Creation grants are aimed at supporting recipients in their work on an emerging project. Eligible for a creation grant are arts practitioners from Switzerland who are regularly present in the comics scene and who have already had a comics’ production or work of a similar scope published in a specialised publication or on digital media.
Peggy Adam, Nando von Arb, Alex Baladi, Jared Muralt, Lika Nüssli and Noémie Weber were among the artists who received a comic creation grant in the past. Below we present the voices of the artists and a sample of their work:
“With the funding I received, I was able to cover the rent on my home and my studio for a few months and focus primarily on working on Fürchten lernen with considerably less pressure. I had a highly fruitful experience developing situations, concepts and images during this period. I mostly worked on different scenes, honed the text in specific chapters and completed more and more sections of the book. The creation grant therefore fulfilled its purpose and made me less dependent on commercial work during this period, allowing me to develop my own work as a writer and artist.”
Nando von Arb
“The Pro Helvetia creation grant freed me from financial concerns and allowed me to develop my project Emkla, published in 2023 by Les éditions Atrabile. It was an incredible source of support and has supplemented the contribution of Atrabile, a renowned publisher which nevertheless has limited financial resources at its disposal.”
Peggy Adam
“I was able to live off the creation grant for several months and realise my second book with it, Saturnine, which will be published on 19 August 2022″.
Alex Baladi
“Besides the recognition of my work as a comic author and, more importantly, of the medium itself, Pro Helvetia’s contribution was also a great financial support for me. Moreover, thanks to the collaboration with Pro Helvetia, new international projects opened up for me”.
Jared Muralt
“The creation grant has enabled me to finally realise a project that I have been harbouring for a long time. While working, I developed the courage and freedom to be even more true to my own way of visual storytelling. Working on the book has also brought me closer to myself on a personal level. Through confronting my my roots, i.e. the conversations with my father about his youth as a Verding-child, a healing process emerged for both of us”.
Lika Nüssli
“The comic creation grant was at first a cruicial support in that it gave me more confidence in the value of my project, which was personal and innovative for me, so it raised a lot of questions during the process. Then, it was an important financial support, which allowed me to dedicate myself to wrapping it up with less obligations to take commissioned work at the same time: a necessary release of pressure in order to be able to focus on my ideas and on the long drawing phase.”
Fanny Vaucher
“Thanks to the creation grant, I was able to fully concentrate on the production of my comic book. Now that it has been completed, the creation grant allows me to work calmly on my next project.”
Noémie Weber
