Individual Artist Project Grant

First, the benefit to the greater community will be to offer them a look into neurodiversity. They'll get to see neurodivergent people in a fresh light and be challenged to confront their own neurophobia. This project has the possibility to generate very important conversations around neuro-inclusion and accessibility for neurodivergent people. As for the neurodivergent community itself, I think that seeing ourselves represented in an artistic medium (wet plate tintypes) and in a contemporary artistic context, will be greatly encouraging. There is not a lot of positive representation of neurodivergence anywhere, especially in the fine arts and this project will add its own specific voice to that representation. I also think that it will be encouraging to both the broader neurodivergent community and to the autistic community to see challenging new work by a fellow autistic artist. There are so many barriers placed on us either by intentional or unintentional exclusion via the neurotypical world (systemic neurophobia) that to see others break through those barriers and engage with the broader public is really important for us. This work, by an accomplished contemporary autistic artist (myself) will be able to speak both to the broader community, and to the neurodiverse community of which I am a part. It has potential to build bridges or break through artificial constraints. It may create dialogue and introduce people to ideas that they haven't sufficiently considered before.My goal is to expand public consciousness surrounding neurodiversity. Many people are not even aware of the concept, nor of how many others in their own community are part of the neurodiverse continuum. People may especially not be aware of their own neurophobia or biases, and our institutions are hardly ever designed to accommodate or include the neurodiverse community. My project will add to the dialogue in its own particular way. Representation isn't everything, but it's very, very important. As vehicles of memory (past) and affirmation (present), photographic portraits refocus our attention, again and again, as we look upon their sometimes revelatory symbolic surfaces. Photographic surfaces, through their power of reflection, bring human likenesses into view; reminding, remembering, and reviving our awareness of their presence. Measurable outcomes: More dialogue and awareness regarding neurodiversity. I've consistently and successfully implemented a broad range of artworks/projects over the last decade or so. A number of the those have been directly grant funded, and I have finished work that went on to be exhibited in galleries, art institutions, ad-hoc collectives, on national television, and online. Given my history of past work completed, and my proven ability to start, finish, and exhibit my work, you can be rest assured that I will utilize the funds for my proposed Neurodivergence photographic project in order to complete the work which will go on to be shown publicly. Take a look at my attached CV for a broader list of my creative accomplishments and to see a bit more about my body of work as a multidisciplinary artist. Thanks.The artist exists in tension with personal and public spheres (artistic endeavors and exhibition). With my past bodies of work, it has been through exhibition and the resultant conversations stemming from public engagement that I've been able to effectively gauge outcomes related to my goals. Similarly, with this new Neurodivergence project, it will be precisely through exhibition and public conversation (artist talks, gallery shows, interviews, publication) that I'll be able to assess and measure my stated outcomes. It's never an exact measure of everything, but in the aggregate, through various means of public engagement with the work itself and with me as the artist, I will be able to glean a strong sense of whether or not the work has moved people, generated dialogue, and pushed the public conversation surrounding neurod