Fifty-four creative recipients in Mecklenburg County to receive grants of up to $3,000 to create new work or improve their business operations.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 8, 2024) – Fifty-four creative individuals that live and work in Mecklenburg County will receive a combined $152,655 in funding through ASC’s Creative Mecklenburg Grant program.

The grants support professional and artistic development for emerging and established artists to enhance their skills and abilities to create work or to improve their business operations and capacity to bring their work to new audiences. Funded projects include: 

• The creation of new work 
• The purchase of equipment and materials 
• Professional development workshops 
• Travel support for expenses associated with a professional opportunity such as participating in an exhibition or a conference 
• Development or upgrading of promotional materials

This year, ASC more than doubled the amount invested in Creative Mecklenburg Grants and the number of recipients (from $71,500 and 25, respectively, in FY23) thanks to support from Mecklenburg County and the Infusion Fund and its generous donors.

The grants were open to Mecklenburg County-based artists of all disciplines and provide funding of up to $3,000. Grantees represent creative disciplines from visual art and music to literature and dance. ASC received 116 applications from area creatives, with eligible requests totaling $326,181.

2024 Creative Mecklenburg Grant Recipients

(Project descriptions provided by recipients and edited for clarity/brevity)

Sapana Adhikari – $3,000 to attend an art workshop in Chattanooga, TN, with acclaimed international artist Mustafa Ozel and create five new portrait paintings.

Darrell Anderson – $3,000 to build an in-home sewing studio and workroom.

Marcos Aspiazu – $3,000 for training in ​​fashion photography and customer service.

Spencer Bang – $3,000 to submit six original short films to film festivals.

Destiny Blue – $3,000 to expand and market creative business, including website creation and the production of a children’s book and art prints.

Monica Boboc – $3,000 to create and perform a cross-genre performance with Colombian guitarist Aris Nieto.

Joy Davis – $3,000 to complete a dance theater production by providing fees for lighting and sound designers, a videographer and costume/props.

Scherrie DeBord – $2,176 to fund a new body of work, including the purchase of tools and materials.

Ronald Dolphus – $2,516.95 to purchase a Blackmagic Design professional camera for cinematic short films, proof of concept trailers and feature production in the Charlotte area.

Nicole Driscoll – $3,000 to attend a residency at the Walkaway House to create a photography/video series.

Theresa Edge – $3,000 for promotional materials to gain visibility, book more work and create a sustainable long-term career path.

H. Blake Edwards – $3,000 to purchase studio equipment.

Barbara Ellis – $3,000 to expand reach and awareness.

Sala Faruq – $1,554.03 for the training, equipment and technology required to advance as a Surface Pattern Designer.

Michael Randy Frank – $3,000 to support studio rental costs and supplies for a new body of large-scale paintings.

Julie Funderburk – $2,963.43 for a professionally designed website and a laptop.

Jennifer Geyer – $3,000 to support the Afro-Cuban Dance Intensive in Charlotte.

Maja Godlewska – $2,965 to support the creation of a new body of work (painting, installation) for a solo exhibition at Toshkova Fine Art in Charlotte.

Jarrett Greene – $3,000 to expand caricature knowledge through coursework and participation in festivals and fairs in the United States.

Susan Hearn – $2,850 to support a six-image body of work showcasing three local farms in a fun and creative way that invites customers to see beyond what they are buying and into the lives and landscapes of the farms they are buying from.

Wendy Hernandez Lopez – $3,000 to fund a new photo series.

Johari Huggins – $3,000 to purchase supplies to complete mural commission in a QBIPOC Reproductive Justice center.

Ralph Jannelli – $3,000 for a new laptop and online artist promotion.

Susan Jedrzejewski – $2,970 to purchase a 17″ color printer and essential art supplies to advance alternative photography practice.

Jeter Javon – $2,582.48 to upgrade studio equipment to increase productivity, take on larger assignments/projects and explore a new medium (animation).

Jinna Kim – $3,000 to attend the Atelier Artist Residency in France in October 2024.

Miki Kato-Starr – $2,445 to cover pottery studio fees for 12 months and essential materials in order to complete a new body of work.

Claire Kiester – $2,016 to complete a new series of fiber art pieces.

