In Focus: In the Studio with Shih Chieh Huang

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Editor

Huang connects wires and inserts a DMX control board into the sculpture body. In the bottom left, the artist is testing a prototype DMX control board, running a test program with computer cooling fans.

Shih Chieh Huang (2009 Emerging Fields) is hard at work in the studio creating and testing new DMX control boards for his interactive computer-driven sculptures. Huang appropriates modern household appliances and materials—including lights, computer parts and plastic bags—and programs them to move and interact with each other using original computer algorithms. Huang writes, “The homemade DMX control boards are finally done, tested and ready to be connected to the sculpture body. This control system will allow silent and quiet control of the final sculpture with more channels than previous homemade controllers.” Continue reading →

Creative Capital Workshops at the Santa Fe Art Institute

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Michelle Laflamme-Childs

PDP Artist Leader Dread Scott (2001 Visual Arts grantee) leading the Internet for Artists workshop at Santa Fe Art Institute

On January 20-23, the Santa Fe Art Institute, with support from the Kresge Foundation, brought Creative Capital’s Professional Development Program (PDP) to Santa Fe for two workshops: the Internet for Artists (IFA) weekend workshop and a one-day Verbal Communications (VC) workshop.

The artists who participated in the workshops were selected from a pool of applications by a committee of local artists, curators, writers and educators. The result was a group of artists at varying stages of their careers driven by the common goals of connecting to other artists and building up the foundations of their art practices with professional development training.

The weekend opened with the Internet for Artists Friday night introductions. In PDP’s Core Weekend workshops, each artist has five minutes to show slides and talk about his/her own work to the group. The Internet for Artists workshop puts its own spin on this by assigning each artist another participant to research on the Internet prior to the session, and then giving each artist two-and-a-half minutes to present the artist they researched. It’s a fast way to make it very clear that the management of your web presence must be a high priority in your professional practice and was a great way to bring the group together as a community of practicing artists. Continue reading →

Best Practices for Grant Seekers

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Kemi Ilesanmi

As we begin accepting online Letters of Inquiry for grants in Emerging Fields, Literature and Performing Arts, we thought we’d offer some research and application tips for grant seekers. These are universal pointers, not necessarily specific to our own grant application. So whether you plan to apply for a Creative Capital grant or not, we wish you luck out there!

Don’t wait until the last minute. It is not worth the stress of having no time for reflection or revision.

Do your research. When considering a potential funder, take a look at their previously funded projects. Can you picture yourself in that community of ideas and creative expression? What is the range of diversities represented (career level and trajectory, sub-disciplines, subject matter, etc.)? Has there been a shift in the kinds of work or artists supported? Do all this while bearing in mind that the past is not necessarily an indicator of the future, though it does offer important clues.

Read the guidelines and application instructions. The guidelines are your cheat sheet extraordinaire. The granting organization always tells you what’s most important to them through their guidelines so pay attention and look for key words such as “emerging,” “innovation” and so on. Continue reading →

In Focus: “Bill Morrison: A Modern Master of Silent Film”

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Editor

An excerpt from Bill Morrison’s Creative Capital-supported project, Decasia

Filmmaker Bill Morrison (2001 Film/Video) has two upcoming programs in NYC, and we talked to him about the process of bringing these programs to life. The first is Bill Morrison: A Modern Master of Silent Film, part of the New Sounds Live Silent Film Series at the World Financial Center Winter Garden, curated by WNYC’s John Schaefer (January 31 – February 3). We asked Bill about the ins and outs of putting together a program as complex as this, which includes bringing a 55-piece live orchestra for the event on February 3.

“The original plan was to screen only The Miner’s Hymns (52 min, 2011; January 31) with live performance of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score by the Wordless Music Orchestra, which we had premiered with live performance in the Durham Cathedral (UK) in July 2010. John then told me that he wanted to screen three other films, The Great Flood (80 min, 2012; February 1), Spark of Being (68 min, 2010; February 2) and Decasia (67 min, 2002; February 3). We originally planned to screen them with pre-recorded soundtracks, but we discovered that we would be able to present Decasia as a live performance with the great collaboration of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. Continue reading →

Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman’s “If a Tree Falls” Nominated for an Oscar!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Editor

Watch the official trailer for If a Tree Falls

We were thrilled to hear that Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman‘s Creative Capital-supported project, If a Tree Falls, is nominated for Best Documentary Feature in the 2012 Academy Awards. If a Tree Falls offers a behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s “number one domestic terrorist threat.” Through the story of Daniel McGowan, an ELF member who participated in two multi-million dollar arsons against Oregon timber companies, If a Tree Falls explores how a working class kid from Queens found himself facing life in prison for “eco-terrorism.”

