Assembly for the Arts recieved more than 400 applications for its $10,000 Creative Impact Fund grants. The organization announced winners Tuesday, September 17. The grants are made possible by the people of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the public entity that administers the cigarette tax for the arts. The individual artist grants represent a tiny fraction of CAC’s grantmaking, which is overwhelmingly directed to nonprofit organizations. Voters have the opportunity to revise and renew the tax by voting in favor November 5.

The Creative Impact Fund grants are the biggest publicly funded and unrestricted cash awards made to individual artists in Cuyahoga County since the demise of the Creative Workforce Fellowships in 2016.

Along with the cash, the award includes professional and business development opportunities, mentorship and networking opportunities, plus memberships to Assembly for the Arts and the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE). Application was open to individual artists living in Cuyahoga County, in all creative disciplines.

In making the announcement, Assembly emphasized the diversity of artists’ ages, disciplines, and geographic distribution.

They also highlighted the jurors and their backgrounds, all from outside the region:

1. Clay Scofield – Visiting Assistant Professor, Art, Media + Poetry, Indiana University – Bloomington;  Digital Art
2. Johanna Winters – Assistant Professor, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Indiana University – Bloomington; Video and Performance                 
3. India Nicole Burton – Theater Playwright, Director, Educator, Theatre Educator, Chicago; Theater         
4. Jenai Cutcher – Free-range Tap Dancer, Educator, Writer, Documentarian, New York and Chicago; Dance
5. Asa Featherstone – Photographer and Curator, Cincinnati; Photography
6. Irma Hayes – Director, Gallery 46 and Deputy Director of Economic and Community Development, City of Harper Woods, Detroit; Visual Artist      
7. Asia Hamilton – Founding Director, Norwest Gallery, Detroit; Photography, installation, curatorial  
8. Danielle Burns Wilson – Executive Director, Project Row Houses, Houston; Curator, Arts Educator
9. Chris Cobb – Music Venue Alliance Nashville; Music Policy & Advocacy         
10. Ivonne Cotorruelo – Film Curator, New York City;Film
11. Andrew Aaron Valdez – Artistic Coordinator, Yale Repertory Theater, New York City; Theater, Visual Art, Poetry
12. Rob Blackson – Curatorial Director, ArtPhilly, Philadelphia; Design and Visual Arts
13. Leigh Goldenberg – Managing Director, Wilma Theater, Philadelphia; Theater
14. Mona Wiley – Program Specialist, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Pittsburgh; Visual and Music Artist
15. Orlando Watson – Senior Director of Programming, August Wilson Center for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh; Literary Artist/Poet          

Artists who were selected include dancers, musicians, visual artists in illustration, figurative painting, and photography, literary artists, and other disciplines. The grant winners are:

• Gabrielle Banzhaf – Interdisciplinary Artist and Curator; performance, sculpture and collaborative /community experimentation
• Nathalie Bermudez – Performing and Visual Artist; theatre arts, acting, painting and mural arts
• Dr. Munirah Bomani –Movement Artist; Afro-Caribbean dance and choreography, ballet and movement-based healing
• Carolina Borja – Musician and Composer; Cello, loop pedals and vocals;Afro-Colombian traditional singing and world music
• Sequoia Bostick – Visual Artist; illustration, graphic arts and design
• David Buttram – Visual Artist; figurative painting and illustration
• Amber N. Ford –Visual Artist; photographic arts and photojournalism
• Stephanie Ginese – Literary Artist; poetry and stand-up comedy
• Leila Khoury – Multidisciplinary Artist; sculpture and design
• Aimee Lee – Visual Artist; Korean papermaking (Hanji)
• Theresa May – Musician; Trumpet, multidisciplinary creator/composer and performer
• Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz – Multi-Disciplinary Artist; literary arts, film, music and illustration
• Humble G tha Fiddla – Musician and Producer; electric violin and vocals, Hip-Hop/R&B, Reggaeton & EDM
• Robin VanLear – Visual and Performance Artist; sculpture, design and community-based production
• Alberto Veronica Lopez – Visual Artist; Ceramics
• Chris Webb – Media and Performance Artist; film, journalism and literary arts
• Megan Young – Transdisciplinary Artist; interactive design and immersive media

CAN congratulates all the winners, and looks forward to their work. Learn more about the Creative Impact Fund and awardees here.