Announcing March’s Window of Opportunity Grantees

Our Window of Opportunity (WOO) Grant launched earlier this year as a six-month pilot program. Open to previous Leeway grantees only, the grant is meant to fund time-sensitive opportunities to support their art for social change practice. We are happy to announce March's grantees:

Melissa B. Skolnick (ACG ’12) has been invited by LEA (Latinos and Education in America) to travel to Austin, Texas to share her multimedia work and conduct a training with local Latinx immigrant youth in the Austin Public Schools in May. Melissa will participate in a panel and screen her film The Engine of My Life, the story of how two immigrant sisters in Philadelphia fight for their rights (co-directed by Milena Velis/Media Mobilizing Project). Melissa will also conduct a training with Austin youth on how to document their stories through photography. These stories will be shared with Latinx immigrant youth in South Philly, as Melissa develops a tool and collaborative process for sharing these stories across cities.

Michelle Angela Ortiz (ACG ’13, ’12, ’05, LTA ’08) has been invited by Taller Puertorriqueño to create a solo exhibition in May, her first solo exhibition in six years. Michelle has the opportunity to collaborate with an animator and video mapping projectionist to create some of the content of the exhibit. Quizás Mañana will examine memory and the act of narrative retelling through the creation of visual artifacts and installations.

Sistah Mafalda (ACG ’13) has the opportunity to travel and teach in a cultural dance exchange project with the Obatala group in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Obatala, a group of Afro-Mexican women who are dancing to reconnect with their African roots, have invited Sistah Mafalda to teach them African drum and dance and share their own dance practices with her in June.

Applications will be accepted May, June, and July on the 15th of each month. Learn more and apply online.