Creative Research Grants
Max Adrian
Visual Arts
Columbus, OH
2024
Max Adrian, a textile artist, proposes securing studio space and attending the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival to explore intersections between theater and sculpture. The project will include studio rental, travel, lodging, and workshop fees, supporting new work and engagement with experimental puppetry. (Portrait photo by Jake Holler)
Shireen Alihaji
Poetry
Los Angeles, CA
2024
Shireen Alihaji, a filmmaker and poet, proposes Language of Dreams, an experimental anthology decoding the relationship between language, diasporic imagination, and cultural memory. Through workshops on experimental poetry, translation, and visual design found in Iranian practices and spiritual systems, Alihaji seeks to deepen her craft, discover new linguistic frameworks, and carry forward historical discourses. (Portrait photo by Denise Villegas)
Baye & Asa (Amadi Washington & Sam Pratt)
Dance
Brooklyn, NY
2024
Baye & Asa, a dance collective, proposes the development of At the Altar, an evening-length duet exploring themes of worship, idolatry, and survival. The grant will support studio rehearsals, workshops, collaboration with lighting and set designers, and research into religiosity and colonialism. (Portrait photo by Umi Akiyoshi)
Reg Bloor
Music/Sound
New York, NY
2024
Reg Bloor, an experimental guitarist, proposes to create and record new music using custom-built third-bridge Harmonics Guitars to explore rarely heard musical intervals of the harmonic series. This project will focus on building her own versions of these unique instruments and composing and recording music to explore their sonic potential. (Portrait photo by Patrick Courtney)
Jeff Carey
Music/Sound
Baltimore, MD
2024
Jeff Carey, an electronic music composer and performer, proposes to integrate 3D graphic environments into his radical computer music practice. Using Unreal Engine, he will extend his electro-instrument platform to control real-time graphics, sound, light, and tactile elements, developing abstract visual languages that complement his sonic work. (Portrait photo by Christopher Ashworth)
Mallory Catlett
Performance Art/Theater
New York, NY
2024
Mallory Catlett, a performance maker and director, proposes to revisit an incomplete diptych titled M/F Future, focusing on the unfinished segment DEAD TIME OF PLENTY, inspired by Doris Lessing’s Memoirs of a Survivor. The project will rework archival video and sound materials, exploring time, language, and audience engagement through interactive installation. (Portrait photo by Maria Baranova)
Judy Dunaway
Music/Sound
Boston, MA
2024
Judy Dunaway, an interdisciplinary artist, proposes to document and innovate her work with latex balloons as experimental sound conduits and sculptural instruments. This project will involve recording improvisations, pressing LPs, and creating more durable sculptures as she adapts to the discontinuation of Qualatex balloons. (Portrait photo courtesy of the artist)
Tess Dworman
Dance
Brooklyn, NY
2024
Tess Dworman, a choreographer and performer, proposes a research period to expand her improvisational dance practice and foster community dialogue on audio description and accessibility. The project includes solo and group improvisation, discussion groups with audio describers and visually impaired artists, and open-ended conversations with performance artists. (Photo portrait by Amelia Golden)
Keiko Fukazawa
Visual Arts
Los Angeles, CA
2024
Keiko Fukazawa, a visual artist, seeks support to travel to Japan for research on the traditional artisanship of the “Bunmei Kaika” era. She will explore Kawara and Kamon tiles, blending traditional and modern Japanese practices to develop new ceramic works. (Portrait photo by William Short)
larí garcía
Visual Arts
Houston, TX
2024
larí garcía, a visual artist, proposes a research period in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to engage with local artists and develop their sculptural project While You Were Out. They will collaborate with artists and the Espiritismo community, conducting field research and material experiments. (Portrait photo courtesy of the artist)
Coco Klockner
Visual Arts
New York, NY
2024
