In February 2025, I submitted an application to the Edmonton Arts Council, and in May it was approved. I am by no means an expert at grant writing. But I was rereading my submission and it works well as a forecast of art coming out of my studio, and may be helpful to folks working on their own applications.

I’ve changed all the formatting!

**Image 1** The Comfort House Project: Stay as long as you like

11 linocut prints assembled into a wooden house structure with sculptural details 44x59" 2023

A performance of paper

A printmaker seeks to expand an in-progress body of work into sculptural/interactive art for an exhibition. She needs time, space, materials, and carpentry assistance.

Artist Name:
Brianna Tosswill

Primary Discipline:
Visual Art

Secondary Discipline:
Literary Art

**Image 2:** The Bitch Who Broke His Heart

Linocut Print
12x16
2024

Artist Statement:

Art is always vulnerable, but that has never felt more true than while illustrating my own breakups, crushes I’m actively experiencing, and lies I’ve told to escape untenable situations. Lately, I'm taking inspiration from my own love life and the personal growth that runs alongside it. These scenarios involve complicated, overlapping emotions, and I’m using as many Briannas as necessary to communicate them all. The self-centered nature of this work feels uncomfortable on bad days and defiant on good ones. I’ve said that working in multiples makes each print feel like a magic door that opens at the location of every other print, but with this work, it’s like all the doors pass through my 1 bedroom apt.

No Archive Warnings Apply, Brianna Tosswill, Penrose Press, Brianna Tosswill/ex-partner, Brianna Tosswill/New Crush, online dating, breakups, Romance, angst, the ick, linocut, letterpress, carpentry, all the exes remain anonymous, slow-burn, the triad, Spymaster, Head of Feelings, Brave Front, bookarts, interactive sculpture, wallpaper probably, easter eggs

Artist Biography

Brianna has been living in Edmonton and working out of SNAP Printshop since 2019. Her creative practice is called "Penrose Press" in the grand tradition of singular printmakers taking on entire imprints. She acquired her BFA at OCADU in 2017, and became a full-time artist in 2021. She has completed residencies locally at SNAP and Fern's School of Craft. Her circles of collaboration and influence are vast, including a wide variety of creatives in Canada, and printmakers internationally.

Brianna's participation in many pop-up markets and art fairs has enabled her full-time art practice, and also developed her superpower as an artist: conversation. Before and after a project is created, she speaks with members of her community, on and offline. Sometimes these other voices are then included (and attributed) in the work, and sometimes they inform the work in a way that allows it to resonate more profoundly with specific audiences. When she presents her work in person, and in full storytelling mode, she is likely to bring you to tears. It sounds heavy, but it is so, so soft.

Artist CV

(my CV here is a living document, for the purposes of this application, it only had qualifications acquired in 2024 or earlier)

**Image 3:** Moving (on) Day

Linocut Print
16x12
2024

Project Support Person(s)

Calvin Burns (carpenter): Provide Carpentry assistance for any tasks that involve a table saw or mitre saw (building the frame supports and structural details)

Callum McKensie (bookbinder): Assemble mini books for one of the frames (I could do this myself but Callum does really nice work with attention to detail and I'm working on delegating bits of projects)

**Image 4:** Crushing Softly

Linocut Print
12x16
2024

Project Description:

I will build on my established practice as a printmaker by centering linocut prints in large, multi-media, one-of-a-kind, interactive artworks. Each piece will be directly inspired by my love life and the personal growth that runs alongside it. This work will culminate in an exhibition at a local gallery: dhARTworld.

The print at each centre will be a whole, complete artwork, but the multimedia component (referred to as “frame” moving forward) will expand it, visually and conceptually. The basic aesthetic is inspired by 19th-century paper theatres, but I’ll be using thin wood instead of paper for scale and durability. The symbolism in the print will be subtle, with clues provided through repetition in painting, through the introduction of tangible, interactive elements, and by placing within a greater narrative.

This work flows from my personal romantic history and involves presenting nuanced interior experiences with the elaborate theatricality of telling your best friend about an encounter with your ex or debriefing after a first date. No audience has ever been more invested. It feels important to examine my desire for romance: where it aligns with and diverges from popular understanding, where it comes from, how possible it feels, and how ethical it is (acknowledging subjectivity and learning from queerness whenever possible). Every time I have sourced my inspiration from such a deep well, I have found that a wide variety of people resonate with it. These are not unique experiences/thoughts. They are universal.

Romance theme concepts realized so far:

- The ongoing nature of moving on from a person or situation. It’s a cycle even if you don’t get back together. (image 3)
- The necessity of releasing control of another person’s narrative. Being the villain to your ex’s friends is sometimes unavoidable. (image 2)
- Having a crush as a secure adult is more fun than you might imagine. (image 4)
- Falling out of love first can be just as shocking and painful as being broken up with. (image 8)

I’ve completed 3 linocut prints for this series and 1 proof-of-concept frame (images 2-7), and the whole project will involve 3 more print editions and 6 more ooak frames. An important element of these artworks is my construction of 3 “selves” to demonstrate simultaneous and varied emotional reactions to a single event or situation. The selves have been given the character names Brave Front, Head of Feelings, and Spymaster. They all look like me, and clues to their identity lie in their costuming and reactions in still images. They are a useful tool for creating narrative compositions and may be decipherable through repetition eventually.

