Twenty-One Women Artists In Philadelphia Area Receive Leeway "Window of Opportunity" Grants
The Leeway Foundation's Window of Opportunity (WOO) grant will provide financial support to 21 Philadelphia-area women artists to help make their artistic visions come true–from that of a flamenco dancer working with a renowned mentor in Spain to the book launch of a poet's first volume of work.
The Leeway Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of 21 women artists to receive its April 2004 Window of Opportunity Grants. The grants provide short-term, immediate assistance to women artists living in the five-county Philadelphia area who wish to take advantage of specific opportunities to significantly benefit their artistry.
Grants totaling $33,842, the largest WOO funding cycle ever, were awarded to women living in Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties representing a broad range of artistic disciplines.
A panel of local artists and arts organizers, Deborah Block, Toni Brown, Gretjen Clausing, and Genevieve Coutroubis (see bios below), awarded recipients WOO grants based on many factors including the uniqueness and significance of the opportunity to the artist's development or recognition at this particular stage in their work.
THE ARTISTS
Sondra Blanchard | Philadelphia | $1,279
Theatre: Intensive one-month training in Viewpoints with Anne Bogart and Suzuki Method with the SITI Company to develop solo show of original physical theatre about Lotte Lenya. Support for travel expenses.
Pamela Jean Cole | Philadelphia | $750
Visual Arts: Exhibitions of abstract art utilizing found objects to educate about the challenges of living with mental illness, at the Journey Home Enrichment Center. Support for materials.
Madi Distefano | Philadelphia | $2,000
Theatre: Presentation of her one-woman show, Popsicle's Departure-1989, the first known play written by a woman based on Ireland's tradition of "shaggy dog" or "tall-tales," at Primary Stages in New York City. Support for production and travel expenses.
Penelope Fleming | Bucks | $1,993
Sculpture: Re-dedication as an artist while on sabbatical from teaching with an exhibition of sculptural forms at the Vessel Gallery, featuring sculptures of clay pieces and three-dimensional armatures. Support for materials.
Deborah Fries | Montgomery | $705
Poetry: Book launch in Tucson, AZ of first book-length volume of poetry, Various Modes of Departure, the second winner of the Kore Press First Book Award. Support for travel expenses.
Patricia J. Goodrich | Bucks | $1,790
Visual Arts: Exhibit of steel sculpture and "Voices Underground," an audio/ video/ landscape installation at Union Station's entrance during the Very Special Arts International Arts Exhibition and Festival in Washington D.C. Support for materials, installation and travel expenses.
Beverly A. Gross-Spencer | Delaware | $2,000
Music: European debut as a solo artist performing spirituals and other North American styles with the Ambler Choral Society in Normandy, France. Support for travel expenses.
Lois Bliss Herbine | Montgomery | $2,000
Music: Crystal Records production of first solo compact disc of premier recordings for piccolo. Support for production expenses.
Raquel Montilla Higgins | Philadelphia | $2,000
Visual Arts: Solo exhibition of "Vestiges," three-dimensional pieces created in response to 9/11 that evoke a sense of fragility and impermanence, as part of Fundacion Metropoli's international program of art exhibitions in Madrid, Spain. Support for materials.
Jackie Hoving | Philadelphia | $900
Photography: Mentorship with David Hilliard at the Yale Norfolk School of Art in Norfolk, CT to develop new works inspired by rural landscape. Support for materials and mentorship expenses.
Emily Hubler | Philadelphia | $2,000
Choreography/Dance: Performance of her work, Ritual at the XI Annual International Contemporary Dance Conference and Performance Festival in Bytom, Poland. Support for travel expenses.
Arlene Love | Philadelphia | $2,000
Visual Arts: Retrospective exhibition at Rosemont College spanning work from the 1960s to present, including sculpture, drawing and photography. Support for restoration of pieces, framing and travel expenses.
Aryani Manring | Philadelphia | $2,000
Choreography: Performance of Cross Hatch, a melding of classical Indonesian form with Western contemporary forms at the Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta during the "Emerging Choreographers" program. Support for travel and production expenses.
Elizabeth R. New | Philadelphia | $2,000
Digital Printmaking: Solo exhibit at the Nexus Foundation for Today's Art, featuring collages that portrays a diversity of messages, from whimsical to political, to make fine art approachable. Support for printing and framing.
Adelaide S. Paul | Philadelphia | $2,000
Mixed-Media Sculptor: First solo exhibit in New York City at the Garth Clark Gallery, showcasing sculptures that explore a person's relationship with their domesticated animal, commenting as well on how we treat and relate to people who are voiceless in our society. Support for materials, documentation and transportation expenses.
Anna Rubio | Philadelphia | $2,000
Dance: Intensive study of the traditional way of dancing the flamenco rhythm known as "bulerias" in Jerez, Spain, the birthplace of this rhythm with mentor, La Chiqui. Support for travel and mentorship expenses.
