For first-time applicants making art or producing cultural programming.
19 awards, total awarded: $52,500
Funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

Caleb Hammond – The shadow you cast as you walk beside me – $3,000

Caleb Hammond will produce an immersive multi-panel video installation that is a meditation on death and loss and is named after a quote from a Sylvia Plath poem. This will feature surreal, atmospheric imagery meant to express the ephemerality of life and shared experience shown through dream-like figures and dance. It will be accompanied by a soundscape featuring a mash-up of musicians and singers performing snippets of songs about death, layered and manipulated to create fluidity between sound and visuals.

 

Concord Choral Consortium – The Howells Project – $3,000

Concord Choral Consortium will present Herbert Howells’ Requiem, a twentieth-century masterpiece, and other choral works that enhance and extend its meaning. The themes explored in the work are questions of life, death, grief, and the afterlife. Penned by one of the finest twentieth-century composers and representing a particular high-water mark in the composer’s career, the Requiem is well regarded. Howells created an intimate, personal, non-traditional Requiem which is recognized as one of the true masterpieces of choral music. This project aims to present sublime, uplifting music to the residents of Stapleton and beyond. 

 

Dontae Hawkins – Digital Narrative: Empowering Voices – $3,000

Dontae Hawkins aims to create a program that will equip young people aged 13-18 with the skills and resources needed to create compelling digital narratives. Through workshops, mentorship, and access to technology, participants will learn the art of storytelling while exploring themes relevant to their lives and communities. The program will provide participants with training in digital media production, including video editing, scriptwriting, and visual storytelling techniques. This will primarily target youth from underserved communities, including low-income neighborhoods and communities with limited access to arts education and technology resources. 

 

Elle Snyder – Pride On the Page – $3,000

Pride On the Page is a series of free, generative, poetry workshops that centers the LGBTQIA+ community. The project will culminate in a final reading in which all the participants can share their work. The purpose of Pride On the Page is to bring free, artistic programming to the LGBTQIA+ community. This program aims to provide prompts that engage directly with the unique voices of the participants, to communicate on new frequencies, and to highlight perspectives that might otherwise not be heard.

 

EmiliaV – Black Oyster Farmers’ Road to Equality in 19th century Staten Island – $3,000

Black Atlantic Currents: African American Oyster Farmers, Sandy Ground and the Road to Freedom and Equality in 19th century Staten Island is a ‘digital visual essay’ created primarily in Unreal Engine, a 3D creation tool for photoreal visuals and immersive experiences. This tool will be used to visualize moments, places, and things related to oyster farming and its social consequences amongst African Americans in Staten Island during the 19th century in a series of ‘tableaus.’ The tableaus will form a visual essay to be presented live at a public library in Staten Island and online at a community television station.

 

Frank Schiazza – Homespun Media Productions – $3,000

A Summer Film/Media Workshop for people with disabilities, who will learn the art of documentary filmmaking using only their cellphones or handheld cameras, their surroundings and the skills learned in the workshops as their tools. This program will walk students through the basics of filmmaking. They will receive access to their own film editing software and will learn how to shoot film, upload video files to a computer, lay them out on a timeline, make color and sequence edits, add voiceover and music, render, and finally share original film work. The program will culminate in a “Film Festival” event in which all student films will be screened. The goal of this project is to help young adults with special needs find their voices through film, music and media in general.

 

iBattle – iBattleTV: FALLEN SOLDIERS 3- $3,000

 A battle rap event titled Fallen Soldiers 3. The event consists of 8 to 12 battles, each battle involves 2 MCs that write and prepare for each other. The battles are then filmed and edited for future release. iBattle prioritizes promotion of their talent and helps them build fanbases and careers. The main goal of iBattle is to provide a safe environment for MC’s, lyricists, and performers to express themselves freely.

 

JEREMY HEULER – Salsa for the People – $3,000

Salsa for the People is a project/event that will have an 8-player salsa band play 2 concerts while dance instructors teach an introductory Salsa class before the performance. One event will charge admission indoors and one event will be outside and free to the public for families.

 

Joseph Hurtado – Young Moth – $3,000

A digital album of lo-fi instrumental music with a connected limit-run photography zine depicting Mariner’s Harbor Staten Island, in addition to other island neighborhoods and parts of NYC. Joseph Hurtado hopes the album gives the listener the feeling of driving around, seeking refuge and contemplation, the way driving around alone at night or dusk can be. Combined with the imagery of the zine, the music is meant to convey a level of introspection one may have when growing up and experiencing adulthood, specifically on Staten Island. Much of what is being shown in both works is interpretive to the viewer, while also familiar to those who have lived here and experienced the same existential feelings these spaces and sounds bring up. 

 

Lydia Bellach Ruocco – Dance Through The Decades – $3,000

A collaborative dance production, titled Dance Through The Decades. This multi-generational dance performance will be a collaboration between Lydia Bellach Ruocco and several other local dancers of varying ages. The group will be focusing on Traditional Jazz and Modern Dance and will be incorporating traditional elements such as Horton, Graham, Fosse, and traditional music theater techniques. The performance will show the progression of these techniques through time as they dance to both classic and modern music. All of the involved artists will assist with the choreography, allowing them each to contribute with their unique experiences and skill sets.

 

Marie Stephen – Black Butterfly Project – $3,000

Black Butterfly Project is an artist showcase produced by Marie V. Stephen of MARIEV.GEMROSE ART. The purpose of this event is to give artists of color a platform where they can showcase their unique creative pursuits. This pop-up event will feature a variety of local artists, from painters to poets, meant to empower communities of color in Staten Island.

 

Michael O’Connell – Interweave – $3,000

Interweave is a collection of songs written and performed by Michael and Laura O’Connell with the accompaniment of a small cast of performers. More than a concert, the performance of these songs is akin to musical theater, as the audience witnesses the transformational process of a main character. The project includes recording and producing a full-length album that will then be performed in its entirety as a theatrical presentation or ‘Folk Opera’. The stories told throughout the songs describe relatable real-life scenarios with added karmic and mystical meaning. The goal of these songs is to explore our human process as a part of a spiritual journey of self-realization and karmic destiny. 

