zoom
o r g / e d u
P a t r o n a g e
,
B
i g
a n d S m
a l l
IN
2010
, E H R E N T O O L G O T A N
u n solicited em ail, in v itin g him
to ap p ly fo r a large, no-strings
cash prize. A t first he w as excited.
T h e n he figured it had to be som e
kin d o f cruel scam.
“ I g o t an gry, th in k in g it w as
som e cro o k try in g to g e t m o n e y
from a b ro k e artist - b lo o d from
a sto n e ,” recalls th e B e rk e le y ,
C alifo rn ia-b ased ceram ist. B ut
w h e n he ch ecked ou t the sender,
e veryth in g seem ed legitim ate.
In the end, to his astonishm ent,
he g o t a grant: $ 50,000 from
U n ite d States A r tists, a n o n -
profit philanthropic and ad vocacy
organ ization headquartered in
L o s A n g e le s.
“It w a s a m assive b o o s t for
th e fu tu re o f m y artm akin g,”
says T o o l, w h o creates cups
w ith im ages in spired b y his ser-
v ic e as a M arin e d uring th e first
G u lf W a r . T h e aw ard h elp ed
him g e t on his fe e t finan cially
and g a v e him a trem en d ous
em otion al lift. “T h o se m om ents
at tw o in the m orning, w h e n I ’m
in m y studio m aking m y w o rk
and w o n d e rin g if an yon e cares
about w h a t I ’m d oin g, com e less
o fte n n o w .”
I f artists at tim es feel
strapped and u n appreciated ,
th e y ’re n o t im agin in g things -
at least n o t accordin g to In v e st-
in g in C r e a tiv ity , a landm ark
2003 stu d y b y the U rb an In sti-
tu te th at exam in ed life /w o r k
issues fa ced b y artists in the
w a k e o f the d eclin e in pu b lic
fu n d in g fo r the arts. T h e stu d y
yield e d a curious statistic: W h ile
9 6 p ercen t o f A m erican s valu ed
art, on ly 27 percent valued artists.
It also id en tified artists’ press-
in g needs: h ousin g, w o r k space,
affordable h ealth insurance,
fu n d in g, and valid atio n . T o
tack le th o se last tw o , a coalitio n
024 american craft feb/mari2
o f p rivate fou n d ation s - F o rd ,
R ockefeller, Prudential, and R as-
m uson - step p ed up in 2005 w ith
$22 m illion in seed m o n e y, and
U n ite d States A rtists w as born.
T h a t’s U S A , fo r short. “ I t ’s
a b ig, gen erou s nam e, and w e ’re
a b ig, gen erou s p ro gra m ,” says
e x e c u tiv e d irecto r K ath arin e
D e S h a w . E a ch year, U S A gives
$50,000 fe llo w sh ip s to 50 in d i-
viduals in eigh t disciplines:
architectu re and d esign , crafts
and tradition al arts, d an ce, lit-
erature, m ed ia, m usic, theater,
and visu al arts. F e llo w s can do
w h a te v e r th e y w a n t w ith the
m o n e y, though m o st p u t it
to w a rd their art. Sarah Jaeger,
a p o tter, paid o f f her studio
m ortgage and g o t a p u g m ill to
w o r k h er clay. F u rn itu re/fib er
artist T a n y a A g u in ig a w as able
to quit tw o d ay jo b s and m ake
en o u gh w o r k to su pport h erse lf
fo r several years.
In D e ce m b e r, a n e w crop
o f fe llo w s w as nam ed. In the
crafts/trad itio n al arts ca te g o ry ,
S o n y a C la rk (an A C C tru stee),
T o m J o y c e , B eth L ip m a n , Jon
E ric R iis, A k io T a k a m o ri, and
A a r o n Y a k im w o n grants.
U S A is cam paign in g to build
a $50 m illion e n d o w m en t to
p e rm an en tly fun d th e fe llo w -
ships. A n d w ith the D e ce m b e r
2010 launch o f its U S A P ro jects
site, it has ve n tu red in to th e n e w
fro n tier o f m icro -p h ilan th ro p y.
A rtists w h o h ave had an y kin d
o f bo n a fide p ro fession al re c o g -
n itio n - such as an aw ard , gran t,
or resid en cy - are eligible to
p o st a p ro je ct p ro posal on the
site and in vite p ledges o f as lit-
tle as a dollar.
“ It really d em ocratizes
our m ission ,” D e S h a w says,
ad d in g that U S A P ro je cts d if-
fers from oth er cro w d so u rcin g
sites in a fe w k e y w a y s. “ O n e ,
it’s [for] accom p lish ed artists
o n ly , a cu rated exp erien ce fo r
the visitor. T w o , all gifts are tax-
deductible, unlike K ickstarter,
w hich is a for-profit enterprise.
A n d three, w e have m atching
funds” from individual, corp o-
rate, and foundation donors.
K u ku li V e la rd e raised $3,750
to b u y a kiln for a co m m u n ity
cla y stud io in Ph iladelph ia. “ It
w as an e ffo r t b y a lo t o f people
th at m ade it p o ssib le ,” she says.
F o r don ors, it’s g iv in g m ade
easy. “T h e r e ’s so m eth in g fun
about ju st go in g in, h avin g a
p ro je ct capture yo u r im agin a-
tion, and m aking a g ift,” D e S h a w
says. “ I t ’s litera lly tw o click s,
y o u ’re on A m a z o n , it’s done.
Isn ’t th at c o o l? ”
-J O Y C E L O V E L A C E
un ited statesartists.org
J o y c e L o v e la c e i s
A m erica n
C r a ft ’r
c o n t r ib u t in g e d it o r .
Left: A mug Ehren Tool
made during the 2011
Occupy Oakland pro-
tests. He used part
of his U SA grant to
build a studio at home.
1
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+
A
Far left: Kukuli Velarde
(left) raised money
through USA Projects
to buy a kiln for the
community clay studio
she started at the West
Kensington Presbyterian
church in Philadelphia.
With her United States
Artists grant, Sarah
Jaeger paid off her studio.
‘Not having the mortgage
payment is sort of like
getting a $550 grant
d
every month.”
Jaeger photo: Bonnie Lambert / Mug photo: Courtesy of the artist / Velarde photo: Doug Herren
