The Rejection of Being an Artist
Let's talk about artist grants, applications, and residencies for a minute. There are lists upon lists of places and people that want to make an artist's idea come to life, but honestly, it can feel rare to get in a win.
I submitted the general proposal for my latest photography series Bodegón (Still Life) no less than 6 times to different residencies, grant proposals, and applications before I was accepted to an artist residency that worked with my schedule as a full-time mother and caregiver.
Think about it... what career accepts rejection and failure as the norm? Then it expects you to pick back up and take the next denial letter like a champ. Weekly, monthly, forever. Prerequisite: Tough skin.
Sales comes to mind, but aren’t artists selling themselves and their work?
Very similar, but maybe more personal.
I had a professor keep each of his rejection letters in a file. The rejection folder as you can imagine was a lot larger than the acceptances. I started the same physical and digital folders for my rejections back in 2006. It's like a road map of where I've been.
We have to wade through those failures to see the wins on the other side.
