Your Tax Dollars At Work

Originally uploaded by kleopatrjones

I posted last week that I have been awarded a stay at the Virginia Center For The Creative Arts. (I can’t tell you how much I am looking forward to it.) What I didn’t know at the time is that the National Endowment For The Arts is picking up the tab for my visit.

My residency is for 28 days. This costs VCCA $5040. (The artist is usually asked to pay $30 a day to help defray the expenses, but that’s only about 15% of the actual expense.) I am so grateful that in these tough economic times, the NEA will fully fund and support eight writers for a month-long stay. And of course, I am grateful to VCCA for offering me this wonderful gift of time an freedom to create.