A few months back, thanks to the beautiful human being with whom I am lucky to share the rest of my days, who’s also shown me that one can pursue their art and live off it, I learnt about the Arts Council England grants for artists to learn further about and improve their practice. I decided to give it a try and apply for a grant – and guess what, I got it!
This series of articles will follow my journey as a writer developing the project I applied for at the Arts Council. I will share some practical information about the application, how I prepared for it, and how I came to think of the project I presented, and I will focus mostly on the project as it unfolds over the next few months. This is both an exercise for myself to reflect on the learnings and to keep myself accountable, as it is a collection that, hopefully, can be of use to whoever is reading this. But it is also an exercise in transparency, in delving into the struggles and wonders I am and will be encountering throughout this process. Because, alongside developing my writing, I am also doing my PhD, I am working, have two cats and a husband, and I love sleeping. I really love sleeping.
Without further ado, shall we get into it?
Arts Council England DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice)
There are different councils offering grants for artists (still!) in the UK, and the Arts Council England is one of them. Of course, I wouldn’t have known of it were it not for my husband, G., who is an electroacoustic composer and who is well versed in the grants, scholarships and awards systems across different continents, in lieu of a trust fund from his rich parents.
DYCP is a grant that runs several times per year to help artists develop their art – it is not about the final result per se. So it’s about the painter learning to paint in oils instead of watercolour rather than the painting itself. I, as someone who never stops learning and seems to always be thirsty for any bit of knowledge I can get, I thought this was an extraordinary opportunity. What do you mean, I can ask for money to learn how to do art? Is this heaven or a glitch in the matrix? Whatever the reality, this was not a chance I was going to miss.
The council offers plenty of information on how to make the application – in my case, I googled ‘DYCP’ to see if I could find any other artist who had applied for it and any examples of applications. Reading these helped me have a better understanding of what was being asked. I stayed away from fora with bitter people who complained about not getting the grant and how unfair everything is -welcome to life- and I focused on the success stories.
The application has several sections, there are questions about one as an artist and what one has created so far, what the development opportunity is and how it will help the artist, and more specific questions about the proposed project, timelines, budgets, inclusivity, relevance, who you will work with, risks and challenges, etc.
I attached examples of my writing and DYCP also asks for a reference from someone who knows about one’s creativity. I struggled with this one as I have not quite shared my writing with many people, especially mentors or professional writers. But then I thought of a short creative writing course I took a while ago and asked the teacher for a reference. I also asked the editor of my Ad Kalendas Graecas book.
As you may imagine, the first reference came quite empty-handed, the teacher did not quite know my writing and it was short, superficial and disappointing. By contrast, the letter from my editor was brilliant – detailed, carefully written, with admiration for my writing and encouragement and recommendation for me to continue writing. I loved it.
It turned out that when I applied for the DYCP, the system was not working, so all DYCP applications were made through a different grant system, the National Lottery Project Grants, which did not require a reference. I still read the letter from my editor every now and then when I need a smile on my face and to keep trusting my writing. (My suggestion is to ask for recommendations from someone who respects and admires your art, and to steer clear of people who barely know you. I know, obvious much.)
The application takes a few evenings to complete, or you can spend a full night awake as I did and write it all then. Then, one waits. And hopes. For a few months. Until, one day, an email arrives and there’s happiness and cheering and bottles of champagne and –
Ah, a note on budget: if you are like me and do not want to seem greedy, you may think you should prepare a budget below the maximum amount that is offered in these grants. Don’t be like me. I was stupid. Apply for the maximum amount. For any type of institution, if there is money left over from an activity at the end of the financial term, that may indicate to some that they need less money for the next term for that activity, so budgets can be cut down. That is not what you want to indicate to an institution that gives grants to artists. There is already no money for artists! This is my humble opinion, anyway, and I wasn’t that stupid to ask way below the maximum, I just thought asking for 90% of it shows no-greediness and it may give me more chances to get the grant. I was wrong. As long as your budget makes sense, i.e., you are not inventing costs and activities that are unrelated to your project, how much you ask of a grant has no bearing on your application (unless it is otherwise specified).
In the next post I will speak about my project. I hope you have enjoyed this article so far, and please let me know if you have any questions about the grant process or anything else.
G. Maria Bencich-Grigore 