Louise Sandhaus\' C.O.L.A. exhibition and opening, May 18, 2008 at Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA.
Are you a graphic designer who has been active in the field for at least 15 years? Do you live in Los Angeles County? Would $10,000 come in handy for a project you're working on?
Consider applying for a City of Los Angeles (C.O.L.A.) Individual Artist Fellowship. Every year, the Department of Cultural Affairs honors 15 extraordinary visual artists, graphic designers, media artists, writers and performers with $10,000 awards.
The grants -- juried by a panel of local art experts, educators and community leaders -- are intended to support the production of new work for a curated exhibition in late spring at Barnsdall Park's Municipal Art Gallery in Hollywood.
Hi, Louise. Can you tell us a bit about yourself first?
I've been teaching in the graphic design program at CalArts since 1996 and also have a practice in which I work in work in all kinds of media. But I'm probably known particularly for exhibition design and screen-based work. My work has been in AIGA 365, and it's in Kim Baer's The Information Design Workbook. Steven Heller and David Womack's new book, Becoming a Digital Designer, has an interview with me. My work is in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Bibliothèque Nationale.
What project did you have in mind when you applied for the fellowship?
I've been working on a book project, Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires and Riots: California Graphic Design 1935-1985. I was a good four or five years into the project when I applied. In my application, I explained that I was simultaneously researching and designing the book.
What did you use the grant money for?
What it funded was a part-time research assistant for a year. Research was very time-consuming because it isn't as though there's an archive somewhere for California design history. So now I could really spend time on the project and get it to a much more developed stage. It's close to being published, thanks to the grant.
What advice can you offer other graphic designers who want to apply?
The evidence they ask for to prove your mid-career-ness is not exactly the kind graphic designers normally would provide. I had to show that I had 15 years' worth of exhibitions, which was a little strange. So you have to think what that might mean in terms of your own career. For example, years ago I got an award from the Art Directors Club, and of course they had an exhibition.
Also, you have to realize that the jury is composed of both designers and non-designers. They have to be able to grasp what you're saying you want to make. So be concise and to the point.
You actually have two design problems, your project and the showing of the project at the Municipal Art Gallery. Because I was doing a book, the natural way to show it was as spreads. I designed a whole experience around them so that the book concept could be understood.
For his show, Michael Worthington [a 2001 Fellow] did a beautiful series of posters -- he took song lyrics and presented them typographically. Jeff Keedy [a 2006 Fellow] made these beautiful, crazy, whimsical drawings that straddled the line between art and design.
I've heard that a graphic designer is also chosen to document each year's C.O.L.A. exhibition.
Yes, there's another grant available for this. You have to be a graphic designer who has already been a C.O.L.A. Fellow. You get another $10,000, plus a budget for printing. It's a nice little project. I'll be designing the catalogue for the 2009 C.O.L.A. show.
Anything else you'd like to add?
The biggest thing was that the fellowship allowed me to move a personal project forward that would have been very difficult to do otherwise. Since my project is about California, I was particularly proud to be recognized by the City of Los Angeles -- a signal to the outside world that Los Angeles is supporting the project.
For more information, visit www.culturela.org. Questions? Contact michelle.berne@lacity.org or call (213) 202-5566. See below for the fellowship workshop schedule. Application deadline: October 24, 2008.
Free Workshops for C.O.L.A. Individual Artist Fellowships
Saturday, September 27
10 a.m. - noon
North Hollywood Regional Branch Library
5211 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood
(park in lot)
Saturday, October 4
10 a.m. - noon
Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library
501 S. Venice Boulevard, Venice
(park in lot)
Thursday, October 9
6-8 p.m.
John Muir Branch Library
1005 W. 64th Street, Los Angeles
(park in lot)
Saturday, October 11
10 a.m. - noon
Marina Pavilion, California Plaza
Small outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Water Court
300-350 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
(metered street parking)
Personally- I'd prefer to have learned a bit more about what Louise did with the grant, and see some examples. Instead it's an article about how to apply for a grant, and the grant's history.
I was asked by an AIGA member who is associated with the Dept. of Cultural Affairs to write about the grant itself, because the application deadline is coming up. When Louise's book is published, I'm sure someone will interview her specifically about it.
We had room for only one example, the photo on top, showing some spreads from her book that were displayed in the Barnsdall Park exhibition.