 

Printmello – Three Hundred and Sixty Five, Mello – $3,000

Three Hundred and Sixty Five, Mello is the culmination of the artist challenging himself to design a poster a day. This challenge started after feeling stuck in his artistic career and wanting a reason to create art consistently outside of his professional career as a product designer for tech companies across NYC. It has become a resource for younger artists and designers as a place to instill confidence in finding oneself through artistic expression, humor, and even transparency around emotion and mental health and worrying less about conforming to ideas about what an artist should be. Community, growth, reaction, and acceptance are among many of the themes that are present in the daily designs.

 

Team Salsa/ Los Delgados Media – The 2024 Los Delgados Festival – $3,000

The Los Delgados Festival is a 3-day annual music and community event established by local musician Eddy I. in 2022. The Festival aims to amplify the voices of what many know to be the “forgotten borough” by including numerous artists, community members, and organizations. A goal of The Los Delgados Festival is to shed light on the dense artistic community of Staten Island.

 

Troy Welch – Crimson Echo – $3,000

Crimson Echo is a manga-style graphic novel series. The story follows Treyus, a young African American male, on a journey to uncover the secrets to his past as he struggles to tame his inner demon. This project reflects aspects of the artist’s own life involving his friends, family, and experiences that he thinks will resonate with many people.

 

Uthpala Eroshan Jayakodi Arachchi – Wirodi – $3,000

Wirodi – Dance and Percussion Performance is a Sir Lankan Kandyan dance and percussion performance at the All Saints Episcopal Church. The event is free and open to the public. The core audience will be the Sri Lankan Community but the goal is to expose this culture to a broader community sending messages of positivity. 

 

Verrazzano Media – Everything’s Archie: A New Musical – $3,000

Everything’s Archie is a new original musical written by Gavin Matthias, directed by Quran Fugate. The show is an adaptation of the beloved Archie comic strip series, following the iconic gang as they grow towards adulthood in Riverdale, USA. It will be performed at the new Staten Island Playhouse at Empire Outlets. The show will have colorful on-stage visuals, vibrant set and costume design, comedic dialogue, and an upbeat rock score. The show aims to convey the significance of developing personal values as a teenager transitions to adulthood, and realizing that maturing requires an increase in responsibility.

For previously awarded individuals and collectives who are making art or producing cultural programming.
32 awards, total awarded: $140,400
Funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

Allen Cohen – Bluegrass + Country + Folk + Americana – $4,466

Allen Cohen presents a concert series demonstrating the music and folk arts, brought to America by immigrants from Europe, as they progress from folk into bluegrass and country and finally, with the addition of contemporary singer-songwriters, into Americana. The immigrants who brought the seed of this music to America were largely white, but after landing in America had musical interactions with African-Americans whose influences can be heard in the proposed performances. There will be three concerts, two at public libraries – St. George and Charleston branches – and one held at the JCC on Manor Rd. 

 

Ash Montalto – DualiTEA Podcast – $5,000

DualiTEA is a podcast showcasing people in the community making a positive impact. The podcast is designed to recognize all sorts of people from different walks of life while displaying their personalities and shining a light on the many ways we are all connected. By inviting local people to converse and express themselves via their experiences and unique perspectives on a variety of topics we will be able to highlight a different side of them, more than just the labels and titles they have acquired. This podcast is an upbeat series that reveals the diversity and generosity of our community, echoing the theme of DUALITY within us all. 

 

Caileen Gonzalez – North Shore Family Festival – $5,000

The North Shore Family Festival is a free event taking place at Walker Park near Snug Harbor. The event features numerous artists sharing various art forms with families. There will be a variety of workshops held during the festival, they include mindfulness, dance/movement, rock painting, collaging, wildcrafting, and yoga. A large community mural will also be created during the event. The intention of the project is to create a safe space for people of all walks of life to come together and experience the connection that is possible through art. There will also be small business vendors, a DJ, face painting, and a food truck.

 

Carrie Ellman-Larsen & Jolie Tong – Buried Stories: An Oral History Theatre Project About The Fresh Kills Landfill – $5,000

Buried Stories: An Oral History Theatre Project About The Fresh Kills Landfill is a community specific interview-based, multi-year theatre project which explores the history of the Fresh Kills Landfill and investigates its impact on the individuals and community who lived nearby and worked there. In the first year of the project, they conducted historical and statistical research on the Fresh Kills Landfill, interviewed community members and successfully created the first draft of a script which was presented as a staged reading at the St. George Library. This year will be phase two of the project. They will make improvements to the script by utilizing community feedback gathered during the presentation of our first draft, conducting additional interviews and deepening our research. They will actively seek interview participants with perspectives into the landfill such as: community stakeholders, politicians and additional nearby residents from around the borough. They will then present the second draft as a staged reading performed by local actors. An audience of those interviewed, as well as local officials, and residents will be invited to this reading in order to provide feedback. This feedback will launch them into year three, where they will finalize the script and mount a full production with local actors and professionals.

 

Christina Werkmeister – CONCRETE CONCRETE – $3,400

Christina Werkmeister presents a solo show of her artworks made from concrete. The exhibit, held at Hub17, will feature around 18 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and wall hangings. In addition, the applicant will teach workshops for children and adults prior to the exhibition in hopes of featuring some of the created works. The goal of the show is to expose the community to an unusual way to create art and to inspire others to think out of the box when making art.

 

Daniel de Lara – The Sound is Sound Series – $5,000

The Sound Is Sound Series will be a series of meet-ups and workshops in the spring, summer, and fall of 2024 that will take place at Makerspace NYC in Stapleton. The Series will continue to unite the community and push their interest from noise generating into sound design, sound sculpting and further into capturing sound through a focus on recording and production. This program aims to explore how to wrangle noise into intentional sounds that constitute as “music” with the aid of synths, effects pedals and musical software. This year’s program will dive deeper in offering free workshops to those who would not have access to these sorts of classes .Each workshop will have two sessions, one for youth and one for adults.

