Vocational freedom granted to twenty-three MakeWork artists
Across the street from the brick shell of the old Levin building on Main Street, one of CreateHere's first MakeWork grant recipients is planning a mural. Shaun LaRose's wall painting, which highlights Chattanooga's environmental consciousness, will go up on the newly renovated building at the corner of Mitchell and Main. LaRose's mural will help beautify the neighborhood surrounding some of Main Street's most available spaces. LaRose is a good example of a community-centered artist, exactly the kind the MakeWork program seeks to foster.
CreateHere is pleased to announce the awarding of $150,000 in total funding to twenty-three such area artists as part of the 2008 MakeWork arts grants program. From cheese makers to a documentary videographer to sculptors who need financial help to rent their studio space, a huge variety of artists are benefiting from the first round of CreateHere grants.
Susan Seaton is a painter who will use her grant funding on a new project: capturing the world of a mentally challenged man in oils. "I feel incredibly grateful," she says. "I feel a strange weight off my back, with this free space, unencumbered by the need to look for a job while I do my art. So I'm more focused. At the same time, I feel an awesome sense of responsibility to those who selected me, for the bigger picture of what this does for Chattanooga. This is for future artists too, and the longevity of the program."
MakeWork is an arts grant program launched by CreateHere in January 2008. Artists within a 50-mile radius of Chattanooga were encouraged to apply for the grants in a variety of artistic endeavors divided into three categories of need: Studio Assistance, Career Advancement, and Projects. By mid-spring, over $878,000 in funding had been requested by 96 applicants. Beginning at the end of March, the proposals were submitted to juries of local and out-of-town experts in various fields of arts and culture.
"I was impressed by the high caliber of the grants," said juror Ellen Simak, Chief Curator at the Hunter Museum of American Art. "That made the selection process very exciting but very difficult...What CreateHere is doing is valuable for...enlivening the arts community in Chattanooga."
The MakeWork grants, ranging from $2,160 to $17,300, will be disbursed to the selected artists in installments over ten months, beginning in July. Grant recipients are urged to showcase their work in the community throughout the grant year and obligated to participate in CreateHere's SpringBoard entrepreneurial program to explore the sustainability of their given disciplines.
A complete list of MakeWork grant recipients is attached.
Mary Barnett $12,560 Project: A photo exhibit documenting the history of industrial Chattanooga.
Mia Bergeron $15,765 Project: Chattanooga captured through portraits of city residents.
Dan Bethune $4,875 Studio Assistance: Help in creating a new body of sculpture with the theme of masculinity in contemporary culture.
Liza Blair $4,270 Project: Documenting active forms of Latino culture in Hamilton County.
Mark Bradley-Shoup $3,850 Studio Assistance: Rental, organization, and expansion of his studio space.
Christie Burns $3,207 Career Advancement: Purchase of equipment to amplify her hammer dulcimer performances and maintain sound integrity.
Jessica Chevalier$6,784 Project: A cookbook celebrating from-scratch food.
Judith Condon $3,482 Project: Integrating photography and print into figurative ceramics.
Joseph DeCosimo $3,668 Career Advancement: Study under four master fiddlers, recording their music, and archiving it in the public library.
Nicholas Du Pey $11,000 Project: A print studio for local artist musicians to learn to make their own promotional materials.
Janis Hashe $10,000 Project: Debut an original production of compiled pieces from Shakespeare, free and outdoors as part of the Riverbend Festival.
Mimi Herbert $2,160 Career Advancement: Hiring models to explore soft pastels, a new medium.
Susan Hughes $3,720 Studio Assistance: Rental of Susan�s studio space for one year.
Nathan Arnold/ William Keener $12,560 Project: Using traditional methods and tools to make market-ready French alpine-style cheeses.
Dan Landrum $4,693 Career Advancement: Replacing the heart of his digital workstation so he can keep recording musical ideas in Maple Ridge Studio.
Shaun LaRose $17,300 Project: A 15x20 foot public mural on a building off of Main Street.
Ed Lewis $3,988 Career Advancement: The purchase of a new lathe and the ability to continue teaching wood turning for free.
Lisa Norris $2,400 Studio Assistance: The purchase of various art supplies will allow Lisa to gather information and bring new artistic ideas to fruition.
Susan Seaton $7,032 Project: Capturing the world of a mentally challenged man in paintings taken from photographs and audio interviews.
Dana Shavin $3,329 Career Advancement: Attending a writers� conference and a writing workshop to refine her writing and network with colleagues.
Daryl Thetford $4,573 Career Advancement: The purchase of a new computer for work with larger formats for his photography and collage.
Isaac Wardell $3,784 Project: A CD of songs written and performed by local Chattanooga musicians and members of the Cherokee Nation.
Michael Wimmer $5,000 Studio Assistance: Rental of studio space so Michael can continue teaching and work with his object sculptures on a larger scale.