CHARLOTTE, N.C. (April 18, 2022) – For the first time in its 64-year history, ASC’s annual investments in Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s creative individual community is topping the million-dollar mark.

ASC has invested $1.2 million in fiscal year 2021-22 to support the creative individuals and artists whose work is strengthening Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s cultural community. The investments, which support creative individuals across ASC’s grantmaking portfolio, are made possible by increased funding from the City of Charlotte via the Infusion Fund and its generous donors, and Mecklenburg County. Funding from the North Carolina Arts Council and individual donors to ASC also supported these investments.

The FY22 investment more than doubles the $446,000 ASC invested in the local creative individual community last year. The number of creatives to be supported also improved significantly, from 102 in FY21 to 148 this year-to-date. This number will increase before June 30 through ongoing ASC programs that support creative individuals, including Culture Blocks and school funding opportunities. 

“The increase in ASC’s support of creative individuals and artists in our community is simply extraordinary and makes the important investment we have made even more impactful,” said Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio. “ASC continues to utilize its funding from the County, and other sources, in ways that enhance our quality of life and make Mecklenburg County a better place for all of our residents. We thank you ASC for continuing to recognize the importance of individual contributions in this work.”

More than $800,000 for grantmaking from the Infusion Fund helped ASC make deeper investment in local creative individuals than ever before.   

“The Infusion Fund is helping to revitalize Charlotte’s arts and cultural community in the wake of the pandemic and is distributing more funding in support of Charlotte’s artists, arts and culture,” said City of Charlotte Arts & Culture Officer Priya Sircar. “We’re pleased to work with the ASC to increase support to organizations, artists and other creative individuals with diverse backgrounds, artistic disciplines, and practices who share their vision and talent in service of our community.”

Increased investments in creative individuals fit into ASC’s larger commitment to cultural equity. Directing more resources to creatives, coupled with expanding grantmaking opportunities for individuals that include capacity building and community projects, has diversified ASC’s applicant pool for individual grants. Improving the application process and analyzing data has allowed ASC to identify opportunities for targeted outreach where it can close gaps when applicant pools do not reflect the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community.

Twenty-five individuals received ASC Cultural Vision Grants in FY22 for projects that directly respond to the community’s cultural interests, nearly double from last year (13 individuals). While the 24 individuals to receive ASC Culture Blocks funding for programming that makes arts and culture more accessible at the neighborhood level is currently below last year’s 35, total funding to this year’s individual Culture Blocks providers – currently $323,976 – is nearly 60 % more than last year’s $192,655.

“I am grateful for the resources this year that enabled ASC to make deeper investments in creative individuals, as they are the lifeblood of the cultural sector,” said ASC President Krista Terrell. “ASC could not have done this historic level of investment in a single year without our partnership with Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte through the Infusion Fund and our steadfast individual donors that continue to support our work through a cultural equity lens.” 

Highlighting ASC’s FY22 investments in creative individuals is the announcement of the 20 creative individuals who will receive a combined $250,000 from ASC in order to refresh their creative energy or develop their creative capacity. 

Ten emerging artists are recipients of $10,000 ASC Emerging Creators Fellowships, which support creatives with evolving practices that are at a pivotal moment in launching sustainable careers in the creative sector. 

Ten mid-career creatives are recipients of $15,000 ASC Creative Renewal Fellowships, awarded to individuals who have been pursuing a career in the creative sector for at least 10 years and have been generating the majority of their income over the past three years through their work as a sole proprietor, creative entrepreneur or contract employee in the creative sector.

The 20 fellowships awarded by ASC in 2022 is an increase from the 14 distributed in 2021. Other investments ASC has or will make in its 2021-22 fiscal year include:

• $198,100 in support to 74 established and emerging artists in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region through Artist Support Grants, which support professional and artistic development for emerging and established artists to enhance their skills and abilities to create work or improve their business operations and capacity to bring their work to new audiences
• $207,200 in Cultural Vision Grants to 25 artists
• $323,976 in Culture Blocks funding to 25 creative individuals
• $45,000 in stipends to 30 teaching artists
• $10,000 to support “I Am Queen Charlotte,” led by local creative Hannah Hasan

Additionally, 10 $4,000 Emerging Creators Fellowship finalist awards and 10 $1,600 semifinalist awards were awarded to the runners-up in that grant pool, and 10 $7,500 finalist awards and 10 $3,000 semifinalist awards were given to the Creative Renewal Fellowship runners-up.

“Creatives are seeking opportunities to rebound and sustain themselves from the devastating impact of the pandemic,” Terrell said. “Our investments ranging from putting teaching artists back to work in public, charter and independent school across the community to giving creatives the time to pause and renew their creative spirit demonstrates our support and commitment to creatives and the value they bring to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community.”