 

David Nudelman – Tales of a Dreamer – $2,700

Tales of a Dreamer will take place online on the applicant’s website as well as social media, & youtube. The goal of this project is to provide a platform for emerging talent to share their voice and story. The platform will provide promotional press to an underserved community – emerging artists, and small businesses. There will be an in-person culminating event held at Richmond Hood Company. Participants are asked a series of questions which will be featured on our website and Youtube channel. They will also be allowed to share music, performances or a behind-the-scenes clip that can be highlighted as well. Each participant will be able to share their origin story, advice, and a few minutes of content to be featured on the platform. 

 

Diane Matyas – Submerged: Marine Life of NY Harbor (Expanded Installation) – $4,064

This is an art/science public art installation of a series of murals along the Lyons Pool & Recreation Center in Tompkinsville. This project is focused on unlocking secrets of the local marine environment and its fascinating beauty just below the water surface. Species like rays, sea robins, and spider crabs, that have survived or returned to the harbor in recent years- will be depicted on the murals. Submerged will become a fully realized site specific public art installation. In addition an art workshop will be offered to Family/Camp audiences of the NYC Parks. Lyons Pool has a notable history. Built in 1936, its Romanesque Revival and Art Deco elements sit 100 yards from the water’s edge. Such urban pools were among the most remarkable public recreational facilities in the country, representing the forefront of design and technology. This spring grand reopening with a newly improved lobby, the center will attract local families, teens, and seniors during the hot summer months, and will offer its exercise center all year long.

 

Imara Moore – The Family Portrait Project – $5,000

The Family Portrait Project will offer Staten Island families the opportunity to capture precious family portraits for free. The portraits will be taken, printed and framed on location. There will be a professional backdrop and printing station at three community events hosted by the Central Family Life Center. This project aims to add to the rich tapestry of Staten Island’s history, and prove that these portraits aren’t just a picture; it’s a tangible token of love that can be passed down for generations. The portraits will become part of a community archive, documenting the resilience and spirit of Staten Islanders. Through the project future generations will be able to look back at these portraits, seeing the strength, diversity, and love that define our community.

 

Irma Bohorquez-Geisler – Mexican Heritage: Costumes, Masks and Photos – $5,000

In alignment with National Hispanic Heritage Month and as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, Irma Bohorquez-Geisler presents a solo exhibit titled Mexican Heritage: Costumes, Masks and Photos at the Art Lab in Snug Harbor Cultural Center.  The goal is to showcase selected black & white silver gelatin film images and digital color photographs from her long-term photo-documentary project Simple Moments of an Emerging Presences, which focuses on the Mexican-immigrant/Mexican-American communities in Staten Island. The primary objective of this social documentary is to depict the historic migration of this ethnic group to New York, fostering awareness and understanding among New Yorkers. This upcoming exhibition will showcase several dance costumes, including dresses, masks, and hairpieces, representing the rich cultural heritage of the States of Morelos, Tlaxcala (Tlask-ca-la), and Puebla. This project aims to create opportunities and build bridges within the broader Staten Island community. 

 

Jenny Pisani – Wordplay – $3,600

Wordplay aims to create a playful space for poets, artists, and community members to play with words in a safe place that encourages artistic growth within the Staten Island community. Wordplay is an established series that is in collaboration with Richmond Hood Company on Castleton Ave, and a group of creatives who help organize monthly poetry events that take place in the store. They will host a series of poetry slams once a month, for four consecutive months leading up to a final showcase. The goal of this project is to elevate the poetry space on Staten Island by collaborating with different artists to infuse a new creative flow and hopefully inspire the community to write and share more. Also, encouraging an element of healthy competition with a poetry slam, They hope to expand the definition of poetry by pushing against its boundaries. By incorporating live art, they hope to show how our words carry weight through sound and images and can impact the world and people around us. Wordplay ultimately is aiming to create together, inspire, and elevate what poetry looks like in the Staten Island community.

 

Jose Raul Ocasio – Rhythm Seeds 3 / Ritmos De Semilla 3 – $5,000

RHYTHM SEEDS 3 / Ritmos de Semilla 3, is a folkloric music presentation happening during Hispanic Heritage month. There will be two presentations, one at the Greenbelt Nature Center and one at Snug Harbor’s South Meadow outdoor stage. The one-hour presentation will explore the folkloric cultural and modern music of a wide range of cultures – African, Latin American, Afro-Puerto Rican – through live percussion performance as well as through music videos from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Singapore, New York City, Puerto Rico, and more. The presentation will also include a cultural dance performance and a display of primitive percussion instruments, cultural costumes, masks, poetry, and paintings. This project will include the completion of a music album of the traditional music that has been presented through this program over the last three years.

 

Josue Mendez – JM’s Community Mural 2024 – $5,000

This community mural will be installed at Intermediate School 27 in West Brighton. The goal for this project is to bring the children and young teenagers of the community together to complete the mural approved by Principal Eileen Barone and the NYC DOE. The mural will play as a giant coloring book incorporated with different images, text and colors from different countries and cultures. Josue Mendez works with a team of 5 to prepare the wall, outline, and help guide the young painters as they fill in the blanks with the correct colors along with giving them step by step instructions, techniques and advice on how art is used in everyday life. The project includes design workshops, community painting days, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

 

Julie Maniscalco – Julie Maniscalco Dectet: State of Affairs – $4,520

State of Affairs is a musical composition piece artist Julie Maniscalco was commissioned to write for the 2023 Jazz WaHi Music Festival. It is a 6 movement suite written for sextet, which reflects various stages and events through the COVID-19 pandemic. From uncertainty surrounding the virus and quarantining to political unrest, this is an observation of society from the point of view of a New Yorker and educator. This project will culminate in a performance at the Hop Shoppe in Stapleton. Julie Maniscalco feels it’s important to showcase original jazz music as a female composer. Considered one of the least popular musical genres commercially, women composers are underrepresented in its history.

