Kentucky Foundation for Women announces 2020 Artist Enrichment Grants

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Kentucky Foundation for Women awarded 44 Artist Enrichment grants totaling $164,960 to statewide feminist artists and arts organizations committed to creating positive social change throughout the state.

According to KFW, the Artist Enrichment grants provide opportunities for feminist artists and arts organizations to develop new skills and share art that advances social justice in Kentucky. Applicants may request funds to participate in artist residencies, explore new areas or techniques, and/or build a body of work.

Arts-based organizations and artists at all stages of their careers who demonstrate artistic skill and an understanding of the power of feminist art to enact social change were welcome to apply, according to KFW. The grant program drew 53 applications from throughout the state.

“These grantees are reaching beyond their previous boundaries to expand their craft and their influence while drawing attention to Kentucky’s rich history and the breadth of artistic mastery here,” said Sharon LaRue, executive director of the Kentucky Foundation for Women. “These artists build community as they grow their expertise and create new paths to social change That this work is being done in a time of crisis shines a light of hope for better days ahead!”

Recipients include the following:

Ashley Taylor (Louisville): $5,885 to fund the artistic process of a full-length book of poems that bridges experimental forms in surreal memoir with queer theory, sex-positive and intersectional feminism(s), including non-binary and trans-affirming advocacy. Each activity enriches their engagement with sex-positive and TNBQ+ feminism, with deconstructionist and queer theories, and with themself as a working creative.

bugz fraugg (Berea): $7,000 to develop an arts and ecology program at The Pinnacles, which is a nature preserve in Berea, using multi-layered interventions (including research/experimentation, education, and creation). This will provide both formal and informal educational opportunities, create spaces for play and wonder, and build bridges across exclusionary divides by inviting femme and femme-queer artists of color to lead aspects of the programming as this process unfolds.

Jacquelyn Carruthers (Paducah): $3,524 to paint murals that reflect feminism in the 1960s Op -Art style using bright colors and bold lines. These murals will attract women to the arts to create new ideas and allow creativity to be infused into the community.

Rosalyn Brandon (Maysville): $5,165 to finish a manuscript (poems, personal essays) based on life experiences and the struggles faced while living as a Black woman in America and to start a YouTube channel to host talks with various women from Kentucky and beyond. Completing the project will enhance her writing and speaking skills and create an online platform that will motivate and empower other women to share their stories.

Vanessa Becker Weig (Voices Amplified) (Lexington): $7,465 to launch Voices Amplified (formerly known as The Girl Project) as a podcast and fund Podcasting and ArtEquity Training. This work will help her grow as an artist while offering her the opportunity to create a culture of equity and inclusion in all areas of her artistry.

KFW will provide applications and guidelines for its next grant cycle by the end of January.

The Kentucky Foundation for Women is a private foundation formed in 1985 by Louisville writer Sallie Bingham. Its mission is to promote positive social change by supporting varied feminist expression in the arts.

A complete list of the grants awarded statewide follows:

2020 Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grants

Jacquelyn Carruthers (Paducah): $3,524 to paint murals that reflect feminism in the 1960s Op -Art style using bright colors and bold lines. These murals will attract women to the arts to create new ideas and allow creativity to be infused into the community.

T. A. Yero (Louisville): $7,500 to make a documentary that spotlights the taboo of mental health issues for black women and what we can do both personally and publicly to heal out loud instead of hurting in silence. Working as a cinematographer will take her photojournalist career to the next level, and this film will raise discussion about the challenges of Black mothers like herself suffering from bipolar depression.

Morgan McGill (Louisville): $5,133 to develop her mixed media portrait skills during an artist residency while talking to women from different backgrounds about their experience with women’s roles in fundamental Christianity. She will benefit by being able to experiment with collage techniques in order to create something new and original.

Suzanne DeMunbrun Gilmore (Ashland): $2,700 to create a book of essays and poems that explore mask use and self-esteem for women and girls, especially those in rural America, and Appalachia. The process of concentrated work, with the intensive guidance of a skilled and qualified mentor, will foster her growth and development as an older female writer, as a social change artist, and as a human.

Toya Northington (Louisville): $2,800 to create works for a collective online experience that will marry performance and social practice art with 2D paintings, a multimedia piece, and a facilitated group discussion. Grant funds will give her the chance to expand her skills into multimedia (video), gain exposure by presenting her work to a national audience, solidify her portfolio of encaustic works (hot wax painting), and provide the space to tell her story in a public forum.

Karen Lanier of KALA Creative (Lexington): $1,750 to develop her body of work through revising drafts of ecological fiction and nonfiction, with guidance from writing experts. Strengthening her skills as a creative writer and expanding the diversity of her portfolio will help her reach her professional goals to be a teaching artist that facilitates compassionate connections between people and their environment.

Katerina Stoykova (Lexington): $1,800 to create an edited draft of a craft book on conceiving, writing, ordering, publishing, and marketing a poetry collection. This book would be a natural progression for her career as a poet, editor and teacher. She will share the highlights of what she has learned over the years by creating something that will help others on their journeys from poets to authors.

