Christa Ebert, Grounded, self portrait (2020)
July 8, 2020 CLEVELAND, OH – SPACES established The Urgent Art Fund in 2019, with funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture to support creation of artworks that are socially, politically, or culturally responsive. The Urgent Art Fund will support FIVE artist projects in 2020. Selected projects receive $5,000 each, plus additional resources including staff support, access to tools and studio space, and an annual SPACES membership.
We are pleased to announce the first four awardees of 2020: Anna Tararova, Mourning [A] BLKstar Collective, Christa Ebert, and Amanda D. King.
- Anna Tararova will publish five risograph and screen printed books by artists of color through her project, Empress Editions. Artists will be selected through a call for proposals and interested artists are encouraged to apply online (link below). The five selected artists each receive short-term access to studio space in Midtown Cleveland in addition to design and layout assistance, printing, and binding services. The artist books will be released online, at art book fairs, and during a public event at Outlandish Press. Apply to Empress Editions HERE
- Mourning [A] BLKstar Collective will present a series of online experiences filmed in culturally significant locations throughout Northeast Ohio. These Mourning [A] BLKstar Residencies, developed by James Longs, Theresa May, William Washington, LaToya Kent, Kyle Kidd, Dante Foley, Pete Saudek, and RA Washington, provide a gesture of fellowship and song while dealing with a global pandemic threatening the livelihood of hourly workers, teachers, artists and others. A premiere is expected online in September of 2020 via //BLK//BLUR, a POC founded and curated streaming platform.
- Self-trained musician and activist, Christa Ebert, performs as Uno Lady and composes songs with her voice, electronic effect pedals, and unconventional instruments. For her UAF project, Uno Lady will present Grounded, an ambient, experimental film series and meditation-based audio-visual installation as a means to find peace in the present moment. This work is in development and will be presented online, free of charge., later this year.
- My GOD is ANTIRACIST is a multi-layered, multimedia meditation on GOD as the embodiment of antiracism. Amanda D. King interweaves photography, text, video and installation with Black liberation theology, Black church aesthetics and recollections of Sunday service to invoke the viewer to perform antiracism as a spiritual practice. This work is in development for a public premier in the fall of 2020.
SPACES has one Urgent Art Fund grant left to award in 2020 and artists are encouraged to apply. Applications are judged by three external jurors based on feasibility, public accessibility to the project, artistic quality, and timeliness. Interested artists may contact the program coordinator, Cierra Rembert (cierra@spacescle.org) with questions about applications and requirements. The Urgent Art Fund is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a Support for Artists grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.