Faces + Traces

This grant is such a fantastic idea. Can you give us a little back story on how it came to be? How did these art world figures become collaborators?

When the pandemic hit, we had to rethink how we fulfill our mission of supporting artists. That first week, when NYC restaurants and bars shut down, we knew so many artists who lost service jobs they relied on for a basic living income. And when you’re living paycheck to paycheck, that’s devastating. We saw how our friends and community were affected. We decided to give a grant out that week, so we just made an Instagram post and a submission form and did it. We put the post up on a Friday, and then over the weekend we thought it would be cool to get a guest artist to select the grant recipient.

We asked Celia Rowlson-Hall, who our artist-in-residence Jenna Elizabeth has collaborated with, and she said yes! We saw a huge need, reconvened, and said, "Can we keep doing this for as long as we can?" We felt strongly about supporting artists who had real, immediate, financial need, and doing it in such a simple direct way felt right. We all reached out to established art world friends that week to see who might be interested in supporting artists by selecting a recipient and amplifying their work. Laurie Simmons was immediately in; she brought in others. Precious Alike from our crew hit up Ryan McGinley and Jerome LaMaar. We just kept building. 

Left- Isabelle McGuire, Eugenics Model, Me as an instagram Model, Grimes, Billie Eilish, 2020.

Right- Ilona Szwarc, from the Unsex me here Series, 2019.

Why does ILYSM feel it is important to support artists during the pandemic? 

As our upcoming guest judge Marilyn Minter says: “I love giving artists money!” ILYSM was built on a desire to support and collaborate with artists, pandemic or not. But it’s an especially difficult time for artists, and even though we rely on art to feed and inspire us, when we start to categorize “needs” and “wants,” art and artists are often deprioritized. Yes, you can exist at a subsistence level without art, but do we really want to!?? I certainly don’t. At the end of the day, you have to put your money where your mouth is, and directly support what you believe in. If you care about small businesses, make sure you buy from small businesses. If you believe in ethical production, then invest in ethical purchases whenever you can afford it. If you care about art, give artists money!

Series by Aja DeWolf Moira, saudade, 2020.

Is this an initiative that could continue "post-pandemic"?

Yes, we plan on doing a version of our grant initiative every year. We’ve also discovered so many incredible artists, whether or not they received the grant, and have reached out to many of them to explore collaborating with them. We are figuring out how we can continue to support the grant recipients and runner-ups selected by our guest judges. We’re organizing a group show of some kind, TBD how and where and when that will be, or if it will even be a physical, conventional show. We are looking at partners to work with to build out the future of ILYSM4Artists, including but not limited to the grant program. 

Left- Corey Pemberton, She was Raised White, 2019.

Right- Noa Ginzburg, One on Red, 2019, 20x25"

Anything our readers should keep an eye out for?

Our upcoming vegan Tabi sneaker (on pre-order now). We’re working on new sneakers, Tabi and non-Tabi, which I’m really excited about, and other categories of merch, with our designer Sara Jaramillo and project manager Anna Fong. It’s cool because proceeds from our product sales power the ILYSM4ARTISTS program and grants. And, we’re working on putting together a $99-and-under art store, including original art and artist collaborations by artists we’ve discovered through the grant submissions. We’re working to set that up ASAP so we can get these artists paid!

In order to apply: follow @ilysm.jpg, apply at ILYSM.COM and post your artwork to your IG grid.