Ten Northeast Florida artists recently received grants of $5,000 each as part of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida’s Art Ventures initiative, now in its 34th year. The awards provide a springboard for the artists to advance their artistic practices, pursue new projects and bring their work to new audiences.
“I hope this year’s Art Ventures artists feel tremendous pride in their selection for these awards, which are a testament to the talent and ambition of our local arts community,” said Amy Crane, senior director of grantmaking at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.
The opportunity attracted more than 65 applicants, a record-breaking number, and the awardees were selected for their artistic merit and determination to move to the next level of professional development, with additional consideration for how the artist is influenced by and impacts Northeast Florida. During this grant cycle, The Community Foundation increased the individual artist award amount from $3,500 to $5,000 and extended the award timeline from 12 to 18 months.
This year’s selected grantees were drawn from the categories of Film, Creative Writing, Music, and the Visual Arts. The winners and their proposed projects include:
• Raquel Benjamin, Visual Artist – To support her fashion collection, “Protest Pinstripe.”
• Julian Bryson, Music Composer/Conductor –To perform, record, and produce his first professional recordings of original work, including a collaboration with Voices of Jacksonville, the adult professional ensemble affiliated with the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus.
• Emily Cargill, Choreographer – To support the creation of a work titled “The Grief Project,” which will be performed at the Women’s Arts Exchange in April of 2024.
• Andrew Fallon, Filmmaker – To produce his first independent short film, “Cobalt,” which explores the perspective of a Middle Eastern teen growing up in the American South in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
• Barbara Hionides, Visual Artist – To support the creation of a community-driven installation project in Historic Springfield titled “Main Street Series.”
• Andrew Kozlowski, Visual Artist – To expand his studio’s production capacity and create opportunities for it to be a resource for other creatives in Jacksonville.
• Jessica Q. Stark, Writer – To fund a book tour for her most recent publication, “Buffalo Girl,” which includes poetry, original collaged photography, and prose influenced by folklore and her mother’s immigration to the United States from Vietnam in 1975.
• Glenn Van Dyke, Musician and Audio Engineer – To market local ensemble Kairos Creature Club’s debut self-titled album through an international promotion campaign.
• Marcus Jamal Williams, Visual Artist – To support a community engagement project involving video interviews with pillars in the African American community, evolving into a portrait series answering the question, ‘What makes you great?’
• Ithiell Yisrael, Filmmaker – To create a mini-documentary as a proof of concept for a larger project highlighting the underground hip-hop scene in Jacksonville.
Art Ventures began in 1990 as a commitment to invest in local individual artists as well as small arts organizations. To date, it has made more than 240 grants to individual artists and 150 grants to small arts organizations, totaling more than $1.4 million.
