Painters, writers, filmmakers and folk artists are among the creatives who will receive $10,000 from Assembly for the Arts. The Cuyahoga County’s arts advocacy group unveiled Tuesday its 2024 Creative Impact Fund grants for 17 artists.
Deidre McPherson, Assembly’s chief community officer, said they received more than 400 applications from people who have a professional portfolio stretching back at least three years.
“The awardees, they're incredibly diverse in terms of race and ethnicity and creative discipline,” she said. “We have people who are 70-plus, and then we have some folks who are under the age of 30.”
McPherson said last year’s grants of $6,250 have been increased after a series of artist listening sessions.
“There are a lot of conversations around access to funds that artists need to have a living wage and decent quality of life,” she said. “We don't want the label ‘starving artists’ to be the case in Greater Cleveland. This is an indicator that our work isn't done: $10,000 is great, but we look forward to a time - and we know artists look forward to a time - when they have access to more funding to do even more impactful work in our region.”
Myles Smith, who performs as Humble G tha Fiddla, is an electric violinist, born and raised in Cleveland. He plans to use his grant to upgrade equipment for his production company.
“I have an initiative called hip hope,” he said. “Hope is the acronym for ‘healing our people everywhere.’ So, I'll make music to heal people.”
Along with $10,000, McPherson said the 17 artists get professional development support and memberships to Assembly for the Arts and the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE).
The grants and program administration support are from $500,000 in Cuyahoga Arts & Culture funding. That same pool also funds projects through partner organizations such as Karamu House, SPACES art gallery and the Julia De Burgos Cultural Arts Center. Ideastream Public Media also receives funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.
The full list of Creative Impact Fund awards:
*Gabrielle Banzhaf, interdisciplinary artist and curator
*Nathalie Bermudez, performing and visual artist
*Dr. Munirah Bomani, movement artist in Afro-Caribbean dance
*Carolina Borja, cellist and composer in Afro-Colombian traditional singing
*Sequoia Bostick, visual artist
*David Buttram, visual artist
*Amber N. Ford, photojournalist
*Stephanie Ginese, poet and stand-up
*Leila Khoury, multidisciplinary artist/sculptor
*Aimee Lee, Korean papermaking (Hanji)
*Theresa May, trumpeter and composer
*Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz, multi-disciplinary artist
*Humble G tha Fiddla, electric violinist and producer
*Robin VanLear, visual and performance artist
*Alberto Veronica Lopez, ceramicist
*Chris Webb, filmmaker and literary artist
*Megan Young, transdisciplinary artist