Whitney Withington (Big Hill): $1,200 to make a 30-minute-long video slideshow featuring found photographs of African American women and their families in Appalachia, which will serve as the beginning of a future full-length documentary. By developing her video editing skills, she will learn how to create the longer documentary.

Sarah Lewis Gordon (Hebron): $2,500 to create a picture book about her Great Grandmother Celia who is an integral part of women’s history in Appalachian Kentucky and whose contribution to feminism deserves to be recognized. This opportunity will help her forge her own path as a feminist voice in the arts.

Kim Dixon-DeRouchey (Lexington): $5,290 to create a body of visual works encompassing the enduring art of “craft” including needlework and quilting to explore women’s so-called traditional roles within the domestic sphere. Researching historical texts and more contemporary scholarship will fine-tune her thoughts and present new interpretations.

Morgan Younge (Louisville): $1,000 to produce a 3-week summer camp that will culminate in a performance of her original script “Hip Hop Herc.” Producing this camp will facilitate her growth as a writer and director and allow collaboration with other female artists. It will also provide a safe space for students to practice art and learn about accepting other’s differences.

Cecelia Rhoden (Berea): $4,857 to create a body of work around the practice of textile mending to facilitate her future success as a visible mending artist. Through this project, she will refine her skills to teach skill-shares, host repair workshops, and help others make good repair choices. Dedicating herself to this project will allow her to build a proper portfolio and become more independent as a working artist.

Kiana Mahjub (Berea): $4,154 to create six unique works inspired by women’s relationship to the natural world, particularly her relationship to Appalachia as a woman of mixed Iranian descent. This grant will allow her to explore her skills as a printmaker and answer questions about her relationship to this “space” with access to the materials and tools she needs to do so.

Ashley Taylor (Louisville): $5,885 to fund the artistic process of a full-length book of poems that bridges experimental forms in surreal memoir with queer theory, sex-positive and intersectional feminism(s), including non-binary and trans-affirming advocacy. Each activity enriches their engagement with sex-positive and TNBQ+ feminism, with deconstructionist and queer theories, and with themself as a working creative.

Raina Rue (Winchester): $4,890 to write and illustrate a semi-autobiographical YA book about a girl who moves to rural Kentucky to live with her granny after her mom is admitted to rehab for opioid addiction—a plight faced by many Kentucky mothers. This technology and education will allow her to grow her career potential as an artist and to write and illustrate more books in the future.

Gail Wynters (Nicholasville): $1,895 to create and record a new body of music that will increase awareness of the ecology of the natural world, unity among individuals and nations, gender, and racial equality. This grant will ensure her continued development composing, recording, and performing music that can reach the hearts and minds of people to encourage a more unified and just society.

Donna M. Crow (Irvine): $2,000 to pay for the editorial services of three respected creative nonfiction editors for a memoir exploring the unique spiritual journeys of sisters raised in a fundamental religious household. Choosing diverse editors will enrich and strengthen her writing, while the memoir will encourage and support women who struggle to find their own voices within their families and community.

Regina Jakulis Szabo (Lexington): $1,000 to help provide clay materials and ceramic supplies to work alongside women recovering from cancer treatment. Each participant will explore the great healing power of producing an original ceramic hand built artwork while she hones skills as a potter and instructor.

Heather Summers (Crestwood): $,4870 to write and produce a theatrical presentation that will focus on the effects of inherited trauma on multiple generations of women and how the cycle of this trauma can be broken. The interactive nature of making a musical theater production will diversify her musicianship and songwriting skills and allow her to learn from others while making art for social change.

Lori Larusso (Louisville): $5,550 to create a printed book that contains both images of her visual artworks and essays and poems by Kentucky women writers. As a practicing feminist social change artist, this project will open up the possibility of future opportunities, introduce (or refresh the knowledge) of her work to a broader audience in and outside of Kentucky, and inspire future collaborations.

Deva North (Louisville): $4,500 to fund the materials and labor to design and fabricate puppets, props, set dressings, and a fully mobile puppet theatre for the Mary Shelley Electric Company. By doing this work, she will refine her advanced knowledge in character design, puppet construction, foam sculpting, garment sewing, and to-scale prop fabrication.

Laura Poulette (Berea): $7,500 to illustrate, write and produce an artful nature journal for women. This project will allow the user to develop her printmaking skills and deepen her relationship with the natural world as a meaningful act of ecofeminist self-care.

Elizabeth Burton (Hopkinsville): $1,000 to write a novel on the eugenics movement of the twentieth century and its impact on the women who were involuntarily sterilized. Writing this book will improve her skills as a writer, and upon completion of the final draft of the novel, she will seek publication, raising awareness of women writers in Kentucky.

Red Biddix and Mandi Mudd (Louisville): $4,475 to create an app called Solutions that can be used to anonymously tell the stories of female & gender non-conforming victims of sexual assault, mental, verbal & physical abuse. Their goals are to give women/gender nonconforming people a voice, impact minority groups, help young adults, and create a safe virtual space for them to tell stories.

Michelle Burdine (Murray): $5,962 to complete a body of work that explores contemporary intersections of menstruation, motherhood, and family, and to support the promotion of the work in exhibition spaces. The finished work will deepen her art practice and expand her ability to connect with a wider audience while offering new narratives regarding female experiences associated with the menstruating body.

