Friday, June 1, 2012

Grant Rejection Letter

I got my grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts rejected today. They told me they were holding the grant application until the Sept. deadline but it looks like they ran it on the February 1 date. Maybe I can try for a modest 7 week trip in my next grant request on the September 1 deadline.

----------------

Thank you for your application to the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) Individual Artists Project Grant program. Your application was assessed by a jury of discipline-specific experts who's recommendations were recently reviewed by the AFA's Board of Directors.

I regret to inform you that your application was unsuccessful...... 

-----------------

Guess I was expecting to be rejected but its still a negative feeling. They did supply a general comment sheet which might help with my next grant submission possibly in September, the comment sheet is not specific to me but instead to all the Feb 1 submissions (hundreds). I wish they would have taken the time to speak more specifically to my individual submission. I spent around 1 month working on it but they did not have the time to make 1 specific comment on what needed to be improved. If they are going to look at all the submissions and take the time to write you an individual rejection letter why can't they take the time to record a few things about the submission, maybe a few positives but more specifically what was missing and why it was rejected. How can you improve with the second submission if you do not really know what you did wrong in the first?

I did not expect them to give me the big money I was asking for $15000 (5 month project) but heck I was hoping for at least $1000. Now its up to me to work 2 jobs and make the money to get this done, I have to do it all on my lonesome again as I have been doing for 34 years. Some time it just feels like your spinning your wheels going no where.

I have to put this aside and just concentrate on making photographs I think are important, screw the negative crap and concentrate on making quality pics that speak to me.

Posted by at