I agree, Roger.
There are plenty of cases of art judged awful for one reason or another in the past that we now hold up as magnificent achievements. Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin, for example, was rejected by the Discalced Carmelite friars on grounds that are still not clearly understood, and was sold to the Duke of Mantua. That didn't stop the order from commissioning a new altarpiece or cause them to cease commissioning art altogether; they turned to Carlo Saraceni instead. The later work may have proven "acceptable" then, but today, for our own historically situated reasons, we laud and magnify Caravaggio's canvas in the Louvre.
It's true that the art might happen after the grant money is awarded, but I would like to point to the largely invisible labor and expense that often precedes the application. I spent three years quietly working on my project before I applied for an NEA fellowship. During that time I spent thousands upon thousands to go to libraries in the US, Canada, and Europe before I even started to pen my project narrative. I just attended a workshop hosted by one of the NEH's grants officers, and it is quite clear that projects that are not already well advanced do not get funding there either.
- Doug
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