VSCO Voices - Grant Application Notes
Graphics via VSCO Voices website
“VSCO Voices is a grant program that supports creators who empower marginalized communities through art.” Each year you must channel a project through the program’s theme demonstrating a connection to art and marginalized folks. Here is a link to this year’s prompt: https://vscovoices.co/apply
My VSCO Voices application made it into the top 5% of applications. Although I did not win the grant, I consider my making it into the upper rings of applicants an honor, and I’d like to share my application with those who may be considering the grant or art-award process.
A few notes before diving in:
It’s important to have both a long form biography, a short one, and an artist statement. Bios, written in third person, are about you/education/experience/awards etc. Artist statements are deep dives into what your work navigates.
Do not complete grant applications unless you can draw upon genuine experience to create something memorable, authentic and lasting.
Unfortunately I did not record all of the questions so most of them are paraphrased*.
Also, most grant applications have word and character limits. I pressed the limits of each question to fit as much information as concisely as I could.
Lastly; this work is being shared out of generosity, and to help you with navigating the grant process yourself. The Terms of Use of this site prohibit copying, executing on and unapproved dissemination of this content in *any way.
A brief biography:
Ashley Johnson is a writer and a multidisciplinary creative entrepreneur living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Johnson's using mixed media via photography, textile, live floral, woven and braided masks to navigate intra-racial conflict, identity evolution, southern woman and girlhood, and studies of relative time as it relates to African American/feminine beauty practice.
A brief synopsis and title of your project:
Amid a chorus of other laughing girls, the title of my project is a question a girl used to ask me every day when I got on the bus for school because my pants were too short to reach my shoes.
In a series of stylized portraits and interviews, “Are You Prepared for the Flood?” will expose the self-consciousness that exists among black male youth between the ages of 10 - 18. The project will ask questions about personal style and the disparities, each young man perceives as a result of their own socioeconomic status and their views/ownership over branded or brandless objects.
How do you define style:
Style is the organic performance of character played out in objects that personify a person's truest self. Style exists beyond trend and clothing and can be found anywhere your essence exists from what you wear, to the spaces you build and occupy. ___
Explain the origins and function of your project, how will you execute; The main idea, thesis, or question you are addressing in your project and why that is important to the community you are giving voice too. I took a gamble utilizing storytelling, but it was concise and effective.
It’s 199-something and a black boy purusing a discount store with his mom spots a high yellow FUBU shirt on a rack and begs his mother to buy it. The next day, the boy wakes up before his alarm, and gets dressed; in class, he takes his jacket off with pride and waits. The accolades ensue, and finally—he is seen: by girls and peers alike. His win is short-lived when his classmates discover another boy in his class with the same shirt, a boy, by his appearance, seems to be always keenly dressed, unlike our protagonist.
For the next hour, both boys will endure ridicule and embarrassment as the school tries to uncover the true fake FUBU shirt. In the end the boy with the real shirt has his shirt mistaken for the fake and the next day, it is announced that the boy has taken his life as a result of a difficult home life. But to us as an audience, we believe the "straw" to be the fake FUBU shirt.
In this episode of “Atlanta,” Donald Glover interrogates the nuances of black boyhood, ownership, authenticity, style, covetousness, poverty and belonging in a way so specific and personally familiar to black boyhood. In the black community, a boys’ first pair of Jordans is as much a right of passage as his first lover. Style not only functions as a construction of his character but as one of life's necessities; an anchor into his passability within his community.
The African American male has inherited through his history the self-consciousness of having and “not having”. Historically, if one cannot adequately “own”, one can at least develop another sense of identity.
Style is one place that identity runs when searching for a home. And a byproduct is that style in the African American community often penalizes black boys more acutely for lack of their parents’ resources without respect to the generational disparities that led them to such a place. “Are You Prepared for the Flood?” will travel into distinctly different southern, northern and western black communities asking black boys/young men about their sense of identity as it attaches to their personal style, their personal sense of value and worth as it relates to possession of branded objects, and how they view/feel they are viewed by their peers.
“Flood” will angle a lens into one component of the black male experience that often goes untreated: a sense of belonging often tied to possessions and the acquisition of branded objects that help them develop a sense of style, value, and self.
