2020 Recipients

Aileen Renner – Save the Earth Assembly Program
Aileen will produce her award-winning Save the Earth program to teach the students and others at Eden II schools about saving our environment. It will include a skit as well as musical and/or dance performances followed by a question and answer session. Parts of the performance will be adapted in order to include all the students at their functioning level. The program will include information about reduce, reuse and recycle in schools and at home as well as a lesson plan and worksheets all the teachers can use in their classrooms.

Alessandra Stoffo – Draining the Swamp: The Truth about the Staten Island Wetlands
Draining the Swamp: The Truth about the Staten Island Wetlands will be a short film about the proposed development of the Graniteville Wetlands, which are a rich ecosystem that provide protection to both wildlife and humans. They protect against flooding and pollution, services that are enjoyed, but can’t easily be commodified. After a 9 year battle, BJs Wholesale Club has been granted a permit to build on nearly 20 acres of the Graniteville wetlands. This development will cut down 2,000 mature trees and pose a threat to those that live nearby. Affected community members include those along South Avenue and the Goethals community complex, NYC’s only “trailer park.” This film tells the story of rampant development and the priority of corporate interests over the wellbeing of community members.

Anngeannette Pinkston – The Vagrant, a short film
The Vagrant is a dramatic short film about a man who had it all and then lost it all, leaving him homeless. The film hopes to increase awareness of the homeless population growing across the country.

Carrie Ellman-Larsen – Staten Island Dialogue Project
The Staten Island Dialogue Project is a documentary theatre project that utilizes personal narrative and community building to bring Staten Islanders from different political backgrounds together. Through the use of interview and devising techniques, Staten Islanders of voting age (as of election day 2020) will rehearse and perform in a theatrical reading for the wider Staten Island community. The Staten Island Dialogue Project aims to begin a process of healing and understanding in our divided political climate through the sharing and receiving of stories. Using personal experience and narrative as the starting point for generating dialogue and understanding.

Carissa Pignatelli – Escape the Mortars
Escape the Mortars is a nonfiction graphic novel of a Vietnam soldier’s brush with death and fight to survive back home. Inspired by the true story of a veteran who suffered from PTSD after his service. The book is meant to highlight stories of veterans affected by PTSD who are dying earlier due to exposure to Agent Orange and lack of mental health treatment.

Chix Appeal – Chix Appeal EP
Chix Appeal will record their first EP. With more than half their members affiliated with the LGBT community the band hopes to serve as role models for others to others in the community. The album will explore the theme of animal rights.

Comfort Cat & Friends – Full-length Album
This project is a full-length album of recorded music, entitled Consumption, which will speak to being consumed in some way – being eaten by the elements; being consumed and reborn endlessly by the earth, the way water endlessly evaporates and precipitates; being consumed by capitalism; being gluttonous and eating anything you want. The album examines our own mortality, and the songs on this particular album will zero-in on the more literal aspects of being consumed by life. They celebrate, lament, and simply experience this cycle.

Douglas La Tourette – CONCEPT2020
CONCEPT2020 will include art exhibitions, performances, and workshops in basic art concepts and opportunities for learning at a variety local venues. The project is conceptual by nature which is an art form in which the ideas take precedence over all traditional ideas of what makes up art. The physical art that will produced for this project will be made up of non-traditional components (i.e. street signs, toys, kitsch objects, bric-a-brac, etc.).

Felecia Kutch – Evolution of a Woman
The Evolution of a Woman is a Butoh dance performance exploring the artist’s experience of self-expression pertaining to life and the navigation though pregnancy, being a parent of five, housewife, teacher, and most importantly a person. The performance will highlight various stages of motherhood through music and movement and investigates the balance of identity women face when they become mothers – finding one’s self again, creating passion, and purpose in life.

Friends of Mariners Harbor – Juneteenth Celebration
Friends of Mariners Harbor will produce a Juneteenth Celebration Festival in Mariners Harbor Park. The purpose of this event is to tie together cultural learning about the history of Juneteenth with music, art, and food while bringing the local community together for a summertime celebration. Juneteenth is an annual observance on June 19 to remember when Union soldiers enforced the Emancipation Proclamation and freed all remaining slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865. This day is an opportunity for people to celebrate freedom and equal rights in the United States as well as recognizing and celebrating the positive parts of a complex and contested historical moment in US history.

Galamad Artist Collective – Calamari
Calamari is a children’s picture book about a puppy named Calamari (though his family pronounces it ‘galamad’) who learns to be proud of his Italian heritage while his classmates learn to be accepting of others’ customs and traditions. This book is to teach young children
(ages 4-6) about being accepting of others and their cultural differences.

Jessica Licciardello – 8 Minutes to Freedom
8 Minutes to Freedom is a visual art exhibition featuring work that will explore the artist’s personal experience of surviving domestic abuse. The work hopes to highlight the positive journey that lay after the struggle, the healing process, and ability to triumph by finding inner strength, and gratitude for support. The exhibition will coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness month.

Jill Jichetti – Exhibition catalog for 15 years as jillwrites: arts & poetics retrospective (2000-2015)
Jichetti will publish an exhibition catalog to supplement her solo show at the Newhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The show is 15 years as jillwrites: arts & poetics retrospective (2005-2015). This exhibition will include work from both the poetics and visual arts aspects of Jichetti’s practice – and works that blend the two. The exhibition catalog will not only traditionally catalog the exhibit works, it will also include selections from her writing, and curatorial essays.

Jodi Dareal – Uphoria, Issue #2 “The Secret Text”
Influenced by stories like Wonder Woman and The Handmaid’s Tale, Uphoria is a graphic novel that explores ideas of feminism, gender roles, and power. Uphoria takes place in a fantasy world called Malvolia where the crown of the kingdom is up for grabs. The story follows the chase for the crown while examining how absolute power corrupts absolutely – too much power and too much control in the wrong hands always leads to more destruction.

Jolie Tong – Park Hill Theater Project
The Park Hill Theater Project (PHTP) is a community-specific interview-based theater work seeking to expand the narrative of Park Hill. Through the use of Ping Chong + Company’s Undesirable Elements framework of storytelling, PHTP will work with Park Hill community members to create a show that examines their experiences and issues they may be facing. Participating community members will engage the power of creation and performance in an effort to transform the perception of their neighborhood.

