Past
Grantees

THE FIELD, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for FAYE DRISCOLL DANCE GROUP, Brooklyn, New York, received a two-year grant of $32,000 in support of the development and production of Thank You For Coming: Play and Thank You For Coming: Space. The Field firmly believes that art and artists are a vital part of a healthy, functioning and engaged society. The Field exists, like a small business incubator, to give artists the tools, resources and guidance that they need in order to add their dynamic voices to the marketplace. Faye Driscoll is obsessed with a basic problem that we all encounter - that of being "somebody" in a world of other "somebodies" - and in her work she attempts to pull apart this daily performance of self. She does this by enacting it in excess, blowing it up to the extreme in order to reveal its edges and create more space, more possibility for who we can be. She draws on familiar images and archetypal scenes, such as poses from classical art, or the physicality of people in extreme states, from torture to religious rapture. She creates manically choreographed physical and aural scores from these scenes and images, filled with unpredictability, ambiguity and a mix of falsehoods and truths.

KELMAN DURAN received support for the feature-length (70-minute) film To The North part 1.  The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Lakota people, is a place that the filmmaker describes as an open-air prison. This experimental documentary uses the diary form to document housing conditions, native knowledge/myths, and the landscape of suicide on Pine Ridge. In 2011, the U.S. government cut $50 million in aid to Native American housing assistance. These cuts hurt the reservations most in need of such assistance, like Pine Ridge, the poorest reservation in the country. This film revolves around four Pine Ridge people who are all members of the same Lakota family: David, LeRoy, Crazy J, and Michelle. Told in chapters, the film documents their lives on the reservation, from the mundane to the mythic. Each chapter of the film will feature different methods of documenting the lives and conditions of its characters, and will use different formats such as 16mm, mini DV, DSLR cameras and iPhone footage to tell their fascinating stories.

ELDEBEK, HADI, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Lebanon to explore and research different genres and styles of Lebanese music (rural and urban), as well as the influences of Lebanese subcultures on various musical styles, such as Arabic, Armenian, Francophone, Gypsy, Kurdish, and more.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATER, New York City, received a grant of $20,000 in support of the EST/Youngblood Program, which provides emerging New York City artists with opportunities to write, develop, produce and evaluate work.  The Ensemble Studio Theatre, commonly known as "EST,” is a dynamic, expanding family of theatre people committed to the discovery and nurturing of new voices and the continued support and growth of artists throughout their creative lives. EST’s ensemble works together repeatedly over time to develop and produce original, provocative, and authentic new plays.

ETHEL’S FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, New York City, received $20,000 in support of its HomeBaked Commissioning Program, which will provide commissions to four emerging New York City-based composers. ETHEL will work with the composers to refine the works, rehearse the music, and present world premieres of the new compositions in New York City. ETHEL seeks compositions of the highest artistic and creative quality, works that challenge the quartet as musical artists and expand their reach in an ever-evolving compositional scene and a diverse contemporary audience. ETHEL's mission is to promote new music and expand and diversify audiences for it through adventurous performances, new technologies, and innovative community engagement programs.

EVANS, AYANA, New York, New York, will travel to Toronto and Montreal, Canada, and Kingston, Jamaica, to gain a greater understanding of the African diaspora in Jamaica and Canada and find parallels between her heritage and the history of others with similar past experiences of colonization and slavery. Evans plans to use the interviews, images, and other information she gathers to stretch past the scope of herself and use historically anchored themes analyzing the role of gender, class and race in the proposed locations.

EWASKIO, ANNIE, Brooklyn, New York, will participate in the Arctic Circle Residency, a guided expedition sailing the international territory of Svalbard. Artists and scientists are invited to collaborate and create work on board the vessel. This trip will inform Ewaskio’s paintings, which depict mythical landscapes and characters, ghostly after-images of exploration in boreal settings.

