Designed by Sarah: February 2025 Studio Recap

This email has 3 studio updates, 1 neat aminal fact, 2 cool websites I think you should see, 2 workshops I'm teaching, and 5 grant + residency opportunities

March 04, 2025

The woodland crocuses are popping up in gardens around Atlanta and I’m less than 75 days away from my wedding this spring. Whew! I think I’m ready, but I’ve also got this nagging feeling like there’s something I’m missing. If you’ve ever had or been in a wedding, what do you wish someone had told you ahead of time?

In January I decided to light a fire and sign up to present my WIP wedding invites at Type Thursday ATL, and got really good, solid feedback from 80+ designers in attendance.

The weirdest part about getting engaged last year was everyone I told immediately responding “wow, your invites are going to look sooooo good” so naturally…. that creates a lot of pressure. I think they’re going to be great now. I’m printing them as zines on my risograph printer, and I hope they’re great.

Last month I finally launched the long-planned upgrade option for my newsletter where you get stuff in the mail along with this here monthly newsletter. A bunch of folks signed up and I Felt Some Kinda Way because honestly I was a little vague about what you’ll get. So let me tell you what they got: all of my favorite issues of my 2021-2023 publication of Unfolded, swatch kits and samples for the riso printer, bookmarks, stickers, and a bunch of handmade mini zines I picked up in Chicago. Because of y’all, I spent a ton of money in a zine shop I probably would’ve only picked a few things from in the past, and I think that’s super cool.

Want to get whatever comes next? I already know what it’s going to be and it’s going to be kind of ridiculous:

Warmly,
Sarah 

👉 News Futures

I have been so excited to finally share this now that News Futures is launched and out there in the world. They are a truly unique organization, reimagining news from the ground up to build an ecosystem that is “service-oriented, participatory, and reparative.” For their brand, I designed a custom typeface that references inktraps, a printmaking method historically used on newsprint, but with a modern update to bring it into its new era. Built them a website to match, and at their launch party last week they announced there were already over 400 signatories for the News Futures charter.

Learn more about the do-ocracy ➔

👉 The Dale Murphy Foundation

This was one of those projects that I couldn’t believe I got to work on: Dale Murphy, one of the most iconic players for the Atlanta Braves in the 80s and active philanthropist during and after his career, formally started a foundation along with his wife, Nancy Murphy. They brought me on to design their brand and website from the… field… up, and were amazing to work with. We worked to incorporate Dale’s history and legacy into a brand that gave a nod to his era but also felt fresh, modern, and engaging.

Support the Dale Murphy Foundation today ➔

👉 Accounting for Creatives

Every year I work on my taxes I feel a little bit closer to understanding How This All Works, and feel equal parts elated to see through the Matrix and frustrated that we didn’t learn this in school. I feel even more frustrated for self-taught artists who had to figure everything out on their own. I’ve been trying to compile everything I know (and get it fact-checked by my bookkeeper and CPA) and then at least give other creatives the basic building blocks of what all the terrifying words mean.

I’m doing a test run of this workshop later in March, and then hope to release it to a wider group!

Interested in taking this workshop when it’s ready? Let me know here.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We are going to Spain for our honeymoon in May and apart from memorizing my vosotros’ (vosotroses?), I’ve been looking up cool animals that are endemic to the region. “The Iberian lynx is the world's most endangered wild cat, once down to just 94 individuals in 2002. Thanks to conservation efforts, their population has rebounded to over 1,000. These spotted, tuft-eared hunters specialize in catching rabbits, and their incredible night vision makes them formidable nocturnal predators.” Source

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Puzzle Swap & Craft
Patagonia Buckhead
March 8
11am-1pm • FREE

What started out as me posting on Instagram to see if anyone wanted to swap puzzles has turned into a PUZZLE SWAP at Patagonia Buckhead. They’re providing coffee and pastries for free to attendees, and I’m so excited to additionally partner with The Bakery for a craft element.

I review a lot of applications for grants and residencies, my own and for others. I see the same mistakes over and over and over again, and while I know to look past some pitfalls, there are some you absolutely need to fix before you apply to grants, residencies, and awards in the future. Megan and I are teaching this freeeeee webinar with Q&A!

👉 Macrodata Refinement

Ok fine! This is the kind of stuff I love! Really meticulously-made companions to a pop culture moment (is this fan-made? AppleTV-made? I actually have no idea)! If you watch Severance, you will love getting a chance to refine your data and hide the scary numbers.

Honorable Mention:

  • File this under “Things I Can’t Believe I Didn’t Know About Earlier:” Busy Beaver Button Co, my favorite button co to be specific, has a pinback button museum both digitally and in person featuring over 9,000 buttons they’ve collected over the years. I have wanted to do this with koozies since like 2017…. now maybe I should.

I give away a $1500 grant to artists once a year but want to help you find funding opportunities all the time. It can be hard to find opportunities that seem interesting and also reasonable (I don't personally think it's a great use of time to apply to some global program with 400,000 other applicants). Here are some with that in mind:  

Upcoming Grants & Residencies:

The National Sculpture Society: Augusta Savage Grant ($2,500)
For emerging sculptors who self-identify as Black or African American.
Deadline: March 3, 2025 | Apply Here

Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants ($5,000)
For artists in the U.S. creating in visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, or choreography who are in financial need due to unexpected medical, dental, or mental health emergencies.
Deadline: March 11, 2025 | Apply Here

Grants for Artists: Professional Basics ($500)
For Oklahoma-based artists 21 years or older, not currently enrolled in a BFA/MFA program, and who have not received OVAC funding in the past year.
Deadline: Ongoing | Apply Here

Teravarna Artist Grant ($2,000)
For international artists working in craft/traditional arts, photography, drawing, film/video/new media, mixed-media/multi-discipline, painting, and sculpture.
Deadline: March 31, 2025 | Apply Here

Lillian Orlowsky & William Freed Grant ($5,000 - $36,000 + Exhibition at PAAM)
For American painters aged 45 years or older.
Deadline: April 1, 2025 | Apply Here

As always, please tell me if you participate in any of these so we can cheer you on!

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Here’s the totally optional paid tier where you tell me you want to get cool stuff in the mail too!

  • What will it be? It depends. But I have some ideas and this tells me how many things to make or order.

  • When will it happen? When there is something cool to send. Here’s what I’ve sent to newsletter subscribers in the past:

Ridiculous interactive board game postcards that use AR

Silly bumper stickers (and other stickers from other artists)

Issues of Unfolded, my quarterly-ish newspaper about creativity