ARTSmemphis Announces New ARTSassist Individual Artist Grant Recipients, Operating Support Grantee Organizations

Grantor distributes $1.2 million to 47 local arts organizations and $130K to 26 inaugural ARTSassist individual artists across visual arts, dance, music, and film

MEMPHIS—ARTSmemphis, the Mid-South’s primary arts funder, has announced the distribution of both inaugural and cornerstone grant programs to 26 individual artists through ARTSassist and 47 local organizations through Operating Support grants.

“We’re thrilled to continue investing in our arts ecosystem by providing unrestricted funding to both individual artists and arts organizations,” said ARTSmemphis President & CEO Elizabeth Rouse. “This year, as government recovery funding dramatically decreases, our sector’s organizations and individuals rely on financial resources like ARTSmemphis to enable them to do what they do best: create and innovate.”

ARTSassist, the only unrestricted grant program supporting individual artists in Shelby County, was reintroduced this year as an expansion of a pre-pandemic grant program for visual artists (known as ArtsAccelerator).

ARTSassist is awarding funds to 22 local visual and dance artists after a juried process by six out-of-market jurors:

Boston-based Anthony Burrell, associate professor of dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who has choreographed for prestigious companies and brands like Pepsi, DKNY, and Nickelodeon, collaborating with renowned artists including Beyoncé, Prince, and Jennifer Lopez.

Nashville-based Melaneice Gibbs, a sought-after national dance judge who excels in coaching, creating opportunities, and bridging gaps of diversity for dancers.

Karlota I. Contreras-Koterbay, an Appalachian-based Filipinx curator, artist and arts administrator and Director of the ETSU Tipton & Slocumb Galleries.

Louisiana-based mixed media artist and professor Rodrecas Davis, whose work has been featured in the Politics Issue of Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, ColorLines, and over sixty exhibitions.

Memphis-raised and Harlem-based Hastings Hill, Senior Manager of Communications at Dance/NYC and member of New York Foundation for the Arts' Emerging Leaders Program 2024 cohort.

West Texas-based Tina Fuentes, Professor Emerita at Texas Tech University and esteemed juror and panelist for programs across the Southwestern region.

“I've been a part of several grant review panels in the past seventeen years. This is the first experience where I've felt that I could really hear the artist's voice,” said Louisiana-based artist, professor, and ARTSassist juror Rodrecas Davis. “The breadth and depth of artwork presented, from emerging to experienced, was refreshing and encouraging — as were the number of artists who figured ‘the community’ as part of their creative practice.”

Additionally, ARTSassist is providing musician and filmmaker grants through ARTSmemphis grantees Music Export Memphis (MEM) and Indie Memphis, respectively. Three musicians were granted through MEM's Ambassador Access program, and one filmmaker through Indie Memphis' Black Creators Forum.

Read more about ARTSassist guest jurors and grant recipients here: https://www.artsmemphis.org/arts-assist.

ARTSmemphis’ Operating Support grant provides annual unrestricted support to nearly four dozen Shelby County arts organizations. Of the 47 organizations this year, three are first-time Operating Support grant recipients, 36% are led by a person of color, and 54% of their 2M participants are people of color.

“We continue to be incredibly intentional in our approach to equitable funding and commitment to diversity in this process,” said ARTSmemphis COO Tracy Lauritzen Wright. “Our volunteer panelists have contributed a collective 500 hours toward visiting, meeting, and analyzing our local arts landscape to lead us to today’s announcement.”

Funding for ARTSmemphis’ Operating Support grant is made possible by annual contributors to ARTSmemphis. Learn more about ARTSmemphis’ Operating Support grant program and recipients here: https://www.artsmemphis.org/operating-support-grant.

ABOUT ARTSmemphis. ARTSmemphis, a 501(c)3, is the Mid-South’s primary arts funder, working behind the scenes to expand the foundation of Memphis’ arts through diligent and diverse support. The granting organization has distributed over $97 million since 1963 and serves as a funding partner, advocate and connector for local artists and arts organizations. For more information, visit artsmemphis.org.

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