Lane Arts Council announces $27,000 in grants to artists and arts projects in the Eugene area through two local grant programs: the Community Arts Grant and a new Artist Grant. The Community Arts Grant and Artist Grant programs are funded by City of Eugene Cultural Services Division, Banner Bank, and individual donors, and administered by Lane Arts Council.
For the first time, Lane Arts Council awarded grants specifically to individual artists. Artist Grants provide financial support to artists to move forward a new project or creative endeavor that promises to advance their career or artistic development. Artist Grant recipients include Cullen Vance, Jorah LaFleur, Kate Harnedy, Kathleen Caprario, and Thi Nguyen.
Community Arts Grants provide funding to support community arts projects that emphasize community impact and accessibility to arts and cultural programming for underserved and underrepresented audiences in Eugene. This grant program is essential to sustaining our vibrant and diverse arts and culture community in Eugene. Ten projects were funded, including music and dance performances, film festivals, art-making opportunities, art exhibitions, rock camps, workshops, and more.
One 2020-2021 Community Arts Grant will help the Eugene Environmental Film Festival realize its diversity and inclusion goals, such as increasing access to the film festival, featuring stories from underrepresented communities through film, workshops, and panel and audience discussions, and collaborating with local organizations to promote environmental justice.
Another Community Arts Grant has been awarded to DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, which promotes racial and cultural understanding by connecting audiences with original films from Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities.
Uyen-thi Nguyen has been awarded an Artist Grant for her project “A Portrait of Cottage Grove.” Nguyen will create oil paintings and drawings of the people of Cottage Grove to be published in an art book and publicly exhibited at galleries, museums, libraries, and shops.
Artist Grant recipient Kate Harnedy shared, “I really appreciate this opportunity that specifically encourages artists to create new work in new ways. Stepping outside one’s comfort zone feels risky, but it’s what facilitates growth as an artist.” With the support of the Artist Grant, Harnedy will be creating a traditional wet plate collodion photography tintype portrait series featuring local artisans working in historic processes. Harnedy will also offer two public presentations to demonstrate the process and history of this unique art form.
“Being able to provide Artist Grants this year for the first time was a big step for our arts community,” shared Stacey Ray, Interim Executive Director for Lane Arts Council. “There is very little funding dedicated specifically to artist-led projects. We are excited to support artists to pursue their own creative endeavors.”
All are welcome to celebrate awarded projects and artists by attending our virtual award ceremony on Tuesday, August 18th at 4pm on Lane Arts Council’s Facebook Live. View Artist Grant recipients at https://lanearts.org/20-21-artist-grant-awards/ and Community Arts Grant recipients at https://lanearts.org/20-21-community-arts-grant-awards/.
Artist Grant awardee Kathleen Caprario’s project “A READING ROOM” is a mixed media installation inviting dialog around race, place, and the role of art to navigate between the two, to be exhibited at Eugene Contemporary Art and form the basis of a panel-led community conversation as well as a documentary essay by arts writer Sandra Honda.
