PHOENIX, AZ (December 18, 2009) – In December 2009, the Arizona Commission on the Arts awarded its prestigious Artist Project Grants to artists from across Arizona, practicing in a variety of artistic disciplines. Offered annually, these grants support the professional development of Arizona artists with awards of up to $5,000.
The Arts Commission remains committed to maintaining support for artists through grants, as it has for 20 years. Total grant funds in this category are nearly 60% less than the previous year due to the state’s overall budget reductions. Of the 194 applications received, only 6 were funded.
The 2010 recipients are: Angela Franks Wells, Saskia Jorda, Dayvid Lemmon, Patricia Sannit, Karen Schupp, and Barbea Williams.
2010 Artist Project Grant panelists included Yin Mei, Artistic Director/Choreographer Yin Mei Dance and Director of Dance Queens College, New York City University, NY; Lisa Sasaki, Director of Program Development, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA; and Rodrigo Toscano, Author, Artistic Director and Writer, Collapsible Poetics Theatre, New York, NY. Danita Rios, an Arizona Commission on the Arts board member from Phoenix, chaired the panel.
These awards have been known to springboard recipients into the next level of their careers as artists, whose business is researching, developing, marketing and delivering their creative product. Through their work with communities, in education and in partnership with local vendors, artists stimulate local economies and improve the quality of life across Arizona.
Artist Project Grants Descriptions:
Angela Franks Wells (Tempe) – Copper Mine. The artist will create a suite of copperplate photogravures that visually explore contemporary and historical Arizona copper mines. Frank Wells is a photography-based artist who specializes in 19th century photographic processes and is a Faculty Associate at Phoenix Community College, Mesa Community College, and Arizona State University.
Saskia Jorda (Scottsdale) – You are Here. The artist will make a three-part map installation that combines physical, emotional, and imaginary space to address the issue of displacement and its complexities. She will use commercial and hand-made felts, wool, fabric, thread, cording, and found objects. Jorda is an interdisciplinary artist whose work has been included in numerous local and national exhibitions.
Dayvid Lemmon (Phoenix) – New Works. The artist will create a body of photographic work that will explore man’s relationship to nature juxtaposed with man’s relationship to technology. He will encode references to electronic communication, mass media, architecture, science and industry. Lemmon’s work has been included in local and national art exhibitions.
Patricia Sannit (Phoenix) – Citadel. The artist will create an installation of carved and incised clay pavers, sections and objects that will be arranged as a citadel to refer to cross-cultural and layered historical connections, both lost and found. Sannit is an archeologist and visual artist and her work has been included in local and national art exhibitions.
Karen Schupp (Tempe) – Western Door/Power Trail. The choreographer will explore sustainability and water rights through the collaborative development and performance of an interdisciplinary, site-specific dance work. She will work with media composer Todd Ingalls to generate real-time sound and video that will be integral to the piece. Schupp is currently on faculty in the School of Dance at Arizona State University.
Barbea Williams (Tucson) – African by Legacy – Mexican by Birth. The choreographer will travel to Mexico to study the historical and intercultural connections between Mexico and the African Diaspora through the lens of dance. The project will culminate in a performance of choreography. Williams is adjunct faculty in the School of Dance at the University of Arizona and the Artistic Director of Barbea Williams Performing Company, Inc., and of the UA Afrikana Dance Ensemble.
The Commission is also pleased to announce that Christopher Michael Lane (Sedona) received the Bill Desmond Writing Award for the best nonfiction submission. This award was established by Kathleen Desmond to honor her husband, Bill Desmond, a reporter, editor, and nonfiction writer. Artist Project Grant panelist, Rodrigo Toscano, the award judge, said of the writer: “Lane’s vision simmers with a passion for extending writing’s capacity into new areas of life.” Lane will receive $500 toward his project, The Sweetest Part of the Bread: An Uncommon Caregiver and His Elders.
About the Arizona Commission on the Arts
One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is an agency of the State of Arizona that supports a statewide arts network. The Arizona Commission on the Arts supports access to quality arts and arts education opportunities for all Arizona citizens; the development and retention of statewide jobs in the nonprofit arts, culture and education sectors; and increased economic impact in local communities through arts-based partnerships that develop tax and small business revenue.
We imagine an Arizona where everyone can participate in and experience the arts.
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Images available upon request.