Joseph Ojo – He’s the Man
He’s the Man, a short dramatic film, follows the story of Gabriel, a young African American man who has a great life but is haunted by a past trauma. We watch him try to navigate his feelings and struggle with expressing his emotions. The filmmakers hope to spread awareness of toxic masculinity and how it affects the mental health of young black men.

Julie Maniscalco – Terroir: Music for Jazz Orchestra
Terroir: Music Composed for Jazz Orchestra, is the debut project of music educator and composer, Julie Maniscalco. This project features compositions that incorporate her myriad influences growing up in her native Staten Island and New York City surroundings. From the up tempo, post-bop piece, We, the Mighty—inspired by her students—to the orchestrated cross-terrain adventure of Open Air (Tomorrow’s Journey), Maniscalco aims to bring a fresh approach to the jazz idiom as she gleans connections from home.

Maribel Torres Peralta – Carnaval de la Mixteca Poblana SI
Carnaval Mixteco de la Poblana Staten Island will feature dance groups from different boroughs and states to participate in an annual celebration. The purpose of the event is to maintain cultural traditions and dances from Puebla, Mexico and to teach the younger generations about the importance of fostering those traditions. This family friendly event is free to the public.

Muslim Sisters of Staten Island – Geek Out at Snug Harbor
Geek Out at Snug Harbor is a convention that celebrates, encourages and promotes geek culture on Staten Island. The goal of the event is to create a unique outlook and dialogue on geek culture from diverse perspectives – especially for those with special needs, people of color, and youth. Participants will be able to explores various artistic mediums through workshops and outdoor activities – acrylic superhero painting workshop, creating your own cosplay props, how to draw a comic book workshop, zine making workshops, mask-making workshops, k-pop dance classes, musical performances, and many other activities.

Rachel Lyngholm – Queer Van Kult
Queer Van Kult is a liturgy of performance, installation, and music with a focus on queer artistry and medium. Imagined as a surreal funhouse of queer taste, Queer Van Kult was created as a response to a tapering of dedicated platforms for avant-garde performance and art on Staten Island, specifically ones that galvanize the queer community. The events presented and produced by the collective intend to encourage and celebrate a safe atmosphere of community, unbounded creativity, individual expression, inclusivity, and playfulness—all while providing a home for the cultivation of experimental works by local and emerging artists beyond. Funding will be used to produce two evenings of queer, avant-garde programming and installations.

Reda Ismail – Solo Exhibition
I Am Everybody is an interactive humanitarian art project aimed at building a bridge between all people with different affiliations, races, colors and religions, comes within the framework of an art exhibition held in Snug Harbor. It includes a range of parallel activities such as workshops, interactive photography and performances from different age groups with the aim of integrating different ages, ethnicity and backgrounds through art and teaching them some skills such as ancient techniques, recycle papers, and applying stop motion in a simplified way and how to make a handmade book. The project also aims to build bridges of understanding and communication between people through art, and a book featuring the artist’s works and art projects will be printed in the service of the community and displayed for sale in the exhibition, and the works produced by the workshops will be sold to the public and visitors of the exhibition.

Ronit Granot – Album Recording
Ronit Granot will record her folk/roots album Invisible Strings, influenced by her Middle Eastern heritage. The album reflects the transformation the artist has gone through over the past ten years. The theme of the album revolves around personal identity, the significance of deep relationships in our lives and the role we play as adults being guides and facilitators for children in the 21st century.

Rocio Uchofen – Staten Island: Mi Historia (Staten Island: My History)
Staten Island: Mi Historia is a set of literature activities (one short story workshop, a call for short stories and a bilingual anthology publication) to give a written voice to the Latino/Hispanic community. Written word serves as a testimony, a way for other communities to learn about their Latino/Hispanic neighbors’ points of views and experiences. The aim of the project is to unite communities through literature.

Staten Island African Heritage Festival – Africa on the Hill: Park Hill’s African Cultural Heritage Festival
Africa on the Hill is the 2nd annual street festival celebrating the unity and diversity of Staten Island’s African community taking place along Park Hill Avenue. Park Hill is the center of the African community on Staten Island, Africa on the Hill provides a platform for West African communities to share their unique culture and heritage, while allowing for the larger African community to celebrate as well through representations of African folk dances, drumming, fashion, storytelling, step dancing, singing, and masquerades.

Strega Nona – Change Will Come
Strega Nona is Nicholas Guttilla, Jordan Isaza, Anthony Guarneri and Julia Simoniello. Their debut album Change Will Come will include songs that confront misogyny, racism, fascism, homophobia, transphobia, and ignorance. The music will explore the relationship between anger and altruism, catharsis and frustration through explosive yet sensitive metal music. The lyrics will address the dichotomy between those with privilege and those without. They hope to awakening a rallying cry against the forces of oppression. The project will culminate with a small festival that will include local intersectional music and performance acts.

Tippy Young – Endangered Animal Sculptures
Endangered Animal Sculptures is a series of ceramic sculptures of endangered animals native to Staten Island and a zine of drawings and writings. The project is an effort to bring attention to the loss of biodiversity on Staten Island and provide information on the animals who may not exist in the near future. This project will explore themes of memory, emotion, history, and loss.

YF – Season 0
Hip hop artist YF will produce Season 0, an album that speaks on his hardships and obstacles of growing up in Stapleton as a youth and how he overcame them. The project will feature nationally recognized talent alongside local performers and is meant to show young people that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.

Alyssa Rapp – Women of Staten Island 
Women of Staten Island will include photographs of women from a diverse cross section of local communities and place them side by side in an exhibition at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. The exhibition will include a book with images of the women and text from interviews of the subjects. A digital gallery will include short video interviews of the subjects as they share their ideas about power and community building. The project hopes to level the plane of visibility of women in our community.

Ann McDonnell – A Contemporary Artist Responds to the Museum’s Collection
Inspired by their own interest in objects of art or artifacts in the many museums that they visit, McDonnell will create original works of art that are inspired by specific objects and artifacts in Historic Richmond Town’s collection. The original works will be displayed alongside the objects or artifacts that inspired them. The project will provide educational opportunities for viewers as they compare both the collection pieces and the original art works.

