catch-22:money business

As I sit here getting my thoughts together for a grant proposal, I am reminded of my continual frustration with a horrendous catch-22. Yes, I feel just like Yossarian in the midst of a satirical war.

From Catch-22 by Joseph Heller:


Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. "Is Orr crazy?"
"He sure is," Doc Daneeka said.
"Can you ground him?"
"I sure can. But first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule."
"Then why doesn't he ask you to?"
"Because he's crazy," Doc Daneeka said. "He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure, I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to."
"That's all he has to do to be grounded?"
"That's all. Let him ask me."
"And then you can ground him?" Yossarian asked.
"No. Then I can't ground him."
"You mean there's a catch?"
"Sure there's a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy."
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed.


Back to the situation at hand: For every art grant or contest or submission of almost any kind, there is a fee. Sometimes it is a generously low $25, but more often this fee is significantly upwards of $50. Occassionally, you may be lucky to get a "discount" for multiple entries or series.

I just don't understand the logic: The artist doesn't have the money to produce their art, so they think they will apply for a grant to get some money and recognition for their art. But in order to apply for the grant money they need to pay some money. The artist wouldn't be applying for the grant money if they had money to begin with. In what world does this make sense? (It can't be just the art world because I'm sure scientists and the like have similar situations.)