Attention Idaho Artists! The Alexa Rose Foundation Wants To Fund Your Creative Development

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What is "creative development?" If you're the Beatles, it meant playing three concerts per day in Hamburg for months on end—10,000 hours of practice, to be precise, according to Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers.

For the Boise-based Alexa Rose Foundation, it means obtaining "catalytic experiences and skills"—which we'll look at more closely in a minute—to help take one's creative development to the next level.

The foundation is named after local artist Alexa Rose Howell, who passed away in 2013. It funds artists working in different creative capacities, and 2015, as you could guess by now, is no exception. The 2015-2016 round of grants, which will range from $250 to $5,000, will fund visual artists of any genre or medium. Check out the following eligibility criteria:

  • Applicants must live in Ada or Canyon County.
  • Recipients who received a grant will be eligible to submit in future years.
  • Applicants must identify a project/workshop/educational opportunity for which they are applying.

This last point brings us back to the concept of "creative development." We imagine most applications won't propose "a six months residency in a basement club in coastal Germany." They may, however, propose the following types of opportunities, all of which the foundation will happily fund:

  • College tuition
  • Tuition for art classes, a workshop, or work with a mentor
  • Support for travel related to a specific project (Hamburg, anyone?) such as a new work of art or series
  • A conference related to creative work in the visual arts
  • Support to create a new work or exhibition that will be shared/shown with an audience
  • Funding for equipment or materials that will further the artist's career

The foundation anticipates up to 20 grants will be awarded this go around, and recipients are required to provide a final report sharing the benefit or outcome of the funded opportunity.

While this round of funding aims to fund visual artists, don't be discouraged,  all you musicians and writers. Future rounds will focus on literary, performing artists, and artists in other genres.

Applications are due on May 30th, with winners announced on July 1st. For more information and to apply, click here.