Past
Grantees

ROBERTS, MATANA, New York, New York, will travel to Canton, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee,and Natchitoches and New Orleans, Louisiana, to conduct institutional research and private interviews for an ongoing, segmented, multi-media sound project based on her ancestral history in the American south. As a jazz composer an improviser, Roberts seeks to synthesize tradition and experimentation, breathing life into five generations of her African-American family's soundscapes, narratives, mythology, and lore. She has been gathering stories and doing online and word of mouth research for several years.  She has enough focus now to journey to the towns and cities where her family lived, and where some still live, to find the authentic textures, rhythms, and sounds one can only discover through direct experience.

The ROCHESTER ART CENTER, Rochester, Minnesota, received $18,000 in support of the 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Series.  The Center offers the opportunity for all people to understand and value the arts through innovative experiences with contemporary art.  Through world-class exhibitions and programs, the Center presents welcoming, integrated, and diverse experiences that encourage questioning, creativity, and critical thinking.  The 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Series is an exhibition program dedicated to promising young Minnesota artists.  The Series reflects shifting trends in contemporary artistic practice and production, and helps to facilitate the creation of new bodies of work in a variety of media including photography, installation, sound, painting, drawing, sculpture, and film.

ROLLINS, ANNIE KATSURA, Minnesota, will travel to Huanxian, Gansu Province, China and Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China to study both the Gansu (Northeast) and Yunnan (Southwest) traditional style of shadow puppet-making and performing methods with the last remaining masters. Master Shi is a performance master in Gansu Province where traditional shadow puppet performances are used to commemorate every holiday, family celebration and funeral. Her apprenticeship with Master Shi will focus on Gansu’s notoriously dexterous performance style of the male and female archetype roles. In the small village of Tengchong, Yunnan Province, Master Liu creates boldly colorful shadow puppets made from bone glue mixed with pure mineral pigments only found in the southwest region. Rollins will learn Master Liu’s unique construction techniques while studying the Yunnan puppetry aesthetic.  

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, Brooklyn, New York, received $60,000 in support of commissioning and residency prorams for emerging composers based in New York City. Roulette Intermedium supports artists by presenting a substantial and diverse program of concerts, commissioning new work, paying artists deserving fees, and finding them audiences interested in learning about developments in experimental art. The Commissioning Program provides emerging composers with commissions, stipends for rehearsal and production, and concerts featuring their new works. Commissioned artists reflect diverse musical styles and traditions. Composers selected for the Residency Program receive fees, stipends for rehearsal, and production. Residencies provide space and time for emerging composers to develop new works for Roulettes innovative and adventurous music series.

Rudoi, Paul John, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to the Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton, Illinois to conduct research on the first two published works of C.S. Lewis, Spirits in Bondage: A Circle of Lyrics and Dymer, in preparation for musical settings of both texts. The Wade Center houses the largest collection of C.S. Lewis materials in North America, including unpublished analyses, letters, and other materials corresponding to the works Rudoi is referencing. In addition to the archival research, Rudoi has arranged to meet with two scholars of Lewis' literature: Dr. Gerald Root from Wheaton College and Dr. Don King from Montreat College. Rudoi is interested in these works for the vitality and blunt musicality of the language.

SCOTT, THOMAS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Sarajevo, Bosnia, to research Bosnian Sevdah music or Bosnian blues, through study with local musicians as facilitated by Sarajevo-based musician and recording engineer Alan Omerovic.  With Omerovic's help, he will arrange lessons and master classes to explore the unique instrumental techniques and individual roles in the Sevdah music ensemble, including frame drum, accordion, violin, clarinet, voice, and sargiya (Bosnian oud).  As a multi-instrumentalist and orchestrator, Scott feels it is critical to have a working knowledge of the ranges and fundamentals of the instruments for composing. He is attracted to the unique blend of Eastern and Western influences and the polyrhythmic dexterity and variety of meters and time signatures found in the Sevdah music.

jill sigman/thinkdance, New York City, received a grant of $4,000 in support of the development and production of Perma-Culture.  Founded in 1998 by choreographer Jill Sigman, jill sigman/thinkdance presents conceptual dance that asks questions through the medium of the body.  It exists at the intersection of dance, theater, and visual installation, often using non-traditional environments, formats, and ways of engaging the viewer.  Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems to create the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.  Sigman will create a repertory of movement scores based on permaculture principles and sustainable living systems.  The scores will be refined through working with multiple groups of dancers.

