Xeric Foundation
501(c)(3) Non-profit | |
| Purpose | Comic book self-publishing grants; fostering environmentalism, literacy, and the arts |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Northampton, Massachusetts |
Region served | North America |
| Leader | Peter Laird |
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in
Mission and operation
Laird founded the Foundation after considerable thought, as "an appropriate way to give back something extra to the comics world," by providing grants for self-publishers.
Self-publishing grants
The Xeric Foundation supported work of an alternative or non-"mainstream" nature, reasoning that if a comic had strong commercial appeal, it would be picked up by one of the major publishers. The Foundation was an extremely valuable supporter of "art for art's sake" comics, and helped launch the careers of a number of "literary" cartoonists.[2]
The Foundation assisted comic book creators with some of the costs in self-publishing their work; it was not the Foundation's intention to fully support an artist/writer through the entire process of self-publishing, but rather to encourage creators to experience the learning process involved in working towards such a goal.
The creative side of the Foundation involved the usual application process, but in addition, the Foundation began with "an advisory committee made up of three ... people working in the industry" whose input is sought on how best to proceed with each application.[1] Submissions were evaluated prior to Laird's involvement, and then he made the ultimate decisions based on their recommendations.[1]
History
Laird founded the Xeric Foundation in 1992,
The Foundation's first grant cycle was in September 1992,[4] with the first recipients being Robert Eaton, Michael Kasper, Jeff Nicholson, and Wayne Wise & Fred Wheaton.
In 1993 Laird discussed the Foundation's projected lifespan:
... knock on wood, God willing, and the creek don't rise, if we go on for another couple of decades, and I'm able to put more money into the basic funding of the Xeric Foundation, then the amount of money that can be given out can really be raised significantly.[1]
He hoped that ultimately the figure can be raised from "thousands of dollars" to "hundreds of thousands of dollars," to support an increasing number of large and small projects.[1]
In July 2011, the Foundation announced it would no longer award publishing grants, but would focus on charitable work like fostering environmentalism, literacy, and the arts.[2] Citing the changing nature of the comics industry, and specifically the ability of cartoonists to publish their work online, founder Laird announced the shift. One round of final grants was awarded in May 2012.[5]
Altogether, the Xeric Foundation has awarded in excess of $2,500,000 since its first grant cycle.[2]
Notable Xeric Award recipients
Notable past winners of the Xeric Grant include
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55611-355-2.
- ^ a b c Goellner, Caleb (July 18, 2011). "After 20 Years The Xeric Foundation Ends Cartooning Grants, Shifts Focus to Charity". Comics Alliance. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "Newswatch: Laird Starts Artist-Aid Foundation," The Comics Journal #151 (July 1992), p. 21.
- ^ Xeric Foundation website. Retrieved July 26, 2008.
- ^ Laird, Peter. "The Xeric Foundation's upcoming 20th anniversary will bring a changed focus in grant-giving," Xeric Foundation (July 14, 2011). Accessed July 19, 2011.