Jessica R. Smith | Philadelphia | $1,034
Multi-Media Fiber Arts: Solo exhibition of narrative patterns at the Woven Fiber Art House featuring the installations, "Leisure" and "The Modern Suburb," both of which aim to physically engage through use of the entire interior space of the gallery. Support for materials.
Michele E. Tantoco | Philadelphia | $1,250
Dance: Collaborative performance of Cross Hatch at the Indonesian Dance Festival in Jakarta, exploring the musicality and physicality of Balinese Gamelan Dance styles with an eye towards contemporary interdisciplinary relationships. Support for travel.
Kathryn Tebordo | Philadelphia | $862
Choreography: First performance by Workshop for Potential Movement outside Philadelphia, showcasing Close Enough to be Sisters at the Dog Days Dance Festival in Cambridge, NY and the Williamsburg Art Nexus in Brooklyn, NY. Support for materials and travel expenses.
Dorothy Gordon Wilkie | Philadelphia | $1,329
Choreography: Intensive training with Susana Arena Perdosa to enhance movement vocabulary and folkloric content of dances while participating in the 9th Annual Explorations in Afro-Cuban Dance and Drum workshops held in Arcata, CA. Support for travel expenses.
Julie York | Philadelphia | $1,950
Ceramic Sculpture: First solo exhibition at the Garth Clark Gallery in New York City, featuring work that explores the relationship between object, language and interpretation. Support for material and shipping expenses.
THE SELECTION PANEL
Since 1987, Deborah Block has directed or been a dramaturg for approximately 50 professional productions. She has worked primarily in Philadelphia with work also presented in New York, Los Angeles and Anchorage. She is an Independence Fellowship in the Arts recipient and been named in Who's Who Among American Teachers. She has been a finalist for the Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a play and named twice as a finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist. In university settings she has taught Theatre History, Movement for the Actor, Directing and teaches Movement at the Walnut Street Theatre. She received her MFA at Temple University in Theatre and is now teaching for the university. She has also formally studied music, dance and visual arts. She is one of the original organizers of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and maintains her position as Program Director.
Toni Brown is a poet and short fiction writer. Her work has been published in journals and anthologies including Sinister Wisdom, Night Bites: Vampire Stories by Women, NightShade: Gothic Tales by Women, American Poetry Review, Fireweed and has been recently accepted for Prairie Schooner. She co-edited the Cave Canem 5th Anniversary Anthology and is a Senior Editor for the Painted Bride Quarterly Journal. In 2001, she received a Leeway Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Poetry. She is a Cave Canem Fellow and lives in Philadelphia.
Since 1989, Gretjen Clausing has been an active member of the Philadelphia media arts community as a programmer, videomaker and activist. In the winter of 1999 she was hired by the Prince Music Theater to create Film at the Prince. From 1989 to 1998, she worked at the Neighborhood Film/Video Project at International House, where she was one of the original staff members for the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. She is one of the co-creators/ producers of the television show "Big Tea Party," Philadelphia's only anarchistic home-economics show, airing weekly on DUTV Cable 54; "Big Tea Party" received the Festival of Independents Best Documentary Prize at the 2001 Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema. She is a founding member of the Philadelphia Coalition for Public Access and has done film exhibition consulting for the Sedgwick Cultural Center in Germantown, Scribe Video Center and several independent filmmakers.
Genevieve Coutroubis is a documentary photographer who received her BS in Photojournalism from Boston University and her MS in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Through her work as a photographer and during her graduate studies Genevieve has focused on and pursued social change through art. She has worked with various non-profit organizations to help bring art to underserved communities in the City of Philadelphia. In addition to exhibiting her own photographs, Genevieve currently helps promote the career of emerging artists through her work as the Director of Programs for Creative Artists Network.
THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM
The Leeway Foundation's Window of Opportunity grants support specific, concrete and timely opportunities that have a significant impact on an artist's work–such as an exceptional chance for advanced study with a significant mentor; travel associated with a residency, reading, performance or exhibition; or a rental of equipment or purchase of materials needed to complete a scheduled project. Women artists working in all fields, including the performing, literary, and visual arts, as well as mixed media, folk arts and community-based arts projects are encouraged to apply and may request up to $2,000.
To be eligible for a Window of Opportunity grant, artists must be female, 20 years of age or older, current residents of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia county, and have a commitment from a recognized institution, organization or mentor for a specific date or dates. Applicants may not be full-time or matriculated students in a degree-granting arts program.
There are two remaining WOO cycles for 2004, the deadlines are:
Monday, June 21 (Projects which occur after August 2 are eligible for this cycle.)
Monday, November 1 (Projects which occur after December 13 are eligible for this cycle.)
Applications are available online or by calling 215.545.4078.
THE LEEWAY FOUNDATION
The Leeway Foundation was founded in 1993 to promote the welfare of women and benefit the arts. Leeway's mission is to support individual women artists, arts programs and arts organizations, focusing on the Greater Philadelphia region, in order to help them achieve individual and community transformation. Leeway envisions a world where art is recognized as an essential part of the human experience; where it is employed and respected as a powerful catalyst for personal and social change; and where women artists are honored as role models, mentors and leaders.