SMACK MELLON, Brooklyn, New York, received a two-year grant of $20,000 to support emerging artists in the Artist Studio Program. Smack Mellon’s mission is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized, mid-career, and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work by providing exhibition opportunities, studio workspace, access to equipment, and technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects. Launched in 2000, the Artist Studio Program provides free studio space; access to a workshop for metal, wood, and general fabrications; a common area equipped with the latest technology; and fellowships to six artists for an 11-month period. Smack Mellon hosts two Open Studio events each year as well as sponsored visits from curators, critics, and gallerists, which provide significant exposure and invaluable career-building opportunities.

Smack Mellon Studios, New York City, received a disaster relief grant of $20,500 for losses and damages from Superstorm Sandy.

THE SOAP FACTORY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $24,000 in support of the participation of emerging Minnesota and New York City artists in the 2013 Exhibition Program.  The Soap Factory is a laboratory for artistic experimentation and innovation, dedicated to supporting artists and engaging audiences through the production and presentation of contemporary art in a distinctive environment. Its expansive spaces offer artists unusual areas for sculpture, installation, painting, performance, photography, film, and video.  The curatorial process enables a variety of viewpoints to be engaged in selecting artists.  The Soap Factory strives to serve artists at pivotal stages in their careers, those who demonstrate a serious commitment to their practice, have evidence of some professional achievement but no substantial record of accomplishment, are engaged in contemporary dialogue, and have great potential but are under-recognized in the field.  

SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $64,000 in support of Artist Development and Resource Programs.  Springboard is an economic and community development organization for artists and by artists.  Its work is about building stronger communities, neighborhoods, and economies.  Artists are an important leverage point in that work.  Springboard’s mission is to cultivate vibrant communities by connecting artists with the skills, information, and services they need to make a living and a life.  Jerome support underwrites the participation of emerging Minnesota artists in Artist Development and Resource Programs, encompassing professional development workshops, resources, referral services, support networks, and innovative services.  

 STREB, Brooklyn, New York, received $23,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Commissioning Program. Founder Elizabeth Streb invents action ideas that are archetypal, noticeable, and understandable. The outcome is a mixture of slam dancing, exquisite and amazing human flight, and wild action sport. STREB’s Emerging Artist Commissioning Program, housed at the company’s Williamsburg home SLAM, accepts proposals from movement-based artists, including choreographers, aerialists, and circus artists. The goal is to create a pool of artists who can capitalize on the resources distinct to SLAM so that, either literally or conceptually, they may use SLAM’s special and unusual characteristics and qualities to inspire new and exciting creative experiments. Selected artists receive commissions, time, space, and resources tailored to the nature and scope of their projects. They have opportunities to showcase their work and receive feedback from both Elizabeth Streb and audiences.

THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM, New York City, received a two-year grant of $30,000 in support of the Artist-in-Residence Program.  The Studio Museum is a nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally, and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture.  It is a site for the dynamic exchange of ideas about art and society.  The Artist-in-Residence Program has supported over 100 artists who’ve gone on to establish highly regarded careers.  The program is an 11-month studio residency for three emerging artists working in any media.  The artists are given studio spaces, stipends, and a culminating exhibition in the Museum’s galleries.  

CHRIS TEAGUE, received a grant in support of The Woods Are Burning, a feature narrative about Kelly Macomber, a shy, tomboyish teenager looking for a sense of identity and belonging as she approaches a future beyond high school. Kelly’s father, Hank, is a brash but well-meaning single dad who runs a logging crew. He worries that his once close relationship with his only daughter is getting weaker as she grows older. Kelly falls for Foster, a charismatic and mysterious young man who draws her deep into a world of radical environmental activism in Oregon. When Foster abandons her, she goes back to the protective world of her father. But in one last act of radical activism, she sends her life in an unsure direction.