Cathy-Ann Borges – A Return to the Paracosm
A Return to the Paracosm, will be the next iteration of the original musical Paracosm. While the first whimsical iteration of Paracosm featured a surrealistic monochromatic set, fanciful childlike characters and a diary of songs transformed into musical theater – this new iteration of the Paracosm is the even more sinister, grown up and terrifying version of the original psychological mind bending fairy tale. The show aims to shed light on the mental health crisis of those in the throes of grief, abuse, violence and addiction while attempting to destigmatize speaking about and expressing all the emotional turmoil associated with mental health. Through the experience of musical theatre the project hopes to normalize the concept of speaking openly about mental health, grief, abuse and addiction is a healthy way to cope with these natural parts of our human experience.

Christine Dixon – Harriet Tubman Herself Revamped
Dixon will continue to perform and tour a 2.5 hour one-woman show based on the life and times of Harriet Tubman. 2020 marks the 200th year of Harriet Tubman’s birthday. Through this show the next generation will be reminded of how important the life of Harriet Tubman was. The play is based on a series of interviews Tubman gave in 1868, to a New York Sunday school teacher and writer, Sarah Bradford. The show contains original and reinterpreted music from period spirituals.

DB Lampman – In Visibility Exhibition
In Visible is an exhibition at the Newhouse Center in spring 2020. It is an exhibition of drawings and mixed media installation that explore the idea of identity and relationships between what we see and what we don’t see. It is about the visible and hidden ways in which we connect with one another and how our world is affected by the ways in which we do, or do not communicate. The exhibition will consist of two galleries filled with drawings as well as a large scale installation and an interactive drawing, both made specifically for this exhibition. Two public events are planned and will include an embroidery class and a sewing on paper/poetry collage class.

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David Loncle – The Inspired – Pat Passlof and the Courage of Art
Pat Passlof is a central, but under-recognized, female member of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Funding will support the production of a book primarily containing a compilation of her writing. It is intended to highlight Passlof’s contributions to 20th century art and make her extraordinary philosophy and teaching accessible to a future audience of creatives, artist, historians, educators and students. The majority of the writing for this book is of Passlof’s letters to students during her nearly 40-year career as a Professor at the College of Staten Island. The book also includes writing and interviews about her involvement with Abstract Expressionism, Black Mountain College, the Feminist Movement in the arts, as well as her outlook on art pedagogy and the history of Art. Additionally, it will include interviews Loncle personally conducted with art world professionals with whom Passlof had connections over her 60-year career including.

Diane Matyas – MERFOLK- Drawings, Monoprints, & Public Monoprint Marathon
Matyas will develop drawings and print monotypes made at the Noble Maritime Collection’s printmaking studio at Snug Harbor. The project goal is to develop imagery, create a body of work, & research/share non-toxic print techniques to the public. MERFOLK imagery will be tied to the mythology of the sea & contemporary fishing method’s damaging harvest of the sea. Matyas’ career work features science, stories, flora & fauna to illustrate the messages and ironies of the natural world. This project will include a pop-up presentation of the series, and a printmaking “marathon” day of workshops. Staten Island Urban Center’s Young Women’s Leadership Group will be invited to meet the artist, see her work, ask questions about her career and the path an artist follows to create a body of work. All students will make art of their own using mythic mermaid/sea imagery. The public audience sessions will be geared for both beginner adults and experienced artists in the process of making painterly monoprints using environmentally ethical water-based Akua inks, rag paper, and various processes & techniques.

Emmanuel Ojo – Smiles Film Festival
Smiles is a film festival that aims to create an uplifting euphoric atmosphere through film and food. The festival seeks to brush away the traditional fine art exhibit, and take a lighter approach to the world of film. The festival will combine film, food, and music under one social roof.

Hemlock Theatre Company – Hemlock Theatre Company 2020 Season
Hemlock Theatre Company will present two productions: Roald Dahl’s James & the Giant Peach, and Nevermore: the Imaginary Life & Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Their mission and purpose is to contribute to Staten Island’s thriving theatre community by choosing material which explores all facets of the human condition – particularly shared experiences such as loss, grief, addiction and mental illness. They strive continuously to provide a space for creatives of all races, creeds, ages and abilities to explore their craft and present productions of artistic value to our greater community by offering open auditions and professional development opportunities throughout the rehearsal process.

HONK NYC – HONK NYC 2020 Year-Round
HONK NYC will produce a HONK NYC Kids Camp, a full Staten Island day of programming, and a Winter Solstice Celebration in conjunction with Make Music NY. The HONK Kids Camp provides Staten Island children with an in-depth introduction to music. In the course of the camp, participants are transformed into a marching band. Children find out how instruments create sound and make their own instruments out of recycled materials. They also make costumes, masks, a band banner, and posters to advertise their performance. All this culminates in a performance parade for parents and friends. HONK NYC Staten Island Day will be a full day of interactive performances at various locations/schools and the Winter Solstice Celebration will include a procession through the streets ending with a free concert.

James Johnson – Ambrosian Recital Series 2020
The Ambrosian Recital Series will present a music recitals, featuring established and emerging classical and operatic artists. This series aims to provide a venue in which established artists will perform alongside young or emerging artists as well as to encourage the exploration of unfamiliar classical music.

Janet G. Robinson – Kwanzaa Summer Festival 2020
Kwanzaa Summer Festival is a day-long event that features local musicians, games, food, a fashion show, and more. The goal of the festival is to celebrate and preserve the 7 principles of Kwanzaa throughout the year which are: Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); and Imani (Faith).

Janice Patrignani-Muñoz – Textile Transformation
Textile Transformations an eight part workshop series exploring fiber arts techniques that will result in community made murals. Participants will experiment with Shibori, (the ancient Japanese fiber art of bound resist dyeing through stitching, binding, folding, clamping, & wrapping that results in one of a kind permanent patterns & textures on cloth. In conjunction with Eco Dying/Printing – a form of natural dyeing where the colors from plant material are transferred to paper or fabric via steam. The finished murals, a synthesis of color, pattern, & texture on cotton & silk, will be placed in a public exhibition.

Julia Simoniello – Nothing New Thrift Shop First Friday Open Mic
Nothing New Thrift Shop has been hosting a monthly community open mic since that brings local creative people together to share their art in a supportive and diverse environment. It has become a safe-haven of expression for many people within the LGBTQ+ community on the south shore and has grown and evolved into a localized artistic alliance. With the expansion of the open mic, funding will be used to support the production of the event with its rapidly growing popularity.

