This is a bit of a defining moment for me, as it is the first grant I have ever received. I'm super grateful, too, as I also didn't think I would be getting the grant based on the panelists' comments when they scored my application. I felt some of the negative feedback was undeserving and unrelated to the requirements of the grant. The most common note was that I didn't link my residency to Ireland with me being a Maine artist, and this was frustrating because it wasn't a requirement to make that link. I applied for this residency for a few reasons, but one is because I knew I had a connection with the residency and I knew I'd have a better chance at getting accepted as a result of this connection (do panelists have any idea how difficult it is to get accepted to good residencies?). But, a few weeks later, and I got the email stating that I had been accepted, and the amount was sufficient to pay for most of my costs. Yes, this is awesome, and I'm really happy to be putting this official statement on my website: The Greg Mason Burns Watershed Studios Residency in Galway, Ireland for November, 2021 is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.