Micro-Grants

The Dash Grant awards one artist $500 to complete and premiere their comic at the festival. Interested artists designate their desire to be considered for this grant in their festival application and are contacted by a small board of jurors for further information about their book projects.

Katie Kelso Travel Grants are awarded to artists who want to travel to Seattle for the festival. There is no formal application, interested artists designate their desire to be considered for this grant in their festival application.

These micro-grants are made possible by individual donations/community fundraising; this money is separate from the larger grants we receive as an organization, table fees, and other sources of income. 

Previous Dash Grant recipients:

(2024) Rae Whitlock

(2023) Molly Colleen O’Connell

(2022) Julia Wald

(2019) Rumi Hara

(2018) November Garcia

(2017) Rebecca Artemisa

(2016) Brendan Kiefer

(2015) Krish Raghav

Katie Kelso Travel Grant recipients:

(2024) Ocean Escalanti, Laura Cañas, Ricos Jugos, Patterson Hodgson

(2023) Gil Goletski, Juli Majer, Sanika Phawde, S.A.R.A (Sociedad Anónima Reproducción Autogestiva)

(2022) golden collier, Empress Editions/Anna Tararova,  Saoirse Alesandro, & Dustin Garcia 

(2019) Alejandra Espino & Cole Pauls

(2018) Charlene Man & Ben Passmore

DASH GRANT recipient 2022 – Julia Wald

Local artist and illustrator Julia Wald is this year’s DASH GRANT recipient! We were really excited about her story synapsis and hyper-color drawing style of her upcoming comic, Uncle Scam’s Army Navy Surplus, an autobiography of their first job out of school in Buffalo, working at an army navy surplus store where they sold military gear to doomsday preppers, zombie cosplayers, and neo Nazis. This first part of a much longer story will premiere at Short Run on Nov. 5th. Read more…

Dash Grant winner 2019 Rumi Hara

We’re so thrilled that our Dash Grant winner Rumi Hara was able to come to Seattle a few days early and screen print her covers for her gorgeous new mini-comic, The Peanut Butter Sisters. She had this to say, “I had a wonderful time in Seattle! It was amazing being part of the Short Run community, meeting new friends through comics and being inspired to keep making more books. I’m so grateful for the time and space and all the encouragement I was given to make the new comic.”

Read more…

Katie Kelso Travel Grant

Two $200 grants will be awarded this year to traveling exhibitors who express financial need. Short Run had the honor of knowing Katie Kelso, a true adventurer and lover of books, who passed away in 2017. Her gift helps artists with travel expenses getting to Seattle for Short Run. We will never forget her!

Exhibitors – this is not a separate application, simply mark that you are in need of financial assistance in the exhibitor app. No explanation needed.

Dash Grant winner announced!

We are happy to announce that after much deliberation, we have selected Rumi Hara, a comic artist and illustrator from Brooklyn, NY, as this year’s Dash Grant winner. The grant provides $250, a half table at the festival, mentorship by a special guest, access & instruction to local screen print co-op, and a place in our annual art show at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Rumi’s book is about the adventures of the scavenging “Peanut Butter Sisters” as they get along in life with the guidance of nature- they travel on the backs of whales and energy of hurricanes. The story evolves as their resources dry up and they have to have more human interactions.

Read more…

Dash Grant winner 2018 November Garcia

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We’re excited to announce that November Garcia is our Dash grant winner for 2018. We are looking forward to helping her publish Marlarkey #3, her autobiographical mini-comic. Garcia is a cartoonist born and raised in the Philippines. She lived in San Francisco for most of her 20s and 30s but has now moved back home. We are interested in the comics she makes documenting this change of lifestyle. We can’t wait to have her at Short Run in November!  Read more…

Dash Winner 2017 Rebecca Artemisa

 

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Rebecca’s proposed comic re-tells the Mexican urban legend/ghost story of La Llorona (the weeping woman). The comic will include retablos (devotional paintings) dedicated to her legend, as well as interactive ghost story instructions for the reader, spells, brujeria (witchcraft), and will be done entirely from La Llorona’s silent, observant perspective. We were captivated by her beautiful gouache paintings and story synapsis and are excited to see the finished comic!  Read more…