A couple weeks after the dinner, the screen printing was already in action at Wolf's coffee shop. Neighborhood kids were drying silk screens with a squeegee. It was clear that the machine is a big hit.

"It actually cost $239.99 and our Sloup grant was for $240," said Wolf. "So it was perfect."

Accessible art

From the time Wolf submitted her proposal to the day she purchased the screen printer was less than a month.

"That's a very quick turnaround," said Jeff Hnilicka, cofounder of an organization called FEAST. It stands for Funding Emerging Artists with Sustainable Tactics and is one of the groups that inspired Sloup. He says getting an arts grant is usually a protracted process...

"It takes a year-and-a-half to go from writing a proposal to implementation. Your idea and what you're responding could have drastically changed in that period of time."

Hnilicka spends a lot of his time traveling around the country helping groups set up their own monthly dinners. There are now events like Sloup in Boston, Portland and Chicago and the number is growing.

Since the first Sloup in St. Louis three months ago, each dinner has attracted more artists and diners, which has helped bring more exposure to artists and larger grants.

The hope is that this model will not just change the way art is funded but change the relationship between artists and patrons, making the art world feel less exclusive and more like a dinner party with friends.