 

Kathryn Carse – Writing a Fable Workshop – $3,125

Writing a Fable Workshop will take place this spring at Project Hospitality’s Port Richmond Help Center. During weekly sessions, students in the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) class will write and illustrate fables as a group and individually. In three sessions, an artist will provide instruction for the students to illustrate their fables. The GED students are immigrants ranging in age from 21 to 66 and have varying levels of English proficiency. The creative process will provide the opportunity to slow down, connect with one’s inner resources and find an outlet, perhaps for the first time, in storytelling and art. There will be a final presentation to the public, where students will read their fables at a reception at the Help Center. The illustrated fables in English and Spanish will be displayed on posters at the reception. The reading and posters will provide a sense of accomplishment and an opportunity for family, friends and the larger community to hear the voices of immigrants, a group that is too often spoken about but not listened to.The fables will also be shared on through social media. The overriding goal is to experience the satisfaction of creating something that resonates with both writer and readers.

 

Kenneth Graham – Juneteenth – A celebration of African American History – $2,500

Juneteenth – Celebrating African American History through the Arts is an event taking place in June at Hub17 that aims to uplift the voices and achievements of Black artists, Staten Island-based and beyond, by sharing their works with a diverse audience. Through music, visual art, spoken word, food, and goods all created by African American artists this event will promote cultural awareness, shared enjoyment, and community cohesion. The event will also highlight Black American history, issues, and accomplishments and hopes to encourage greater sensitivity among attendees to differences in historical experiences, and especially, to our common humanity.

 

Laura Pannone – Empowered 2.0 – $4,000

Empowered 2.0, in its second year, is a festival created to amplify the voices of women. It will take place at Flagship Brewery. The festival, deliberately scheduled during Women’s History Month, will showcase a diverse array of multi-disciplined female artists and entrepreneurs, providing a platform for them to share their unique perspectives and contribute to the ongoing dialogue around feminism. The festival includes an all-female lineup of entertainers, as well as, a pop-up portrait studio to take photos of attendees, with intention to imbue each guest with a sense of empowerment through their portrait. Five artists will host workshops during the event, specializing in their unique mediums. The goal is to empower a diverse community through art creation while fostering interaction with local artists. The messaging of power and equality in EMPOWERED strives to resonate with all audiences; who can relate to feelings of disenfranchisement or oppression.

 

Maribel Torres Peralta – Carnaval de la Mixteca Poblana – $5,000

Carnaval Mixteco de la Poblana aims to maintain cultural traditions and dances from Puebla, Mexico and to teach the younger generations about the importance of fostering those traditions. The event features traditional music and performances. Local traditional dance groups along with groups from different boroughs and neighboring states participate in this cultural celebration. This family-friendly event is free to the public and is held at Fun Station USA in Travis.

 

Marisa Tornello – s(o)(e)wing – $5,000

s(o)(e)wing is an experimental vocal performance and interactive performance art piece that explores the themes of sewing a thread and sowing a seed, and how these concepts symbolically reflect human behavior and patterns. The applicant will create graphic scores in the mediums of thread, wax paper, fabric, and yarn to communicate musical instruction to four vocalists, with some minimal standard music notation. The project will culminate in a performance where musicians will perform vocal improvisations, monologues, graphic score interpretations, and will cut their garments and sew them back together throughout the duration of the show using live sewing machines on stage. Throughout the performance, there will also be two textile artists crocheting around a pole in the center of the stage, an indicator of the progression of the piece and the awareness and limitation of time. 

 

Matthew Figueroa – Poetry in the Park (Season 4) – $3,175

Poetry in the Park Season 4 is a continuation of the Poetry in the Park program started in 2020, a free outdoor open mic series to spotlight poetry. The program facilitates spaces for the Staten Island community to engage in the arts, as well as appreciate the work of both seasoned and emerging poets. This season will be expanding the program’s reach to communities organizers feel weren’t represented or voiced enough last season, and diversifying the energy & engagement of attendees. Season 4 will consist of 4 open mics from May to August. There will be 12 featured poets across these events. These events will explore Self-expression, poetry, literature, intersectionality, humanities, pride, healing, art, community, and bringing poetry to accessible areas for Staten Islanders.

 

Ramon Gabriel Tenefrancia – Take The Stage: Emerging Artist Role Study (La Traviata) – $5,000

Take the Stage: Emerging Artist Role Study is an opera workshop with open to the public rehearsals, culminating with a semi-staged performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at Snug Harbor’s Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art. The project is part of the Snug Harbor PASS Artist Residency. The goals are to address the “Catch 22” in opera. Emerging artists who do not get the chance to step into lead roles in key operas due to not having had the previous opportunity to perform the opera by providing an opportunity for the same young artists to both learn and perform the opera in a supportive environment. As well as bring a semi-staged opera performance to Staten Island. Lastly, cultivate an audience in Staten Island by creating an updated and relatable performance of an established and well-known opera.

 

Rocio Uchofen – Our Stories/ Nuestras Historias – $3,100

Rocio Uchofen will offer online workshops and instructional videos that will provide the basic knowledge of writing and storytelling for participants interested in writing short stories. The stories will be published into a book (Spanish/English). Workshops will be presented in Spanish with English translation.

 

Rocio Uchofen – Typewriter: ink, memories and rhythm (poems born in the library) – $1,600

Typewriter: ink, memories, and rhythm is a book of poetry. The poems for this book were created during a two day micro-residency at the New West Brighton Library in 2019. The book will be in English and Spanish. The applicant will hold an in-person reading at ETG Bookcafe. They will also hold an online reading in Spanish. 

 

Sarah Yuster – Peripheral Vision – $4,500

PERIPHERAL VISION will be an extension of the applicant’s lifetime body of contemporary urban landscape/streetscape painting in oil on various surfaces: stretched canvas, wood and mdf panel. 26 paintings will be shown in Art Lab’s newly renovated gallery. 6 – 8 will be new pieces created for this exhibit. All paintings will be publicly viewed for the first time, most done during and following the pandemic. The title alludes to the shared experience of passing through/commuting, with a trust and knowledge of the geography, neighborhoods, people and traffic around us. 

