mini-grant

Announcing the 2020 WALL\THERAPY mini-grant award winners!

Summer 2020 Mini-grant Winners

2020 Mini grant winners

WALL\THERAPY is proud to announce the winners of our inaugural Summer Mini-grants! The recipients will be working on ten projects around the city between now and August 18th, and we’ll be sharing progress on all of these projects during the next month and a half.

Congratulations go to (in alphabetical order):

Athesia Benjamin @tisha.b.art – Rachel DeGuzman @artandjusticeroc – Rachel DeVona – Kat Donahue @kat.a.dog – Alexa Guzman @AirTheProject – Carla Halstead @littlewingarts – Jessica Lieberman @jess_liebray – Sophia McRae – Narionna Nunez @Kahzmirh – Delores Jackson Radney

We want to thank EVERYONE who applied, they showed the best of what Rochester can be, and we are stoked you all are a part of our community.

Project Descriptions

Athesia Benjamin is receiving a grant to support the realization of a mural. Inspired by the aesthetics of protest signs, and building on the momentum of the current Black Lives Matter protests, the design of Athesia’s wall will center on a handwritten rendering of the sentence “Black Lives built this country.”

Rachel DeGuzman received a grant to support “Black Lives Still Matter: An Outdoor Long Table Installation.” The 43rd event in a series of public conversation staged by the DeGuzman’s initiative 21st Century Arts: Activating the Intersection of Art and Justice, “Black Lives Still Matter” took place on July 4, in front of a Black Lives Matter mural painted by Nzinga Muhammad, Etana Browne, and Kaori-Mei Stephens for WALL\THERAPY in 2017.

Rachel DeVona will use her grant to populate Little Library’s around the city with books written by BIWOC authors. The books themselves will be embellished with author portraits, painted by Rachel on the cover. This summer project will inaugurate a larger endeavor during which Rachel aims to read, paint, and distribute one hundred books authored by Black/Indigenous/Women of Color.

Kat Donahue will be using her grant toward continuing an ongoing project. While living in the 19th Ward, Kat began making small oil lamps to distribute to her neighbors and area families who were grieving the loss of a loved one.  In this current moment, with so many people experiencing loss, Kat is expanding this project to a larger scale. The first part of the project will be creating 100’s of little jar lamps. Once completed, as she describes, “the longer portion of the project would actually be spreading them throughout the city in a meaningful way and I’d like them to spread like COVID-19, from person to person.” Kat will of course be maintaining safe social distancing protocols for the entirety of the project!

Alexa Guzman’s grant will go toward creating a mural that she will invite the community to contribute to, while adhering to safe social distancing practices. This mural will build upon the recent work Alexa has done with her “Project A.I.R.” initiative, and will add to the  community conversations around racial justice and policing.

Carla Halstead’s grant will support her #RochesterPeaceCrane project, a participatory effort to create and distribute 1000 cranes in the city of Rochester. Different iterations of the peace cranes (traditional folded origami, wheat paste designs, stencils) will be given to volunteer community members throughout the summer and collectively displayed in a city-wide installation on August 15th.

Jessica Lieberman will be receiving a grant to support her creation of a mural downtown. in honor of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, Jessica will work with youth muralists in painting a sepia toned photographic style image of an 1890’s woman cyclist.

Sophia McRae is receiving a grant to support the commissioning of a garden shed mural for an urban garden in the Beechwood neighborhood: the Denver Street Training Garden, part of St. Mark’s and St. John’s EDEN Gardens. The mural will be painted by Rochester artist, urban farmer, and Beechwood resident Chloe Smith.

Narionna Nuñez is receiving a grant to support her transformation of a BLM photo project into a mural. Narionna will be using photos she has taken of her peers, combined with her own prose, to paint  a mural that represents her community and friends, and promotes a more nuanced contemplation of black excellence.

Delores Jackson Radney is receiving a grant to support her live  performances of a 1st person narrative of the life of freedom fighter Anna Murray Douglass. In preparation for the  centennial of the 19th Amendment, Delores has done a year of extensive research on AMD and written a 20 minute monologue depicting her life, which she plans to memorize. She will also be creating a costume for her performances, which will take place at various locations in Rochester throughout 2020.

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These mini-grants are made possibe thanks to The Avangrid Foundation $5000 grant to support WALL\THERAPY (a Synthesis Collaborative Project), in partnership with RG&E.

Overview of  #AVANGIVES

AVANGIVES is the Foundation’s flagship open call for employee-nominated grants, and one of its most uniformly engaging community initiatives. Launched in 2019, the program sought to recognize outstanding organizations our employees dedicate their time and talent to, or are personally touched by, that are making a real difference in our communities. The focus in its inaugural year was on youth, with 10 organizations chosen for $5,000 grants. You can view their stories – and those of the 2019 nominees – here: https://www.avanewsblog.com/avangives.

This year in 2020-2021 series called for nominations of qualified nonprofits working for women, diversity and inclusion – and received response from employees at all levels of the company and across all geographies. In March, the Foundation announced expansion to include 12 nonprofits. Each will each receive a $5,000 gift to further their work to advance equality and serve women, girls, and diverse groups in our communities – spanning from Portland, ME to Portland, OR.

Their stories, which will be told throughout the year, will speak to female leadership, advocacy for women’s rights, health & safety, empowerment – and so much more.

