After many years of working in non-profits, dabbling in grassroots and institutional fundraising, it is safe to say that organizations are heavily reliant on major donors or foundations to keep their programs running. We reach up, seeking the perfect foundation “match” or network so we can convince someone we know with connections to make us a grant. It is a system that arose during the 1970s with the proliferation of non-profits at the same time as large wealth creation and conservative governmental control of this country.
In 1981, Guerrilla Art Action Group (GAAG) made 10 license cards, like the one pictured above. The cards came in a small manila envelope with a red stamp on the front. Each card comments on a different person or government agency that in some way limits or controls peoples’ freedoms through abuses of their power.
Art Work is a newspaper and accompanying website that consists of writings and images from artists, activists, writers, critics, and others on the topic of working within depressed economies and how that impacts artistic process, compensation and artistic property. The newspaper is distributed for free at sites and from people throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. It is also available by mail order from Half Letter Press for the cost of postage.