$2M Awarded for Jazz Road Creative Residencies
South Arts—the Regional Arts Organization (RAO) for the Southern US—has announced the 52 recipients of their Jazz Road Creative Residencies program, which provides financial support for mid-career professional jazz artists from across the US.
The 52 artists were selected by a panel of peer musicians and jazz luminaries from a pool of more than 450 applicants. Each artist will receive a grant of up to $40,000 in support of their creative practice and professional growth—equating to a total of $2M in grant support.
The funded projects are expansive, ranging from the creation of new works to community-driven collaborative events, and include a broad representation of both the field and the nation, with recipients coming from every region of the country including nine artists from the West—or holding residencies in the West—as well as some names that may already be familiar to the WAA community - our very own Native Launchpad artists, Delbert Anderson/D'DAT and Julia Keefe.
Delbert Anderson; Jazz Road Creative Residencies recipient and 2019 Native Launchpad Artist
Julia Keefe; Jazz Road Creative Residencies recipient and 2021 Native Launchpad Artist
The program’s artist-centric approach embraces an open-ended definition of ‘residency’, providing artists with the flexibility to shape their projects according to their unique perspective.
“Each artist has different artistic and career needs, especially as we look through and beyond the pandemic,” said Sara Donnelly, South Art’s Director of Jazz; “These grants can help artists fulfill their dreams, be they about large-scale creative visions or the need to connect with new audiences. The recipient artists can either work with partners or on their own, but the artist is in the driver’s seat. Each artist maintains ownership of their work and receives equitable pay for their time and experience while conducting their project.”
The funded projects will take place through June 30, 2022.
Jazz Road Creative Residencies is one component the umbrella Jazz Road program, a four-year national initiative led by South Arts in partnership with the five other US RAOs, including Western Arts Alliance/Western States Arts Federation.
Jazz Road, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to support jazz artists and bolster deeper engagement between jazz musicians, presenters and communities.
South Arts is currently accepting applications another opportunity under the initiative, Jazz Road Tours, a program offering grants of up to $15,000 to support emerging and mid-career artisits in bringing their work to audiences across the country.
You can learn more about the artists and their projects here. Congratulations, to all!
Western Region Recipients
Farmington, NM | Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency location: Multiple locations & regions
Amy Denio, representing the Tiptons Sax Quartet, LLC
Seattle, WA Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency location: Seattle, WA
Brooklyn, NY Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency locations: Conway MA; Seattle, WA; Los Angeles, CA; San Diego, CA; New York, NY
San Gabriel, CA | Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency locations: Los Angeles, New York, Multiple
San Diego, CA | Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency location: Chicago, IL
Brooklyn, NY | Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency location: New York, NY Los Angeles, CA
Spokane, WA Grant amount: $40,000 | Residency location: Olympia, WA
Tacoma, WA Grant amount: $39,925 | Residency location: Joshua Tree, CA
New York, NY | Grant amount: $32,500 | Residency location: New York, NY & Northridge, CA
Emeryville, CA | Grant amount: $39,990 | Residency locations: San Francisco, CA & New York, NY