During my time as a solo performance artist, I became all too familiar with grants. In fact, I found that I spent more time writing grant applications than I did writing material for performance. While I don’t bemoan the process of writing business proposals—I believe all artists should think of themselves as a business entity and get in the habit of concisely promoting their work and themselves—the act of applying for grants is very much like entering a contest. I’d much rather fill out a 3x5 index card and drop it in the mail than manipulate and re-work biographies, summaries, resumes, work samples, project proposals, and goal and artistic statements that will fit into the confines of any given grant competition. They’re all different with almost idiosyncratic advisos about where to put ...