(Jesse Vala’s Conduit Touch/installation image, 2018, stoneware, brass, acrylic sheet, faux marble, 49 x 26 x 12 inches)
In the first round of FY2024 Career Opportunity Program grant awards, the Oregon Arts Commission and The Ford Family Foundation have awarded $105,103 to 24 artists for career development projects.
The awards include $44,202 from the Oregon Arts Commission for all artistic disciplines and $60,901 in supplemental funding for 16 established visual artists through a partnership with The Ford Family Foundation’s Visual Arts Program. Individual grants range from $800 to $8,500.
Career Opportunity grants support individual Oregon artists by enabling them to take advantage of timely opportunities that enhance their artistic careers. Most grants 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 Roberta Lavadour, who led one of two review panels. “That support is a powerful way for artists to become better recognized and enhance their arts resumes.”
The Ford Family Foundation funds are available to established Oregon visual artists who are producing new work in the fields of contemporary art and craft.
“The Ford Family Foundation values the research and labor of artists to further their careers through training, dedicated work time and new exhibition opportunities,” said Anne C. Kubisch, president of The Ford Family Foundation. “We’re thrilled as ever to partner with the Arts Commission to help amplify these efforts.”
FY2024 Career Opportunity Program grant award recipients are:
Elizabeth Arzani, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $1,020
To support a two-person exhibition with Renee Couture at Carnation Contemporary in Portland from Jan. 6 to 28.
Avantika Bawa, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $6,030
To create a site-specific installation as part of the fourth edition of The Sculpture Park, at Madhavendra Palace, Jaipur, located within the precincts of Nahargarh Fort and curated by Peter Nagy in collaboration with Nature Morte gallery and Saat Saath Arts Foundation.
David Paul Bayles, Corvallis
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
To support a scheduled solo exhibition of David’s long-term photographic project titled FOLLOWING FIRE – A Resilient Forest / An Uncertain Future at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland in January.
Dru Donovan, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $6,000
To support the production, documentation, shipping of work and travel for the installation of a solo exhibition at the Schneider Museum of Art at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, scheduled to run from June 13 to Aug. 10.
Elsa Dougherty, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $1,157
To support the production of Dumpster Girl, an original devised musical featuring one lead performer and a four-piece band to perform at CoHo Productions in Portland December 14-16, 2023.
Nancy Floyd, Bend
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $6,000
To support the production and travel expenses associated with a new solo exhibition, titled For The Love Of Trees, at the Hallie Ford Museum in Salem.
Anne Greenwood, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $1,995
The Ford Family Foundation $4,674
To support new artwork that creates conceptual and real connections to landscape and community (fabric book and outdoor soundscape gathering with performers, blankets and publication) for the PDX Biennial at Oregon Center for Contemporary Art and satellite programming at Albina Green Park from April to August.
Sabrina Haque, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $4,300
To support the (Un) Belonging series and to create a new, site-specific installation of large drawings with video projections of hand-drawn animation at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts from May to August.
Wendy Heldmann, Eugene
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $5,250
To support a solo exhibition at Nowhere Gallery in Milan, Italy, in April, including travel from Eugene; packing and shipping existing works and materials for two on-site murals and a lightbox sign; lodging for duration of install; mural creation, opening and show documentation.
Diane Jacobs, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $2,000
To support a five-week ceramic artist residency March 11 to April 15 at Township 10 in North Carolina near Asheville.
Katie Janovac, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $1,200
To support Katie’s development as a street dancer and dance festival organizer. Katie attended dance events Freestyle Session and Flava of the Year in Los Angeles in November. She battled in popping and gained knowledge of how to responsibly organize a cultural street dance event.
Horatio Law, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $6,500
To support Horatio’s project Serenading the Departed – Reconnecting Block 14 to Chinatown.
Claire Lorenzo, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $1,200
To support the recording of a full-length studio album for Claire’s band, Shore Pines, in November 2023 in Portland.
Cas Majewski, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $800
To support Cas in securing and equitably compensating a videographer and lighting designer for congruency dance collective’s second mainstage tap fusion show “spectra” to take place at the end of January at The Headwaters Theater in Portland.
Ido Radon, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $4,750
To support production and presentation of a new body of work for a solo exhibition at Afternoon Projects, a gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Sweta Ravisankar, Beaverton
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
To support Sweta’s travel to further her learning, to collaborate with professional Indian Classical Artists and to perform in India between November 2023 and January. To help bring back the knowledge of historically significant choreographies to her students and nourish her full-time dance career.
Anthony Roberto, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
To support a May 2024 solo exhibition at Well Well Projects in Portland, representing the culmination of a multi-year body of work: 3D printed sculpture and 2D prints that use the stage as a space without place to show a group of faceless figures engaging in a time slice of space without place.
Joe Robinson, Lake Oswego
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $1,666
To support the giving of a talk, The Business of Community, at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, the leading professional conference for ceramic educators, in Richmond, Virginia, in March.
Lilith Rockett, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $2,960
To support Lilith’s participation as a guest artist at the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour in Minnesota May 10-12.
Stephen Slappe, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
To support travel and accommodations for Stephen to attend the NYU Orphan Film Symposium in Astoria, New York, April 9-14. This archival film symposium brings together artists, historians and scientists from around the world for four days of presentations, screenings and networking.
Jessie Vala, Cheshire
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $400
To support the completion, shipping and documentation of a series of mixed media sculptures for Meteorite Mama, an immersive installation and performance at Well Well Projects in Portland, March 3-31.
Mike Vos, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $1,000
To support an artist residency and mentorship opportunity with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art March 13 to April 8 in North Adams, Massachusetts.
Samantha Wall, Portland
Oregon Arts Commission $2,000
The Ford Family Foundation $5,851
To support the production of a new body of work for a solo exhibition at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, scheduled to open on April 10 and run through October.
Vicki Wilson, Philomath
Oregon Arts Commission $1,850
The Ford Family Foundation $2,500
To support the creation of a body of work to be shown at The Arts Center in Corvallis and Oregon Potters Association Ceramic Showcase, as well as travel and participation expenses associated with the Ceramic Showcase.
About The Oregon Arts Commission:
The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development.
The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. artscommission.oregon.gov