Kelly Gilmore – Folk and Social Dances of the Americas
This dance project for seniors will expose and engage its participants in folk and social dances which have their origins in the counties of North, Central and South America. The history and structure of folk and social dances from Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Puerto Rico as well as dances originating in the United States will be taught. The dance classes will include dance demonstrations and instruction of the dances with discussion of the social aspect and history of the individual dances. This program is designed for seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Kelly Gilmore – Folk Dances of Latin and North America
Folk Dances of Latin and North America is a dance project that will take place at EDEN II Schools. Through the art of dance participating students will learn about self-expression and communication skills. Dance classes will be used to prepare these students for a spring Dance and Music Revue and a fall Dance Recital featuring folk, social and other dance routines. One of the goals of Eden II Programs is to help people with autism achieve their full potential through educational programs designed to develop and enhance communication and social skills. This project will help students to reach this goal by improving their ability to communicate and express themselves.

Kimbra Eberly – Inadmissible – The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Murderous Women 
Eberly will publish her book Inadmissible – The Case of Lizzie Borden and Other Murderous Women that not only tells the tale of Lizzie Borden but touches upon the tales of other murderous women including the story of Polly Bodine, who in 1847, was acquitted for the murder of her sister-in-law and niece on Staten Island. The book aims to highlight the affect Victorian patriarchal society had on women living during that era and the similarities to present day patriarchy.

Kimbra Eberly – The Grand Guignol II
The Grand Guignol II, is a weekend festival that will pay homage to “The Grand Guignol”, which was a theatre in Paris that opened in 1897, that specialized in live, naturalistic horror shows. The event will include performances of original short plays of the horror genre, interactive costumed characters, and special FX horror makeup artists.

Kyoko Heshiimu – Invisible Man
Invisible Man is a visual art exhibition about individuals who are homeless and living in Staten Island. The project aims to change the negative narrative around what it means to be homeless and humanize the folks that experience living on the street. The work will be created using collage and sculpture.

Magie Serpica – Roaring Richmond Town
Roaring Richmond Town is an interactive, walk through immersive theater and visual art experience set to take place at Historic Richmond Town. Working in collaboration with Historic Richmond Town, artists Magie Serpica & Christine Cruz will curate a wide range of performance artists – circus and sideshow arts, theater, dancers, and musicians. Performers will be cast as a combination of characters from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”, actors representing historic characters both from the literary world and various people who lived on Staten Island throughout the late 1800’s up until the 1920’s. Musicians will provide sounds of the Jazz age.

Maggie Buford – Staten Island Zine Fest 2020
Staten Island Zine Fest (SIZL) 2020 is in collaboration between Maggie Buford, Staten Island MakerSpace, and NYSAI Press. This project will continue the mission of SIZL and expand efforts to give Staten Island artists a place to showcase their literary and multimedia works. Zine-making and the published anthology zine will give artists an opportunity to express themselves and increase their audience across the borough.

Miguel Alzamora – Conciendo el Norte de Peru
The Alzamoras will lead a community workshop at the Staten Island Children’s Museum teaching participant a traditional dance from Peru. The purpose of the workshop is to engage families and to teach people of all ages about the culture and traditions of Peru. The workshop will be held in July to coincide with Peruvian Independence Day.

Milenka Berengolc – Jazz Hand
Artist and curator Milenka Berengolc, who has a neurological condition that causes a tremor in her left arm/hand, plans to explore this trembling through a performance called Jazz Hand using sound, movement, projected imagery, narrative, and humor. The performance plans to address and overturn old stereotypes and stigma of people shaking with Parkinson’s, and other neurological conditions. It will offer new ways of seeing disability through the lens of contemporary art as the artist brings forth a work of art that is because of their disability and not in spite of it.

Nancy Quin – Seeking Balance
Seeking Balance will be a kinetic, mobile style sculpture that explores the balance between hand crafted artwork and machine aided design and fabrication. The sculpture will physically balance hand plasma cut metalwork against computer aided designs fabricated on a CNC laser cutter while addressing art in the technological age. The sculpture will be on display at Maker Park in Stapleton.

Ñani Migrante – Carnaval Mixteco
The Carnaval Mixteco is a celebration of ancient dances, traditions, and cuisine of the Mixtec from the region of La Mixteca Poblana. The goal of the event is to gather community together to celebrate indigenous communities through dance, live music, and art while educating new generations of ancestral traditions. The festival will provide the opportunity to bring family members directly from Mexico to represent their culture on Staten Island.

Nataki Hewling – HERShot!
HERShot is a program designed to help girls ages 10-17 to find their voice through visual storytelling as well as creative writing. Professional artists work with participants teaching their craft through four two hour workshops and on field experience. Participants will explore their communities and the diverse cultures, ideas, religions, etc. that exist there. An aim of the project is to create open minded individuals who can appreciate differences. The program is designed to be student-led where participants collaborate, discuss, and come up with their own ideas of what they’d like to photograph and write about under the guidance of established artists.

NYSAI Press – NYSAI Press
NYSAI Press publishes Staten Island-based literary journals. Grant funding will be used to increase the quality of their biannual in-house publications. They will host two magazine release parties that will feature published writers and artists. Funding will also allow them to compile and publish a book on Deep Tanks, the cardinal DIY experimental arts space in Tompkinsville that cultivated a generation of Staten Island artists from 2011 until its abrupt closing in 2016. Recently, the venue has reopened in its second incarnation in Kingston, NY. NYSAI will pay tribute to the original with a book on its founding, the events it held, and the artists and organizations it nurtured, complete with archival photographs.

Rachel Caccese – The Spectrum of Truth; Feature Documentary Film
Funding will go towards the completion of, The Spectrum of Truth; a feature documentary film highlighting families raising children the autism. The film will include archival footage about autism, and how the public discourse has evolved or not over the years. This will be combined with current professionals and family on-camera interviews. The film will also feature excerpts from a live staged theatrical production of The Spectrum of Truth that was performed last year. The live play included verbatim interviews with mothers raising children with autism. The use of excerpts from the play will show the parallel of performance art and documentary style interview. The project will show both sides of autism; the personal stories of families and the professional side. Interviews with specialists will uncover misconceptions and challenges both groups continue to face. The goal of the film is to bring stories of families raising children with autism into a more public discourse and to provide a platform to share their personal experiences.

Robert Geronimo – General Gorn Statue
Geronimo will provide a sculpture demonstration on how to mold and cast a figure. The intended audience is aspiring creators who are interested in replicating their 3D creations in durable resin. The presentation will guide participants through the creation process as well a discussion around how to add different finishes to the figure, such as iron and bronze.

