ASSEMBLY FOR THE ARTS AWARDS 17 ARTISTS $10,000 EACH THROUGH THE 2024 CREATIVE IMPACT FUND

Flexible funding and business development support, will elevate artists’ creative practice and regional impact, with support from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture

CLEVELAND, September 17, 2024  — Assembly for the Arts is excited to announce 17 artists have been awarded 2024 Creative Impact Fund grants. A panel of national jurors of artists and creative professionals reviewed and selected this year’s awardees.

The Creative Impact Fund is currently one of the largest unrestricted grant funds available to Cuyahoga County artists. Each artist will receive $10,000 from the fund, made possible by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. The award provides flexible (unrestricted) funding and professional and business development opportunities, mentorship and networking opportunities, plus 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.

In addition to the announcement of the Creative Impact Fund artist grantees, Assembly will soon launch an Artist Advisory Committee as part of its organizational artist support structure and on-going efforts to seek community feedback on artist programming. Details about the Artist Advisory Committee including members and committee goals will be announced in October.

The selected Creative Impact Fund artists are in various stages of their careers, from emerging to established in dance, design, film, craft, music, folk arts, visual arts, writing/literature and interdisciplinary fields. They represent communities in Cleveland and across Cuyahoga County, from Mayfield Heights to Lakewood to Garfield Heights and Oakwood Village.

The following artists were selected for the 2024 Creative Impact Fund by a panel of artists and creative professionals from outside the region.

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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

Jeremy V. Johnson, Assembly for the Arts’ President and CEO, said this year’s Creative Impact Fund awardees are forward-thinking artists who have strong resumes of inventive artistic work.

“We are thrilled to award these meaningful grants to this group of 17 artists who were selected because of the impact their work has on their communities,” Johnson said. “They represent a variety of artistic disciplines and are in different phases of their careers. We have award winners, Fulbright scholars, artists under age 30 and artists over age 70 and everything in between. Grants of this size, coupled with professional development and networking, can be career changing, and this group has earned this investment in their work.”

The panel of national jurors who reviewed and selected the awardees is a diverse group of artists in a variety of disciplines. Jurors and their disciplines are:

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

Learn more about the Creative Impact Fund artists at https://assemblycle.org/2024-creative-impact-fund-awardees/. Information about other funding opportunities for individual artists and creatives in Cuyahoga County is available at https://assemblycle.org/artistfunding/.

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Assembly for the Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a focus on advocacy, cultural policy, racial equity initiatives, research, marketing that elevates the region, and services for nonprofits, artists, and creative businesses. It is governed by a volunteer board with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Assembly by design operates in close partnership with Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, a government agency, and Assembly for Action, a 501(c)4 political action nonprofit to serve the entire creative sector. Assembly is supported through major funding from: The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Ohio Arts Council, Huntington, KeyBank, The George W. Codrington Charitable Foundation, and Fred & Laura Ruth Bidwell. www.assemblycle.org