ArtIsMyOccupation.org is excited to announce that our artists’ support program is now online and ready to receive your applications. Here at AMO, we are eager to see your proposals for bold and challenging projects, and then give you the support you need to get it out into the world for maximum impact. Please be sure to read the guidelines carefully before you apply.
ArtIsMyOccupation (AMO) is a project founded by artists and for artists who are involved in Occupy and other movements for Economic Justice. Our sole mission is getting artists who are working on the front lines of social change the resources they need.
In addition to providing resources to artists involved in economic justice, we also profile some great creative campaigns.
Have a great idea for a project? Apply for a grant.
Want to collaborate other Occupy artists or campaigns? Get Connected
Want to see what upcoming mass actions to create work for? Get inspired
How I got involved with Art Is My Occupation
One of the two most enjoyable aspects of my art practice is collaboration with other artists and the ability to get resources for artist. I've always been naturally good at crunching numbers, raising money, and making the case for why something is important. I got this skill from my mother, who as an immigrant, opened up her own small business even when she didn't finish college. She taught me how to build small institutions, so that I was able to be independent. Early on, I learned that the most institutions (schoools, workforce) were systematically aimed at pushing people of color out, and women of color especially. I always felt like an outsider even when I was a teenager, so I learned early on the art of the hustle.
I feel blessed to have a strong left and right brain, so I love to support my fellow artists and fellow movement workers. I felt it was important to support artists in Occupy because I started noticing that support for artists was something that often came last, or didn't come at all. I started noticing that more and more Occupy cultural projects were being funded through Kickstarter. Not that there is anything wrong that, but in my view, that symbolizes that fact that artists have to find ways to resource themselves.
I find it problematic that the labor of artists is often viewed as something that is void of an economic context. So often, artists are asked to do their art, or perform, or sing a song - for free. Not that we should not do it -but artists are so often the last to get compensated for their work in the movement. While artists as a whole sector in this country are barely making ends meet, somehow they are glamorized to be exempt of economic realities. That's an image that has been propelled by the Western art tradition, that somehow artist exist above society, and sadly, so many artists trade in their economic viability to follow the construct of the "starving artist" that somehow magically makes ends meet.
A 2009 national artist study concluded that 7 in 10 artists hold at least one job in addition to making art. And 4 in 10 artists do not have adequate health insurance and over half of those who do have insurance are worried about losing it.Yet these same artists were positively committed to their communities – 89% believed that artists have a special role in strengthening communities, and 75% believed that economic downturn also meant it was an inspiring time to be an artist. Artists are workers too.
Other cool stuff you can find on the AMO website
Be sure to see some of the amazing cultural projects and actions that we have profiled in the AMO blog. In the recent post, Can You Stop Capitalism With A Song?, we showcase a new artistic intervention that's being used to stop foreclosure auctions, effectively halting the machinery wherein the homes of unfairly evicted families are being resold for profit. Part song, part ritual, part spiritual elegy, a song called "Mr. Auctioneer" is being sung by activists who enter courtrooms and begin singing aloud as the bidding begins, thereby preventing the sales from happening. The fact that the song is a devastatingly powerful, and sung in multi-part harmony, is what makes it so effective.
And lastly, be sure to JOIN so we can update you about ongoing opportunities to receive support. Also, anyone can donate to the AMO Artists' Fund, where 100% goes to the 99%.