 

Sitewave Cinema – Wavestock Festival – $5,000

The 6th Annual Wavestock Festival will be at Flagship Brewery in November. It is an all day Festival centered around a Film Festival that screens original short films and music videos from local filmmakers on a large projection screen in the brew room that is converted into a fully functional movie theater, while the tap room will host an array of vendors, artists, and performances from local musicians.

 

Staten Island Coalition of Black Artists – Mask – A Self Reflection – $3,000

Mask – “A Self Reflection will explore the concept of hiding behind a mask. There will be a workshop series for adults and children where they will be taught how to make masks of all kinds using a wide variety of techniques and multimedia using the process as a form of self-reflection. The masks will then be on exhibit at Hub17.

 

Tariq Zaid – Weapons of Mass Destruction – $5,000

Weapons of Mass Destruction will be an illustrated spoken word book with illustrations that will be repurposed for an illustrated animation video with Tariq Zaid’s voice reciting the poems over it. The poems explore various themes such as love, identity, nature, self-reflection, and social issues. The book will be presented to the public through a book launch event at the WordPlay poetry night at Richmond Hood.

 

Tom Ferrie – Punk Rock Mini Golf 2024 – $5,000

Punk Rock Mini-Golf (PRMG), is a multi-disciplined experience taking place over two weekends in June at Maker Park in Stapleton. This project is an interactive experience that allows the user to participate in mini-golf while viewing and listening to local art and music. Over the previous three years, PRMG has showcased music by over 50 bands and over 20 artists whose work is displayed. The goal in 2024 is to increase the amount of youth that attend the event.  PRMG brings a unique opportunity for teens to have fun in a safe, non-judgemental and supportive space. 

 

Thomas Fucaloro – Poetry in Motion – $5,000

Poetry in Motion pairs up poets and videographers to create poetry videos. The videos are screened for the public over the Summer at Hub17 in Stapleton. In its third season, this year there will be the addition of 1-minute shorts, where the applicant will pair youth poets with videographers to create 1-minute poetry videos. The videos will also be available on YouTube. 

 

Timothy Ledwith – Standoff on Fairview Avenue – $5,000

Standoff on Fairview Avenue: Race and resistance on Staten Island will be a graphic novel that tells the story of Samuel and Catherine Browne — an African-American married couple who successfully stood their ground against white supremacist attacks on Staten Island in the 1920s. The goal of this project is to bring greater public attention to this story and to reach a general, non-academic audience, including young people. The applicant will create a full-length script for a graphic novel and work with an artist to illustrate 15 pages of key moments in the Brownes’ saga. These illustrated pages will be printed in a 24-page booklet that also includes the complete storyline for the full graphic novel. The storyline booklet will be presented at a public event celebrating the Brownes’ resilience. 

 

Volker Goetze – FlamenKora & World Trio Release Concert featuring Mino Cinelu – $5,000

FlamenKora & World Trio Release Concert is a Jazz / World Music album and a release concert of new original music. A public performance is scheduled for the Fall at the College of Staten Island. This new trio is a continuation of the applicant’s work with Mande Music from West Africa and Jazz with contemporary compositional concepts, extending the African Harp’s colors and harmonies addressing social issues and stories with a global focus adding Jazz Percussion with roots from Martinique.

 

Women’s Playwright’s Collective – 2nd Annual: New Worlds Festival – $5,000

Women’s Playwright Collective continues its mission to create and produce new works by female-identifying playwrights through their annual Not Forgotten Play Festival, now in their seventh season. Funding will help produce two plays – one Audience-selected, one Jury selected. The playwrights will be mentored throughout the process by professional playwright and, in the end, will have their pieces fully realized at the festival held at the Staten Island Playhouse at Empire Outlets in St. George. This new programming is the next step in expanding by offering resources to the selected playwrights to work on a longer piece for their portfolio.

For nonprofits with a 501(c)3 making art or producing cultural programming.
15 awards, total awarded: $70,000

Staten Island Art’s Statewide Community Regrant program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Community Arts Commission – Westerleigh Folk Festival 2024 (WestFest 17) – $5,000Westerleigh Folk Festival is a free multicultural and multigenerational day of art for the greater Staten Island community to support and showcase artists. WestFest will include a diverse array of disciplines including music, handcrafted items, dance, fine art, and more. They will have two stages for performing artists, as well as a designated area for artists to display their work. Community Arts Commission plans to further diversify their artists and build a creative space that will connect and showcase creatives from different communities, generations, and cultures.

 

Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art – (Working Title) GONKAR GYATSO: Ancient Traditions, Modern Art – $5,000Gyatso’s exhibition at The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art merges ancient Tibetan traditions with contemporary art. Gyatso’s innovative use of mixed media and pop culture references within traditional motifs creates a dynamic dialogue between the past and present, inviting diverse audiences to appreciate Tibetan culture in a modern context. The exhibition explores themes of identity, displacement, and globalization while emphasizing the importance of cultural preservation. Through interactive installations and educational programs, the museum aims to engage the local community, art enthusiasts, and youth, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Tibetan art and culture.

 

Korean School of Staten Island – Experiencing Korean Culture through the beat of the Korean drums – $5,000

“Experiencing Korean Culture by learning traditional Korean instruments” goal is to explore Korean culture by teaching the students how to play traditional Korean instruments and connect with the sounds of traditional Korean music. This program will offer traditional Korean instrument classes at the Korean School of SI on Saturdays over a 14-week period. The questions they would explore include- what is the history of the Korean drum? What was the purpose of the drum? How is the drum connected to liberation movements that took place in Korea? The intended audience is anyone interested in learning how to play, not just current students. 

 

Maker Park Radio – Maker Park Radio’s Music and Art Festival Series – $5,000
Maker Park Radio’s (MPR) Music and Art Festival Series will take place over five evenings in Maker Park located in Stapleton. This series features DJs from MPR, guest DJs, bands, musicians, performances, art installations, vendors, and food. Each event is co-curated with Maker Park Radio community members and in collaboration with partners who have deep knowledge of each music genre with unique insight into, and relationships with, those music communities. The goal is to introduce communities to each other by amplifying their arts and culture to dispel any fear or ignorance one may have through past misrepresentation or underrepresentation.