“Flood” will interview and stylistically photograph boys from various backgrounds: boys in school systems that use uniforms to collapse or restrict style and expression, boys in communities that feel freer to adorn themselves or create a more organic sense of style due to geographic placement, and boys from communities who have restricted resources.
I will also photograph my participants in deconstructed branded objects. Exposing and dissecting their materials and the values of said materials to in an attempt to route one's sense of self away from objects and develop a more authentic sense of style central to one's core identity and preferences.
What core elements does your project explore:
Our attachment to branded objects can play out differently in our most psychologically vulnerable populations. I'd like to expose how possession—or lack thereof—moves generationally through our classrooms and communities; reveal how style is often used as a layering tool to mask deeper complexities among black males.
How does your personal experience inform your project and how will you ensure the success of your project:
My home town is a smallish city called the City of Arts and Innovation. In that moniker, the definition of "arts" has generally been partitioned to mean non-contemporary and it is evident in each of the galleries along our Avenue of the Arts. A community of artists friends and I have been inviting audiences to indulge different perspectives around what exhibitions can accomplish, who can have access to art and how art can define itself—with phenomenal responses to interesting performances and pop-up exhibitions.
Already having a connection to two local middle schools, my goal is to connect with middle school art programs to present on and explore this material with students—inviting them to navigate their own relationships with objects, brands, their own style, and ideas around possession. And in partnership with a local community gallery/event space, I will premier and exhibit the portraits and short video essay upwards of one month.
What audiences and communities are most likely to be impacted by this work:
Audiences most likely to be impacted by this subject include black and brown families—specifically, young black boys. I would like this work to be present where young people are more likely to interact with each other: in their classrooms. This subject, though artistic in its execution, can become inaccessible if hosted or presented solely in spaces intended for those who are privileged to enjoy art regularly. This work is not to be simply observed, but interacted with. It is conversational, and my goal is to host these conversations both online, in a gallery and most importantly, in classrooms.
How will this project further your own photography practice/study:
I have hyperfocused my study on black male identity—consuming texts, music, film, television, video, and following the thread of why "black male" is synonymous with fear. Within all of the media I've consumed, from James Baldwin to Torey Lanez, what continues to be apparent is that possession and ownership over objects is the "gimmick", as Baldwin calls it, that lifts the black male from his normal life into a sense of "somebodyness".
To produce "Flood" would be to further this study into black male self-worth—how he would like to value who his life, and how he is forced to value it from youth through teenaged life. This project aims to be one drop in the attempt to humanize him and to decrease fear surrounding his presence.
How will this work be exhibited:
In 2016, I put aside milestone photography and began making fine art portraiture which navigated black feminine identity and beauty practice. In such a short time, the reception of my work has given me so many tremendous opportunities to engage communities in conversations around black identity; my focus has now shifted into a long-form study on the black male, skin color psychosis and the origins of fear projected onto black men. This project will be a springboard into this work which I would love to exhibit at my solo show at the Bellermine University Photo Biennial upcoming in the fall.
I'm fortunate to be connected to spaces and people who would adequately and excitedly foster this work. I'm deeply connected to understanding and sharing difficult subjects within the black community with audiences to nurture a more even-handed understanding of African American identity and traumas that shape us through time.
How your project will spark awareness or drive change?
As trend shifts, what’s acceptable shifts—and accessibility has become accessible in some ways. When I was a kid you could buy Keds at the dollar store. Now Keds are considered fashionable. I’ve seen boys get teased for for wearing Reebok, Fila or Puma. Thrift store shopping has become “cool” and a way to individualize ourselves in very unique ways. My sincerest hope is that my project will bring the idea of self-attachment to objects as a means to supplement ones value to the forefront. That it will place an additional lens over buyer power.
Deliverables: what should we expect to see upon completion?
Already having a connection to two local middle schools, my goal is to connect with their art programs to present on and explore this material with students—inviting them to navigate their own relationships with objects, brands, their own style, and ideas around possession through a workshop called “Create Your Cool” - I’d like to have this documented. And in partnership with a local community gallery/event space, I will premier and exhibit the portraits and short video essay upwards of one month.
A series of curated photographs that navigate the subject
Deconstructed shoe sculptures
A very short “documentary-style” interview that asks questions
A lesson plan for the “Create Your Cool” in-class workshop which I’d like to approach art teachers with; it will help students explore where art can take shape beyond their standard curriculum.
