Notes

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rejection letters a study in contingencies

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19

Thank you so much for submitting your proposal. We would like to acknowledge the time and preparation it takes to prepare submissions. Unfortunately, we had an overwhelming amount of proposals for this upcoming season. We wish you all the best in your pursuits.

18

Thank you for applying to (name withheld) for an Artist Development Grant. As an artist, your vision is an important part of (name withheld) culture and identity. As you saw during the application process, we are piloting a “random draw” method of selection this year in response to artist feedback and research and trends in grantmaking. Regrettably, your request was not among the applications selected for funding in this round. Resources this year allow us to fund 35 proposals at this time—only 19% of the 187 applications we received.

We hope you will consider applying for support again. Please stay in touch. We look forward to learning more about your work and wish you all the best with your future endeavors.

17

The Admissions Committee has just given me its list of artists to be invited to (name withheld) from this round of applicants, and I’m sorry to report that we are not able to offer you a residency. Since the pandemic, we have seen an incredible increase in our application numbers. I know this isn’t likely to ease the fact of our not offering time to you this round, but I did want to make clear how tricky the decision-making process was.

You are, of course, welcome to apply again to visit (name withheld). Artists may apply to (name withheld) once every other calendar year. The next deadline for which you are eligible to apply is January 2026. I believe you also know that membership on the Admissions Panels change substantially each year.

In the meantime, I hope you will find other suitable circumstances in which to pursue your work, and I thank you for your interest in (name withheld).

16

Thank you for responding to the open call for the (name withheld) component of (name withheld). We appreciate your patience as we collected and reviewed the submissions. While we will not be including your sample in the final exhibition, we appreciate the care and craftsmanship behind it.

15

The September-October (name withheld) Residency Program selection process has ended. There were many exceptional candidates for this first round of residents. Overall, we received 40 applications from across the United States in the two weeks that applications were open. It was an especially strong group of applications, and the selection process was very difficult. Regrettably, we are not able to offer you a residency at this time.

Applications will open September 1st for 2025 residencies. These will last 1 week up to 3 months. We may even have a few new studios up and running by then! We would love it if you could apply again, as your application was extremely strong. We wish we could have let more people in, but the spaces were quite limited this time.

If January-March doesn’t work, we will also have residencies available July-September 2025 as well.

I hope to see you sometime at (name withheld)!

14

Thank you for sharing your work with (name withheld) Grant. We were awestruck by the range of artistic and photographic practices shared with us during the Summer 2023 cycle. The diversity of work illustrated the kind of curiosity and rigor we are always inspired to see, which always makes it extremely difficult to select just two (name withheld) Grant recipients. We’re sorry to say that your submission was not selected in this cycle.

We are beyond honored that you shared your work with us and are thankful to be introduced to your practice. Your proactive and persevering spirit is what allows us, and others, to discover new and innovative practices in contemporary art and photography, and is what motivates us, along with our cultural community, to continue to create and support each other. This is why we are passionately committed to making our grants as simple and accessible throughout the year—in the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Thank you again for participating in the Summer 2023 Cycle. It is truly an honor to know of your work and we can’t wait to see what’s next as you continue to create, innovate, and inspire every one around you.

13

Thank you for applying to the (name withheld). We sent status letters to all applicants on March 14. However, it appears that some of the emails were not received. We appreciate the time and effort you invested in sharing your artistic vision and portfolio with us. We understand the anticipation and hope that accompanies such applications, making this message challenging to write and, undoubtedly, to receive. After thorough review and deliberation, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a position in this year’s residency program. The selection process was exceptionally competitive, with a remarkable number of applicants. This made our decision-making process both difficult and humbling.

Please understand that this decision does not diminish the value of your work. Our panel was impressed by the diversity and quality of submissions, and the limitation in the number of artists we can accommodate is the only barrier to extending more invitations.

We encourage you to consider applying again for June 2025. There is no fee for 2nd time applicants.