Sarah Yuster – Close to Home
Close To Home will present eight new oil paintings. Additionally, they’ll be accompanied by several thematically compatible recent works. The Art Lab’s guest artist gallery will host the show. Close To Home will be an accent mark and extension of Yuster’s lifetime body of contemporary urban/suburban paintings. Exploration of the concept of home, the commonplace is a central theme of her work. Focusing primarily on Staten Island, she’s recorded her personal arcs and environs. With its rich history, diverse architectural styles and considerable geographic variation, New York’s greenest, quietest borough presents unending vistas through a prism of perspectives.

Shawn McArthur – District Con 2020
District Con 2020 will be the second annual comic book convention organized by Divided District Studios. The convention will feature hands-on demonstrations, art making workshops, local artists, and creators from both independent and mainstream publishers. Hands-on demonstrations and art making workshops will be provided. This event aims to provide access to art making and a space for networking and community building.

Sitewave Cinema – Wavestock Festival
Wavestock Festival is a film festival that celebrates all facets of art, showcasing the works of local artists. The event is free to the public. The festival aims to give artists a platform to display their work and to create a space where they can network with each other to collaborate on future projects. Disciplines featured at the festival are: filmmaking, live music, dance, painting, photography, standup comedy, clothing and jewelry design.

Staten Island Dance Project – Staten Island Dance Project 2020 Season
The Staten Island Dance Project, formerly Creation Dance Collective, will continue to strengthen the local dance community through classes, performance, documentation, and professional development. The intergenerational group sees dance as a powerful tool for individual and community healing, wellness, and expression. The project aims to create a space where dance education is accessible to all movers.

Stephen Barnett – The Choice
Based on a true story, The Choice is a short film project about the power of change through an act of unconditional love. Trapped between the religious stance to “love the sinner, but hate the sin,” a desperate grandmother turns to her priest for guidance regarding her queer grandchild. She is subsequently shamed into choosing between faith and family, which results in a choice between life and death.

Summer Anthony Minerva – State Dinto (Summer Within)
State Dinto (Summer Within) is a documentary film following the story of Summer Minerva, a queer and trans Italian American Staten Islander on her quest for belonging, from her Catholic, blue collar family, to Italy, where her grandmother immigrated from, and back again to Staten Island with new awareness, knowledge, and a sense of wholeness. In her journey, she discovers that even though she grew up on the west shore of Staten Island, a place where LGBTQ people seemed invisible, there actually is evidence of a 3rd gender group from Southern Italy, where her Nonna immigrated from. This knowledge propels her into a newfound sense of leadership and belonging in her Italian American community on Staten Island. The film involves interviews with various important people in Summer’s life: family members, lovers, friends, as well as her dying Nonna, who has dementia.

Susan Grabel – Don’t Shut Up 2020
Don’t Shut Up 2020 is a multimedia exhibition to be on display at the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, curated by Stefany Benson and Susan Grabel. Through interruptions, censure, violence and threatening behavior–both in person and online–women are silenced every day. This exhibition provides a platform to ensure that women’s voices are heard and valued. Don’t Shut Up 2020 presents the work of 46 woman-identifying artists, from across the US and Canada, who challenge and disrupt the status quo through their ongoing artistic practice. The exhibition aligns with the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment which guarantees women’s constitutional right to vote.

Virginia Sherry – Still Standing: Historic Stone and Brick Walls on Staten Island
Using photos and text, this project will document and describe historic walls that merit consideration as cultural resources because these structures provide visible, tangible links to Staten Island’s past. Surviving historic stone and brick walls stand as largely unheralded features of our borough’s urban fabric, and the names of the skilled builders remain unknown. Some stone walls marked the boundaries of the homes of wealthy entrepreneurs. Other walls, modest in size and laid without mortar, surround historic cemeteries, or defined borders of farmsteads from the agricultural-economy era. To increase public understanding and appreciation of wall construction, the project will explain the types of historic walls on the island and describe the styles of brick walls, including coursing and mortar joint profiles. This project is significant because, until now, there has been no photographic and other documentation of historic walls on Staten Island — or in other boroughs of NYC. The project includes a public presentation and a website launch.

Westerleigh Folk Festival – 13th Westerleigh Folk Festival (WEST FEST)
WEST FEST is an outdoor roots music festival that features live music, dance, fine arts, crafts, and children and adult art making workshops. The festival is free, family friendly, multicultural, multigenerational, and educational.

Willie Chu – Mandolin Brothers
Chu will complete his documentary about “the iconic Mandolin Brothers”, established in 1971 by Stan Jay and Harold Kuffner, which grew to become one of the world’s most famous guitar and mandolin shops, specializing in buying, selling, and repairing acoustic instruments. After Jay bought out the business in the early ‘80’s he, along with his family, continued to grow this internationally known business. Over the years Mandolin Brothers had been the place where world-class musicians bought their instruments or had them repaired, perhaps most famously Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Joni Mitchell, who immortalized the shop in song. Sadly, the man whom the NY Times called, “The Seller of Strings to the Stars” became ill and passed away in 2014. Not long after his death, Mandolin Brothers closed its doors. The film will pay homage to the legendary Stan Jay and Mandolin Brothers and solidify Staten Island’s place in the history of music.

Willie Chu – Staten Island Artist Portraits
Chu will continue his work of photographing Staten Island artists. Funding will allow Chu to digitize the project to connect to a larger audience on the internet as well as allow for him to experiment with ways to elevate the artist subjects and their work in a new set of portraits.

Women’s Playwright Collective – 3rd Annual Not Forgotten Play Festival
The Not Forgotten Play Festival – a theater festival of one-act plays – written, directed, and produced by the members of the Women’s Playwright Collective (WPC). The WPC mission is threefold: to feature new work by local women playwrights; to present women-identifying characters as protagonists and not props; and to showcase women-driven productions.

Historic Port Richmond Preservation Association – Staten Island’s Enduring Folk Art & Folk Lore
A weekend-long interactive multimedia event at the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. The event hopes to show & tell how the congregants of the Dutch Reformed church, located in to Port Richmond, left a largely unacknowledged legacy – from the sublime (the American Dream Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, derived from Dutch beliefs embodied in the Declaration of Independence) to the commonplace (traffic passing on the left, Santa Claus, and potato chips). The event will include cemetery tours to highlight tombstone carvings and storytelling about the Church’s history extending back to 1656.

