grant or no grant I am still a working artist (a starving artist, but a working artist nonetheless).



Stay tuned for an update tomorrow.