This year’s ASC Emerging Creators Fellowship recipients are:

• Tiffany Jones, a music producer, songwriter and multi-media based artist. Jones plans to use her reach in music production, songwriting and mentorship by further implementing media-based tools to help expand her reach.
• Kalin Devone, a visual artist and teaching artist. She will use her fellowship to support her artistic development by developing a new body of work based on perspective or self through portraiture, which she will present in a gallery show.
• Blaine Hurdle, a jewelry maker and sculptor. Hurdle will use his fellowship to broaden his technical skills and enrich his creative concepts through the creation of bronze cast sculpture and wearable art.
• Taylor Lee Nicholson, a visual artist. Nicholson plans to use their fellowship to fund the production of a body of work created at the McColl Center Studio Artist Program for exhibition at their show, “GARBAGE PERSON,” to be shown locally at Gallery C3.
• HNin Nie, a visual artist and storyteller. Nie will use her fellowship to take part in an artists’ residency and complete a new body of work that includes 2D, 3D and stop motion pieces.
• Ngoc Lan Pham, a filmmaker. Pham will use his fellowship to scout settings and update a screenplay in order to complete a full-length film.
• Shauna Respass, a hip-hop fusion artist and event curator. With her fellowship, Respass will advance her career by investing in professional development and piano and vocal lessons, as well as funding a professional rollout for her upcoming “Queen of Hearts” EP.
• Joanne Rogers, a visual artist, gallery owner, curator, art consultant and arts advocate. Rogers will use her fellowship to advance equity for historically excluded visual artists through mentorship, skills training, administrative support and a professionally outfitted art gallery where they will exhibit and sell their work.
• Jah Smalls, a touring, full time poet/artist/host who creates workshop for writers. An Emerging Creators Fellowship will support Smalls’ plans to create the curriculum for a “Master Class” book series and establish a Black-owned book publishing company.
• Matthew Steele, a visual artist whose work hinges on the connection between humanity and the infrastructures we exist with. With his fellowship, Steele will enlist the help and mentorship of an expert printmaker to learn proper methods and techniques for creating professional and archival woodblock editions in the printmaking studio. 

The 2022 ASC Creative Renewal Fellowship recipients are: 

• Debra Aase Farnum, a ceramic artist. Farnum will use her fellowship to support exploration into her heritage and modern porcelain by visiting Arne Åse Ceramics, potter (and cousin) Edel Åse, Figgjo Norway Porcelain and The Norwegian National Museum.
• Princess Cureton, a figurative painter who incorporates sculptural relief on canvas that engages the viewer in questioning the reality of the surface. Cureton will use her fellowship to explore an innovative range of material and technology with water born paints and mediums through residency and mentorship at The Golden Foundation and the Fine Arts Work Center. 
• Vadim Kolpakov, a professional Russian-Romani guitarist, trained by his uncle, the famous guitarist Alexander Kolpakov. Kolpakov will use his fellowship to support mentorship with Dr. Oleg Timofeyev, which will lead to a publication of a Russian- “Gypsy” guitar method.
• Leandro Manzo, a visual artist. Manzo will use his fellowship to support the learning of new engraving techniques by attending to Sangfer Fernando Sandoval Gutiérrez training workshop in Oaxaca, Mexico. 
• Mason Parker, a musician and performer who got his start in Charlotte’s underground hip-hop scene. With the fellowship, Mason will explore new mediums by attending the Gotham Writers Workshop in New York.
• Megan Rich, a writer whose fiction and creative nonfiction explores female voices in unlikely places, whether a young American woman living in rural Japan or a lawyer working in the male-dominated tech world. Rich’s fellowship plans are to explore a new genre – longform personal essays – and increasing her professional knowledge and network by participating in workshops, residencies and conferences.
• Ruth Sloane, a playwright who writes, directs and acts in plays that tell stories of Black Americans. She will use her fellowship to explore the history, rhythmic patterns and language usage in plays and poems in Ghana, while visiting theaters, historical sites, interviewing artist and writing. 
• Rosalia Torres-Weiner, an artist, muralist, activist and community leader whose work documents social conditions and raises awareness about issues affecting immigrant communities. She will use her fellowship to explore new avenues of creative expression by infusing technology into her artistic practice and exploring augmented reality, animation and digital marketplaces. 
• Danielle Walcott, a musician whose 20 years of experience as a guitarist have motivated her to inspire female musicians to master their skills and strengthen their confidence in performing and artistic expression. Walcott will use her fellowship to record an album honoring the unsung women of jazz guitar and their contributions to jazz music through research, transcription analysis and interviews from prominent jazz musicians and historians. 
• Dammit Wesley, a multi-disciplinarian that creates visual and interactive experiences that explore race in America. He will use his fellowship to explore new mediums of visual storytelling in film, 3-D rendering and printmaking. 

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 believes that arts, culture and creativity play a critical role in creating a sense of belonging to a community. Stay up to date on ASC news and happenings at ArtsAndScience.org and on Facebook, Instagram and 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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