Still We Rise: Artists Adapt to the Pandemic |
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As 2021 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at the artists we’ve worked with to celebrate the successes and honor the hardships experienced over another year of the pandemic. Covid-19 has been a test of humanity’s creativity, and the Council is helping artists and makers rise to the occasion.
With extra funding for our Artist Development Grants thanks to a new partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation and generous contributions from Higher Ground and other donors, we were able to make 85 awards in FY2021 totaling $47,522, with a special focus on helping creatives make the digital pivot. Funding supported 16 website redesigns and 11 digital marketing consultations. The grants also helped artists hire videographers to document their work for the web and paid for courses and equipment for online instruction in poetry, woodcarving, music, and more.
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Choreographer and dancer Elizabeth Kurylo of Corinth directed a documentary about the resiliency of creatives during Covid. She noted that the Council’s support enabled her to keep creating “during the worst of the pandemic.” With her Artist Development Grant, Kurylo hired a videographer to document the making of a ten-minute dance solo in all its stages, showing the audience perspectives and details not usually seen in a live performance.
As Kurylo wrote in her application, the pandemic “profoundly altered my perspective on dance both as a creator and as a viewer.” For Kurylo, learning the medium of video was the only way she could continue her craft. Her documentary, COVID, A Poem and A Rope, premiered in June 2021 at a Junction Dance Festival fundraising event, and can be viewed online at the festival’s website (scroll down to the video).
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Winooski-based graphic designer Julia Vallera (as seen in her Etsy profile to the right) is no stranger to the digital revolution. She has a long background as a technology and design consultant for organizations such as Mozilla, Tech Impact, and the Metropolitan New York Library Council, and in 2017 she was Maker in Residence at Burlington’s Generator Maker Space for a project that focused on public awareness of data privacy and digital security.
In 2020, Vallera started a new graphic design and digital media consulting business, JV Creative LLC, and she knew exactly what to do to get her new business off the ground in the time of Covid. She applied for an Artist Development Grant, and with the Arts Council’s support she pursued online business and marketing training, purchased targeted digital advertising, and joined an online freelance design community where she could connect with others and find more work.
We hope your holiday season is warm, healthy, and happy, and that the arts fill your New Year with inspiration!
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We welcome nominations of experienced and knowledgeable individuals to join our grant panels! Use this online form to submit a name (including yours).
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Episode 6 of our Vermont Made podcast features state legislator and former director of the Flynn John Killacky. Listen to John's episode.
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Applications for our current round of Artist Development Grants are due Feb. 14, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. In this round, the max grant amount is $2,000.
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Multiple Locations
Burlington
Dec. 31-Jan. 1
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Vermont Studio Center
Johnson
Jan. 5
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Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
Brattleboro
Jan. 12
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Posted: December 6, 2021
Category: Job Postings
End Date: December 31, 2021
Posted: September 28, 2021
Category: Calls to Artists
End Date: January 9, 2022
Posted: November 23, 2021
Category: Job Postings
End Date: February 11, 2022
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The Vermont Arts Council is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which requires a 1:1 match from the Vermont State Legislature. Council grants, programs, and statewide arts promotion would not be possible without the critical funding provided by these government agencies.
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Vermont Arts Council | 802.828.3291
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