Part 2
I failed to win a large grant for This ‘Me’ of Mine. Lesson learned: Don’t be daunted by a seriously complex and rigorous application. The process is as valuable as the outcome – yes it is.
I was given a detailed evaluation and feedback on my grant application, something I hadn’t expected. My application was ‘seriously considered, well researched, timely in its subject, well written and all around excellent’, according to one assessor about the excellent part, both assessors agreed on the other points and one assessor said they learned something from the information contained in my proposal – you don’t hear that every day. Why didn’t it win? Because it failed in its attempt to meet a certain criteria. In other words, I was trying to make the project fit into something it isn’t. I learned a lot in the process and it has prepared me for other applications which are better suited to the project. I was disappointed, at one point I wailed inside, but the confirmation via the feedback, of work well done was invaluable to me.
I was starting to feel isolated again and cut off even though I am in contact with people from This ‘Me’ of Mine and other friends and colleagues almost daily. It is a difficult thing to be here working in what can nearly be called a vacuum because I often don’t know how the community at large is responding to the work I’m doing. Not being in London, I don’t get to hear the word that’s passing in the street, so to speak, and it’s difficult to gauge sometimes if anyone is noticing. Lesson learned: you’re tired! Take a break. Just keep working, people are watching whether you know it or not, something I learned when I first started writing blogs here on a-n.
Today (I wrote this on Friday 17th Aug) I was mentioned in a #FF tweet by @an_artnews, and in mighty company, I might add, that small gesture made me feel like the larger community was aware and watching what I’m doing; what a pleasure, what reassurance and what encouragement.
My sincere thanks to @an_artnews, Pierrick Senelaer at Art Pie, the curators at Axis, my grant assessors, everyone involved in This ‘Me’ of Mine, all the project followers and silent watchers, and most importantly thanks to my husband, David who supports me in every way.
I hope you are enjoying the results so far.
