Why This Matters: Artist Support Grants provide direct funds to creative individuals to support projects that further their professional development amid the pandemic.
By Bernie Petit
Communications Manager
Artists in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region have continued to create and make meaningful work despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is why the Artist Support Grants program exists – to provide direct funds to individual artists during this challenging time.
ASC, in conjunction with arts councils in Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln and Rowan counties, has named the Artist Support Grant recipients. Grants ranging from $600 to $2,000 were awarded to 42 established and emerging artists of varied disciplines. The grantees were selected from 60 applicants, who requested a total of $108,980 for $75,000 in available funds. Recipients represent four counties and disciplines ranging from film to performing arts and literature to visual art.
The awards, a partnership with the North Carolina Arts Council, support artists in the completion/presentation of new work, career promotion, training and travel.
Meet the Artist Support Grant Recipients
Tina Alberni – $1,744
To purchase an iPad Pro and Stylus for proficient digital expression and efficacy.
Bryan Anderson – $2,000
To support updates to a home recording studio.
Eliana Arenas – $1,995
To attend a 10-week virtual workshop with Flourish and Thrive Academy that will provide professional development training.
Amy Bagwell – $1,405
To attend the Granta & Wesleyan Writers’ Conference in June 2021.
Audrey Baran – $2,000
To support rental space for company classes and artist fees for Baran Dance’s Spring 2021 concert, “Big Moves.”
Franchone Bey – $1,820
To support The Power of Black Women and Words.
Katherine Boxall – $2,000
To support the solo exhibition, “Intelligent Abstraction,” at Jerald Melberg Gallery in January 2021
Dara Brewton Schweitzer – $1,250
To support the continuation of a 48 Hour Film Festival project.
Linda Luise Brown – $2,000
To document works for artist retrospective.
Danielle Carelock – $1,607.68
To purchase an iMac desktop to establish a digital presence and online shop to maintain practice as a ceramic artist.
Micah Cash – $2,000
To expand the second edition of the book “Waffle House Vistas.”
Beth Coiner – $1,588.90
To purchase photography light shaping equipment for a visual narrative of jewelry design.
Misean Cooper – $2,000
To produce the EP “Sincerely Yours.”
Chris Craft – $2,000
To purchase an iPad Pro and accompanying hardware for the creation of a new body of work and the digital sharing of this work.
Rachel Dickey – $2,000
To purchase a router and laser cutting machine to support production of inhouse sculpture maquettes and prototypes for current and future artworks and public art proposals.
Vickie Evans – $600
To provide virtual support for The African American Playwrights Group and other virtual events such as virtual cast readings, workshops, industry interviews and social media live streams.
Joel Ferdon – $721
To Attend the Looking Glass Rock Writers’ Conference at Brevard College and the Transylvania County Public Library.
William Fried – $1,815
To produce a studio recording of piano album.
Maria Howell – $2,000
To support “Connect-the-Dots,” an initiative to equip clients with the tools they need to strengthen their skills in the arts industry.
Greg Jarrell – $2,000
To support a history project studying Charlotte churches during the period of Urban Renewal, with aims of publishing a book and creating several other educational resources.
William Jenkins – $2,000
To create a visual narrative through photography and video about popular Black southern culture that has been appropriated in mainstream media.
Miki Kato-Starr – $1,486
To purchase a high-quality digital projector and painting easel to create works investigating the displacement of people, places and nature.
Susan Lambert – $1,469
To purchase a new laptop.
Andrew Leventis – $2,000
To create a new series of paintings for exhibition.
Ruth Ava Lyons – $2,000
To participate in an underwater macro photography workshop in the Philippines.
Leandro Manzo – $2,000
To purchase a printer to print on heavy sheets, acetate and canvases.
Jill Martin – $1,899
To upgrade to a new laptop that can handle photo editing features with an accurate color display screen.
Indrani Nayar-Gall – $2,000
To support the completion of a multidimensional art installation that gives visibility to inequality and misogyny.
Herman Nicholson – $1,281.64
To purchase a printer to make handmade portfolio books.
Jeffrey Scot – $2,000
Acquisition of photographic lenses for fine-art photography.
Zaiba Sheikh – $2,000
To support professional studies in Dalcroze education and pedagogy, culminating in a Dalcroze curriculum website aligning with North Carolina standards.
Tara Spil – $1,950
To support “Painting Our Time,” which will be a collection of works that explore the vast complexities of being an American today.
Katrina Standfield – $2,000
To support LaCa Projects art exhibition.
Brian Sullivan – $2,000
To support group ukulele experiences.
Mary London Szpara – $1,995
“The Loss World Monologues” Short film adaptation: snapshots of grief & grace
Malu Tan – $1,450
To organize and launch the virtual reality exhibition “When Nature Takes Back.”
Alyce Vallejo – $2,000
To support Glimpse: A solo exploration and documentation through movement.
Breana Venablé – $1,992.87
To research, develop and produce a micro short film of “Know Justice Know Peace.”
Kayana Waller – $1,685
To support documentary research of the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis, TN.
Julie Wiggins – $1,249
To purchase a new electric potter’s wheel.
Patrice Wilson – $2,000
To support Black, queer and everything in between: it is okay to feel out loud.
Timothy Winkler – $2,000
To support the development of a book arts and printmaking studio, which will in turn facilitate the creation of a new body of work.