"The letter comes as a surprise. Timing, perfect and maybe even heaven sent. Just when thoughts of giving up seem like the best option, the Tanne Foundation sends an unexpected letter, backed by four digits and a comma, bearing a message that says to a sagging creative spirit, "You are valued. Your voice is heard. Your hard work, appreciated." With your kind and unexpected gift, I went to Russia to attend a reading of my play CHINA DOLL there, and to visit Novodevichy Cemetery where I laid flowers on the grave of Anton Chekhov —
Tanne Award Testimonials:
The Tanne award was transformative for me because of how and when it came into my life. It was the best kind of award to get because it was a total surprise and arrived one day in my mailbox like a beautiful secret gift. There were no strings attached – this is so unusual and important in a funding climate where artists often have to do double the work to get half the money, and always have to propose something new for funding.
Additionally, a time when my practice was in flux – old collaborations were shifting, I had recently had a baby, and I was uncertain about my solo ideas and new directions. Receiving the award gave me confidence to keep going and I embarked on an ambitious new project called The Border Crossed Us. So while the money was incredible (and came in handy to give me the time and space to create new work), the award was even more important for the encouragement and support that it expressed.
💖❤️💙 It was like being a kid in a candy store. I bought tubes of oil paint and canvases with my gift. 🎉
My Tanne Foundation Award gave me two incredible gifts: a period of financial freedom that allowed me to explore and expand artistically, and the conviction to call myself an artist. I had always been an artist, but the recognition allowed me to step into the long lineage of artists and claim my rightful place amongst other creatives.
I feel such pride and connection when I think of my Tanne Foundation Award; pride in being recognized and trusted, and connection to all of the other artists involved and especially with the wonderful man who nominated me… Bob. This helped me years later as I transitioned from dancer and choreographer to painter and printmaker when an injury deemed it necessary. I recognized that my creative impulses were stronger than my physical body.
I’m the daughter of an actress and a director, so it might not be surprising that when I chose my art it was the quiet, solitary, quiet genre of writing. I didn’t anticipate then how lonely it can be as dictator of an invisible kingdom. Tanne’s gift was a generous, joyful reminder that, even from here, I can be heard. You have my deep gratitude.
Many thanks again to the Tanne Foundation for the 2017 award. It has allowed me to further my work and helped lead to a situation where I have been working independently since August of last year. Receiving the award at the time felt like a small miracle.
I believe that most artists struggle with a balance of trying to pay the bills and carving out space to create work. I had struggled with that situation for years, working in an at times very toxic retail job, and painting as much as I could. What makes that situation the most difficult is you feel like you are living separate lives, and I think that can interrupt work flow and focus. Now some may disagree, but I believe this drive to create is part of our chemical makeup, it is not a choice, it is who we are. Anyone can learn to draw, paint or make a sculpture. But vision can not be taught.. vision comes from within. Having the freedom to explore that is powerful and cherished. That is what my award offered, and continues on today and through tomorrow. Here is to a creative and fruitful 2019 for all. Many deep thanks again.
Assuming that any award made by a foundation to someone is intended to make a difference, large or small, in that professional’s progress or continuance with their work, I for one, can testify to success in that endeavour on the part of the Tanne.
My award came at a time when I needed to travel to further my work. Avoiding specifics here, just to point out the domino effect some things have, in this case for the better. The award allowed me to travel. That lead from one thing to another and another and now I live and work in London after years in New York. This environmental change has also changed the face of my work.
For years now the Tanne Foundation Award has been a source of blessing and a focus of continued appreciation. Thank you.
Thank you, Tanne Foundation! Before receiving the Tanne Foundation Award, I had to travel to my engagements by whatever means available (family, friends, rental cars, etc.). Now, however, I have my own automobile and I am able to travel to performance sites without any reasons for hesitation.
The Award gave me the courage to pursue and be hired to write scripted dramas that are complex and layered and possess all the human qualities of my plays. It was a wholly unexpected rallying cry to carry on, because my voice was being heard.
At the time I got the Tanne Award in 2011, I was writing sketches and jokes for television shows as a financial necessity. I was paid as a writer, but I felt far from my aspirations to write the kind of work that I had done years before, when I had no mouths to feed but my own. It allowed me to focus on writing original work in which I could let the play speak through me without the strictures I often find in the tv industry. I wrote a play in the months that followed the Award, which not only was an artistic victory, but also led to my experiencing a tectonic shift in my tv writing.
I was fortunate enough to receive tremendous support from the Tanne Foundation in 2004. At the time it was the largest and most significant unsolicited financial assistance that I had received in this field.
As a performance artist practicing in the United States I had out of necessity become very adept at executing my work under financial duress but was always able to make my resources stretch very far so that I would not be limited in my ambitions and concepts. With Tanne support I was able to present three different performances in a series called County Fair. The first work was called Hi Striker and took place as part of the 5×5 International Performance Festival in New York City. The final two installments of the series took place in the Los Angeles area and one involved my participation in a demolition derby at the LA County fair. Videos and objects from the series were exhibited at the 18th St. Gallery in Santa Monica California in 2006. It was a very informative and important period for me as an artist and as a human being and I would not have been able to execute this work without the assistance I received. For this personal growth I will always be grateful.