The Gigs and the Money: Grant Writing and Generating Opportunities for Artists

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:47:00 -0500

"I didn't sign up to be a grant writer. I wanted to be a choreographer. I discovered that, to make my work, I needed to find support and opportunities to present my work. I embarked on a painful learning process, making lots of mistakes. I want to share with you what I've learned over 30 years: principles and tools for writing simple, clear grants and for generating the gigs, shows, tours, and community events that fit your work. No bull, no fancy powerpoints, just real-world tools, artist to artist."
Andrew Simonet

Limited attendance in-person workshop, sign up here to be placed on waiting list by February 9. You will receive an email confirmation with the location.

Andrew Simonet is writer and choreographer in Philadelphia. From 1993 to 2013, he co-directed Headlong Dance Theater, creating dances like CELL (a journey for one audience member guided by your cell phone), and This Town is a Mystery (dances by four Philadelphia families in their homes). Andrew left Headlong to focus on writing fiction. His debut novel, Wilder, was published by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux in 2018 and his second novel, A Night Twice as Long, was published by FSG in 2021. Andrew has received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, an Independence Fellowship in the Arts, a Bessie for Choreography at the NYC Dance and Performance Awards, and residencies at Yaddo, Ucross, Kyoto Art Center, Studios of Key West, Santa Fe Art Institute, and Hambidge. His performance work has been supported by The Creative Capital Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Pew Trusts, Rockefeller Foundation, Japan Foundation, and New England Foundation for the Arts, and produced by Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), P.S. 122 (NYC), Central Park Summerstage, Expo 98 (Lisbon), Dies de Dansa (Barcelona),The Jade Festival (Tokyo), The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. In 2006, Andrew founded Artists U, an incubator for helping artists make sustainable lives. All Artists U programs are artist-led, open source, and free for participants. Through workshops, convenings, and one-on-one planning sessions, he has worked directly with over 8,000 artists across all disciplines. His book Making Your Life as an Artist, an open source guide to living as an artist, has been downloaded by 200,000 artists worldwide and is used as a textbook in dozens of university and graduate programs.

This event is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.