Nigerian-American Community Association – 4th Annual African Arts & Cultural Festival (Africafest)
Africafest is a two-day event celebrating arts and culture from across the African Diaspora. The festival features authentic African cuisine, music, folklore, fashion, poetry, crafts and more. The festival is hopes to bring a greater awareness, understanding and appreciation for African people, and their artistic and cultural traditions. The festival venue will be transformed into African villages across the Diaspora with vibrant drumming, storytelling, dancing, interactive demonstrations, historical artifacts, colorful and rich textiles, and informative health & wellness workshops.

Maker Park Radio – Maker Park Radio
Funding will support Maker Park Radio’s 3 Year Anniversary Celebration: A Two Night Multi-Cultural Music & Arts Festival. This event will be multidisciplinary and take place over two evenings in Maker Park in Stapleton across from the station. Programming will focus on music cultures and ethnic cultures in the surrounding neighborhood with as many represented as possible. The event will feature music, dance, poetry, comedy, and video art. The event will also feature a night market hosting local artists as well as multi-cultural food options. The goal is to bring communities that range widely in age, cultural identity, ethnicity, and social identity together to celebrate one another through the commonality of music and artistic expression.

Seaview Playwright’s Theatre – Two Plays: Venus in Fur and Blackbird
Seaview Playwright’s Theatre will produce Venus in Fur by David Ives and Blackbird by David Harrower – both plays investigate intimate relationships between men and women. These two contemporary plays are similar in that they are both have two characters (male/female), take place in one room, in real time, over the span of a few hours. This structure adds to the intimacy of the relationships and at times holds a magnifying glass up to somewhat uncomfortable situations. The male-female power dynamic in both of these plays is paramount to the stories that are being told.

South Shore Artist Foundation – Protect and Preserve Our Sea Life
The South Shore Artists Foundation, in partnership with NYC Parks, will sponsor 4 free workshops given on Saturdays in the months of April and May at the Visitors’ Center in Conference House Park, Tottenville. The series of workshops will be geared to elementary school students and will center around making children aware of the nature around us, the effects of pollution on our wildlife, the effects of pollution on our waters and sea life and how we can help change and preserve our environment. Each session will include hands on arts and crafts projects using natural materials, markers, crayons and paints. The culminating activity will be a creation of a portable art installation entitled, Dreaming of the Perfect Sea, that will be on display at the SSAG Annual Fence Show in June.

Staten Island OutLOUD – Staten Island OutLOUD 2020
Staten Island OutLOUD will host a continuing series of grass-roots readings of world classics, historic texts and other compelling works. Most events are intimate participatory readings; some are larger stage performances with music and dance. They meet in historic sites, nature preserves, delis, bookshops, museums, galleries, public housing projects, on the beach, on trains and on the Ferry, in libraries, parks & playgrounds, cafes, community centers, and in churches, temples, mosques and synagogues. This year’s season will showcase the work of two Staten Island poets from two different generations – Marguerite Rivas & Tom Fucaloro – as well as the work of poets who inspire them. All events are free & open to the public.

Staten Island Philharmonic – Concierto del Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead Concert)
Concierto del Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead concert) will celebrate the Mexican cultural tradition of Dia de los Muertos through music. The performance will feature the SI Philharmonic Youth Orchestra playing alongside SI Philharmonic professional company members. The program will include “Sobre las Olas” (Over the Waves), by short-lived Mexican composer Juventino Rosas, a tribute to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, “En torno Frida y Diego,” by contemporary Mexican composer Arturo Marques, a medley of music from the movie “Coco,” about Dia de los Muertos, and one of the best musical stories ever told, “Symphonie Fantastique,” by Hector Berlioz.

Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre – 2020 Community Classics: SIST Repertory: Love’s Labours Lost and Medea
The company will produce Shakespeare’s classic Love’s Labour’s Lost and Medea by Euripides under its 48-foot round Repertory tent in Fort Wadsworth. Last year, SIST created the Island’s first true repertory company with one cast performing two shows by two directors. Love’s Labour’s Lost, one of William Shakespeare’s early comedies, draws on themes of love and desire, reckoning and rationalization, and reality versus fantasy. Medea written by Euripides, centers on the actions of Medea, wife of Jason, who finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering Jason’s new wife as well as her own children (two sons). The play experienced renewed interest in the feminist movement of the late 20th century, being interpreted as a nuanced and sympathetic portrayal of Medea’s struggle to take charge of her own life in a male-dominated world.

Staten Island Urban Center – The Landfill Fashionista
The Landfill Fashionista will be a multidisciplinary workshop series for youth (predominantly, young women) that will explore a variety of social justice issues that borough residents, specifically young people, face such as climate change, racism, immigration, gentrification, and sexism. The workshops will culminate with an exhibition at the Alice Austen House Museum. The opening reception will feature live performances of songs, poems, photographs, drawings, and fashion designs created during the workshop process. The goal of the exhibit is to bring attention to the various social issues faced by the community in the hopes to inspire a call to action.

Richmond Choral Society – RCS Spring 2020 Concert
Funding will support RCS Spring 2020 concert, “Long Live Beethoven!” a presentation of vocal and choral music celebrating composer Ludwig von Beethoven on the 250th anniversary of his birth. The performance will take place at St. Peter’s Church in St. George. This program will feature Beethoven’s beautiful and challenging Mass in C Major, Op. 86, a significant multi-movement work for chorus, vocal soloists, and full orchestra, which will be a collaboration, with Staten Island Philharmonic. In addition, RCS will perform the Beethoven-Lied, Op. 10 of Romantic period composer Peter Cornelius, a work originally written to commemorate Beethoven’s 100th birthday in 1870. For that piece, the RCS music director will create a new orchestration and new English singing translation, which will have their world premiere.

The Mighty String Demons – Two Concerts: Music of the Presidents and 1,000 Paper Cranes
The Mighty String Demons, a youth violin ensemble, will present two concerts: Music of the Presidents and 1000 Paper Cranes at the Stapleton library. Music of the Presidents will feature musical selections by mostly American composers such as Scott Joplin, Stephen Foster, Aaron Copland, and Jay Ungar including the Ashokan Farewell, spirituals, The Magnetic Rag, a Shaker tune (Simple Gifts), fiddle tunes, pop and classical pieces. 1,000 Paper Cranes will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the building of the Children’s Peace Statue in Hiroshima. The goal of this event is to spread hope for peace and unity throughout the world. Both concerts will have educational aspects to compliment the music performed.

