The Idea Fund: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Proposals

Note: The injuries in this blog are fictitious, however if you want to help ease the recovery, please become a member or donate to DiverseWorks!

I thought all the injuries had healed since the cancellation of the 1-ish K, but one trip on a couple of The Idea Fund packets brought the old pain back and it was just more than I could handle. The applications, oh the applications! How they came one by one, flooding my e-mail…but it a good way.

I’m glad to report that The Idea Fund (TIF) has received more than 160 applications for the second round; and as you can see that’s a lot (the photo above shows me being attacked by work samples, which were not harmed during the altercation. Me, I'll get over my fear of large envelopes some day). But I’m working away (with the help of DW Intern Rachel Toombs) and will definitely have everything ready for the panelist who will meet on December 7 to choose the awardees.

Here’s a little background on the three panelist:

Franklin Sirmans: Served as the modern and contemporary art curator for the Menil Collection for the past three year. Sirmans is leaving the arts organization to become department head and curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Ron Berry: Founder and Artistic Director of the Fusebox Festival in Austin. Fuse Box is an idea engine. A space where artists and audiences can take risks, ask questions and explore ideas together, break rules, and blur boundaries. It is a platform for visionary works, unabashed play, and new ways of engaging with our world.

Courtney Fink: Executive director of Southern Exposure, a 30 year old non-profit arts organization that supports emerging artists, arts educators, and youth artists through exhibitions, education programs, and events in San Francisco. Southern Exposure runs a re-granting program called Alternative Exposure, which The Idea Fund was base on.

TIF will announce awardees in mid-December (please do not call to check the status of your application, you will be notified of the outcome as soon as it is determined), so keep your fingers crossed.

--Tracey