Rejected Grant Proposal

Dear Jorge,

This is the “easiest thing I have ever published,” in lieu of the most difficult thing I never published. It is a denied grant proposal for a year-long art criticism performance project. Had it been funded, I would have had to write my brains out. But it exists only as a proposition.

Jason

Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Proposal

Project Title

No Little Plan

Short Description (50 words)

I propose to perform an endurance art criticism project: To review every contemporary art exhibition in Chicago for one year. One art critic, Jason Foumberg, will perform the entirety of this project. (The project title is adapted from a quote by Chicago’s urban planner, Daniel Burnham: “Make no little plans.”)

Est. Completion Date

02/2014

Long Description (250 words)

I propose to personally attend and review every contemporary art exhibition that opens in Chicago for one year, and to create a blog for this specific purpose. In 2011, approximately 1,000 exhibitions opened in Chicago’s museums, commercial galleries, non-profit art centers, artist-run spaces, domestic spaces, and pop-up storefront galleries. I expect a similar amount to open in 2013.

All reviews will be interpretive and will stake a position. Writing formats that do not engage critical strategies will not be used (interviews, profiles, news). There will be no word count restriction. Some reviews will be long-form, and others may be folded into thematic articles based on genre, media, or location. I understand that this project would entail the writing of 20 or more pieces per week. It will be my full-time job.

Project restrictions: Reviews will only be written about art made by living artists, or of exhibitions containing a majority of works by living artists. No repeat visits to an artist’s self-produced exhibition at artist’s studio or self-run venue. Reviews of public or permanent art only reviewed if installed in the current year. Reviewed at my discretion: student-only shows produced by schools, art fairs, one-night only exhibitions, exhibitions held at frame stores, jewelry stores, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and coffee shops.

I will review contemporary art from any culture or world region as long as it is exhibited within the Chicago city limits (nearby suburbs at my discretion).

Why Write This Project? (150 words)

There is a consensus complaint in Chicago that the critical output, in quantity and quality, falls short of the artwork being produced here. As an active producer and proponent of local art criticism, that complaint vexes me—yet I see the frustration expressed by our artists. Chicago’s art publications are focused more on event listings than on criticism, and they are not equipped to cover the city’s diverse and multiple art centers and margins.

This project would attempt to level the playing field. All exhibiting artists would receive a review written by a professional and knowledgeable art critic.

But this project is not conceived only to correct a wrong. During or after all of the year’s exhibitions, I would come to understand, identify, and conceptualize local movements, affinities, problems, and aesthetic communities. Importantly, I would develop, learn, and maintain a rigorous and disciplined critical practice.

Contextualize This Project in Relation to Existing Writing on the Subject (150 words)

Chicago has an important history of good, solid art criticism print publications, but these have all burned out in the past decade, and our daily newspapers have fired their art critics. The long view is disappearing, as Chicago has only one full-time art critic (at Time Out, which publishes four reviews weekly). The Web has proven to be an inconsistent provider of significant art criticism in Chicago, often produced by hobbyists and students just passing through. These are often well-intentioned but, unfortunately, underdeveloped and poorly written. Some newspapers and websites attempt to cultivate a unique position by being selective or specialized in their coverage, thereby excluding some venues. Most publications tend to cover the same big-ticket shows. It’s not just the underground spaces that are getting short shrift; a former curator at a major contemporary art museum...