Oliver Tree may be gone, but his chaotic creative energy lives on. The late musician and viral performance artist's estate has launched a charitable foundation designed to fund artists making something.
The foundation's website states the grants are designed to "support creative art projects while remaining active for at least 50 to 100 years," meaning the foundation is built to operate for a century or more.
True to Tree's reputation, the foundation's name is memorably on-brand. Subtlety was never part of the Tree playbook.
For struggling artists tired of day jobs and corporate-approved creativity, this is a lifeline. The foundation is specifically about supporting creatives "getting their hands dirty and creating things"—meaning experimental work is welcome.
Oliver Tree spent his career trolling the internet, crashing awards shows in ridiculous costumes, and making content that made people ask "wait, is he serious right now?" His legacy doing the same through a charitable foundation is consistent with his approach to using resources to amplify the voices of artists who refuse to play it safe.
The creator economy has made it easier to build an audience but harder to fund experimental work. With this foundation potentially distributing grants for the next century, a generation of artists might finally stop explaining their vision to their parents and start creating it.
If you're an artist with a project too unconventional for regular grants, it's time to dust off that application.