Some examples of interactive elements that I will include in the frames:

- opening little doors to read poetry or dialogue, or to reveal symbols
- removing tiny books and reordering them to make fridge-magnet poetry with the words on their spines.
- turning a small crank to see how one image forms a continuous pattern. (image 7)

**Image 5:** Moving (on) Day Frame [title pending]

3 linocut prints form a belt inside a painted wooden frame structure. a wheel on the front allows the viewer to manipulate the images on the belt (they form one continuous image in a repeating pattern)
38x54"
2025

Project Goals:

Goal 1: Complete 3 linocut reduction print editions and 6 multimedia frames according to the timeline proposed in this application. Use this body of work to apply to more free exhibitions (commercial and non-profit galleries) and funding opportunities: SNAP Gallery, Colborne St Gallery, Forest City Gallery, Art Gallery of Grand Prairie, Atelier Circulaire, Canada Arts Council, etc. Application quantities and letter grades 5-10 = C (pass), 10-20=B, 20+=A

Goal 2: Expand my print practice to include multimedia. How successful are the multimedia aspects of each artwork? What kind of feedback can I get from other artists with interactive/sculptural practices? What elements of each artwork resonated most with casual viewers? (If they only comment on the prints, the multimedia needs more consideration)

Goal 3: Provoke a layered emotional response from viewers: nostalgia, relief, introspection, empathy, tears, excitement, curiosity, sadness, belonging, grief, self-compassion, disappointment, anger, guilt, overwhelm, bittersweetness… I will be present to engage in conversation with viewers of the exhibition. I will note verbal responses, and save written ones.

**Image 6:** Moving (on) Day Frame detail

note the layers of 1/4" plywood creating a stacked sculptural aesthetic

Project Plan Including Timeline:

Timeline estimations are based on 8+ years of independent project execution, and the time it took to create the frame prototype.

-May: Rent individual studio space from SNAP, acquire plywood, begin work on 2 frames (this should be feasible with the space I’ll have, and will cultivate more cohesiveness than if I worked on them one by one.

-June: Draw, carve, and print lino artwork #4 (1-3 exist already)

-July: cut out the frame shapes (edges and windows) for the first two frames (using a coping saw myself), add cradles to the backs (with Calvin), and construct any other sculptural elements (tiny bookshelf nook for example)

-August: conduct studio visits to evaluate progress and see what’s resonating with people (Dana Holst [gallerist], Susan Fothergill [other half of the two-person show], SNAP artists and visitors) paint frames 3 and 4.

-September: Draw, carve, and print lino artwork #5

-October: cut out and finish frames 3 and 4. Deliver bookbinding materials and specs to Callum.

-November: Draw, carve, and print lino artwork #6

-December: project paused for holiday market rush, and holiday family time

-January: paint frames 5 and 6

-February: catch up on anything that’s fallen behind schedule

-March: cut out and finish frames 5 and 6

-April: work on exhibition details including possibly printing wallpaper, and acquiring furniture/props for the gallery space.

-May: install show, give artist talk, document artwork, invite professional connections to visit.

Image 7: Moving (on) Day Interactive Demo. The artist turns a wheel on the front of the artwork that engages a mechanism inside it and moves an image on a belt. When it's fully finished, the paper on the belt will be 3 proofs of "Moving (on) Day" which form a continuous pattern with seams in the middle of the couch.

Desired Impact of the Project on Applicant:

I want translate my practice from mostly making small, affordable, commercial (but still authentic) artwork with a bit of exhibition-driven work, into the inverse: mostly exhibition-driven work (sometimes still for sale, but evaluated beyond its commercial viability) with only a bit of my energy directed towards making smaller, affordable work. I want to slow down my creative cycle and make work on a theme over 2-4 years. I want to dive deeper, and make more elaborate work in which the message informs the medium. I want to do justice to the creative concept and see how my ideas evolve as I sink into it. Slowing down appeals to me as an artist interested in all kinds of sustainability.

The direct commercial strategy has carried me well for the last 8 years of being a professional artist. It has enabled a lot of creative growth since it funds a full-time practice. I am not rejecting it. It has set me up to grow slowly but steadily and to trust myself (my ideas, and my ability to execute them). The financial security from this grant would allow me to make the jump, instead of transitioning slowly from my current practice to the aspirational one. In this highly social industry, I believe the prestige and connections inherent in securing a major grant and exhibiting in a two-person show will springboard my career in exciting new directions, which, thanks to my foundation, I will know how to navigate.

**Image 8:** She Fell First

linocut print with interactive pull tab
10x8"
2024

Other Relevant Information:

I’ve made one other artwork at this scale (image 1), but I’ve only shown it in Toronto (where I exhibit at an art fair and have carpentry assistance from my dad). In Edmonton, I exhibit my work in group shows, or as a market vendor, so I make small, accessible artworks. If the creative parameters enabled by this grant (time, designated space, carpentry assistance, a local exhibition deadline) are helpful, the fifth and sixth artworks I create in this series should be less practical, more ambitious and unexpected compared to the first two. I want them to feel suddenly obvious, like the ending of a book that you didn’t see coming but that had excellent foreshadowing.

The greatest and most personal support I have received as an artist has been from Edmontonians. I want to be able to share my ambitious projects here too.

My First Sucessful Grant Application