Getting Rejected: The Hard Truth About Applying for Grants

If you apply for a grant, residency or fellowship the truth is you're probably going to get rejected. Deal with it.

This is a partial list of things I applied for in 2009. As you can see I was rejected by most of them. And this is after I had several well known grants and fellowships under my belt. The reality is that you are likely to be successful in no more than about ten percent of your applications. And that's if you are lucky. So if you plan on just applying for the one grant or residency you have your heart set on be prepared to be disappointed.

This is why I advise taking a more holistic approach to your applications. First decide on a project or a place that you want to go. For example I have focused on Europe for my ongoing project, The Europeans. Just about everything I apply from from residencies to exhibition opportunities is related to this project. I was also lucky enough to have a very broad project that allows me to apply for lots of different things in lots of different places.

Having a project in mind gives you the freedom to apply to many different sources for funding. If you want to make wood sculptures you can do that in France or in California, right? Most grant giving organizations also want you to be as specific as possible with what you will do with the opportunity they will give you.

Having a location in mind can also help. If you've always wanted to go to Japan then apply for every residency or fellowship you can get your hands on that meets your criteria. You might want to apply for the big one in Tokyo but you might end up getting the smaller one in Yokohama. Big grants and fellowships get lots of applications, sometimes thousands. Smaller places get fewer, giving you a better shot. But if you only apply for one you hurt your chances.

Getting a grant isn't just about luck or odds; the quality of your work and your proposal play important roles as well. But why not give yourself every chance at being successful? Yes, applying for lots of grants can be time consuming but once you've been doing for a while it gets easier. At the same time your are asking for "free" money or a place to stay so why shouldn't you put a few hours into an application that can result in weeks or months of creative freedom?