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Project Start Date (no <br />earlier than July 1, <br />2022) <br />July 1 <br />Project End Date (no <br />later than June 30, <br />2023) <br />June 1 2023 <br />Project/Program <br />Summary <br />I hav e been inv ited to speak at TEDx HIGHPOINT ( <br />https://www.ted.com/tedx/ev ents/49609) about my work at Present Day on <br />Main where we used art to change the culture. I will also discuss the <br />importance of ev oking courage into the work so it empowers other artist <br />and the community to shift policy, culture and minds. Money from this <br />grant will help pay for my lodging fees as well as trav el. <br />As a result of this TEDx opportunity (which is unpaid), I would like to hold a <br />community Q&A session for artists to share ways I hav e marketed myself <br />and promoted my work corporately, locally, and through a sole proprietor <br />lens. I would like to hav e a moderator for this ev ent to ask questions of me <br />and a few other local artists and/or art administrators who hav e a talent for <br />marketing themselv es and other artists. <br />I will also use funds from this grant to market the community talk to local <br />artists v ia social media who may be seeking ways to earn more income <br />from their work. I hav e not seen many local community Q&A ev ents for <br />local artists. It would be great to hav e someone from OCAC, Art Therapy <br />Institute and the Art Center be on a panel along with artists to also discuss <br />ways to fully maximize and market yourself as an artist. <br />As an artist, I recognize that the majority of my work has come from self- <br />promotion and word of mouth. I use my Facebook and Instagram <br />followership to market and engage my community and potential clientele. It <br />is through Facebook that I was discov ered for a corporate ev ent that led to <br />this TEDx talk. I created a song and spoken word piece to open for the <br />corporate ev ent from the themes the ev ent would cov er. That can be found <br />here: <br />https://driv e.google.com/file/d/15RtYAXzdJhB6ik77ErpPZguO151JfMlR/v iew? <br />usp=sharing <br />W hile performing this opener, Maija Liisa, my soon-to-be TEDx coach, was <br />in attendance. She reached out to me for sev eral months after the ev ent to <br />encourage me and let me know she believ ed I could land a TEDx talk. <br />Initially I was v ery nerv ous, because I didn't see how what I did was <br />powerful enough for a TEDx platform. But she started coaching me ev en <br />before I signed on, and slowly I gained confidence that I really could be a <br />TEDx speaker, so I signed up to take her class. W ithin 3 months I landed a <br />TEDx stage. Maija-Liisa's information can be found here: <br />https://mlspeaks.com/ <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 4D879CCA-6149-4CB5-9CE1-15B5A47DB024