Melissa Wilke
Arts Leader and Advocate
Melissa L. Wilke is the founder of Human Tapestry Project a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring perspectives through the use of expressive arts. Recently, Ms Wilke was recognized as one of the country's top emerging arts leaders, and has been involved in state and federal advocacy, addressing the Congressional Arts Caucus, speaking on behalf of all of those in need of finding a voice through the use of arts. Ms Wilke serves the City of Naperville as a commissioner of the Mayor's Advisory Board for Person's with Disabilities where she advises the Mayor and City Council and insures compliance of ADA law within the municipal entities and upholds the spirit of the law through out all aspects of community life. She began her career in the arts as a professional ballerina leading to specialized choreography for independent film, period pieces and adaptive movement which earned her most innovative choreographer of the year in 1999. For eight years, she has taught movement and expressive arts to the special needs population as well as teaching cultural arts for North Central College. She received the Distinguished Service Award in Education from the Naperville Jaycees and several local and state recognitions all reflecting her sincere belief that every human perspective carries value.
Session 1: Got Money?
Aligning grant requests with reasons people fun the arts
To be an artists is to know the need for money. Pairing up your needs with the reason people give to the arts is key. Simply needing money for your endeavor often will not be enough. We will discuss some in's and out's to public and private funding. Some of the issues we will address are:
- How to summarize your vision in a concise, fiscally responsible way and keep your spark of artistry apparent
- How to put passion into language that someone can quickly read and make a decision about
- How to translate the donor's expectations for potential recipients and use that as your guide to writing your proposal
And if you still are looking for information ? I will provide you with a quick reference sheet at how to get started and what to do and who to call when you would like assistance in your search for funding.