30 artist projects funded through CityArtist Projects grant for 2017

SEATTLE, (November 30, 2016) — The Office of Arts & Culture is supporting 30 artists through the CityArtist Projects grant, a funding program that has invested more than $1.7 M in individual artists over the last 10 years. Funding for 2017 goes to support artists’ work in film production and new media, literary arts and visual installation. This year 57% awards went to first time applicants.

“Art can’t happen without artists. It is vital that we invest in the people who are creating and making work in our city,” says Randy Engstrom, director the Office of Arts & Culture. “They are the creative spirit that move us and reflect back the world we live in.”

Several funded works tackle issues facing our society today including the LGBTQ movement, childhood abuse, intergenerational and mixed race exchanges, mental illness, and Native American and Black depictions in society. In addition, immersive installations, bilingual performances and new musical compositions are some of the artworks funded in this cycle of CityArtist Projects.

2017 CityArtist Projects highlights:

• Ana Maria Campoy will perform a bilingual staging of the award-winning play Proof, to raise awareness of mental illness and genius through a Latino cultural lens.
• Leslie Law will write, produce, record and broadcast a live radio theater performance episode with an original live music score and sound effects.
• John Teske will develop an iterative series of new compositions that are uniquely algorithmically generated and accessible on-line. Teske will lead workshops on graphic scores and improvisation with music students at Washington, Aki Kurose and Mercer Middle Schools. The compositions will be premiered by an ensemble of six musicians with strings, winds, percussion and electronics.

CityArtist Projects 2017 funded artists:

Ivan Arteaga, Etienne Cakpo-Gbokou, Anna Maria Campoy, Terry Crane, Alex Crozier-Jackson, Jade Solomon Curtis, Hilary Field, Robert Flor, Sarah Foster, Alice Gosti, Stephen Griggs, Kimberly Holloway, David Ingram, Leslie Law, Veronica Lee-Baik, Jill Marissa, Ricki Mason, KT Niehoff, Serene Petersen, Peggy Piacenza, Elspeth Savani, Che Sehyun, Michael Shantz, Jessie Smith, Timothy Smith-Stewart, Ilvs Strauss, John Teske, Carol Thompson, Storme Webber, Amontaine Aurore Woods.

CityArtists Projects grant funds artists to develop and present new works, supporting artists and their artistic and cultural expression that reflects Seattle’s diversity. Awards range from $2,000 to $8,000.

For more information on public art and the Office of Arts & Culture, go here: http://www.seattle.gov/arts/cityartist-projects

Image: John Osebold, The “Awesome” by Victoria Lahti.