Jessica Ballard (Lexington): $1,200 to develop a body of mixed-media art composed of eco-rooted, lunar ritual and self-care kits. Skill building in video making will enrich her ability to encourage, present, and host ritual ceremonies. The mentoring process will help her create more cohesive, digestible, and aesthetically inviting formats for sharing wisdom through this art form.

Lisa Munniksma (Frankfort): $3,750 to study creative nonfiction writing to reflect her experiences as a woman farmer and food-systems advocate rather than write from a detached nonfiction perspective. Strengthened skills and confidence will allow her to tell personal stories as someone who “doesn’t look like a farmer,” empowering readers to act beyond gender roles and lifting up women stewarding land and communities.

Yu ling Huang (Villa Hills): $1,000 to attend the 2021 Figurative Art Convention held in Williamsburg, Virginia to study the techniques and ideas of figure paintings and portraiture. This immersive experience will strengthen her techniques and skills as a figurative painter and help her to improve her skills and knowledge as a feminist social change artist.

Susan E. King (Lexington): $3,300 to design an artist’s book that chronicles her time as a young woman artist in Kentucky at the dawn of the second wave of feminism, documenting and expanding on her two-year residency and exhibit at the University of Kentucky Art Museum. By creating this book in multiple formats, she will be able to reach a larger audience with an accessible, low-cost artist’s book that explores the beginnings of the feminist art movement.

Nicole Garneau (Disputanta): $7,500 to create an audiobook of Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism (2018) and collaborate to integrate excerpts of high-quality audio into videos promoting new performance work made by feminist activists. This culmination of a 10-year body of performance, research, and writing will help support herself as an artist.

Looking for Lilith Theatre Company (Louisville): $7,500 to hone their skills as Story Circle facilitators, through the launch of a community Story Circle project. They will develop as feminist social change artists by learning technology and online facilitation of story circles, using the stories shared to create short “digital plays,” and availing themselves of professional development to learn different methodologies.

Vanessa Becker Weig (Voices Amplified) (Lexington): $7,465 to launch Voices Amplified (formerly known as The Girl Project) as a podcast and fund Podcasting and ArtEquity Training. This work will help her grow as an artist while offering her the opportunity to create a culture of equity and inclusion in all areas of her artistry.

Girl Tones (Scottsville): $1,895 to develop, record, and market an album that integrates their personal experiences of hypocrisy as young women growing up in the Bible Belt. They will grow as artists through writing, developing, recording an album, controlling their own sound, and overseeing the development and promotion of their record.

Ashlee Phillips (Louisville): $3,200 to highlight the cultural art of what it entails to be a Black woman in America. By strengthening her abilities as a cultural fashion stylist, she will shed light on “Alternative Black Girls” which will allow Black Women to be seen, appreciated, and recognized as the creative and innovative leaders of movements that they are and have always been.

bugz fraugg (Berea): $7,000 to develop an arts and ecology program at The Pinnacles, which is a nature preserve in Berea, using multi-layered interventions (including research/experimentation, education, and creation). This will provide both formal and informal educational opportunities, create spaces for play and wonder, and build bridges across exclusionary divides by inviting femme and femme-queer artists of color to lead aspects of the programming as this process unfolds.

Minda Honey (Louisville): $5,000 to aid a Black woman in her vision to produce a local, indie Louisville publication that isn’t filtered through the straight, white male gaze. The issue of TAUNT will also allow her to coach, encourage, and provide a platform for other marginalized voices and begin the next iteration of her writing career.

Rosalyn Brandon (Maysville): $5,165 to finish a manuscript (poems, personal essays) based on life experiences and the struggles faced while living as a Black woman in America and to start a YouTube channel to host talks with various women from Kentucky and beyond. Completing the project will enhance her writing and speaking skills and create an online platform that will motivate and empower other women to share their stories.

Toby Penney (Frankfort): $1,000 to produce five large scale paintings on hand woven substrate created by weaving reclaimed fabric, fibers, and other recycled materials on a wool warping then developing the surfaces with paint and mixed media. The procurement of a loom will expand her ability for art production and increase her efficiency and versatility.

Lexie Abra Millikan (Marion): $4,250 to develop a new body of fiber work that repurposes textiles from women in her life and create community participation that challenges contributors to reconsider their ideas about traditional gender roles. Developing this body of work will help energize her as an artist and will engage people in the region through participation in the creation of the work and reexamination of the women around them.

Madeleine Hay (Frankfort): $1,000 to complete a book of collaged artworks and poetry centered on the taboo and mystical aspects of the life experiences of a young woman. The completion of this book will develop her skills as an artist and burgeoning poet as well as raise awareness of the challenges young women face in navigating the early years of adulthood. 

Rebecca Norton (Louisville): $1,000 to attend a writing workshop to polish an essay series, complete a series of visual works to accompany the essays, and take printmaking classes.

Melissa Mann Bean (Louisville): $1,000 to create a children’s art book for mothers and children to use together. She will learn about writing and illustrating a children’s art educational book and build greater confidence as an artist and illustrator.