United States Sierra Leonean Association – Immigrant Cultural Connection 2 
The United States Sierra Leonean Association (USSLA) will produce an event focused on celebrating Sierra Leonean art & culture in Park Hill. The event will feature food, clothing/masks, performing arts, and storytelling – these elements will be used to teach the community about different folk traditions in Sierra Leonean culture.

Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble – August Afternoons at High Rock
Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble will present a 5-week performance series during the Summer of 2020. The series will feature jazz and American standards, a performance with members of the Viva Voce Chorus and SI Acoustic Music Society, the premier of the new Viva Voce Doublers (four woodwind players performing on 17 different instruments), music from the Baroque to the neo-Baroque, a selection of songs based on wildlife, and the work of two Staten Island composers, Howard Fox and Michael Sirotta.

Ahmed Kargbo – Africa on the Hill: Park Hill’s African Cultural Heritage Festival
Africa on the Hill is the 2nd annual street festival celebrating the unity and diversity of Staten Island’s African community taking place along Park Hill Avenue. Park Hill is the center of the African community on Staten Island, and Africa on the Hill will provide a platform for each West African community to represent what makes their culture and heritage unique, while allowing for the larger African community to celebrate what brings us together as a whole. This will be accomplished through representations of African folk dances, drumming, fashion, storytelling, step dancing, singing, and masquerades. Educational information will be offered to complement these activities so that cross-cultural understanding can be fostered and those both within and outside the community can reach a deeper understanding of the traditions being represented.

Debbie Ann Paige – Staten Island AfrAm Heritage Tour
The Staten Island AfrAm Heritage Tour is a one-of-a-kind application accessed via mobile or web-based engagement built on an existing tour guide platform by adding content specific information about targeted Staten Island locations with rich historical narratives, photos and possible videos. The goal of the application is to highlight the freedom struggles of Staten Island’s African American community and create a space where the community can find and take agency through information. The heritage tour’s main focus will be on Staten Island’s North Shore history of enslavement through emancipation, reconstruction, the progressive era and finalize with World War II; but will also include a few sites on the South Shore that connect to the history and communities of the North Shore.

Douglas La Tourette – Port of Call: Staten Island
Port of Call: Staten Island will include workshops, discussion panels, and classes in basic nautical and art concepts and opportunities for learning at a variety local venues. Participants will learn the meaning of the 26 nautical flags, conceptual drawing, and knot tying. Participants will create public art work that will be on placed on view along the North Shore waterfront. The project is conceptual by nature which is an art form in which the ideas take precedence over all traditional ideas of what makes up art. The physical art that will produced for this project will be made up of non-traditional components (i.e. street signs, toys, kitsch objects, bric-a-brac, etc.).

Jolie Tong – Park Hill Theater Project
The Park Hill Theater Project (PHTP) is a community-specific interview-based theater work seeking to expand the narrative of Park Hill. Through the use of Ping Chong + Company’s Undesirable Elements framework of storytelling, PHTP will work with Park Hill community members to create a show that examines their experiences and issues they may be facing. Participating community members will engage the power of creation and performance in an effort to transform the perception of their neighborhood.

Carolyn Clark – Building Brass Musicians at Port Richmond High School
The brass section of the Port Richmond High School music department (approximately 45 students in grades 9-12) will have twelve intensive small group instructional sessions with teaching artist Carolyn Clark. She will work with students on technique, musicality, music literacy skills, and teamwork skills in preparation for their final concert. A secondary focus of the program will be helping students with the music they play in their band classes. The third aspect of the project will involve discussing career opportunities in music and helping students identify higher education programs related to careers they would like to pursue. Many PRHS students are economically disadvantaged. None have access to the tutoring necessary to achieve their full potential as musicians, and to stay on par with music students from the more affluent schools. Working with a brass-section teaching artist will give students the individual attention they need to thrive. Carolyn was previously awarded with this grant 5 times.

Dave Nudelman – Making the World a Better Place with Graphic Design
35 fifth grade students will be challenged to think like designers while working together to create a design for a campaign tee shirt for P.S.21. Students will focus their campaign on the theme of making the community a better place. Students will be engaged in illustration, graphic design, marketing, screen printing, and journaling. During the course of our eight week program, the students will be working with graphic designers and artists to develop one tee shirt design and one bookmark design to market to the staff of P.S.21. During each session students will focus on a different aspect of being a designer and an entrepreneur in the clothing business. Students will learn what it means to be an entrepreneur, how to work with other artists, how to come up with a meaningful idea, how to create an interesting design, product creation, and the details of the creators online responsibilities like how to handle the social media and marketing of the product. Dave has been previously awarded this grant 4 times at this school.

Janice Patrignani-Muñoz – Bountiful Botanicals
Janice Patrignani-Muñoz will partner with P.S.4’s 2nd grade to guide 5 classes that consist of a total 102 children to create large (approximately 36″ x 90″ each) acrylic on canvas murals that will highlight student learning about plant diversity & the natural ecosystem that surrounds us on Staten Island. Students will be introduced to botanical artists & use a scientific study of patterns in nature to inspire the murals. Media explorations will consist of drawing, painting, & nature printing. During the course of the 6-week residency student will become familiar with the Elements of Design. The 2nd graders will be encouraged to communicate using art vocabulary, and work together as they interact with materials, teachers, and peers. Language Arts will be supported though vocabulary and reflective writing to synthesize with the science curriculum using visual arts as a springboard. Lessons about teamwork and creative problem solving will be incorporated to assist the children in developing a sense of classroom community. Students will experience firsthand how a group working in harmony can create a big project and feel accomplished knowing that they have contributed to the beautification of their school. A goal throughout this process is to inspire a community of lifelong learners and celebrate each child’s individual strength. Janice was previously awarded this grant 4 times.

