Hey everyone, we wanted to let you know that the application period for the YouWorkForThem Illustrators grant will be closing in 4 days. http://www.society6.com/grants/grant/...tors_grant

Take a few seconds to apply with your studio and get some nominations to help you become a finalist for selection. For a full explanation of how the society6 grants system works see our GUIDE TO GRANTS http://www.society6.com/help/grants

Other grants will be closing soon as well, so check them out too: http://www.society6.com/grants/open

Hey everyone, we wanted to let you know that the application period for our introductory grant will be closing in 3 days. http://www.society6.com/grants/grant/...tory_Grant

Take a few seconds to apply with your studio and get some nominations to help you become a finalist for selection. For a full explanation of how the society6 grants system works see our GUIDE TO GRANTS http://www.society6.com/help/grants

Other grants will be closing soon as well, so check them out too: http://www.society6.com/grants/open

First off a quick thanks to our grant givers. We've been very pleased with the response so far from people who want to support the arts in a participatory way. For those of you who are not yet familiar, we wanted to highlight a key aspect of society6's Grants; any individual or organization can give a grant through society6.com - it's that simple.

All you need to do is click on GIVE A GRANT from our Grants page - http://www.society6.com/grants - write up the grant description in 255 characters or less, select money or opportunity and submit it to us at society6. We'll review it and make sure it is in the best interest of artists, and if so we'll make it live and available.

For those of you who know a person or organization that you think would like to get involved and issue a grant to the society6 community, send them this link and tell them about society6 - http://www.society6.com/grants/create

The key detail is that these Grants can come in the form of opportunities which likely cost the grant giver nothing to provide. It is our desire that one day the Open Grants index of society6 will be filled with hundreds of opportunity and money grants and that artists from all over the world will benefit.

I wanted to highlight a recent grant that's coming from the Rolf Contemporary Gallery. They are offering a grant of artist representation services to help with different aspects of your art career. They have a pretty solid offering in terms of their services, and you have to be selected by their team in order to qualify for these normally, so their pretty exclusive and it puts you in good company. You can read about the services here: http://www.rolfcontemporary.com/services=pg1.html

We're very excited to see diverse and creative uses of the Society6 grant system. Especially from a group that is clearly committed to helping and supporting artists that are both emerging and established. Check out their grant: http://www.society6.com/grants/grant/...ry_Gallery and see if it interests you.

Here's a little about the gallery as well: "Rolf Contemporary is an independent gallery and publisher that offers original art, limited edition prints, photography, livre d'artiste, and a variety of books. We also provide artist accreditation resources and representation services. Our mission is to exhibit and publish the finest in unconventional artists, designers, and photographers."

Enjoy!

We've created a new page on society6 called "New Posts & Studios" so you can see posts and studios as they are made. This shows the latest, unfiltered content on society6. You can access the page by clicking the button on the bottom of the Charts page. As always, we welcome your feedback on this new feature. Enjoy!

Kind words from our friends at Mashable including us as part of their Spark of Genius series:

http://mashable.com/2009/05/12/society6/

Please join us in thanking Allison Mooney, Colin Nagy and the PSFK team for showing their support of our mission:

http://www.psfk.com/2009/05/society6-...world.html

We've added a new feature for new members of society6. When you first sign up we suggest a few artists of interest to follow. This suggestion list will change over time and feature artists that are participating regularly on society6 and doing great work. We look forward to further developing this feature and showcasing a variety of society6 members through it.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of joining a meet-up in San Diego, hosted by Dave Brown of Holiday Matinee at The Hive co-working space. We were invited by Zack Nielsen over at Sezio and joined by many creative people including Lara Mathews of Thread, Justin Skeesuck of Seen+Noted, Stacy and Sean Kelley of Set & Drift / Sanctuary 143 and many more.

It was inspiring to spend some time with this tight group of creative professionals and artists all working individually and collectively to build the the arts and culture of San Diego and beyond. Thanks to all of you who shared, attended and gave us great feedback and ideas about society6. I'm excited about what everyone there is doing and I expect it to be the birthplace of many great ideas and collaborations.

check these out:
www.holidaymatinee.com
www.threadshow.com
www.sezio.org
www.sanctuary143.com
www.seenandnoted.us
www.setanddrift.org

Nominations are a key piece in the Micro-Grants system on Society6. Every grant ends up with a finalist pool based on nominations from other members. Whoever is giving the grant MUST select the winner of the grant from this list of finalists. It definitely helps your chances of being selected by the grant giver if you have a solid number of nominations. It's not a popularity contest but a way to involve the community in the process and try to keep the Micro-grants system fair and manageable.