Nineteen Philadelphia-Area Women Artists Receive Leeway “Window of Opportunity” Grants

A first solo international drawings show, a mentorship to develop a crucial theatre work, a presentation halfway across the country for nationally renowned curators, a San Francisco book tour–these are just a few of the projects that may not have been possible for local women artists to achieve without the financial assistance of a Window of Opportunity grant from The Leeway Foundation.

The Leeway Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of 19 women artists to receive its January 2004 Window of Opportunity Grants (WOO). The grants provide short-term, immediate assistance to women artists living in the 5-county Philadelphia area who wish to take advantage of specific opportunities that will significantly benefit their work or increase its recognition and that would otherwise be financially challenging.

The panel selected recipients based upon factors including the uniqueness and significance of the opportunity to the artist's development or recognition; feasibility including practicality of the budget, timeline and goals; financial need; the artistic impact of the opportunity on the community; and the impact of a WOO grant on the total project budget.

Grants totaling $32,436 were awarded to women living in Philadelphia, Bucks, and Montgomery counties working in a broad range of artistic disciplines.

THE ARTISTS

Justyna Badach (Philadelphia) $2,000
Photography/Mixed Media: Presentation of digital landscape photographs to curators at national Fotofest convention in Houston, TX. Support towards production costs and travel expenses.

Megan Bridge (Philadelphia) $2,000
Dance/Choreography: Collaborative abstract movement piece. Presentation of the New Edge Mix Performance Series and the New Dance Alliance at the Joyce Soho in New York City and Community Education Center in Philadelphia. Support for travel and production expenses.

Heidi Cruz (Philadelphia) $2,000
Choreography: Showcase unique approach to pointe choreography and blend of traditional ballet with contemporary African-American culture at contemporary dance showcase in New York City. Support towards production expenses and transportation.

Elizabeth Doering (Philadelphia) $1,900
Sculpture/Drawing: First museum exhibition of graphite drawings and DVD/video at Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont. Support for transportation and framing.

Patti Dougherty (Montgomery) $1,395
Glass: Solo exhibition of large scale glass bead sculptures at Abington Art Center, Jenkintown. Support for exhibition display materials and documentation expenses.

Dawn R. Falato (Philadelphia) $2,000
Theatre: Mentorship to develop first full-length, solo work based on a rare neurological disorder in which individuals lose the ability to determine the spatial placement of their own bodies. Support for travel expenses.

Elba Hevia y Vaca (Philadelphia) $1,520
Dance/Choreography: Flamenco dance performance at International House for Feria de Abril in collaboration with Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas. Support towards production expenses.

Mei-Ling Hom (Philadelphia) $1,900
Visual Arts: Collaboration with composer of Chinese music for a sound/sculptural installation at the Fleisher Ollman Gallery. Support for production expenses.

Yvonne Latty (Philadelphia) $2,000
Writing: Book tour of San Francisco/San Jose area to promote We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans from World War II to the War in Iraq. Support towards transportation expenses.

Sharyn O'Mara (Philadelphia) $2,000
Drawing: First solo, international exhibition of drawings: "Land Marks" at the Podium Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland. Support for framing and shipping.

Melissa Putz (Philadelphia) $1,000
Dance/Choreography: Teaching residency in collaboration with a musician at Mosaic Movement Arts in Boulder, CO to advance artistic dialogue and build a network to strengthen the passion for the art of dance. Support for transportation expenses.

Heather Raikes (Philadelphia) $1,500
Multimedia: Presentation of electronic "publications" that utilize photographs, videos, animations, sounds and texts from theatrical performances at international forum on cross-disciplinary digital art, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Support towards materials and transportation.

Smita Rao (Bucks) $1,800
Digital Printmaking: Traveling exhibition for high-end Iris giclee prints at Hicks Art Center, Bucks County Community College. Support towards materials and framing.

Emily Selvin (Philadelphia) $2,000
Glass: Exhibition of glass booklamps and illuminated tables in the Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show. Support for documentation and booth and display construction.