EYEBEAM ATELIER, Brooklyn, New York, received a grant of $15,000 in support of the Artists@Eyebeam Residency Program. Eyebeam is a nonprofit artist colony and R&D lab that supports creative risk-taking. Eyebeam provides young and emerging artists with time, digital and other tools, work space and monetary support to create new work that pushes the frontiers of art and technology. Eyebeam has awarded some 270 residencies over the past 17 years, providing both significant financial support and the tools and means to create new art and new media. The organization's principal activities revolve around the work of its resident artists, and Eyebeam is proud to deliver their finished work through various means, such as its Annual Showcase and other programs. Eyebeam exposes diverse audiences to experimental and interdisciplinary work, providing an environment for dialogue, collaboration, learning and discovery. 

FilmNorth (formerly Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota), Saint Paul, Minnesota, received $35,000 in support of the 2015 season of MNTV, a series of three public television shows featuring short films made within the last 18 months by Minnesota filmmakers. MNTV is a catalyst for film and video artists to produce work and develop professionally. The series nurtures creativity, allows creative risks, advances difficult issues and represents non-mainstream points of view. MNTV’s eclectic compilations regularly showcase innovative and provocative work. All three one-hour shows are broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television (TPT), as well as public television stations in Duluth, Appleton, Rochester, the Bemidji/Brainerd area, and Fargo/Moorhead. IFP Minnesota’s mission is to advance a vibrant and diverse community of independent film and media artists through networking, education, funding, and opportunities for showcasing their work.  IFP Minnesota envisions a world where expression through images is encouraged and valued.

FilmNorth (formerly Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota), Saint Paul, Minnesota, received $22,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the Equipment Rental Program and Training and Professional Development Programs and the provision of ten free memberships to emerging artists. IFP Minnesota’s mission is to advance a vibrant and diverse community of independent film and media artists through networking, education, funding, and opportunities for showcasing their work. It supports the independent filmmaker by creating a healthy and viable filmmaking community in Minnesota. The Equipment Rental Program provides low-cost access to top-quality filmmaking equipment. Training and Professional Development Programs assist emerging filmmakers in developing their craft and professional skills, including master classes, technology training, business skills development, seminars, and classes.

BROOKLYN ARTS EXCHANGE (BAX), Brooklyn, New York, as fiscal sponsor for MARJANI FORTE, New York City, received $9,900 in support of the production and touring of being Here…/this time, the final act of a three-year dance work, being Here: a trilogy of works, examining the intersections of mental illness, addiction, and systemic poverty. This work highlights the collection of systems, legislation, and institutions that have historically worked for disenfranchised peoples. Forte will combine imaginative sci-fi narratives with history, scientific research, and dynamic play with multimedia. BAX encourages artists’ risk-taking and stimulates dialogue among diverse constituencies by providing year-round performance, rehearsal, and educational programs that develop artists of all ages.

FRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK, Shafer, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $78,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Fellowship Program. Franconia operates a 43-acre sculpture park, an active artist residency program, and community arts programming. Its mission is to provide physically and intellectually wide-open spaces where all are inspired to participate in the creative process. The FSP/Jerome Fellowships provide opportunities for emerging artists and/or emerging artist teams to create large-scale three-dimensional artwork to be exhibited at Franconia, develop technical and artistic skills, acquire experience in artistic practice, and participate in public engagement programs. Emerging artists in New York City and Minnesota are eligible for this residency program.

JA’TOVIA M. GARY received support for The Evidence of Things Not Seen, a 90-minute personal documentary that chronicles her journey to self-actualization through an intimate look into her closest relationships, exploring the reverberating effects of generational trauma.  This non-traditional confessional reveals her efforts to combat the stigma and shame associated with mental anguish and abuse, particularly within the African American community, showing her determination to redefine herself under tenuous circumstances. From tense meetings with former lovers and estranged siblings to intimate and revealing therapy sessions, she shares the healthy and not so healthy ways in which she attempts to cope. Photos, home video, archival footage, animation sequences, and reenactments will create a collage of memory, nostalgia, and identity that aims to draw connections between the woman Ja’Tovia is today and the most dramatic and harrowing experiences of her ancestors. 