Here is the free 2025 application link for returning 2nd time applicants only:

(link withheld)

Thank you once again for your interest in the (name withheld) Residency. We wish you the very best in your career and future applications.

12

Thank you for submitting an application for the (name withheld) Program. We regret to inform you that you were not selected as a finalist. Unfortunately, it is impossible to accommodate everyone who submits an application. This year we received 1,874 applications for the 17 available studios. (names withheld) served as jurors.

The (name withheld) Program began as the (name withheld) Program, developed for artists, by artists in 1991. In 2014 the program was renamed the (name withheld) Program to honor the legacy of (name withheld) and reflect the sponsorship and commitment of the (name withheld) Foundation. The Program has supported 492 artists to receive year-long, rent-free, studio spaces since its founding.

Thank you again for your interest in the (name withheld) Program.

11

Thank you for your application to the (name withheld) Resident Artists Program. I regret to inform you that you were not selected for a 2024 residency.

Our jurors reviewed over 700 applications for only 31 available slots. While you may be disappointed, please do not feel that this decision resulted from a negative evaluation of your work. We must turn down way too many talented and accomplished artists simply for lack of space.

This year’s jury found the quality of the work to be exceptional and they had the arduous task of selecting only a handful of artists for the available spots. Space is even more limited this year since we continue to welcome and make room for the artists postponed due to COVID.

We invite your application again in the future. In the meantime, we wish you the best of luck in the development of your art and career.

Questions?  Please feel free to Email me at (information withheld) directly.

10

We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your interest in our (name withheld) and for taking the time to submit your application.

After careful consideration and review by our selection committee, we regret to inform you that your application was not selected for the fellowship this year. We received a large number of talented and qualified applicants, making the decision-making process incredibly challenging.

Please know that this decision in no way reflects the quality of your work. Our selection process is competitive, and we must make difficult decisions based on specific criteria and the overall alignment with the goals of our fellowship program.

While you were not selected for the fellowship this time, the selection committee felt that your voice, the quality of your work and variety of professional art experiences, were more aligned with our Established Artists Members and we would like to offer you a place in the gallery as an Established Artist Member. 

Established Members have all the same benefits of the (name withheld), including a solo exhibition every 2 years, yearly group shows, as well as the opportunity to curate shows (if they would like), but they do not have gallery sitting responsibilities, instead they support the gallery through a low monthly due of $110.00.

We do feel your work would be an exciting addition to our Contemporary Art Gallery and we hope you will consider joining us as a Full Member. If you would like more info or to discuss more about being a Full Member please let me know.

We wish you the very best in all your future artistic endeavors and commend you for your commitment to excellence in the arts.

09

Thank you for applying to (name withheld) program. We are sorry to share with you that we will not be able to offer you a spot for the 2024 summer program.

The applications we received were all well-suited to the time, space, and opportunities that (name withheld) offers. Because of this, this year’s selection process was both competitive and difficult, with many more candidates than available spots. Each application was carefully and thoroughly reviewed by a compiling group of artists. As you know, (name withheld) was founded by artists for artists, and we value very highly the time, care, and emotions participants put into their applications.

Thank you so much for being patient during the review process, and we wish you all the best as you move forward with your practice.

Warmly,

08

Following our jury’s final meeting at the end of June, we regret to inform you that your application for our 2025 Residency Program was not selected.

The selection process was particularly challenging this year, as we received over 900 applications for only 12 available residencies. The quality of the submissions was very high, which made the selection even more difficult for our jury members.

We took great interest in your candidacy and were grateful for its quality. We encourage you to continue pursuing your artistic practice and to stay in touch with us.

Please note that given to the large amount of applications we received this year, we will not be able to provide individual feedback.

We thank you for the effort and patience you demonstrated throughout the application process and we send you our best regards.

07

I hope you’re well and we want to thank you so much again for your interest in the residency.