Deborah Shoval (Philadelphia) $2,000
Theatre: Staging of collaborative performance piece using puppetry, poetry, video and song about the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip at the Painted Bride and local synagogues. Support towards production expenses.

Nancy M. Sophy (Philadelphia) $1,635
Painting/Works on Paper: Solo alumni exhibition at Creative Artists Network of paintings and works on paper related thematically to childhood, memory and loss. Support for framing, shipping and announcements.

Ann Tegnell (Montgomery) $2,000
Film/Video: Creation of motion graphics for half-hour documentary video about senior-citizen environmental volunteers in Germantown on WYBE's "Philadelphia Stories 4." Support towards post-production expenses.

Ruth Wolf (Montgomery) $1,286
Painting: Solo show of large scale paintings and drawings at Allen's Lane Art Center. Support for framing, shipping and catalogue production.

Nancy W. Wright (Philadelphia) $500
Sculpture/Installation: First solo exhibition at The Clay College of Cumberland County College, Millville, NJ. Sculptural installation of fiber, natural materials, found objects and text depicting women's lives spanning four centuries of American history. Support for transportation and de-installation expenses.

THE SELECTION PANEL

This WOO cycle was juried by an interdisciplinary peer panel consisting of Deborah Block, Toni Brown, and Genevieve Coutroubis.

Since 1987, Deborah Block has directed or been a dramaturg for approximately 50 professional productions. She has worked primarily in Philadelphia with work also presented in New York, Los Angeles and Anchorage. She is an Independence Fellowship in the Arts recipient and been named in Who's Who Among American Teachers. She has been a finalist for the Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a play and named twice as a finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist. In university settings she has taught Theatre History, Movement for the Actor, Directing and teaches Movement at the Walnut Street Theatre. She received her MFA at Temple University in Theatre and is now teaching for the university. She has also formally studied music, dance and visual arts. She is one of the original organizers of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and maintains her position as Program Director.

Toni Brown is a poet and short fiction writer. Her work has been published in journals and anthologies including Sinister Wisdom, Night Bites: Vampire Stories by Women, NightShade: Gothic Tales by Women, American Poetry Review, Fireweed and has been recently accepted for Prairie Schooner. She co-edited the Cave Canem 5th Anniversary Anthology and is a Senior Editor for the Painted Bride Quarterly Journal. In 2001, she received a Leeway Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Poetry. She is a Cave Canem Fellow and lives in Philadelphia.

Genevieve Coutroubis is a documentary photographer who received her BS in Photojournalism from Boston University and her MS in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Through her work as a photographer and during her graduate studies Genevieve has focused on and pursued social change through art. She has worked with various non-profit organizations to help bring art to underserved communities in the City of Philadelphia. In addition to exhibiting her own photographs, Genevieve currently helps promote the career of emerging artists through her work as the Director of Programs for Creative Artists Network.

THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM

The Leeway Foundation's Window of Opportunity grants support specific, concrete and timely opportunities that have a significant impact on an artist's work–such as an exceptional chance for advanced study with a significant mentor; travel associated with a residency, reading, performance or exhibition; or a rental of equipment or purchase of materials needed to complete a scheduled project. Women artists working in all fields, including the performing, literary, and visual arts, as well as mixed media, folk arts and community-based arts projects are encouraged to apply and may request up to $2,000.

To be eligible for a Window of Opportunity grant, artists must be female, 20 years of age or older, current residents of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery or Philadelphia county, and have a commitment from a recognized institution, organization or mentor for a specific date or dates. Applicants may not be full-time or matriculated students in a degree-granting arts program.

Remaining 2004 Program Deadlines:

Monday, April 5
Monday, June 21
Monday, November 1

Applications are available online or by calling 215.545-4078.

THE LEEWAY FOUNDATION

The Leeway Foundation was founded in 1993 to promote the welfare of women and benefit the arts. Leeway's mission is to support individual women artists, arts programs and arts organizations, focusing on the Greater Philadelphia region, in order to help them achieve individual and community transformation. Leeway envisions 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 artists are honored as role models, mentors and leaders.