My mom used to tell people that I have an “unhealthy fear of nothing." While I think this makes me sound more exciting than my suburban childhood actually was, she was not giving me a compliment.
My resident side chair psychoanalyst (my partner, Matt) thinks my mom was envious of my adventurous spirit and my unwillingness to compromise when it came to anything I wanted to do. Road trip it alone across the country without a cell phone? Yes, please. Move to a new city alone just because? Of course.
I was recently introduced to the idea that when given a choice, most people will prioritize avoiding loss over taking a risk that might have a greater reward. We tend to play it safe. I think this is what my mom was getting at—that I would rather dream big and take a leap than keep the status quo and avoid the loss (and also the big rewards). Risk, failure, the unknown, shame of being a black sheep—these things have never been reason enough to keep me from pursuing anything I wanted.
Young Virginia embarking on an adventure. See that glint in my eye?
Even so, I can see how I've made choices while adulting to create stability and sometimes that involves avoiding risk. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, over the past year in fact. Maybe it's a mid-life crisis, maybe it's just life's crises.
I have been taking day trips to my childhood stomping grounds to reconnect with my adventurous teenager self. Who was that girl and am I still her?
When I make risky decisions, I get a bit giddy, like my bones are fluttering. And I'm happy to say that this is how I feel right now. I am making some changes for 2026 which feels like it could be the perfect time, or perhaps a terrible idea. We'll see!
I have decided to take some financial losses but open up room for bigger things: I am pausing the Grant Deadlines Subscription and so will not be offering it in 2026.
I am so proud of this subscription. For five years, I have offered this as a service to my artist community at a low price. I have served over 450 artists by sending hundreds of emails about 70+ grants each year so that they have lots of reminders about how to get some money for their practice.
I have gained oodles of data and information by running this subscription. I look deeply at each and every grant and award, see the changes from year to year, and notice when things do not change. My artist network has kept me updated about their feelings toward grants, what their success rate is with open calls, and what they are seeing in the grant landscape in terms of who is getting funded. This has given me a lot of ideas about what artists actually need, so, I am going to take 2026 to think about this more.
Still want to find out about approaching grant deadlines? Good news! Grants are a part of my Artist Deadlines Subscription. In addition to this Subscription, I continue to be a thought partner for artists, a strategist, a sounding board.
What can this look like? I help artists with time management, outreach, grant writing, and research. I draft letters for artists when then need to break up with their gallery. I guide artists through leveraging opportunities and turning them into game changers. I have led artists down pathways to museum commissions, solo shows, and opened channels of support. I have written successful grants and helped artists write and talk about their work.
I also share the insights I have gained by working with so many artists—the rejections, the lapsed commitments, the fallouts, and the embarrassments many artists have to shoulder but often do it in private.
I say all this not to toot my own horn, but to show how your successes are my successes. Your disappointments are not in a vacuum. Through The Artist’s Office I have seen that success doesn’t necessarily come to the most talented artists, it comes to those who make smart career decisions.
Artists oftentimes feel like they are on their own navigating their career, but I try to eliminate this myth and help artists know they have people they can turn to to help them make those smart decisions.
I invite you to consider what you want to accomplish in 2026 and reach out if you want to talk about making it happen. If your goals are outside my wheelhouse I have lots of other resources and contacts to which I can refer you.
There is more to come from me before the end of the year, but I'm signing off for now.