Bragging Rights: Fiscally Sponsored Artists Awarded $157,257
From left to right: Flavio Alves, Alexandra Chasin, Natalie Bookchin, Andre Degas, Nasya Kamrat, Jennifer Wen Ma, Oona Stern & Cheryl Leonard, Leslie Bornstein
Fiscal Sponsorship kicks off February by celebrating the talent and hard work of eight fiscally sponsored artists.
Their projects won a total of $157,257 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) during last year’s grant cycle. Scroll down to learn more about these artists and projects that range from film and animation to visual art and opera. Get ready to start grant writing and earn money for your next great project– NYSCA guidelines for this year’s funding cycle will likely be released later this month!
Flavio Alves
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
The film The Garden Left Behind traces the relationship between Tina, a young transgender woman, and her grandmother, Eliana, as they navigate Tina’s transition and struggle to build a life for themselves as undocumented immigrants in New York City. The Garden Left Behind is set to go into production in September 2016 and you can check out Alves’ other films here.
Alexandra Chasin
NYSCA Award in Literature / Public Programs
Writing On It All is a participatory writing project that engages the public by writing on the interior surfaces of out-of use houses. Writing On It All fosters experimentation in site-specific, collaborative writing practice, and features writing as a physical, material practice, as well as a social act. Writers and artists whose work features text and public engagement are invited to facilitate sessions. Operating on Governors Island each June, Writing On It All has offered sessions facilitated by Paul Ramírez Jonas, Chloë Bass & Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li, Ken Chen & Youmna Chlala, Shani Jamila, and José Joaquím García, among others.
Natalie Bookchin
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
Long Story Short is an experimental documentary by artist Natalie Bookchin premiering on February 22, 2016 at The Museum of Modern Art Doc Fortnight 2016. Comprised of video interviews made by low income California residents, the film is a portrait of poverty in contemporary America. Viewed individually these interviews are intimate portraits and together they depict a structural problem facing our nation. To learn more about Bookchin’s practice, check out this interview on NYFA Current.
Andre Degas
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
THE RACE is the story of Egyptian immigrants in New York City, the racial prejudices they face, and the deep mistrust they encounter in the community. Presented as a Romeo-and-Juliet-like love tale the film is narrated with warmth and humor. THE RACE received a Diversity Development Fund from PBS with Andre Fuad Degas as writer and director, James Callanan as director of photography and Eric Marciano and Claudia Murdoch as producers. To learn more about Degas’ work, check out his website.
Nasya Kamrat
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
Unspeakable: An Animated Holocaust Documentary animates first-hand testimonies from multiple Holocaust survivors. Their stories begin before WWII, journey through the Holocaust and end in post-war Europe. Inspired by the artwork of a 98 year old survivor, the medium of animation allows viewers to look back in time and witness these remarkable stories through the eyes of the survivors. Be sure to check out the film’s website for more details.
Jennifer Wen Ma
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
Paradise Interrupted is an installation opera that weaves myths of the Garden of Eden and Peony Pavilion while incorporating elements of contemporary Western opera and 600 year old Kun opera. Jennifer Wen Ma is the director and visual designer and Huang Ruo is the composer of Paradise Interrupted. The opera made its world premier in Charleston, South Carolina at Spoleto Festival USA and will be part of the Lincoln Center Festival in July 2016.
Oona Stern and Cheryl Leonard
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
Adfreeze Project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between visual artist Oona Stern and composer Cheryl Leonard that investigates the Spitsbergen region of the Arctic. Through video installation, musical performance, travelogue journal and drawing, their work captures the temporal fragility of the region. Portraits detailing areas of Spitsbergen are crafted through light, sound and space, transforming the gallery and transporting the viewer to a place of reflection about the natural world. You can learn more about the project here.
Leslie Bornstein
NYSCA Award in Film & Media / New Tech Prod.
The documentary film Terra Pesada introduces you to Maputo’s metalheads. These tech-savvy urban African millennials are the first generation in Mozambique’s war-ravaged history to grow up in peace, the first to have the opportunity of an education and dreams of a better future, and the first to have the luxury — and it is a luxury — of being rebellious, disaffected youth. With an original hard-core head-banging heavy metal soundtrack!
What is ‘NYSCA’ anyway? The New York State Council on the Arts, aka NYSCA, is a State agency dedicated to preserving and expanding New York’s cultural resources. As part of this mission, NYSCA funds annual grants to New York State artists and organizations. Grants are divided into discipline specific categories, including one for individual artists. The guidelines for the next round of NYSCA grants will likely be released in February 2016.
How do I apply for a NYSCA grant? NYSCA only awards grants to nonprofit organizations, as a result, individual artists require a fiscal sponsor to apply. If your project is not yet fiscally sponsored, consider joining NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship by applying for an Out-of-Cycle Review. To get started, email [email protected]. If your project is already fiscally sponsored, stay tuned as FS staff will be in touch about the application process for NYSCA soon!
Image credits: The Garden Left Behind, Writing on It All, Long Story Short film still, THE RACE, Unspeakable: A Holocaust Documentary, Julia Lynn at Spoleto Festival 2015, Oona Stern, Leslie Bornstein
