So, I have this metaphor about the art world: 

I walk into this beautiful forest; the moon is so bright I can stroll easily, and then I see some man-made lights in the distance; I walk toward them. As I approach, bright lights surround a large door to what looks like a golden gate; the bright lighting over the door makes it hard to see the once-moon-lit forest.  A person with a clipboard is standing in front of the door, and many people lined up to enter the door. 

I ask the person with the clipboard what is going on.

“Back of the line, unless you are on the list? What is your name?”

“Well, what is behind this gate?”

“What is your name?” they repeat. I walk around the door and see it is just the same forest I came from, but you know, behind a door.

“I can just walk around this door; it doesn’t even have a gate attached to it.” I say and proceed to walk around the door to continue my evening stroll; the person with the clipboard shrugs and calls back, “Well, you are probably not on the list anyway.”

So that is my metaphor for gatekeeping in the art world; the same thing is in front of the gate, behind the gate, and next to the gate; it is just the forest. Sometimes, we can’t see the forest for the trees.

What we’re about:

We do not allow funders, gatekeepers, or striving culture into our space, which means the things institutions withhold from us unless we are chosen are freely shared; we un-monetize services to artists.  Sometimes, gatekeepers pick us, introduce us to mentors (our friends we already know), decide if we get the drip, and then throw us back to our community when they move on (basically where we started, best case).  Taking institutions/funders out of the equation means we can support one another, co-create, crowdfund, and more.  The town square replaces the marketplace.  The studio visit replaces the residency.  The artist support group replaces the institutional recognition.

Do we still participate in the ‘old art world’? Some of us do; some work in new digital marketplaces, are freelancers, educators, or have ‘day jobs.’  

I’m not ancient, but I have outlived many museums, galleries, non-profits, residencies, grants, and federal agency programs. I am still making art, and my friends and community are still here; the community will outlast me.

From our press release:

Be the Crypto-Anarchist Digital Artist Colony You Want to See in the World.

No Funding — the newest project from Stupid Hackathon co-founder Amelia Winger-Bearskin — is a mutual aid network that aims to help creatives radically rethink our relationships to funding, grants, and gatekeepers. In an arts and media culture increasingly focused on securing patronage from institutions, corporations, and wealthy individuals, No Funding asks what creative life would look like if artists were fully liberated from money and the self-censorship imposed by its pursuit? Rather than experience the soul-crushing lifestyle of striving, rejection, and constant jockeying for position, could we instead find new ways to support one another? What would we make?

No Funding is a public group; sign up at the top of this page to get in on the fun and participate in weekly conversations where members present on topics near and dear to them. No Funding is primarily BIPOC creative technologists but it is open to anyone who has needed a day job to make something cool they believe in. Our motto is no-striving no-hustling: No-Funding.com a creative collective.

No-Funding was first created in this speculative work of fiction Child’s Play by Amelia over at the GoFA blog. Child’s Play

It’s all fun & games ‘till someone gets rich! Is an elite cadre of children and seniors responsible for The Great Anomaly?