$53K Awarded To 24 Oregon-Based Artists

From Oregon Arts Commission: In the final competitive rounds of FY2018 Career Opportunity Grants, the Oregon Arts Commission, The Ford Family Foundation and The Oregon Community Foundation have collectively awarded $53,419 to 24 artists for career development projects.

The awards include $18,469 from the Oregon Arts Commission; $22,400 in supplemental funding for nine artists through a partnership with The Ford Family Foundation; and $12,500 for four artists from The Oregon Community Foundation. Individual grants range from $800 to $8,350.

Career Opportunity Grants support individual Oregon artists by enabling them to take advantage of timely opportunities to enhance their artistic careers.

The Ford Family Foundation and The Oregon Community Foundation funds are available only to established Oregon artists who are over 30 years of age and actively producing new work.

The Ford Family Foundation grants are awarded to artists in the fields of contemporary fine art and craft; The Oregon Community Foundation grants are awarded only to established Oregon artists in the literary and performing arts fields. Most of the grants from both foundations support the artists’ participation in residencies, exhibitions or performance opportunities.

“This grant program invests in the career growth of talented Oregon artists,” said Arts Commissioner Michael Dalton, who has chaired the review panel. “We also are so proud to support artists in representing Oregon, both here and across the entire nation and world.”

“We are pleased to be able to invest in these artists at such pivotal moments in their careers,” said Anne C. Kubisch, president of The Ford Family Foundation. “We expect these artists to make significant progress on regional, national and international stages.”

“These artists make our communities so much richer. It’s an honor to be able to support them in their work as they continue their creative journeys,” said Max Williams, president and CEO of The Oregon Community Foundation.

This fiscal year a total of $190,000 is available for three rounds of funding. Career Opportunity Grants were awarded to:

Oluyinka Akinjiola, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support an intensive, 10-day dance study for Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater and Akinjiola with Vera Passos, an internationally renowned dance artist from Bahia, Brazil.

Carlin Brown, Portland: The Oregon Community Foundation $1,500

• To support Brown’s participation in a month-long critical arts writing residency at WRECK CITY in Calgary, Canada, from June 22 to July 27.

Ty Ennis, Portland: The Ford Family Foundation $1,500

• To support the creation of a new body of work beginning June 2018 for Ennis’ solo exhibition running from Oct. 5 to Nov. 13 at Nationale—a contemporary art gallery in Southeast Portland.

Elizabeth Enslin, Enterprise: The Oregon Community Foundation $1,500

• To support Enslin’s participation in a workshop at the Postgraduate Writers' Conference at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, Vermont, from Aug. 13 to 19.

Joshua Flint, Portland: The Ford Family Foundation $1,000

• To support Flint’s participation in an Advanced Mentored Studies Program from July 2 to 6 at the Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado.

Erik Geschke, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500 The Ford Family Foundation $2,000

• To support the mounting of a Geschke’s solo exhibition of new work at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago from Aug. 27 to Sept. 28,

Amarette Gregor, Portland: Arts Commission $1,387

• To support Gregor’s travel and participation in the American Craft Council juried show in San Francisco in August, where she will show and sell her art jewelry.

Julie Hammond, Portland: The Oregon Community Foundation $8,350

• To support Hammond’s tour of "Other Inland Empires" to the FuryFactory Festival of Ensemble Theatre in San Francisco July 10-15 and SummerWorks Festival in Toronto Aug. 9-19.

Chisao Hata, Portland: Arts Commission $1,450

• To support Hata’s participation in the Urban Bush Women's Summer Leadership Institute held at Arizona State University in July.

Leslie Hickey, Portland: Arts Commission $1,332

• To support Hickey’s participation in a confirmed solo show titled, “The Future Has an Ancient Heart” at Edel Extra in Nuremberg, Germany in June.

Garrick Imatani, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support Imatani’s large-scale solo exhibition, “The Drift,” at The Art Gym at Marylhurst University from September to December 2018.

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support the development of a performance piece that incorporates traditional Marshall Islands’ weaving and nuclear legacies from Jetnil-Kijiner’s Marshallese poetry for a workshop with her mentor at the Asia Pacific Triennial in Australia in November.

Kelcie Laube, Elmira: The Oregon Community Foundation $1,200

• To support Laube’s participation in a month-long teacher certification training with DanceAbility International in September.

Dana Louis, Portland: The Ford Family Foundation $3,000

• To support Louis’ participation in a six-week residency at THREAD, a project of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Senegal, West Africa, beginning Feb. 14, 2019.

Euan MacDonald, Eugene: Arts Commission $1,500 The Ford Family Foundation $4,500

• To support MacDonald’s residency and solo exhibition at the ASU Museum of Art in Tempe, Arizona, beginning in September.

Jesse Mejia, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support Mejia’s participation in a two-month artist/curator/educator residency at SOMA in Mexico City beginning July 2.

Christopher Michlig, Eugene: The Ford Family Foundation $3,000

• To support Michlig’s exhibition at Devening Projects + Editions in Chicago in the fall and winter of 2018/19.

Morgan Rosskopf, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support the completion and documentation of Rosskopf’s first international solo exhibition in Manila, The Philippines, in November.

Kerry Skarbakka, Corvallis: The Ford Family Foundation $1,000

• To support a solo exhibition of Skarbakka’s new body of work at the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles in January 2019.

Sandy Tilcock, Eugene: The Ford Family Foundation $1,000

• To support Tilcock’s participation in the Editions/Artists’ Books Fair in New York City as well as marketing and education events and appointments beginning in October.

Lynne Turner, Portland: The Ford Family Foundation $5,400

• To support the preparation and presentation of Turner’s work for a large solo exhibition at Greg Kucera Gallery opening Feb. 7, 2019.

Carly Garzon Vargas, Sisters: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support Vargas’ participation in the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Los Angeles in August.

John Whitten, Portland: Arts Commission $800

• To support Whitten’s participation in a mini artist residency at Walter de Maria’s Lightning Field in New Mexico in July.

Roland Dahwen Wu, Portland: Arts Commission $1,500

• To support travel expenses to present Wu’s documentary work at the Federal Fluminense University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August.

Image via Oregon Arts Commission