 

Moonlight Productions NYC – The Staten Island Senior Acting Troupe – $5,000
The Staten Island Senior Acting Troupe will consist of senior citizens from different neighborhoods coming together to perform in a theatrical production. The goal of this project is to encourage seniors to use their voice and abilities while learning the foundations of theatre, the theatrical production process, and perform in a scripted, and part adaptation play. Seniors will explore and express themselves through theatre exercises, acting, singing, dance, costuming, make-up, set design, and technical theatre (props, backdrops, scenery. etc.). Seniors will be given a platform to entertain others while building their confidence, advancing their education and experience(s) in the arts, and showcasing their talents and abilities.

 

Muslim Sisters of Staten Island – Geek Out At Staten Island – $5,000

Geek Out at Staten Island is a 2-day convention that celebrates, encourages, and promotes geek culture by uplifting the experiences of folks with disabilities, people of color, and youth. The convention takes place over two days – one day in-person, one day virtually. Participants will be able to explore various artistic mediums through workshops and various activities – the convention also includes mini-events like virtual geek trivia, cosplay photoshoots, and artist alley expo.

 

Richmond Choral Society – RCS Spring 2024 Concert, “Aspirations and Inspiration” – $5,000

RCS’ Spring 2024 Concert, “Aspirations & Inspiration,” will showcase a diverse selection of works by Romantic and Contemporary composers, exploring both sacred and secular themes. Highlighting the program is the NY Premiere of an English translation of Brahms’ Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 65, created by Music Director Marina Alexander to make these love songs more accessible to Staten Island singers and audiences. The concert aims to fulfill RCS’s mission of introducing the community to the great works of the choral repertoire.

 

ROZA Promotions, Inc. – West African Arts, Musical & Fashion Fair – $5,000

The mission of ROZA Promotions is to vigorously advocate for and provide culturally appropriate programs and services to and for mainly the West African immigrant and refugee population on the North Shore of Staten Island. This free festival, which runs for two weekends, will include a fashion exhibition curated by Sweet Mothers, a group of women who maintain/uphold West African Cultural values through their African attire. It will also include the sharing of Folk tales/art, painting workshops for youth and vendors selling cultural food and clothing.

 

Seaview Playwright’s Theatre – Suddenly Last Summer, by Tennessee Williams – $5,000

Seaview Playwright’s Theatre will produce Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer, a renowned play from 1957 that delves into themes of secrecy, memory, and family dynamics. The play centers around a southern family grappling with the sudden death of their son, Sebastian, and the subsequent attempt to suppress the truth through lobotomy. With its exploration of taboo subjects such as homosexuality and the consequences of secrecy, Suddenly Last Summer remains relevant today.

 

SI Philharmonic – Made in/Played in Staten Island – $5,000

Made In/Played In Staten Island is a concert by the SI Philharmonic at the Bernikow JCC. The event will showcase new compositions by local composers Howard Fox, Steve Liotta, Julie Maniscalco, and Michael Sirotta, marking the world premiere of each piece. This concert aims to support underrecognized composers by providing them with a platform for their creations and potentially advancing their careers.

 

SI Shakespearean Theatre – SIST Presents: Women’s Playwrights Collective – The Not Forgotten Play Festival – $5,000

SI Shakespearean Theatre & Women Playwrights Collective will coproduce a presentation of original works in the Not Forgotten Play Festival. Women’s voices have long been muffled, silenced, misheard, and appropriated. This festival hopes to shine a bright light on the women writers of this city. The festival will take place in August at the Theatre at Empire Outlets. There will be six original ten-minute play performances.

 

Spotlight Theatre Company – Around the World in 80 Days – $5,000

Spotlight Theatre Company will be presenting Around the World in 80 Days a lively adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic tale, featuring words, lyrics, and music by Jacques Stewart. This new musical follows the adventurous journey of Phileas Fogg and his companions as they race to win a bet by circumnavigating the globe in 80 days. Packed with danger, romance, and comedy, the show boasts theatrical tunes and showcases 5 actors portraying 33 characters. Audiences will be swept away on a whirlwind adventure, experiencing the excitement of exploration across diverse cultures.

 

The Mighty String Demons . – Poems in Our Pockets – $5,000

The Mighty String Demons will be presenting Poems in Our Pockets at Stapleton Public Library celebrating National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day. Combining music and literature, each member will read a poem between musical selections, reflecting themes of spring’s arrival. Special guest artists, including former Staten Island Poet Laureate Marguerite Maria Rivas and Beth Gorrie from Staten Island OutLOUD, will enrich the event with poetry readings. Guest musicians Kazuo Nakamura and Wenyi Lo will join. The concert aims to inspire audiences to explore classical music and poetry, fostering a love for both arts. The Stapleton Public Library will provide poetry anthologies for borrowing, encouraging further reading.

 

Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble, Inc. – Summer Sunday Concerts at High Rock 2024 – $5,000

Viva Voce Chamber Ensemble will present an outdoor Summer concert series at High Rock Park. Each concert will involve a different Viva Voce ensemble – brass quintet, chorus, little big band, woodwind quintet, and woodwind quartet. This series aims to provide the community with a variety of interesting, rarely-heard music in a natural environment.

For new work in a community setting that connects places + people using arts + culture on the North Shore of Staten Island.
2 awards, total awarded: $5,000

Staten Island Art’s Statewide Community Regrant program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

SKIN Dance Company – STAPLETON ARTS LEGACY (Choreography Project) – $2,500

Choreographer Tina Thompson will create dance work with Stapleton youth, including them in all aspects of the creative process, culminating in a presentation of their work to the public. This project aims to foster a nurturing environment for youth to express themselves through dance.

 

Gabriella Adriana Iacono – Ephemerisland – $2,500

Artist, Gabriella Adriana Iacono presents “Ephemerisland: A Vanishing Act in Praxis.” A multidisciplinary project blending poetry, creative nonfiction, and visual arts, exploring Staten Island’s physical and symbolic landscape. It aims to showcase interactive poetry installations, a cine-poem projection highlighting the waterfront, a spoken word performance, and a hand-stitched quilt representing the island’s shape. The project, solely executed by Gabriella, delves into memory and narrative, offering a critical exploration of Staten Island’s identity. 

