In other news, I hope you are all finding time to mess around with creativity. Not in the scandalous way. I mean, maybe in the scandalous way. That's up to you. Or if you don't feel like being creative right now, that's obviously fine too. I used to sometimes feel guilty--

--if I wasn't creating or working on my art "enough," but now I've relieved myself of that pressure and pretty much just do artsy things when I feel like it. 

A trick I use, if you're interested, is to say to myself, "What would my brain look like if there wasn't guilt in there?" And for a second or two, I am at complete peace. It is very cool. I do this with other emotions, too, and find that it often gets me out of my head for a minute. Kind of feels like an acting exercise.

But boy oh boy was I feeling artsy last week! A dear friend recently gifted me a certificate to Happy Medium, which I am now telling everyone and their mother about. It's an art studio in the Chinatown/Two Bridges area that has a lot of offerings (I took a wheel throwing class), including an "art cafe" upstairs, which is a thing where you basically order an art activity like you're ordering off a menu. Like, "I'll take the watercolor experience, my good madam," like that. And then you just sit and make art for a couple of hours. There's a bar up there, too. Has anyone been here? Were you as enamored as I was?? Are you an entrepreneur that wants to open one of these in my neighborhood??? Please!!!!

Alright this is starting to feel like a diary. Let's move along. Here are some grants and jobs:

I know this deadline is like, tomorrow, but if you live in the Bronx and already have a project ready to go, submit! Each year, BRIO provides direct support of $5,000 to individual Bronx artists who create works in the literary, media, visual, and performing arts.

Hey it's an Episcopal Actors' Guild thing! Open to NYC theatre companies that regularly work with multiple playwrights, this grant offers space and a partner to showcase the work of three of those playwrights. The estimated in-kind value of resources from EAG (venue, printing costs, marketing) is $2,000. Additionally, one of the playwrights will win $500.

This one sounds so awesome and creative, maybe because I don't often hear about projects like this these days! It looks like there are two opportunities: 

Deadline: Feb 7

This fellowship unites one emerging artist each season with a distinguished choreographer who serves as a mentor as they both create World Premieres on the BalletX dancers. Includes $7,500 Choreographic Fee + $7,000 for costumes/music/scenic design + accommodations in and transportation to/from Philly. Plus a per diem. Nom nom.

 

The European Marine Board (EMB) is looking for two new artists/groups of artists for the 2025 – 2026 edition of their ‘EMBracing the Ocean’ artist-in-residence program. It provides €10,000 grants for creative individuals/groups from a wide-range of disciplines (including dance, theatre, and music) to engage in a two-way co-creation of artwork in collaboration with Ocean scientists. The aims of the program are to 1) raise societal awareness of and embrace connection to the Ocean, 2) inspire positive behavior towards sustainability, and 3) contribute new insight and/or perspectives to science.

Greater Good Science Center is accepting proposals for nonfiction content about love. With funding from the John Templeton Foundation, the GGSC will distribute grants of between $5,000 and $50,000 to two dozen journalists and media producers who approach the topic of love from a variety of angles and across a range of media, including articles, videos, radio stories, podcasts, social media content, and more.

This grant supports eligible New York City-based early career film directors whose work takes creative risks in expanding, questioning, experimenting with, or re-imagining filmmaking with production grants of up to $30,000.

For Big Thinkers. "Public Engagement funds a wide variety of grantees to create content, cultivate thought leadership, and develop campus programming. We seek to catalyze conversations that inspire awe and wonder because we want to enable people to live lives of meaning and purpose." 

I'm not sure how much money they usually grant, but they sound like a very interesting foundation. Anyone whose mission statement says things like "inspire awe and wonder" inspires ME to read more about them!

Now I'll list some jobs I've come across. Because this newsletter probably won't come out consistently, allow me to tell you where I find jobs:

     • Amber Petty (for writing gigs)

Otherwise I just think of companies or products I like and go to their website to see if they're hiring.

If anyone wants me to keep an eye out for a job opportunity in a particular industry or as a specific position, just drop me a line and let me know!

Set your own rates. This won't make you rich. But it will likely get you a few bucks in your pocket and it is super fun. 

$25/hr at 10 hours per week

$25/hr at 10 hours per week

     Okay, so it looks like Betches, the "leading humor platform for women on the internet" is hiring for a whole bunch of positions. The rest seem to be full-time, and you can check them out here.  They are also looking to fill one more freelance position, but it's hybrid and in in NYC: Gen-Z Video Producer ($25-$35 per hour at 12 hours per week)

$500 per article

If you're good at writing articles that make people want to buy stuff, this gig might be for you. Send a resume, some links to your writing work, and a note about why you'd be a good fit to CNETfreelance@redventures.com. 

