Mutual aid for artists
Mutual aid for artists
Living the dream by giving money directly to artists
Studio Sundays Mutual Aid
One of my dreams is to get mega rich and financially support artists around the world who need supplies, child care, rent, health insurance, etc. However, my dream of getting mega rich is going ummm…well slowly.
In the meantime, I might as well start where I am and not wait around until I’m a multi-millionaire. Right now, this venture brings in less than $1000 a year. Which is fine, it’s not my full time gig, and I appreciate the people who do pay and give me hope that it’s possible to turn this into a viable income stream someday.
With that, we’re gonna do a bit of a back-to-school season mutual aid thing. I’m putting aside $150 this month and distributing it amongst the requests that I receive in the next seven days. For now, to keep things simple I’ll purchase gift cards to the recipient’s art supplier of choice. It’s a small start to my big dreams (and hey, you gotta start somewhere).
If you want to contribute to the fund become a paid member to Studio Sundays (even just for a month, you can cancel it!). Upgrade button at the bottom of the email! If I get a lot of upgrades this month, I’ll expand the fund, and in full transparency, I will let you know how much extra we were able to give.
If you are an artist or know an artist who has been putting off a project because access to supplies is a reach, please fill out the request form! This is a community of artists that are coming together to support other artists. The form is simple, it’s not merit based (no portfolio or CV), and I want you to have what you need right now.
Feel free to forward to anyone you know that might be interested.
To anyone hesitating to request funds: I anticipate receiving fewer than three requests to be totally honest (the reach of this newsletter is not that big). You might, in fact, be the only one who fills out the form. If you have any thoughts like, “give it to someone who needs it more,” or, “I can technically afford the supplies, I just haven’t bought them yet.” This might be the sign you’ve been waiting for. Everyone deserves the tools they need for self-expression, including you! I hope you’ll apply if there is even an inkling of a voice in your head that says, “I could really use that right now.”
John Steinbeck’s Advice for Writers
Now let me give you the benefit of my experience in facing 400 pages of blank stock—the appalling stuff that must be filled. I know that no one really wants the benefit of anyone’s experience which is probably why it is so freely offered. But the following are some of the things I have had to do to keep from going nuts.
Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.
Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.
Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theatre, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.
If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it–bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.
If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
Noted: Commonplace Book Club
One of my favorite places to creep on other people’s notebooks is Noted.
runs this seriously cool Substack which compiles and analyzes notebooks from historical figures and also from real people in the modern world (including one from yours truly).
She’s got a fun club happening for September called Commonplace Book Club. A commonplace book is a person’s collection of quotes all in a single (or maybe series) of notebooks. They’ve been popular amongst scholars for hundreds of years. I’ve never tried to keep an official commonplace book, but I’m joining for the month to see how it goes. A quote a day for September.
Remember if you want to contribute to the mutual aid art supply fund, upgrade below or email me for other payment methods. hello@bekkapalmer.com
That’s it for today.
See you next Sunday!
Bekka
I love this idea of a mutual aid fund for artists! It reminds me of the principles of the Feminine Economy that Jennifer Armbrust talks about on Sister.is, and inspires me to start something similar in my own very small business (instead of waiting till I get uber-rich). Thank you for this :)
I love your mutual aid initiative! And thanks for plugging the CBC ;)