When I first started at the Art Center I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with art, teaching kids, grants, art supplies or working by myself in an office. Up until that point I had worked at dude ranches, cooking in restaurants and being surly in stores. Still they hired me, some of the board having only met me over lunch for the first time.
My first month as the new director of the Art Center had me sitting in a rolling chair in front of a computer staring at file after file of technically written grant proposals, some paid, some not, and an equal amount of mid and year end reports that had to be done – by me. The good ole “you’re in way over your head” voice chimed in and in no time, I was sure that I’d go down as the one who brought the Art Center to its knees.
At first, I applied what I knew about the non-profit world and fundraised like crazy. It worked but it still didn’t help me fill out those Arizona Commission of the Arts grants or maneuver the corporation commission filings. I thought I was screwed. Determined to not be the one that collapsed a 15-year-old institution, I took a grant course. It was long and in some cases overkill but with the skills I learned I wrote my first grant to Walmart for $500. It was long and dragged out and covered every buzzword imaginable. I thought it was my best work ever and it was promptly denied. So was the second one I wrote. I was devastated and scared. I really was going to blow this.
Right about this time I held my first Summer Art Camp. During the first week a little boy using a hot glue gun practically melted off his fingerprint and I, having learned everything I know from my dad, told this eight-year-old to “suck it up.” He didn’t come back for a week. I was killing this art center-directing thing. Not.
Then one day it all started to click. I got some much-needed help in the grant world with just one bit of advice, “Just because they allow you to use 1000 words doesn’t mean that you need to. Just ask for what you want.” Suddenly I was able to maneuver around all the words and the jargon and get to the point.
The first grant I got awarded was for $1000.00. I was beside myself. I can do this. The second year of summer camp went surprisingly well too, and by the third I was pulling staples out of a kid’s hands and convincing him that every great artist has to suffer for his work.
Since I’ve started, I’ve learned how to talk to kids (and adults for that matter), I’ve learned that you can’t “break” what many hard-working people have built just by making a couple of mistakes, and I learned that they hired me because I was determined.
Now I write grants that get funded and I write some that don’t. I choose not to worry about that. I’ve improved upon my delivery and have taught art, something I didn’t think I was capable of doing.
What I seem to be most worried about these days is not using words like loose, hard or stiff in front of teenagers. Leading a middle school/high school art class is on the top of my current list of Needs Improvement but given my track record, I’ll get there.