A public screening of the short as well as an exhibition of the stylized/curated portraits and installation of deconstructed branded objects.
A reimagining of the typical class photo
How do you plan to define success for your project?
I truly would like to see children redefine their own sense of self and cool as it relates to their core values and not to their attachment to brands or objects or how they can keep up with their peers through possession.
Define your budget:
I had to so this quickly using present time data from the internet and ball-parked. My project was to take place in multiple cities to ask the same questions regionally. I also believe that they may have believed my project to be overambitious because of this as it was one of the questions during my interview. Some grants have restrictions on how to spend the money, others don’t. The thoroughness of budget question responses depend on the grant requirements.
4 Days Per City: Estimation: $6,000
Travel Expenses - Oakland
Accommodations: $400
Ground Travel/Car Rental: $200-$250
Flight: $400
Stipend for food: $150
Equipment and Studio Rental:$500
Travel Expenses - Philadelphila
Accommodations: $400
Ground Travel/Car Rental: $200-$250
Flight: $200
Stipend for food: $150
Equipment and Studio Rental: $500
Travel Expenses - Atlanta
Accommodations: $400
Ground Travel/Car Rental: $200-$250
Flight: $200
Stipend for food: $150
Equipment and Studio Rental: $500
Travel Expenses - Houston
Accommodations: $400
Ground Travel/Car Rental: $200-$250
Flight: $300
Stipend for food: $150
Equipment and Studio Rental: $500
$2000 | Payment to 10 Interviewees @ $200 for each interviewee for their time / Stories
DocuSign software for ease of use for parent signatures and disclosures $240 for 6 months
$4000 | Equipment: lens/video camera purchase rental, studio space, backdrops, film, film processing, memory cards
$3000 | Props: name brand shoes, clothing, name brands shoe box collection for premier gallery space installation/exhibition, and for use within stylized portraits; materials such as adhesives, binding and
$3000 | Exhibition costs: framing, printing, space rental, food/snacks, drinks
$2000 | Also, if it’s possible to make donations to the local art programs at schools I present to including the local visual arts school and wellness centers whose arts and social programming is targeted to those with behavioral health complexities—I would like to allocate funds to donate to such programs.
My Interview Notes:
Sometimes I like to script myself; just in case I lose my train of thought I can pick up within my “script” and finish my sentences. A really helpful tool for prepping for interviews (commit to memory, or phone interviews where you can read something organically.
Refer to Jerrod’s “who hurt you” shoe joke.
Just to give a small bit of context I’d like to reference my own history with poverty so to speak.
This really didn’t hit me as a young girl but I certainly saw this play out violently among boys. Even now my young nephew, just 8 months—his father bought him a pair of Jordans and will not allow him to wear anything else. It’s this toxic self-consciousness, I want to really crawl into and study.
In my application I wrote that Possession and ownership over objects is a "gimmick”. That’s what James Baldwin calls it, in his book The Fire Next Time, and his claim is that each black man must create or grasp at a persona to life him out his normal life into a sense of "somebodyness". To produce "Flood" would be to further this study into black male self-worth—how he would like to value who his life by creating gimmicks and I’d like to do that at a key point where a sense of self starts to develop which is early adolescence and teenaged life/pre-adulthood so to speak.
Toxic self consciousness as it has evolved from economic disparity
Ownership over branded or brandies items
Personal Style | aspirational style versus the reality
Our attachment to branded objects can play out differently in our most psychologically vulnerable populations. I'd like to expose how possession—or lack thereof—moves generationally through our classrooms and communities; reveal how style is often used as a layering tool to mask deeper complexities among black males.
I’ve been reading memoirs, fiction, biographies and a lot of the stories I’m experiencing are tales of woe riddled with terrors and horrors. I feel a calling to tell black stories that navigates the corners where generational trauma settles. After the horrors, after the brutalizations, where are the quiet places that pain hides.
Whenever I speak to a crowd or give talks during my shows the crowds are incredibly diverse. I believe this is because my approach is to ease viewers into complex narratives by creating experiences and atmospheres where people feel most free to ask questions.
One of the places where pain hides in in his shoes, I want to dissect that for myself—quite literally, I want to pull shoes apart, for my audience, and I want to do that with the boys and tease out all self consciousness, emotional attachment.
Deeper dive into your budget and scope; See spreadsheet
