Giving Tuesday Artist Spotlight: Troy Osaki
Published: December 3, 2019
Categories: Artists | Fall Campaign | Featured
Good morning, and happy Giving Tuesday! Today we’re raising funds for Grants for Artists Projects (GAP), with the goal of funding two GAP awards. This important grant for artists of all disciplines across Washington State is made possible thanks to generous community members like you.
GAP was first offered in 1988 when 8 artists received awards of $500 each. This October, 61 artists statewide received GAP funding, a total of $91,500. This is vital support that helps artists move forward in their projects and careers, and we are proud to partner with you to make it happen. Donations of any amount will be generously stretched by the Artist Trust Board of Directors!
Throughout the day, we’ll highlight three recent GAP recipients and share how this grant has amplified their work. First up is Troy Osaki, an emerging literary artist from King County.
“GAP funding makes it possible for me to invest in my craft and develop as a writer. As someone in the nonprofit sector serving incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and as a law school graduate with massive amounts of debt, I’ve been unable to invest the amount of time and resources into poetry as I’ve hoped. My dream has been to dedicate the necessary resources needed to strengthen my writing so I can promote the call for social change on a grand scale. With the help of GAP funding, I’m now working on my first chapbook-length manuscript about fighting for a free Philippines.
We are in need of new ideas, hope without boundaries, and imagination. We are in need of artists. Artist Trust helps make a better world possible when others can’t. Please consider donating for Giving Tuesday!”
Troy Osaki is a Filipino Japanese poet, community organizer, and attorney from Seattle, WA. He’s a Kundiman fellow, three-time Seattle poetry grand slam champion, and recipient of an Artist Trust GAP Award. His work has appeared in the Bellingham Review, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Moss: A Journal of the Pacific Northwest, and elsewhere. He writes in hopes to build a safe and just place to live in by uniting the people and reimagining the world through poetry.
Feel free to connect with Troy on Instagram and Twitter!
Donate to Artist Trust this Giving Tuesday!