For partnerships between K-12 schools + teaching artists and/or cultural organizations.
3 awards, total awarded: $7,500
Staten Island Art’s Statewide Community Regrant program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

David Nudelman – Making the World A Better Place with Graphic Design – $2,500

Fifth grade students at P.S. 21 will be challenged to think like designers while working together to create a design for a campaign tee shirt for their elementary school on the theme of making the community a better place. Students will be engaged in illustration, graphic design, marketing, screen printing, and journaling their experiences.

 

SI Philharmonic – Building the Band at Port Richmond HS – $2,500

The brass and percussion sections of the Port Richmond High School music department will have twelve intensive, small group instructional sessions with experienced teaching artists/professional musicians who are experts in brass instruments and percussion. Students will work on techniques, intonation, musicality, music literacy, and teamwork skills. Students will also receive support in career opportunities and identifying higher education programs related to careers in music.

Kyoko Heshiimu – The Poetry/Collage Mural Project – $2,500

The Poetry/Collage Mural Project will have students learn the art of poetry and fuse that with the world of collage to create an indoor mural that reflects the culture of PS 45. PS 45 aims to empower scholars to learn the necessary skills to deepen their intellectualism. This mural will be created in parts and put together like a puzzle, for a ceremonial assembling of the pieces to not only unite them but to unite the students and give them a sense of accomplishment. Kyoko hopes with the skills of writing, art, critical thinking, and problem-solving, they can provide them with the tools they need to deepen their intellectualism and elevate their school’s culture. 

Placing artists + arts organizations in residence at Staten Island senior centers.
6 awards, each artist received $8,000 and selected senior centers received $2500
Funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the Department for the Aging

Janice Patrignani- Muñoz at Cassidy Coles Older Adult Center – Explorations in Art 

Explorations in Art is a silk painting program that teaches seniors print-making and mosaic techniques. Workshops will allow them to create unique pieces on silk scarves and pillowcases. They’ll also explore nature printmaking techniques to develop their art pieces for personal or communal use. At the end of the workshops, they will create a mosaic piece to be displayed at Cassidy Coles Older Adult Center.

 

Caryn Davis at Mount Loretto Neighborhood Senior Center – A Walk Down Memory Lane

A Walk Down Memory Lane is a multimedia program designed to teach seniors how to incorporate recycled and new materials, personal photographs, and other materials into books. Seniors will develop their unique responses and skills to book-making using simple techniques of folding and cutting and create “found” poetry within the text. They will also have the chance to develop skills in drawing, painting, and collaging. In partnership with Staten Island MakerSpace, participants will learn how to incorporate simple conductions into each altered book.

 

Victoria Venezia at Anderson Older Adult Center – The Hollywood Experience!

The Hollywood Experience! is an improvisation and acting program designed to empower a cohort of seniors to uncover each senior’s unique voice. Participants will be encouraged to tell their own stories and stories that are important to them. Workshops will teach participants theater exercises, various acting styles, and the fun of improvisation. The workshop series will culminate with a film screening showcasing a film designed by the cohort. 

 

Carolyn Clark at Arrochar Older Adult Center – Our Song, Our Stories

Our Songs, Our Stories works with seniors to re-experience popular songs of the past through singing and dancing. Seniors will be able to share songs they remember and their individual stories. Workshops will teach participants about the mechanics of singing, the power of pitch and rhythm in music, and basic music notation. This program culminates in a presentation of songs that tell the personal stories of each senior and the group. 

 

Amari Hines at Jewish Community Center (JCC) Bernikow Older Adult Center – Vibrant Tie-Dye for Artful Souls

Vibrant Tie-Dye for Artful Souls encourages seniors to use specific color palettes and patterns, such as the spiral technique, earth tones, and primary colors and reminds them that art goes beyond a canvas. Seniors will also learn and practice tie-dying on t-shirts and pants. This program aims to ignite play and childlikeness in seniors and hold a safe space for their unique creativity. This program will culminate with a fashion show of participants’ tie-dye apparel and a live demonstration of tie-dye.

 

Christine Marie DeVito-Zahra at Avis South Shore Older Adult Center – A Senior’s Recipe of Life

A Senior’s Recipe of Life is a theater program aimed at building community and nurturing creativity among seniors. Participants will learn improvisation, creative writing, expressive dance movements, and other sensory activities as a group. The program culminates with this newly bonded group of seniors presenting what being a senior means and showcasing different aspects of their lives to them individually and communally. 

 

For individual performing artists across dance, theater, and music, from traditional practices to contemporary performance, at any stage of their career. This grant opportunity established a diverse group of performing artists to further their creative practice through a cohort model and professional development support.
10 awards, each artist received $6,000
Funded by the Howard Gilman Foundation

Esmé Maria Ng 

Esmé Maria Ng (they/he/she) is a Gaysian American, playwright, producer, and dramaturg that loves heartbreak and developing new plays. As a playwright, Esmé seeks to embody the phenomenon of laughing at/through the pain. They look for joy in inappropriate moments, with often-understated-sometimes-surrealist aesthetics and complicated characters. Their plays have gained them recognition as a 2023 Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow, Eugene O’Neill Finalist, and a June Bingham New Play Commission recipient. As a producer/administrator, they have held positions at Manhattan Theatre Club, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Breaking the Binary Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and Classic Stage Company. As a dramaturg, Esmé has read and evaluated scripts for Playwrights Realm, Manhattan Theatre Club, Breaking the Binary, and Roundabout Theatre Company, and dramaturged plays with Ma-Yi Theater Company, Columbia University, and Wesleyan University. Esmé’s plays have been presented by Breaking and Entering Theater Co, Entry Level Presents, The Womens Playwrights Collective of Staten Island, Wesleyan University, the Frontera Reading Series, The Tank NYC, and SheNYC Theater Festival. Esmé is currently a member of The Tank Producers Cohort, a 2024 CIPA Fellow, a freelance writer/dramaturg with bylines in American Theatre Magazine, and a co-founder of Entry Level – a small collective of artists that host community-oriented living room play readings. Their new play FISH MEAT will have its world premiere in August 2024 as part of SheNYC Theater Festival. @esmemariang esmemariang.com

