REJECTION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTIST COMMUNITY
Image by Josh Negura
Often, my social media and website are spaces to celebrate wins, successful commissions and the bits that went the way I hoped. Right now though, that doesn’t feel authentic to my experience. This month, I received seven residency rejections.
Needless to say, it’s been challenging. One came, then another, then all of a sudden, I was in a sort of rejection snowball. Each application requires hours of unpaid work creating project proposals and with each ‘no’ the financial pressure grows.
Applying for these opportunities can feel a bit like breathing life into an idea to then go through a grieving process when it doesn’t get realised into a work. It’s not just your art being rejected – it can feel like you are. Doing this over and over can be emotionally tough.
To move through this, I’ve begun acknowledging the work I have done by applying for these residencies. Each application, successful or not, deepens my understanding of what I’m making. I’m learning more about my work each time I write about it.
Above all though, the thing that’s helped me most is talking to friends.
Rejection can feel isolating. It’s not something we often see in others’ practice which can make you believe that you're the only one hearing ‘no’. Chatting with fellow artists, whether in dance or other disciplines, reminds me that rejection is rarely personal. It’s the nature of our work and often a communal experience.
Sharing the harder parts of being an artist takes the weight out of the ‘nos’. They become something that we laugh about and can sit through together. I’ve also noticed that the words of advice I give my friends when they receive similar news has softened how I speak to myself.
Solidarity to every artist navigating these cycles right now. The more we speak about it, the easier it becomes. Connecting with our artist community is so important for this reason. It holds us through the ‘nos’ and celebrates us through the ‘yeses’.
If anyone wants to grab a coffee, vent, commiserate, celebrate or just do an application side by side – I’m around.