Coco Klockner, a multidisciplinary artist, proposes to experiment with sound’s physical and phenomenological effects. She will purchase subwoofers, collaborate with audio engineers, and test materials to explore sound’s resonance and spatial interaction. The grant will support equipment, studio, and engineering costs. (Portrait photo courtesy of the artist)
Jordan Demetrius Lloyd
Dance
Brooklyn, NY
2024
Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, a choreographer and dancer, proposes a six-day Creative Scaffolding Workshop for six invited artists. The workshop will focus on community, process, and interdisciplinary exchange, with an emphasis on sharing knowledge before project demands. Lloyd also plans to conduct interviews exploring themes of affect, gaze, identity politics, and form. (Portrait photo by Rachel Keane)
Erica Mahinay
Visual Arts
Los Angeles, CA
2024
Erica Mahinay, a painter and sculptor, proposes to return to Cerámica Suro in Guadalajara, Mexico, to expand her material exploration, push the scale of her ceramic sculptures, and develop new glazing techniques. The grant will support renting kiln space and refining designs in California, as well as travel, accommodation, and materials for the residency in Mexico. (Portrait photo by Julien Sage)
Juliana F. May
Dance
Brooklyn, NY
2024
Juliana F. May, a choreographer and dancer, proposes a research project examining improvisational processes with five performers, focusing on themes of shame, catharsis, and the challenges of “setting” material. Over three months, May will collaborate weekly with performers to explore emotional depth through movement and voice, alongside solo studio practice to develop songs and writing. (Portrait photo by Amelia Golden)
Sean Meehan
Music/Sound
New York, NY
2024
Sean Meehan, a percussionist, proposes to explore the influence of uilleann pipes on his experimental music practice, examining parallels between folk and experimental music. The project will include private uilleann pipe lessons, attending the Sciol Samhraidh Willie Clancy festival in Ireland, and collaborating with traditional musicians, as well as upgrading his uilleann pipe set. (Portrait photo courtesy of the artist)
Jeffrey Meris
Visual Arts
New York, NY
2024
Jeffrey Meris, a visual artist, will travel for two weeks of research in Marfa, TX, to engage with the local community and Big Bend geography for a site-specific project. This grant will support travel, accommodation, local collaboration, and research into the area’s topography, architecture, and cultural traditions, with a second trip planned in 2026. (Portrait photo by Tyler Andrew Nelson)
Kameron Neal
Visual Arts
Brooklyn, NY
2024
Kameron Neal, an interdisciplinary artist, will trace the song “Wagon Wheel” from its Black blues origins to its evolution into a country anthem for a film project called Wagon Wheel (Chopped & Screwed). Reimagining the first time Neal heard the song at a college party in Boone, NC, the film will tell a new story about longing, appropriation, and homosocial desire. (Portrait photo courtesy of Thomas Dunn)
Donna Oblongata
Performance Art/Theater
Philadelphia, PA
2024
Performance artist Donna Oblongata will undertake research and development for the final piece in a solo-show trilogy of participatory dark comedies that explore the contradictions in our cultural relationships to water through Kurt Cobain's persona. The grant will support travel to Nova Scotia and Edinburgh, mentorship, dramaturgy, and clown pedagogy to inform the work. (Portrait photo by Kenzi Crash)
Alice Reagan
Performance Art/Theater
New York, NY
2024
Alice Reagan, a theater director, proposes a research trip to Oslo, Norway, with collaborators to prepare for a new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. This grant will support travel, museum and site visits, collaborative workshops, and research into the physical and cultural landscape that influenced Ibsen’s work. (Portrait photo by Shane LeClair)
Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado
Visual Arts
Roswell, NM
2024
Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado, a visual artist, proposes to advance his sculptural Combina Orbital series by automating its water filtration systems and integrating short-duration video. This grant will support programming courses, sculpture fabrication, video production, and studio space rental to further his exploration of environmental collapse and post-capitalist survival. (Portrait photo courtesy of the artist)