$40/hr at 10 hours per week

If you would describe yourself as "organized," this may be the gig for you!

$23-$25 per hour, part-time

I know we've got a lot of restaurant people here, so I was excited to see this one! I hadn't heard of this place before, but "C-CAP is a national nonprofit that connects 23,000 students annually to opportunities in the hospitality  industry through hospitality and culinary education, college scholarships, and career development." Might be a fun place to work, who knows?

Forbes

$25/hr

NerdWallet

$65-$75/hr, 32 hours per week

Some companies collect resumes on a rolling basis. Like Mon Coeur, a clothing store for kids and baebaes and Who Gives a Crap, which sells eco-friendly toilet paper. (Which is so nice. But might I say, I got a bidet a few years back, and that purchase was pretty much where I peaked in life.)

$60/hr, 3-9 hours per week

$60/hr, 3-9 hours per week

$21-$25 hr, part-time

$60/hr, 3-9 hours per week

The L.A. branch is also hiring a social media creator/manager and a sales rep; both are full-time but the salary is not listed. I don't like that, but maybe it was just an oversight. I do love UCB. ucbcomedy.com/careers

Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA)

$22/hr, 21 hours per week

Bronx Council on the Arts (BCA)

$22/hr, 21 hours per week

$25-$70 per hour (Whatever that means! Sorry, no more salary info is posted, but I'm sure the company will clarify if you reach out.)

$66,280 per year

$50,000 per year

Some in-person companies accept resumes on a rolling basis, like Shakespeare and Co. and Big Reuse.

Coalition for the Homeless (NYC)

February 10th is the Mayoral Candidate Forum on Culture and Arts. 7-9pm at BRIC, 647 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Doors open at 6. You can also stream it at youtube.com/live/h4UNLCGIank.

Anyone else delete their TikTok account after it came back today? I first made sure to look through the accounts I followed to see if there was anyone I wanted to subscribe to on YouTube. Good thing, too. I wouldn't want to live if I didn't have this one in my life:

Okay, let's start wrapping this up, shall we? I know tomorrow is going to be...rough. Don't worry, I'm not the type to sprinkle unfounded optimism everywhere. (Well, I am. But I'm not going to this time.) Do whatever you need to do to nurse your mental health.* BUT, I do encourage you to pay respect to balance. Once in a while during shitstorms I need to actively seek out good news--if you're like that, too, this guy shares a lot of it. 

Or, if you're a better person than me, maybe you can create some good news. IDK. Sometimes when you're at your lowest point, helping someone else can really turn the tables on your state of mind. (It occurs to me I may have learned this from one of my toddler's books:)

Sorry if you found that corny or like, Humanity 101. But ya read a book nine million times in a row every night for a year and it kind of sticks with you. (This book is called Little Elliot, Big City by Mike Curato, if you were wondering.)

*Regarding mental heath: 988 is there for you!

988 labels itself as a suicide and crisis hotline, which it is, but you can also call them if you just need someone to talk to. (Do note: they will still ask you a lot of screening questions at first for safety reasons.) They are available nationwide.

Something I like about them is that you can call them OR text them OR type at them from your computer.  

They also have a peer line. Here's what the counselor I spoke with said: "Peer line: Call NYCW 1-888-692-9355 & select peer option (which is #2) & then it will give the option to speak with a peer or a counselor."

And if you love what they do and want to get involved, they have many volunteer and career opportunities listed at 988lifeline.org/get-involved/careers.

Lastly, Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. One of my favorite quotes from him is "Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation." Zoom out a little and you get:

“The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for 'the least of these.'” – The Quest for Peace and Justice, December 11, 1964

I know. Kind of gives me the same feeling that Ragtime did, watching it right after the election results this year. 

Just so fucking sad. (Although, I will say, Tiffany Mann's voice does make me think I have gotten to heaven.)

Again, I'm not here to tell anyone to look on the bright side or feel any sort of way or whatever. (Does telling someone how to feel ever work anyway?) All I can really do is share my own dumb thoughts, and I know I'm being repetitive repetitive, but, the bad guys get a lot of attention. The good guys deserve SO MUCH MORE attention. So every time we see some evil going down, we've got to remember there are also real life people trying to fight it. Yup. Life is officially a Marvel movie. I just don't want the heroes' efforts to be in vain.

Alright. Let's get out of here. A reminder, if you know of any grants, jobs, or resources that you'd like to share, reply to this email and let me know! I'll check them out and include them in the next letter if they're a good fit.