GORMAN-CARTER, MALIYA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Estampés, France, to study the art of clown with master teacher Philippe Gaulier in Estampés, France. Through this workshop, Gorman-Carter hopes to learn how to let go of technique in favor of focusing on presence. She is eager to discover and strengthen what is unique to her as a performance artist and will prepare her for eventually joining or creating a performance troupe that uses movement and clown to tell stories, express magic and connect with the hearts of audiences.

RASHAAD ERNESTO GREEN received support for Big Man, a feature-length narrative about Nick, an ex-con who spent a lifetime protecting himself from those who caused him harm. Through powerlifting, he has even made his body into a weapon of sorts, a first line of defense. Although Nick appears to be a large and intimidating man, he’s actually attempting to protect the vulnerable child within who has suffered a history of abuse, pain and neglect. Underneath his hard exterior, Nick has a sensitive soul. At first glance, many people don’t identify this quality in him because they’re so quick to judge his harsh exterior. Then Nick meets Nia, a nine-year-old who appears to be a normal child, but years of neglect have hardened her to the point of seeming more like a mature adult. This unlikely pair has suffered similar circumstances, and Nia presents an opportunity for Nick to correct mistakes of the past in order to heal his own inner turmoil. As his powerlifting pursuits collide and intertwine with his personal ones, Nick fights with everything he has to save the bond that he and Nia created together.

HAHN, HEIDI, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Rome, Italy, to heighten her sense of dislocation through the study of Italian architecture, and explore her fascination with the façade of painting. Hahn is intrigued by the way contemporary life is built around the history of Rome, with classical designs refurbished and incorporated into the exteriors of contemporary buildings, perpetuating an endless undoing of placement and time. Hahn is particularly interested in the ruins that intersect the city. She sees this trip as a transcendental mediation on light and space and will incorporate ideas of the compression of time into future paintings.

HAM, CHRISTINA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Dublin and Galway, Ireland, to research the connections between the Irish Renaissance and the Harlem Renaissance in drama. This trip will benefit Ham’s work by informing the creation of a new play called Niagara that she plans on writing based on the information that she uncovers in Ireland. It will also help her in terms of establishing a new collaborative alliance with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

RUSSELL HARBAUGH received support for a 100-minute narrative called LOVE AFTER LOVE, a sad, funny, romantic account of a mother and two grown sons as they struggle in the wake of a father’s death. After 4 years of development, the project began shooting in July with actors Chris O'Dowd and Andie MacDowell in the lead roles. Glenn and Suzanne are theater professors at a Midwestern University. They enjoy a playful, tempestuous marriage surrounded by students and family. Their two sons, Nicholas and Chris, have grown up and left the nest, making homes in New York City.  Nick is a successful book editor involved in a long-standing relationship with a colleague, Rebecca, whom the whole family loves, while Chris waits tables, trying to find an outlet for his vague, center-less creativity. When Glenn becomes ill with cancer, the family waits out his last summer days together: caring for his dying body that lies in the living room. Unable and ill-equipped to attend to their mounting emotional needs after Glen's death the family implodes, finding release in alternatively abhorrent and comic ways.

HARLEM STAGE/ AARON DAVIS HALL, New York City, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of the Fund for New Work, a program that supports artists in the creation, development and presentation of new work through commissions. Harlem Stage is a performing arts center that celebrates and perpetuates the unique and diverse legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. It provides opportunity, commissioning and support to artists of color, and makes performances easily accessible to all audiences, including children to whom it introduces the rich diversity, excitement and inspiration of the performing arts.

HART, HEATHER, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, to explore architectural forms as they relate to liminal space and the body in “colored” communities, specifically biracial people and families. As a biracial woman, she navigates and unpacks liminal spaces as metaphors for identity and humanity. Hart is interested in how architectural forms relate to participation, particularly in the context of racially divided places. Her interdisciplinary practice fuses fabricated and historical belief systems and legends bequeathed through generations mixed with invention and intuition. She makes oracles in the form of porches, stoops, and rooftops and sees this travel as an opportunity to find forms, people, and stories for her work.