The Leeway Foundation announces $46,550 in grants to nineteen women and transgender artists living in the six-county Philadelphia area (including Camden) to further their work integrating a variety of arts disciplines and social change.
The Art and Change Grant provides project-based grants of up to $2,500 to women and transgender (which includes those who identify as transsexual and genderqueer) artists who: have art and social change projects or opportunities that impact a larger group, audience or community; have financial need; and live in the Delaware Valley area. One of the more unique aspects of the Art and Change grant is its requirement for projects to be supported by or in collaboration with a Change Partner a person, organization, or business, that is part of the project in some way.
September’s deadline was the final cycle for 2008. Of the nineteen recipients only two artists previously received funding from the organization. The grants awarded went to artists working in a variety of fields including hip-hop choreography and batik printmaking.
DANCE RECIPIENTS: SEPTEMBER 2008
Renee “Oyin” Harris-Hardy
Renee will create a series of three-day dance workshops for women of all ages called “Godis: Dance—a celebration of women through movement, music and myth.” The goal of the workshops is to encourage women to rethink western standards of beauty and reshape their attitudes about femininity. The workshops will introduce women to the ancient art associated with the African goddesses Osun, Oya, and Yemonja.Ama Schley and Payin Schley
Ama and Payin will travel to Guinea, West Africa with members of the Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble to study local and national dances and rhythms. This process will help the participants to become stronger artists, teachers, and community leaders. Once they return home, they will use their learnings to train other members of the ensemble and neighborhood youth. They also plan to perform a new piece for audiences in Philadelphia based on their experiences.Michele Byrd-McPhee
Michele is the creator of the “The Ladies of Hip-Hop Festival,” a five-day celebratory and educational festival of women in hip-hop culture. Each year, an elite group of female instructors, artist, and businesswomen provide a positive representation of women within hip-hop culture. The festival creates a space for women to share, discuss, and pursue their interpretations of hip-hop dance, music and art.OTHER 2008 DANCE ART AND CHANGE GRANT RECIPIENTS
Elba Hevia y Vaca
Elba will direct Geografia Intima, a feminist flamenco dance, that explores stereotypical representations of three different historical-religious female archetypes in Latino culture–the witch, the virgin, and the dreamer. The piece will use nontraditional music, movement, and visual imagery to push the boundaries of the flamenco tradition. The dancers will be surrounded by a visual landscape that includes a map of their intimate geography and live-feed video. Each performance will be followed by a brief presentation about feminist flamenco.Jodi Netzer
Jodi will facilitate “The Tipping Point”, a multi-disciplinary workshop series that demystifies the process of how to create successful social, political & spiritual movements, culminating in a public performance and discussion.Martina G.J. Martinas
Martina will instruct a form of line dancing-coined “Linedancersize” which is line dancing and exercising combined. Linedancersize is a group dance designed for inter-generational programs, all cultures, male and female. Martina’s project will be instructing a 10-week all male soul line dance workshop offered free of charge held at Hawthorne Recreation Center at 12th and Carpenter every Wednesday from 6:15 PM to 7:45 PM. This project is an opportunity to recruit males who are interested in learning line dance routines to various genres of music, ultimately interacting with the line dance community.The purpose of this workshop is to engage and encourage men to become a part of a newfound venture that women are currently involved with in order to overcome social gender barriers.Rebecca Davis
Rebecca will coordinate 1994 in Philadelphia, a creative dance piece in which Philadelphia teens will portray the stories of victims who survived the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the reconstruction efforts that follow such atrocities. Rebecca will spend four weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, working with local NGOs and living with the local people to gather information about the genocide and especially how survivors are recovering and building their lives in the aftermath. Following her time in Kigali, she will select some of these stories to be transformed into creative movement pieces with music and spoken word. In September 2008, Rebecca will work with ten teenagers to formulate a full narrative dance piece that shares these stories with the public. There will be several community and school performances in Fall 2008.Sarah Lowry
Sarah will adapt Shakespeare’s King Lear by collaborating with six theatre and dance companies to tell the story. King Lear will be held at a secret location in West Philadelphia (secret only to the audience members). The audience will convene on a corner and then be led through five acts, each performed in a different space by a different company, accompanied by a different dessert, receiving refreshments and entertainment throughout each transition.Tamara Thomas
Tamara will travel to Guinea with Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble and study with master drummers, traditional dancers, and a Guinea-based hip-hop group. During the two-week stay, she will apprentice with master M’bemba Bangoura as she learns the tale of Madi Sado. This intensive dance and music study will take place primarily in Conakry, with a weekend trip to Bangoura’s village. She will also spend time with the internationally acclaimed hip-hop group Methodik. Upon returning to Philadelphia, Tamara will teach four workshops hosted by the children’s component of the Kulu Mele African Dance Ensemble. These workshops will be open to the general public.Viji Rao
Viji will produce a dance performance that will explore issues of domestic abuse of Indian women related to dowry practices both in India and among Indian immigrant communities. Viji’s decade of experience as a choreographer and dancer in productions by Indian, American, Canadian and British dance and theatre companies has enabled her to develop this project. To best convey the cultural meaning of the piece, the project will be performed using Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form.For detailed descriptions of each project, please visit
http://www.leeway.org/grantees.php?s1=yearThe Leeway Foundation’s grant making programs honor women and transgender artists for their ability to create social change through their artistic and cultural work. The foundation is committed to art making as an integral part of social change, movement building, and anti-oppression work.
The Art and Change grants are distributed three times per year and are evaluated by an independent peer review panel. The September 2008 review panel consisted of Helen Haynes (Director of Cultural Affairs, Montgomery County Community College), Lai Har Cheung (Holistic Health Counselor), and Deborah Block (Co-Artistic Director, Theatre Exile).
Applications are available on the Leeway website and outreach events are held throughout the year. Foundation staff members are available (by appointment) to provide support to potential applicants via workshops and advisory sessions. Applications can be obtained by calling (215) 545-4078 or emailing mailto:[email protected]
Deadlines for 2009 will be announced in December. Please check http://www.leeway.org for further information.
BACKGROUND
The Leeway Foundation is a private foundation founded in 1993 by painter Linda Lee Alter. Leeway’s mission is to support individual women and trans artists, focusing on the greater Philadelphia region, in order to help them achieve individual and community transformation. We envision a world where art is recognized as an essential part of the human experience; where it is employed and respected as a powerful catalyst for personal and social change; and where women and trans artists are honored as role models, mentors, and leaders. For more information visit leeway.org.
