Grant Writing Tips & Giving Back with Sadaf Padder

In this episode, Alicia interviews curator & founder of Alpha Arts Alliance Sadaf Padder. After nearly a decade as a public schooler educator and a lifetime of watching art from the sidelines, Sadaf left her job as a Dean of Students in 2019 and founded Alpha Arts Alliance, an arts agency focused on historically-underrepresented artists with a focus on women of color. Through curation, coaching, events and youth programming, she serves to make art accessible to the people she loves as a passion and a practice.  Of her many professional accomplishments, she takes pride in having earned over $150K in grants and residencies for local artists and collectives. Sadaf is also a Create Change Fellow alumna with the Laundromat Project, a board member with ArtBridge and Chickweed Alliance and a member of Phoenix Community Garden. A South-Asian American woman of Kashmiri heritage, in her own art practice she is an abstract painter, jeweler and henna artist. She is a graduate of George Washington University (BA in Anthropology) and Johns Hopkins University (Masters of Art in Teaching) and is a Teach for America Baltimore alum.     

Om Podcasten

Art & Cocktails is a weekly podcast where contemporary art meets creativity, business, and real talk. Hosted by artist, Create! Magazine founder, and master coach Ekaterina Popova, each episode delivers honest, no-nonsense conversations that blend passion and vulnerability with real-world strategies for thriving as a creative entrepreneur. Created for artists, creatives, and artpreneurs, the show features inspiring stories and candid discussions with artists, curators, writers, and thought leaders in the arts and beyond. From navigating the art world to building a sustainable creative practice, each episode offers actionable tips, mindset shifts, and behind-the-scenes insights—served with your favorite drink in hand. Whether you're in the studio, on a walk, or unwinding after a long day, Art & Cocktails is your go-to space for fresh perspectives and practical tools to support your artistic journey. Tune in weekly and be part of the conversation—because your creative life deserves it. Find us at www.createmagazine.co/podcast — where the conversation about art and business starts.