Kelly Vilar – The Art of Math
The Art of Math is a mathematical journey through art and algebra that interactively merges colors, patterns, and shapes into a beautiful design. Under the direction of the classroom teacher Ms. Zimmerman and the Teaching Artists of the Staten Island Urban Center, 15 students will use multimedia platforms to exercise math equation manipulations and combinations into algebraic based pieces of art. The multimedia platforms include digital (video & photo) guided by teaching artist Shani Mitchell who is a filmmaker and photographer. Teaching artist Kelly Vilar who is a mix media design artist and curator will help the class capture the visuals in 2d and 3d formats. Ms. Zimmerman who is a creative and superb math teacher uses nontraditional methods for teaching math and refers to the historical grounding of math and mathematical equation in African and Mayan culture in her lesson plans. These cultures will offer the backdrop for the culminating exhibit and will be a basis for developing a colorful and culturally pronounced exhibit developed by students of Curtis High School. This project offers an opportunity for students (largely black and brown youth) to fall in love with math, art, and their own African diasporic and indigenous history. Kelly is a first time applicant to this grant category.

Sarah Yuster – Small Truths Project
Sarah Yuster will teach 65 students at P.S.20 the process of interweaving of expository writing and visuals. The class will have a series of academic drawing lessons employing action sketching, spatial relations, color and perspective. Students will produce a narrative in written form recounting an experience of their choice. This is the “small truth” of what it’s like to be them. Armed with new skills, the culmination of this project is the illustration of an image to accompany the written pieces. Visual math will also be introduced as an approach to understanding comparisons in form, color and distance through simple questions. PS 20 is a Title One school with approximately 85% of the children from Mexico or Central America. The remainder are primarily African American, African and from the Middle East, specifically Yemen. Sara was awarded this grant 4 times previously.

Carolyn Clark at Anderson Senior Center – Our Songs, Our Stories 2020
For “Our Songs, Our Stories” participants will have the opportunity to experience songs that are meaningful to them through singing, dancing, watching videos, and storytelling. Participants will reminisce while sharing their stories and experiences that make these songs important to them. This will help participants form social connections. Participants will learn about the mechanics involved in singing like breathing, posture, and diction. Students will also learn about certain aspects of music theory like pitch and rhythm. All of this will be done with Carolyn accompanying the vocalists on the piano. Participants will build confidence in their speaking and singing voices regardless of any insecurity they possess. Advanced students will learn to sing harmony and read basic music notation. Carolyn was previously awarded 2 residencies in 2019 to work at 2 different senior centers.

Darren Corona at The JCC of Staten Island – Muddy Hands, Happy Arts
“Muddy Hands, Happy Hearts” is a hand building ceramics program where participants use stoneware clays and decorative glazes designed for seniors that will allow them to create unique works of ceramic art. The instructor will teach various methods of clay work to the participants and provide continual oversight as they create their work. Participants will be encouraged to create free standing sculptures or coil pots utilizing these methods. By the end of the program, participants who drop into single sessions should be able to come away with simple, yet satisfying projects. Participants who come to multiple sessions will develop more complex projects that may utilize multiple techniques. Ceramic work will be taken off site to the instructor’s studio to be kiln fired for the next week’s class so the pieces can be either glazed or given to the creator as a finished piece depending on the artist’s vision. Dan is a first time Su-Casa applicant.

Diane Matyas at Caramel Richmond Senior Center – Memory Impressions: Print making Journals with Seniors
“Memory Impressions” is a series of mono-print workshops coupled with journal writing sessions, leading to the creation of evocative hand-made artist books. The printmaking sessions will include colorful impressions using: water-based paints and inks, stencils, natural flora, stamps, brayers, and a plethora of papers. When using Gelli plates, the participant will roll out layers of colors creating patterns and images by pressing found objects or drawings to make shapes and textures. The participants will put paper onto the colors to create unique mono-prints. The print production imagery will be used to fill the participants paged books, bound by hand, with themes of remembrance and storytelling. The writing component will include prompt-based stories and poems. Writing will be both handwritten and typed on typewriters, which will be paired with art prints to make the unique personal books. The finale will be a pop-up exhibition of the finished books and a reading from the participants. The Teaching Artist will also make a short video that contains clips of the book making process and stories from the participants. Diane is a first time Su-Casa applicant.

Everet at Great Kills Friendship Club – Gather and Stitch in Time
Through the program “Gather & Stitch in Time” participants will have the opportunity to learn about and practice traditional hand and machine-stitched crafts. This drop-in program will introduce simple crochet, doll making, weaving, embroidery, altering, and mending projects, in a three-sessions per project sequence. Work samples will be introduced and stitch techniques will be demonstrated. Hands on assistance will be available to enable participants of varied abilities to express their creativity. A larger collective project or more in-depth individual projects will be provided if preferred by participants. Brief histories and cultural backgrounds of these crafts will be presented. Contemporary practices of traditional crafts will be introduced as inspiration and enrichment. During a culminating event, participants will have an opportunity to display and discuss the motivation, influences, and techniques used for their work. This will be Everet’s first Su-Casa residency.

Janice Patrignani-Muñoz at Mount Loretto Senior Center – Escapades in Art
Participants in “Escapades in Art” will explore 4 different visual art media techniques. For Chinese Silk Painting, students will use a variety of silk painting techniques to create a one of a kind silk scarf and then paint a fiber arts mural. For Printmaking, students will explore the printing techniques of monoprinting, nature printing, and collograph. They will print on paper, cotton, and silk fabric making items for themselves and for an exhibit at Mount Loretto. For Shibori with Natural Indigo Dying, students will create a one of a kind patterned and textured cloth mixed with natural indigo using Japanese fiber dyeing through stitching, binding, folding, clamping, and wrapping. For the Mosaics portion of this series participants will work with mosaic stones and ceramic tiles to create individual projects and a small mosaic mural. Janice was previously awarded SU-CASA residencies in 2018 and 2019.

Kelly Gilmore at Cassidy Coles Neighborhood Senior Center  – Dance in Good Health
“Dance in Good Health” will enhance the lives of all who participate in this artistic and creative dance workshop. Ballroom dances like Foxtrot, Tango, Swing, Salsa, Merengue, Cha-Cha, and more will be taught in an interactive manner with patience, enthusiasm, and consideration for any physical limitations. 25% of each session will be spent introducing new dance material while the remaining class time will allow students to review and perfect 3 or 4 core steps in 6-8 dance styles. The dance routines and exercises are designed to improve balance, posture, flexibility, coordination, and build strength. This program will promote social interaction and exercise among the students and encourage others in the community to join this project and other activities regularly sponsored by the senior center. Kelly has been previously awarded with Su-Casa residencies 5 times.