We’re so excited to have just announced our 2013 CityArtist Projects recipients. $160,000 in awards will go to 31 incredible individual artists working in the dance, music and theater arts. The annual program assists individual artists that are based in Seattle to develop and present their work.
Awards for 2013 include $3,000 to Kathya Alexander to revise and complete a script about homosexuality in the Black church and gang violence in the Black community; $4,500 to Samantha Boshnack to develop eight new jazz pieces to be performed by a new group of musicians in disparate venues around Seattle including an elementary school; $8,000 to Rose Cano to develope staged presentations of a bilingual play based on Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as homeless characters for homeless audiences and advocacy organizations; $8,000 to Jessika Kenney to compose, record and perform new work exploring secular court music, vocals and associated literature from Iran and Java; $6,000 to Jody Kuehner for a theatrical performance inspired by the parallels between drag culture in Seattle and authentic Mardi Gras culture in New Orleans by The Cherdonna and Lou Show; $6,000 to Li Hengda to develop a new, collaborative dance drama with the Chinese National Acrobatic Troupe from Beijing; and $6,000 to Anna Telcs to present a live show exploring the ritual of dressing and ceremony of fashion to be presented concurrently with fashion week 2013.
View the complete list of all 31 2013 CityArtist Projects on the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs website.
The 2013 program received 100 applicants. Thirty percent of the awards will go to first-time recipients. Request amounts are set at $4,000, $6,000 and $8,000, though award amount may be less than requested based on the ranking of the application. Projects must be realized within a year. A peer-review panel evaluated proposals based on criteria such as artistic merit, public access or impact and innovation.
The CityArtist Projects program supports new works, works-in-progress or works taken to the next stage. All projects must incorporate a public presentation. Funding is offered to different artistic disciplines in alternating years. In 2012, CityArtists awarded $156,000 to 45 individual artists working in literary, media, film and visual arts.
Image: 2012 CityArtists award recipient Fulgencio Lazo will create a new large-scale sculpture and sandpainting for Dia de Los Muertos/Day of the Dead at Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. There is an artist reception on Friday, November 2 from 6-8 pm, which includes traditional Oaxacan music and dance.
