Latest Grantees

Artist in Community Grant

Artist in Community Grant
2021: Elisa S. Keeler will be creating a virtual choir video featuring her original music. The song features a strong message of social justice and is performed by local singers of all kinds, picked from multiple diverse choirs. The professional audio and video editing, as well as the artist’s fee, will be funded by an Artist In Community Grant. The video will be premiered online and available on YouTube.

Artist in Community Grant
2022 Artist in Community Grant: Mama's Comfort Camp is raising money for season three of Motherhood is a Joke and the 2nd annual Listen to the Mothers Celebration on Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday May 7th. The project includes a comedy writing and performance course, a live performance during a community celebration, and a film documenting the program from its inception in Fall of 2019 and through the rollercoaster of mothering and creating through the pandemic. Mama’s Comfort Camp (MCC) is an emotional support network where moms from around the world (and across the street) generate support and comfort through conversation and shared experiences. They provide peer mental health support for mothers and caregivers experiencing guilt, shame, and anxiety—the leading causes of postpartum depression/maternal suicide. They facilitate the asking and the receiving of help, and amplify the voices of parents and caregivers over matters of policy and social justice.
website: http://motherup.org/programs

Artist in Community Grant
2022 Artist in Community Grant: The Prayer Tree Project is an interactive community invitation to create healing. Using materials from the natural world, fabric, and sun-exposure, Tahlia Mintz will collaborate with community members to create prayers placed on a tree and then released into the community.
website: http://tahila.net

Artist in Community Grant
2021: Juan Manuel Aldape Munoz is a choreographer and storyteller. His latest project, Regio, uses puppetry and movement to express the story of migrant factory workers who have had to endure unsafe working conditions during the pandemic. The performance was converted to a video medium to follow COVID-19 guidelines and allow more people to safely view it. An Artist In Community Grant funded the materials needed for recording and production.
website: http://www.juanmaldape.com

Illuminated Press
Artist in Community Grant
2021: Laura Rowley is a printmaking artist whose specialty is making small editions of handmade books. Her latest project is two zines that aim to show the realities of being homeless and help those that are currently struggling with it by providing information about resources. A few hundred copies are to be made and shared around. The materials and artist’s fees will be funded by an Artist in Community Grant.
website: http://www.illuminatedpress.org

Artist in Community Grant
2022 Artist in Community Grant: Jim Self is creating a multiple layered project performed memoires, community conversation, movement dialogues, and informal showings on the subjects of LGBTQ senior expressions, the aging moving body, memory, and legacy. Events will take place in June 2022 at Cherry Art Space. Specific dates and times to be determined in coordination with the host venue.
website: http://jimboself.com

Artist in Community Grant
2021: Paulina Velázquez Solís is a multimedia visual artist whose latest project is an homage to the rivers in her life. The project, “A river of all ages”, features a series of mediums including photography, drawing, and animation. From the Six Mile Creek to rivers in Mexico and Costa Rica, Paulina connects each river to herself and, in turn, to each other. The creation and production of “A river of all ages” were partially funded by an Artist In Community Grant.

Artist in Community Grant
2022 Artist in Community Grant: The Women's Opportunity Center is enlisting the talents and skill of local queer Colombian digital artist and muralist Yen Ospina (she/her) in the creation of a mural for its community room as part of a larger project to renovate their space to make it more comfortable, safe, and accessible to the women and children of the community. In particular, they intend to make the space available to children and families as a relaxing, supportive hang-out space as they wait for family members who have hearings, mediation, or court dates at Tompkins County Family Court across the street. The mural will be a central component of this project. Yen will be teaching and working with teens from a young women's mentorship group at GIAC, as well as from a local queer youth group, who will contribute to the mural and learn painting and design techniques.
website: https://www.womensopportunity.org

Artist in Community Grant
2022 Artist in Community Grant: Annemarie Zwack will work with Black Girl Alchemists at Southside Community Center, to create a series of portraits which Judge Seth Peacock would like to replace the portraits of former judges that currently adorn the walls of his courtroom.
website: http://zwackart.com