2024 Creative Impact Fund Awardees

Seventeen (17) artists received a 2024 Creative Impact Fund. Assembly’s panel of national jurors, comprised of artists and creative professionals based in cities outside of Cleveland, reviewed and selected this year’s awardees.

The artists each will receive $10,000 in unrestricted funding to grow their artistic practice plus professional and business development opportunities through programs with Assembly partners. The Creative Impact Fund is currently one of the largest unrestricted grant funds available to Cuyahoga County artists.

Gabrielle Banzhaf

Gabrielle Banzhaf is a curator, maker, and the driving force behind SHED Projects. SHED Projects fosters investigative activity at the intersection of art, family life, and contemporary urban habitation.

Nathalie Bermudez

Nathalie Bermudez is a Colombian artist whose work embodies the exploration of identity, migration, and cultural fusion.

Dr. Muni

Dr. Munirah Bomani is a Family Medicine Physician and Professional Dancer that was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio. Her artistic practice centers around elevating and amplifying the rhythms, movement and stories of her Caribbean ancestors.

Carolina Borja

Carolina Borja is an Afro Colombian world musician, composer, educator and storyteller.

Sequoia

Sequoia Bostick is an illustrator, maker, plant enthusiast, and designer living in Cleveland, Ohio.

David Buttram

Painter/Illustrator with 40+ years experience specializing in painting images of life in the inner-city.

Amber N. Ford

Artist and freelance photographer based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Stephanie Ginese

Stephanie Ginese is an author, instructor, and stand-up comedian from South Lorain, Ohio.

Leila Khoury

Multidisciplinary artist who visualizes the connections between placemaking, the built environment, and community histories through design, sculpture, and participatory research. Photo by Zoe Heller.

Aimee Lee

Award-winning artist who makes paper, writes, and advocates for Korean papermaking.

Theresa J. May

Active creator, performer, and educator.

Raquel M Ortiz

Emmy-nominated filmmaker, social anthropologist, educator, storyteller, playwright, performer, poet, composer, editor, illustrator, and author of children's books and songs.

Humble G Tha Fiddla

Indigenous First Nations violinist virtuoso and R.S.V.P.(Rapper, Singer, Violinist, Producer)

Robin Van Lear

Sculptor, performance artist, designer and producer of community based art happenings. Robin is the creator of Parade the Circle, which she directed for 30 years.

Alberto Veronica Lopez

Mr. Veronica Lopez artworks center on the various ways ceramic materials can assist in kind utility, metaphoric objects of symbols of consideration and compassion, and community engagement.

Chris Webb

Emmy, Promax, and Telly award winning filmmaker, journalist, and performer from Cleveland Ohio.

Megan Young

Megan Young is a transdisciplinary artist exploring how emerging technologies reflect collective experience. "Longest Walk" Photo by Accra Shepp

Cuyahoga Arts and Culture

The Creative Impact Fund is made possible by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. The program provides flexible (unrestricted) funding and professional and business development opportunities. Development includes mentorship and networking opportunities, and memberships to Assembly for the Arts and the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE). The purpose of the fund is to encourage the growth of artists’ creative practice and advance their impact on the region. It is open to individual Cuyahoga County-based artists of all creative disciplines.