An occasional series in which Dawn considers the impact of fear in her creative process, most recently in the context of the acceptance and soon-to-be-screening of her animated short documentary "Fear" (with Andrea Love, who produced this wonderful bit of animation).
A little more than a year ago, I attended the Creative Capital "Strategic Planning for Artists" workshop in Cary, NC, sponsored by the NC Arts Council. (Artists/Makers: if you don't yet know about Creative Capital, you MUST. It's an incredible resource, and I'll happily talk about my experience if you want to learn more. Plus, the other participants you'll meet are amazing and inspiring.)
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I have thought about what I learned almost every day since. The most powerful moment for me came about when Colleen Keegan, the workshop leader, responded to my question about my concerns about applying for funding to support my animated documentary, Bipolar Girl Rules the World and Other Stories (Fear, the film premiering at Tribeca, is both a stand-alone short doc and part of Bipolar Girl.)
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I have thought about what I learned almost every day since. The most powerful moment for me came about when Colleen Keegan, the workshop leader, responded to my question about my concerns about applying for funding to support my animated documentary, Bipolar Girl Rules the World and Other Stories (Fear, the film premiering at Tribeca, is both a stand-alone short doc and part of Bipolar Girl.)
I expressed to Colleen that I felt pulled between the authority that I believe my lived experience of mental illness gives to the film, vs. the concerns it might raise for funders about my competency and ability to complete the project. Colleen's response — that she didn’t know the answer to my question, but she did know that "A strategic plan based on fear will not succeed" — changed my life. (I’ve considered getting it tattooed on my arm, but I don’t really need to, since I think about it all the time anyway).
My fear has NOT disappeared. I'm still struggling to ask for financial support for my work, even though another critical piece of information I took away from the workshop is the importance of PAYING YOURSELF. Though the Kickstarter campaign I've been planning since November is actually kicking off next week.
I'm definitely not in a position to say that I've explored the full potential of Colleen's oracle, or of any of the tools I learned in those three amazing days. But I know that I wouldn't be headed to NYC in a few weeks if I hadn’t attended the Creative Capital workshop.
My fear has NOT disappeared. I'm still struggling to ask for financial support for my work, even though another critical piece of information I took away from the workshop is the importance of PAYING YOURSELF. Though the Kickstarter campaign I've been planning since November is actually kicking off next week.
I'm definitely not in a position to say that I've explored the full potential of Colleen's oracle, or of any of the tools I learned in those three amazing days. But I know that I wouldn't be headed to NYC in a few weeks if I hadn’t attended the Creative Capital workshop.
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