Leeway Announces June 2007 Art and Change Grantees
19 Grants Given to Women and Transgender Artists in the Philadelphia Region
PHILADELPHIA PA - The Leeway Foundation today announced $46,075 in grants to nineteen women and transgender artists living in the five-county Philadelphia area to further their work integrating a variety of arts disciplines and social change.
The Art and Change Grant provides project-based grants of up to $2,500 to women and trans artists who: have art and social change projects or opportunities that impact a larger group, audience or community; have financial need and limited or no access to other financial resources; and live in the Delaware Valley area. One of the more unique aspects of the Art and Change grant is its requirement for projects to be supported by or in collaboration with a Change Partner: a person, organization, or business that is part of the project in some way.
"For a number of these artists Leeway is the first foundation to support their work," says Executive Director Denise Brown. "I am excited that for this round of applicants the overwhelming majority were first-time applicants and that several came from Camden County, which is a new geographic area of inclusion for our program."
The nineteen grants went to artists working in fields as varied as dance, quilt making, documentary video, collage, and oral history.
The recipients in this cycle, selected out of 48 applicants, are:
Alexandria Brinae Ali Bradley, Dance
Beverly Collins-Roberts, Film/Video
Emily Nepon, Theater/Performance
Isyss Adams, Film/Video
Joy Esther Phillps Butts, Film/Video
Karl Surkan, Film/Video
Leah Keturah Caesar, Dance
Lili Bita, Drama
Marsi Maxwell, Collage
Melissa Ezelle, Printmaking
Michelle Posadas, Multi-media Performance
Missy Risser, Film/Video
Misty Sol, Arts Coordination/Performance
Natalie O'Hara, Folkloric and Traditional Dance
Reva McEachern, Web Design, Music and Writing
Sarah Drury, Interactive Performance
Toni Kersey, Quilting/Fabric Arts
Valerie Harris, Film/Video/Oral History
Wadzanai Mhute, Creative Writing
The Leeway Foundation's grant making programs honor women and transgender artists (which includes those who identify as transsexual and genderqueer) for their ability to create social change through their artistic and cultural work. The foundation is committed to art making as an integral part of social change, movement building, and anti-oppression work where Leeway is accountable, accessible, part of and governed by, the communities Leeway's programs support.
Julia Lòpez, President of Leeway's Board of Directors, says, "The Art and Change grants acknowledge the value of and supports the artistic expression of women and trans artists, providing them with an opportunity to develop their art and social change work in collaboration with their communities."
The Art and Change grants are distributed three times per year and overseen by an independent peer review panel. The June 2007 review panel consisted of Bernadine Mellis (documentary filmmaker), Evelyne Laurent-Perrault (cultural worker), and Riley Snorton (artist and activist).
