Bay area artists know how to accomplish a lot on a shoestring budget. Now, thanks to the efforts of local artrepreneur T. Hampton Dohrman (pictured), a bit more money could be lining their pockets.
Earlier this month, Dohrman announced the launch of his Think Small to Think Big Arts Microgrant Program, which will disburse awards of up to $500 to artists who propose staging a public event in Hillsborough or Pinellas County. The program will award up to four grants each month, beginning in July, with the aim of dramatically increasing the Bay area's grassroots arts offerings — experimental theater, visual art exhibits, concerts, dance, etc., by artists and organizations who lack the deep pockets of a major institution.
"That sort of stuff is what makes an art community really dynamic and interesting," Dohrman says. "There's no support mechanism for that currently."
Dohrman speaks from experience. In the past, he has co-organized exhibitions through [5]art, a now-defunct artists' collective, and co-created Refractory, a one-night multimedia installation that drew hundreds of viewers to the Tampa Armature Works Building last October. Having accomplished such projects with next-to-no-budget, Dohrman knows that a few hundred dollars can turn an imagined event into reality.
[Editor's Note: Hampton curated the last two Sensory Overload events for Creative Loafing; he's also an occasional contributor to our food section.]
Applications for the program's first round of grants are due on June 1, and then on the first day of each following month. A panel of Bay area artists and arts professionals yet to be determined will judge the entries and decide how to spend the program's start-up funding — a $10,000 grant from the Gobioff Foundation.
"There is actual money available that we are going to give to actual people to create actual things," Dohrman promises.
For more information, go to thinksmalltothinkbig.org/microgrants.