Andrew Revkin, author of the New York Times‘ Dot Earth column, wrote yesterday that an Oscar nod for this “thrillingly fair film about a heated environmental issue” represents “a vote for fearless exploration of complexity in a world drawn to oversimplified depictions of events and problems, heroes and villains.” Read more

In Focus: Sanford Biggers’s “The Cartographer’s Conundrum”

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Editor

Sanford Biggers works on a quilt for the MASS MoCA show in his Harlem studio

Sanford Biggers (2008 Visual Arts) is currently installing work from his Creative Capital-supported project, The Cartographer’s Conundrum, at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA. This major solo exhibition, which opens February 4, is inspired by the Houston-based artist, scholar and Afro-futurist, John Biggers (1924–2001). A cousin of his subject, Sanford Biggers’s goal is to both study and expand the emerging genre of Afro-futurism, which engages science-fiction, cosmology and technology to create a new folklore of the African Diaspora. Simultaneously, Sanford hopes to illuminate John Biggers’s underrepresented career as a master painter and muralist. Continue reading →

More Than Money Can Buy: What Do Artists Need to Succeed? (Part Two)

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Ruby Lerner

Kemi Ilesanmi, Creative Capital’s Director of Grants & Services, introduces a consultant at the 2012 Grantee Orientation in New York

When we think about what artists need, money is often at the top of the list. Money for artists is crucial—but there are other means of support that can make a huge difference to artists. Resources, opportunities and professional guidance may be less flashy than a big check, but they are incredibly valuable services and tools that build artists’ capacity to realize specific projects and reach long-term goals.

After our first 10 years of helping artists achieve success on their own terms, we went back into the “laboratory” to determine key resources we should add to our Artist Services. As a direct result of our recent evaluation and survey (described in Part One of my post “More Than Money Can Buy“), Creative Capital has developed an exciting suite of expanded services for our grantees! Continue reading →

Introducing the Doris Duke Performing Artist Initiative at APAP NYC

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Rachel Ford

The APAP|NYC Conference. Photo by Jacob Belcher/APAP.

Every January, APAP|NYC offers an opportunity for over 4,000 arts professionals, performing arts professionals, artists, managers and service/support organizations to gather to plan their seasons and build their tours. Organized by the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, this conference also features hundreds of artist showcases. You can sample an incredible range of work, from puppetry to a Chinese jaw harpist—in just one weekend.

This year, I came to APAP|NYC not as a producer with a roster of artists to promote—but as an arts supporter, leading a special interest session for conference attendees on the new Doris Duke Performing Arts Initiative, and more specifically, the Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards, which is administered in partnership with Creative Capital. Continue reading →

More Than Money Can Buy: What Do Artists Need to Succeed? (Part One)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Ruby Lerner

Ruby Lerner and Sean Elwood in stakeholder meeting with grantee Cory Arcangel (2006 Emerging Fields)

You may think of Creative Capital as an organization that gives grants to artists, but that’s only one part of the picture. We do award grants for artists’ projects, and we are thrilled to be able to provide artists with financial support! On the other hand, money alone doesn’t guarantee success. We’ve learned the importance of services and resources for artists, such as professional advice, contacts, networking and coaching.

Creative Capital’s approach pairs funding with advisory services and other non-monetary support for our grantees, including consultations with our Artist Services staff, access to our network of arts consultants, Artist Retreats, phone-in clinics and promotional activities. Continue reading →

In Focus: Ben Marcus’s “The Flame Alphabet” Releases on January 17

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Editor

Ben Marcus (2009 Literature) just shared the completed book trailer for The Flame Alphabet with us! Prepare to be awed (and completely creeped out) by Erin Cosgrove’s brilliant animation and Ben’s chilling story.

The Flame Alphabet, which was just selected as an Amazon Best Book for January, will be published by Knopf on January 17. Ben will be reading at events across the country in the coming months; click here for listings.

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