Assembly for the Arts Awards $170,000 to 17 Artists through the 2024 Creative Impact Fund
Date: October 23, 2024
Source: FreshWater Cleveland
Abstract:
Assembly for the Arts, the nonprofit focused on increasing equity in the region’s arts and culture community, announced in September that it has awarded $170,000 to 17 artists through the 2024 Creative Impact Fund. Each recipient will receive $10,000 in unrestricted funding to support their creative practices.
Now in its second year, the Creative Impact Fund is one of the largest unrestricted grant funds available to Cuyahoga County artists. It provides critical support to artists in maintaining their creative missions and connecting more deeply with the Cleveland community.
2024 Arts and Culture Honor Roll
2024 special recognition for contributions to arts and cultural policy:
These Cleveland representatives were recognized for their contributions to arts and cultural policy including the nearly $3 million investment in transformative arts projects throughout the city.
- Mayor Justin Bibb, The City of Cleveland
- Rhonda K. Brown, Senior Strategist for Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, City of Cleveland
Honor Roll
The Public Officials Recognition Breakfast is an annual tradition for arts and culture supporters that began in 2015. The event is an important recognition of public-private partnerships throughout creative industries in Northeast Ohio. Arts leaders, corporate representatives, artists, and community members of all kinds attend to connect and build relationships with government officials. KeyBank sponsored this year’s Public Officials Recognition Breakfast.
- Senator Nickie J. Antonio, Ohio State Senate
- Mayor Justin Bibb, City of Cleveland
- Mayor Annette Blackwell, City of Maple Heights
- Dan Blakemore, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Councilor at Large Patricia A. Blochowiak, M.D., East Cleveland
- State Representative Darnell Brewer, Ohio House of Representative
- Senior Strategist Rhonda K. Brown, City of Cleveland
- Armond Budish, Ohio
- Julia Carey, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Councilwoman Sara Continenza, City of South Euclid
- Council Member Kevin Conwell, City of Cleveland
- Maya Curtis, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Councilwoman At Large Chanell Elston, City of South Euclid
- Council Member Eloise Hardin, Village of Oakwood
- Council Member Candace Hill, Village of Oakwood
- Director Joyce Huang, City of Cleveland
- Board Member Meryl Johnson, State Board of Education
- Mayor Judson Kline, Orange Village
- Mayor Stan Koci, City of Bedford
- Anna Madorsky, Department of Job and Family Services
- Council President Nathaniel Martin, City of East Cleveland
- Dayvon Nichols, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture
- Jill Paulsen, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Public Art Coordinator, Tarra Petras City of Cleveland
- Council Member Jim Petras, City of Cleveland Heights
- State director John Ryan, US Senator Sherrod Brown
- Michele Scott Taylor, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Jake Sinatra, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Senator Kent Smith, Ohio State Senate
- Mayor David Smith, Village of North Randall
- Council Member Sandy Spinks, City of Bedford
- Representative Bride Rose Sweeney, Ohio House of Representatives
- Council Member Eric Synenberg, City of Beachwood
- Council Member Meredith Turner, Cuyahoga County
- Gina Vernaci, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture
- Mayor Patrick Ward, City of Lyndhurst
- Chief of Construction Johnnie Warren, Oakwood Village
- Clerk of Council Liz Westbrooks, Fairview Park
Photos by Emanuel Wallace
Made possible by:
Assembly for the Arts Awards 17 Artists $10,000 Each Through the 2024 Creative Impact Fund
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
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.
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.
Individual Artists: Yes, Yes, and Yes
Source: CAN Journal, Michael Gill
Date: August 6, 2025
Abstract:
The phrase “preaching to the choir” is made for moments like this: CAN Journal’s endorsement in favor of Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax for the arts might seem completely unnecessary. Our readers are interested in art and artists, and the organizations that support them, and Collective Arts Network (CAN) has benefitted directly from the tax through general operating support for the last half-dozen years. Our endorsement is no surprise. Nonetheless, the last year’s discussion about Cuyahoga Arts and Culture (CAC) gives us a good reason to weigh in.
Bibb Administration Launches Transformative Arts Fund, Nearly $3 Million in Grants Now Available to Local Artists
Between 6 to 12 Cleveland-Centric Projects Will Receive Awards Ranging from $250,000 to $500,000
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 — Cleveland — Mayor Justin M. Bibb announced nearly $3 million is now available for local artists through the City’s Transformative Arts Fund (TAF) grant program. The program will provide funding for projects and initiatives led by Cleveland-based artists. The application portal opened today and those who are interested have until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 to apply.
“Our local creative community provides the heartbeat that keeps our neighborhoods vibrant and alive – they inspire our children, bring difficult societal challenges to light, and empower us to take action,” said Mayor Bibb. “This transformative-level of funding we will be providing is designed to award artists who propose projects that will have a sustained, positive impact in the community long after they are completed.”
'It's gonna create an art renaissance': CLE artists awarded $3M to create public art projects in neighborhoods
Source: News5
Date: July 18, 2024
Abstract:
The City of Cleveland says the grant program will support artists who partner with institutional partners to create art that reflects the diversity and richness of the city.
CLEVELAND — Wednesday, the City of Cleveland announced funding for seven public art and place-making projects to bolster artists and strengthen neighborhoods. At that time, Rhonda K. Brown, the city’s senior strategist for arts, culture and the creative economy, said, “it’s an opportunity for artist to partner with corporations, schools and any public/private entity.”
The true value of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture tax - a thriving community: Geralyn M. Presti and Chinenye Nkemere
Source: Cleveland.com, Opinion
Date: July 8, 2024
Abstract: CLEVELAND — Millions of people from across the socioeconomic spectrum benefit annually from Cuyahoga County’s robust, publicly funded arts and culture nonprofit scene. Our arts and culture sector creates thousands of family-supporting jobs, pumps hundreds of millions into our economy, drives tourism, offers thousands of opportunities, experiences, and safe alternatives for schoolchildren, enhances neighborhoods, and is a source of pride for our region.
Nearly 500 organizations throughout the county have received funding from our voter-supported 1.5-cent tax on cigarettes since its inception. Those organizations provide many programs for our diverse population, tens of thousands of Cleveland area schoolchildren, and hundreds of thousands of residents at no cost.