You can find a list of all the AVANGives 2020 grantees (including WALL\THERAPY!) here: https://www.avanewsblog.com/agrfoundation/womens-history-voting-anniversary

WALL\THERAPY 2020 – Summer Mini-Grant Application

WALL\THERAPY 2020 – Summer Mini-Grant Application

In critical dialogue with the celebration of the 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial, this year’s edition of WALL\THERAPY was going to invite a group of female, femme, and non-binary artists to bring their work to Rochester. Given the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which have made safe travel and in-person interactions practically impossible, we have had to rethink how we can utilize our resources to make a positive impact in our local community.

We were recently awarded a $5000 grant from the Avangrid Foundation to support this year’s festival.  Together with the Avangrid Foundation, we have decided to break these funds up into 10 mini-grants of $500 each, available to artists in the Rochester, NY region. (We’ll have a separate post about that Avangrid award!)

In keeping with our intended curation for the year, we will only be considering applications from artists who self-identify as female, femme, and non-binary for these grants.

We are using this opportunity to move beyond our traditional focus on mural making, embracing ALL manner of creativity. We are looking for local artists to create little pockets of impact throughout the city using the tools you know best. This call is open to ALL qualifying artists across all the creative fields—visual, auditory, performance, etc—who meet the eligibility requirements! You don’t have to consider yourself a professional artist, either; we want to hear what you would create to inspire/improve your local area!

 

Rules and Eligibility Requirements

1. The application period begins on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 and ends on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 11:59pm.

2. Qualified applicants must self-identify as female, femme, or non-binary, as we wish to stay true to our intended curation for 2020.

3. The artist must reside and actively make work in the Rochester, NY region (focusing on Monroe County, but closely neighboring counties will also be considered.)

4. Applicants are asked to propose projects that positively impact/inspire/help a Rochester, NY neighborhood/community, working creatively within the restraints of social distancing. Keep it local, keep it safe!

5. The project can be of any creative discipline.

6. The project should be completed by August 15, 2020.

7. Applicants may submit up to three (3) different project proposals, but they must be submitted either as separate PDF files or links to self-hosted videos through your single application.

8. We ask that grant recipients document their project so that we can share the word of what you are creating. We have a team who can help safely document your project.

9. A total of 10 projects (no more than 1 per artist) will be selected for a $500 grant.

10. The grant will be disbursed in two payments:
a) 1x initial award of $350 to be disbursed by July 1, 2020.* This money is to be used toward the project.
b) 1x final award of $150 after the project is completed and documented. This money is for the artist as a stipend.

11. Grant recipients will be selected by a committee of our year-round WALL\THERAPY staff members.

12. Artists retain all rights to the idea/proposals presented, whether they are selected for a grant or not.

13. To expand opportunities to new artists, proposals by artists who have participated as part of a previous WALL\THERAPY festival will not be considered.

*Assuming recipient has submitted all necessary contact information after being notified of their award.

Proposal Requirements

We aren’t asking you to overthink this one! We’ve filled out grants before and know how much of a pain they can be!

We’re just looking for a 1 to 2 page document that gives us a sense of what you’d like to do. You can always fine-tune the details as long as you stay true to the intent of the original proposal—we’re focused on the ideas first! Please include all the requested details and photos in one single PDF per project idea. You can submit up to three separate proposals simultaneously.

Alternatively, we’ll also accept proposals submitted as 1 to 2 minute videos. You can share a private video link (via YouTube or Vimeo) through our online application.

Details we’re looking for:
• Summary of the project
• Approximate supply list (if we have something in our current supply stock, we may be able to help with some of your supplies)
• Approximate timeline for completion. Show us that you’ve thought about what it would take to pull off your idea!
• Got sketches? Include those! They can even be rough thumbnails as they help get your idea across to us.
• Samples of your own work that might help show what you are trying to do.

NOTE: While we welcome proposals that have taken inspiration from other people’s projects or ideas, we want these projects to be your own creative expression. Proposals that are direct copies of another project will be deemed ineligible.

Please feel free to contact us at WALLTHERAPYNY@GMAIL.COM if you have questions about the application or your project! Otherwise, click the button below to apply!

Click to Apply for our Summer 2020 MIni-grant

 

 

These mini-grants are made possibe thanks to The Avangrid Foundation $5000 grant to support WALL\THERAPY (a Synthesis Collaborative Project), in partnership with RG&E.

Overview of  #AVANGIVES

AVANGives is the Foundation’s flagship open call for employee-nominated grants, and one of its most uniformly engaging community initiatives. Launched in 2019, the program sought to recognize outstanding organizations our employees dedicate their time and talent to, or are personally touched by, that are making a real difference in our communities. The focus in its inaugural year was on youth, with 10 organizations chosen for $5,000 grants. You can view their stories – and those of the 2019 nominees – here: https://www.avanewsblog.com/avangives.

This year in 2020-2021 series called for nominations of qualified nonprofits working for women, diversity and inclusion – and received response from employees at all levels of the company and across all geographies. In March, the Foundation announced expansion to include 12 nonprofits. Each will each receive a $5,000 gift to further their work to advance equality and serve women, girls, and diverse groups in our communities – spanning from Portland, ME to Portland, OR.

Their stories, which will be told throughout the year, will speak to female leadership, advocacy for women’s rights, health & safety, empowerment – and so much more.

You can find a list of all the AVANGives 2020 grantees (including WALL\THERAPY!) here: https://www.avanewsblog.com/agrfoundation/womens-history-voting-anniversary