At the beginning of the pandemic I had applied to Creative Capital for partial funding of this project. This was my first time applying to Creative Capital and it was the first year that I met all of the eligibility criteria. I was thrilled to hear that my project had move to round two (of three). Considering that the applicant pool was at 4,000 and only 800 advanced to the second round, I felt pretty good about reaching this milestone. The jury process for Creative Capital is set up so that the first round cuts are made by two jurors working in the same themes and disciplines of your project. Applicants are asked to choose disciplines that reflect the project rather than disciplines that reflect their career work. My disciplines for this project were Ecological Art and Social Practice. My themes for this project were:

1. Climate Change & Sustainability

2. Environment & Ecology

3. Alternate & Future Worlds

Unfortunately, though, as I was preparing this post, I received notice that I did not make it through the second round of evaluations. While it is a set-back in one sense, I feel confident about the progress I am making, and I now have the luxury of spending more time upfront in the planning process. Applications open again in six months and by that time I will also have spent more time designing the equipment I will need for this project.

- RYAN DEWEY