Budget Breakdown: How to spend grant money (like a boss)
written in September 2023
So you just got funding approval for your first grant? Congratulations! Now you can get to bringing your dream creative project to life, with the help of your respective funders (ie Municipal Government funding, local arts institute funding, business funding, Provincial Government funding), within the confines of your funded project.
This is what I did when I got approval for funding by the Arts, Cultural, Heritage Fund (ACHF) of the City of Windsor. Thanks, hotties at the city (respectfully).
What did I know I needed for this project:
venue space
workshop supplies
artist fees
reception essentials
To start, I know I needed a venue to host the curated collection of works. This led to me looking into my options in my city, which ultimately led to me landing on choosing ArtSpeak Gallery for 2 weeks available during the summer, August 13-27. This felt like the most appropriate option because of its size, its purpose of existence, and its connection to Arts Council Windsor Region. These reasons felt most in line with the purpose of this project, which was to expose the artists to the arts community of Windsor as an attempt to uplift them from their current circumstances. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY UPSIDE DOWN.
cost of venue rental: $400 + $20 membership ($80 membership discount) + $100 key deposit
running total: 1080 - $420 - $100
= 560
new budget: $560, still need
workshop supplies
artist fees
reception essentials
Workshop supplies include your basics, like canvases, paints, paintbrushes, multimedia options, and snacks for the attendees. These workshops were done across 3 different shelter programs, including Welcome Centre, H4, and WYC.
Materials acquired:
primary colors acrylic paint
black and white acrylic paint
paint brushes
canvases - various shapes, sizes, options
multimedia purposed items
snacks
frames
individual art supplies for individual artists
money spent: $345.34
$560 - $70 - $345.34
new running total: $144.66
with X amount leftover, I still had to cover artist fees and reception essentials.
Artist fees are important to note when applying for your grant, and fairly adjusting the charge according to amount actually received. For example, when I applied for the grant I received 1/4 of the funding I initially asked for (someone mentioned I shoot for the moon when it came to how much money I ask for, so I asked for $4000 initially, received a little over $1000), meaning my initial artist fee for completing this project ask of $200 was reduced to $70. Realistically, as the artist behind the project, this meant I had to put the rest of my life on hold to focus on making sure I did this project and these artists justice. So, I had to work less, to spend more time at these programs servicing folks experiencing homelessness. The artist fee also covered the cost of gas for my car, and 7/11 iced coffee for me to keep going. So, with the artist fee of $70, this brings our new total to $144.66.
Now we use $144.66 to cover the cost of reception and exhibit essentials!
So what goes into planning a reception? Bookmark this for all your future reception endeavours. First, you will need to consider your audience, and set the vibe accordingly.
With the reception coming up, there were a few last minute features that needed to be included in the show. One of our featured artists, Robber Macs, had his graphic novel laminated but had nothing to sell, so we had to get creative. As an artist, my first thought was to paint one of the cover pages, but with time constraints that did not seem plausible. So, with some of the grant money left, we used
$47.65 to blow up two of the cover pages and frame them to be sold.
New grant total: $144.66-$47.65 = $97.01
Before applying for the ACHF grant, I attended a seminar hosted by WAE (Windsor Artist Exchange) where I learned that the purpose of the grants' existence was to also uplift other creatives who work in the industry. So, this is where the rest of the grant money comes in:
$40 - for the poster to be made to promote the event. I asked @MLE_H_N on Instagram to make the poster, and come up with a title for the exhibit as I was frankly at a loss for what to call it.
$12.50 - was used to print off the pages used for the silent auction binder, 50 pages, at $0.25 per page, printed at our local Public Library.
$40 - for the caterers at the reception. Pinoy Pastry, whose founder is a local mental health advocate in the community, offered to work the reception at no cost. Working with an up-and-coming bakery, Lala's Bakery (tentative name), I wanted to give them an opportunity for exposure and a chance to make money as business.
$97.01-$40-$40 - $12.50
= $4.51 is the new running total for the exhibit.
The reception came and went, and then started our first official week of opening, and there were no extra miscellaneous costs to cover.
The grant money covered all of the necessary expenses, and for this to have been a project where the only consistent person through its entirety was me, I would say that it was very successful. Through social media, and news coverage, and one full week of being at the exhibit between 11am-7pm, we were successfully able to make $2795 to distribute to the artists involved with the exhibit. That averages our to $47 per piece, but of course each one of the pieces sold at its respective value.
There is much I would do differently to make this exhibit an even bigger success next year, and luckily I already have some pals who are interested in being involved with it next year! Stay tuned for a blog post about that.
While I am here, would like to send a personal thank you to everyone who made the Colors of Resilience 2023 exhibit possible:
Aleah Berenz - for working at the exhibit and ensuring it stayed open!
Bree Baker Young - for showing up to workshops at WYC, H4, and helping plan the reception, and execute the exhibit.
Jordyne Rose - for meeting with me at the WYC and introducing me to the staff and artists there!
Mackenzie Reid - for helping facilitate the workshops at the WYC every single week!
Meahgan Sweeney - for guidance through the project, and for helping facilitate workshops at both WYC, and WWC.
Savaughn Riley - for helping facilitate workshops at the WYC every week, and partnering with the project to create an original Designs by Sav piece.
Kamryn Cusamano - for assisting with the grant writing aspect of the project, and reaching out to news outlets on behalf of the project.
Kat Valentine - for putting on a show that made our artists feel like a million bucks, lending her PA system to our featured artist Robber Macs to perform with.
Emma Carosella - for documenting the project in its fullness from beginning to end.
MLE Hempley - for creating promotional material, helping install the exhibit, and coming up with the name of the project, Colors of Resilience
Raija Rudrik, Nat Alcaraz - for helping install the show and making sure it happened!
All of the staff at the Homelessness Housing Help Hub and the Windsor Youth Centre
Tammy specifically from Womens Welcome Centre
Arts Council Windsor Region and Artspeak Gallery, and Artcite for supporting me and the project
And of course, all of the artists involved in the exhibit, make sure to keep up with them and their work!
@agarothsart, Tyler McIntyre
@ma'iinganartistry, Ma'iingan
@themacsmilkbandit, Cody Charles Farruggia
Ann Reno
Please support these artists in their endeavours because I would not have been able to do any of this without them.