Lusenii Kromah – $3,000 to purchase a 3D printer.

Andrew Leventis – $3,000 to ship four paintings from North Carolina to the Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow, Poland, for an exhibition.

Oliver Lewis – $2,914.33 to advance public art career by purchasing a CNC plasma cutter.

Louisa Taylor – $3,000 to produce 8 singles exploring different styles of music.

Toni Lovejoy – $3,000 to purchase an Apple computer.

Kathren Martin – $3,000 for the Mixed Metaphors team to travel to California to participate in Corner Stone Theatre’s Intensive and study with the team at Crenshaw Dairy Mart.

Paula Martinac – $2,600 to attend SleuthFest 2024.

Gabriel Mejia-Estrella – $3,000 to transition into a professional freelance music producer working out of home studio.

Eric Mullis – $2,048 to develop “A Digital Movement,” a dance trio with choreography developed in response to choreographic objects created with Touchdesigner software.

Alex (Montë) Murphy – $3,000 to train with the Masters of Silvestre and Afro-Brazilian Technique in Brazil in July 2024.

Taylor Lee Nicholson – $2,145 to support a socially engaged project that specifically gathers queer people in a collaborative installation of autobiographical sculpture for PRIDE 2024.

Emily Nunez – $3,000 for a captivating series of 5-8 large mixed media pieces, each exploring the intricacies the artist’s identity as a Dominican American in Charlotte.

Jonathan Pellitteri – $2,209.31 to purchase the equipment needed to produce “Bloom, Wither, Repeat,” a site-specific kinetic artwork to be included in the inaugural L+A+N+D exhibition at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forrest in Clermont, Kentucky.

Petra Pingel – $3,000 to create a home studio space and showroom.

Marek Ranis – $3,000 for an art residency and creative collaboration with the Nordic Artists’ Center in Norway.

Rae Riedy – $3,000 to purchase and install a ceramic kiln.

Grayson Sands – $3,000 to purchase a microphone, lighting, custom backdrop, a monitor, upgraded furnishings and a new computer for a graphic design studio.

Lynsea Schurbon – $3,000 to fund professional mixing, publicity and creative for a single release this summer.

John Shaughnessy II – $3,000 to support travel and location for a recording project that integrates jazz and improvisation with the sounds of nature in North Carolina.

Jade Solch – $3,000 to attend a mixed media workshop at Pendland School of Craft.

Prairie Gallery and Studio – $3,000 to create a new body of work for an inaugural solo exhibition at Prairie Gallery.

Benjamin Still – $2,250 to attend the annual Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy in Bangkok, Thailand.

Malu Tan – $3,000 to attend an artist residency program in Colorado.

Ashley Tate – $2,750 for a research trip the Hip-Hop Archive & Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Whitfield Claude – $2,700 to fund the EP “Shine No Matter What.”

Alicia Williams – $3,000 to fund tuition and travel to the Centrum Writers Conference.

About ASC

ASC is the chief advocate, resource hub and steward for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region’s cultural community. Its core functions include advocacy, cultural education programs, cultural planning, fundraising, grant making, public art and workshops and trainings for the cultural community. ASC works to ensure Culture For All by combining resources from local and state government with those of the private sector to maximize community impact throughout the cultural sector.

ASC’s mission is investing in people, programs and ideas that move us to a more equitable, sustainable and innovative creative ecosystem. Stay up to date on ASC news and happenings at ArtsAndScience.org and on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

ASC is supported, in part, by the Infusion Fund and its generous donors: City of Charlotte, Bank of America, C.D. Spangler Foundation / National Gypsum Company, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Trane Technologies, Albemarle Foundation, Atrium Health, Barings, Duke Energy, Honeywell, JELD-WEN, Inc., LendingTree Foundation, Lowe’s Companies, Inc., Novant Health, Red Ventures, Truist, Ally Financial, The Centene Charitable Foundation, Childress Klein Properties, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Deloitte, EY, The Gambrell Foundation, Moore & Van Allen, PwC, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., Rodgers Builders, Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bank, Foundation For The Carolinas, Deidre and Clay Grubb, Leslie and Michael Marsicano, Jane and Hugh McColl, Nucor Corporation, PNC Bank, Premier, Inc., Jane and Nelson Schwab. 

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