THE TEAM (THEATRE OF THE EMERGING AMERICAN MOMENT), New York City, received $10,000 in support of the creation and production of RoosevElvis.  This theater company is dedicated to dissecting and celebrating the experience of living in America today.  It devises plays by examining a wealth of material, ranging from existing texts to images taken from visual art and film, and then combining that research with original writing and staging.  RoosevElvis is a duet about spaces large and tiny, universes in which we trap ourselves, and the landscapes we create for other inhabitants–whether they like it or not.  Two actors take on two icons of American masculinity: Teddy Roosevelt and Elvis Presley.  RoosevElvis blurs the lines between femininity and masculinity, and focuses on the gulf between two paradigms: that of a clear-cut, finite, and controllable universe, and that of a hybrid, chaotic, and chance-filled place.

TREVINO, WILLIAM, New York, will travel to South Korea to attend the Kodanja Shimsa (master-level martial arts training retreat) in South Korea to further his research in martial arts training to devise original theatre performances. Trevino is a black belts and a recognized master of Soo Bahk Do. He has been invited to participate in a retreat in Kyung San Buk Do to train with senior masters U.U. Kim, S.H. Park, U.S. Kim, and Grandmaster H.C. Hwang.  Trevino will integrate these teachings into his ongoing work with his company, Corporeal Arts Incorporated, translating the martial arts practice into his theatrical work.

BRENNAN VANCE received $25,000 for The Missing Sun, a feature-length narrative film about two families forced to put their disparate beliefs to the test and to reckon with their clashing cosmologies in the midst of a potential solar catastrophe. Sun explores the crossroads of faith and doubt, love and loneliness, generational differences and apples fallen not-so-far from the tree. The film intimately follows seven characters in their individual searches to not only understand what is happening in their crumbling external worlds but to decipher their shifting internal worlds as well.

SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS, St. Paul, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for VANESSA VOSKUIL, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $20,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of The Student.  Springboard’s mission is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the skills, contacts, information, and services they need to make a living and a life.  Voskuil is a director, performer, designer, community organizer, teaching artist, and creator of dances, interdisciplinary performances, and films.  Her work often explores physical, emotional, and psychological space, creating impressionistic textures of human experience that respond to the cultural environment and humanity’s emotional spectrum.  The Student is a large-scale, community-inclusive performance that explores the topic of learning: how one learns, what one learns and internalizes, and how one chooses to act. 

JESSICA WALKER was awarded a grant for 366, an experimental film that explores the significance of aging in communities throughout New York City by documenting one birthday celebration for each calendar day of the year.  While exploring variety among the different types of people born at various times of the year, this repeated inquiry establishes a lens on shared customs and common values across demographics.  A strong emphasis will be placed on visual connections that capture the essence of each birthday celebration.  Video and sound will be choreographed through editing into an abstracted, non-linear narrative viewing experience that is 366 minutes in length.  The final viewing format for the project will be influenced by Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho and Christian Marclay’s The Clock, which allow the audience to enter and leave the viewing experience whenever they wish due to the film’s expanded running time.

DEACON WARNER received $15,000 for the feature-length documentary The Co-op Wars. The Twin Cities has by far the largest number of food cooperatives in the country, including several of the largest, forming the basis for an alternative food economy which helped it gain the distinction of the #1 metro area for local food in the nation. According to the filmmaker, this co-op system has contributed to the high level of health and community cohesion in the Cities and has provided a basis for the economic survival of many sustainable family farms in the region.  Many in the food justice movement in other parts of the country look at the Twin Cities’ strong co-op and local food culture with envy, but its accomplishments did not come without struggle. The Twin Cities were the site of the “Co-op Wars” of the mid-1970s, a struggle over issues of class, race, health, ecology and the nature of social change that descended into threats, violent takeovers, and even a car bombing. These issues remain alive for activists of today as they make efforts to create a food system, and a society, that is just, sustainable, and healthy. Through verite footage, interviews, and animation, this film will link “The Co-op Wars” struggle of the past with issues that continue to be wrestled with in the nationwide contemporary food movement today.