Update: The Liberty Foundation has been wound down and is no longer actively fundraising. After the results of the 2016 election and the subsequent shift in corporate philanthropy, we were unable to secure enough funding to launch our initial Fellowship awards. Maybe we’ll try again when the world is less awful!
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Through my time working on XOXO and Build, I’ve been lucky enough to meet many exceptionally talented individuals working across a wide range of creative fields.
However, I see a lot of these folks struggling with the same problem: many are unable to break from the cycle of burying their passions beneath part-time or full-time obligations, living paycheck to paycheck without the necessary time and breathing room to develop sustainable businesses around their creative work.
The Liberty Foundation aims to break that cycle by directly supporting independent artists and creators and giving them the resources they need to develop their creative practice into a sustainable business.
The foundation will begin by offering a small number of Fellowship awards. Under the guidance of our advisory board, we will prioritize awarding fellowships to a diverse and representative group working in contemporary fields including film, music, podcasts and audio storytelling, journalism, comics, tabletop and board games, and indie video games.
Our fellows will each receive a $60,000 cost-of-living grant, paid out monthly, and direct support for health insurance costs for one year. These grants will not be tied to a single project or specific deliverables, but rather aimed at giving creators a chance to step back and make decisions based on curiosity and sustainability rather than dire and immediate financial need.
The second aspect of the foundation supports this goal by providing access to our coaching and mentorship program, designed to help our fellows develop sustainable, independent businesses with direct support from individuals and organizations who have already figured out how. This will involve workshops and short online courses, an annual creative retreat, and participation in an active and extensive mentorship network.
Our aim is to give as many artists and creators as possible the resources they need to build a realistic career. With that in mind, we will also publish everything we produce for our fellows in a freely accessible online library for other creators to use and benefit from. Our ultimate goal is to remove as many barriers as possible for anyone who could be making a living from their creative work if they just had a chance to figure out how.
Applications will open later this year. If you’re interested in learning more, follow us on Twitter, or sign up for our mailing list.
Thanks to our friends at MailChimp and our private benefactors for their support. If you’d like to help, or you’d like to make a financial contribution towards our Fellowship awards, email [email protected].
— Andy McMillan