Although we can’t welcome you to the program at this time, we would love to keep you on the waitlist in case of a cancellation in the coming months.  We were all impressed by the thought and care in your application and making a selection was incredibly difficult.

Please let us know if you would like to stay on the waitlist, and we hope to meet you in the future!

06

Thank you for your application to (name withheld): Art, Writing, Practice – 2024 at (name withheld). We are writing to inform you that after careful review by the adjudicators, we are not able to offer you a place in the upcoming program. The adjudicators commented that they were astounded by the high calibre and range of applications from local, national, and international artists, making the decision incredibly difficult. We do hope that you will consider applying for future (name withheld) programs and residencies.

We are not able to offer individual feedback on applications but direct you to our Frequently Asked Questions Page on the website for tips and direction on submitting a future application.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact us.

05

I hope you are enjoying this lovely fall weather.

Thank you for your application for (name withheld) 2023 Artists-in-Residence Program. I regret to inform you that your application was not selected by the panel for the 2023 residency. This cycle was extremely competitive, and we received nearly 300 applicants. We are aware of the time and energy that goes into these applications and want to express our deepest gratitude for your time and for your interest in the program.
 
We hope you will continue to remain engaged with (name withheld) through our programs, subsidized space, and future residency opportunities. And feel free to keep (name withheld) ((name withheld)’s Exec Director, on cc) and I in the loop about your work and practice – we love updates, please don’t be a stranger! 

04

Thank you for your interest in (name withheld) Projects’s 2024 Open Call.  We received over 570 applications for this opportunity and are floored by your support. Funds from this Open Call will directly go towards our 2024-25 programming, as well as provide stipends for our participating exhibition artists.

We regret to inform you that we did not select your application for this opportunity. We found this to be a very difficult decision, and we urge you to stay in touch, visit (name withheld), and apply for future opportunities with the gallery.

Again, we thank you for applying and wish you the very best.

03

Thank you for completing the (name withheld) Workshop Scholarship Application. We were impressed by the number of applications received and by each applicant’s commitment to their craft.

After careful consideration, we have selected 3 recipients for the  Scholarships. Unfortunately, your application was not among those selected for this particular opportunity.

While we are limited in the number of scholarships we can offer for this specific opportunity, we encourage you to continue applying for scholarships to expand your art practice and we hope you will be able to participate in one of our future offerings. We may reach out to you to apply for additional opportunities and will continue to share publicly when we have open call opportunities accepting applications.

Thank you for your time and interest.

02

Thank you for sending us such thoughtful and interesting work. Your concepts and delivery blew our jurors away.  Due to limited space in the gallery, we were only able to accept a small number of submissions.  We regret to inform you that your work was not selected for (name withheld)’s upcoming exhibition, “(name withheld),” at (name withheld).

Your work is beautiful, and we enjoyed looking at every submission we received. We appreciate your enthusiasm, interest in, and support of (name withheld) and hope you will submit to our future calls.  You are the reason we started (name withheld)!  Thank you. 

Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for our upcoming Open Calls.  We hope to see you at the opening (July 00 at (name withheld)) so we can talk art and sing your praises!

01

subject line: Residency Notification for the (name withheld)

Thank you for submitting an application to the (name withheld) Artist in Residence Program. We were pleased to have received so many strong applications this year and truly appreciate the time, effort, and passion you put into yours.

After careful consideration and review by our selection committee, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you a place in this year’s residency program. As you know, we are only able to accept a small percentage of the artists and writers who apply. We engage different outside jurors every year, so in a different year, there may well have been a different result. Additionally, the panel is instructed not only to rate the quality of the applications but also to craft an overall group for the year that has the right balance of backgrounds and perspectives.

While this decision reflects the highly competitive nature of the selection process, it does not diminish the value of your work. Thank you once again for your interest in our residency program and for sharing your artistic vision with us. We wish you continued success in your personal and professional endeavors and look forward to seeing your future achievements.

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request a note, acceptance letter, or portfolio.

»

view artists’ work on Instagram.

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