 

Miho Sasaki

Miho Sasaki is a jazz pianist and educator based in New York. She was born in Japan and began playing the piano at five. She continued to study music throughout high school and eventually discovered jazz, enrolling in a jazz program for two years. Miho’s exceptional talent has graced the stages in her home country. In 2015, she was awarded a scholarship from the prestigious Rotary Foundation, a testament to her outstanding skills. This scholarship paved the way for her to study at the State University of New York, Purchase College, Music Conservatory, and Jazz Studies during her third year in the program when she was honored with the esteemed James Moody Scholarship, solidifying her position as the most gifted player in the program. Miho’s journey of success has continued to unfold in recent years. In 2018, she led her trio on a triumphant tour in Japan, culminating in a silver medal at the renowned ’38th Asakusa Jazz Contest,’ a historical jazz competition in Tokyo. She recorded and released her first album, ‘From My Heart.’ This album, a labor of love, is a testament to her evolving artistry and commitment to creating music that resonates with her audience. Miho also received a grant called “Arts for the Future ” from the Japanese government in 2022, and she organized eight concerts and performed with local musicians across Japan, which was a big success. The same year, she performed with the Ryan Hollander Trio at the biggest Jazz Festival in the US, Newport Jazz Festival. She started playing at Fork n’ Film NYC as a residential artist in 2024. She has been featured in “Hot House Jazz Magazine,” the longest-running jazz magazine in the Tri-State area. She has played in different bands as a sideman while leading her group at major jazz venues in New York, such as Birdland, Ornithology Jazz Club, Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, The Django, Ornithology Jazz Club, and more. https://mihosasakimusic.site/

 

Volker Goetze 

A multifaceted musician composer, filmmaker, producer, and conceptualist based in New York City, Goetze specializes in bringing ancient folkloric cultures together with contemporary jazz soundscapes. He creates poetic musical, film, and live performance narratives that support peace and cooperation. During a visit to Senegal in 1996 he fell in love with Mande music and culture, which indelibly changed his life. He produced and directed a documentary film titled GRIOT which centered around Senegalese Kora culture and was reviewed as “Stunningly beautiful” by The Globe and Mail (UK), and as “A must-see film” by African News. Subject of his film, Senegalese Griot and Kora master Ablaye Cissoko. GRIOT became an official selection of film festivals in Amsterdam, Vancouver, Warsaw, Valladolid, and Thessaloniki. GRIOT also led to a highly acclaimed, 3-album, 12-year run of Goetze producing, recording, and touring internationally in duo with Kora Master Ablaye Cissoko. The albums attracted international acclaim and tours, and have so far gained over 23 million streams worldwide, earning Goetze a well honored spot on the jazz-meets-world music map. His recordings received highest honors as best World Music Release by Public Radio International and reached #1 on iTunes. Past performances include the Jazz Gallery New York, LA Festival of Sacred Music, Paris Jazz Festival, Jazz A Vienne, New Philharmonie Paris, Munich Opera Festival, and Panama World Music Festival. Amidst the pandemic, composer Volker Goetze embarked on a transformative journey into the heart of Flamenco. Last year witnessed the debut of FlamenKora, a groundbreaking project that marks yet another luminous chapter in Goetze’s prolific career. Critics and audiences alike have showered it with praise, celebrating the emergence of a new musical fusion: Mandinka Flamenco Jazz. In this captivating blend, the Kora, flamenco guitar, and trumpet converge, creating a vibrant soundscape that transcends borders. www.volkergoetze.com

 

Leila Hegazy 

Leila Hegazy is an Egyptian-Italian singer, songwriter, educator, and activist in Staten Island, New York. She uses music as a form of self-expression, and in the spirit of the late Nina Simone, believes that “an artist’s duty is to reflect the times.” She is a singer/keyboardist in the local Staten Island duo, HEGAZY, and a solo artist/social media content creator. Her viral pro-Palestine adaptations of popular songs have made her a notable voice in the global Palestine liberation movement. She has been affectionally dubbed “Weird Al Palestine” by her listeners, and “the soundtrack of the resistance” by Al Jazeera journalist and documentary filmmaker, Dr. Myriam Francois. Leila is currently finishing up a protest album, and intends to donate all the proceeds to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. (Please note, this particular project will not be funded by the Howard Gilman Grant). As a singer in the twin sister duo HEGAZY, Leila has performed at Lincoln Center, the United Nations, and other venerated venues. She is also in the process of recording the duo’s next batch of songs, which they hope to release by the end of the year. leilahegazy.bandcamp.com

 

Melissa West 

Melissa West is a choreographer and curator based in Staten Island, NY. Since 2008, her dances have been presented in NYC at venues including Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, The Living Theater, Atlantic Salt shipyard for the LUMEN Festival, Queens Museum, and Bowery Poetry Club. She has held residencies through Staten Island Arts, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Greenbelt Conservancy, and the CUNY Dance Initiative. West has studied dance at the Staten Island Ballet, Hunter College, Movement Research, The Yard, and Gibney. She holds a BA degree in Dance and English from Hunter College. In 2014, she earned a Master’s in Performance Studies from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. She was the organizing director of Second Saturdays Staten Island, the borough’s only art walk, from 2013-15. West is currently the Director & Senior Curator for the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor. In this role, she develops and presents exhibitions, performances, residencies, and public art across the 83-acre historical campus. In 2022, she founded the Snug Harbor Dance Festival, a multi-day indoor and outdoor festival of dance performances, workshops, classes, and community events. West is an adjunct professor in the dance department at Wagner College, where she is currently creating a dance for students that will premiere in Fall 2024. As a dancer, West has performed in works by Yoshiko Chuma, Barbara Mahler, Gerald Otte, Laura Neese, and the late Diana Domoracki-Kisto. She is working on an ongoing oral history project of dance on Staten Island. She has participated in panels and presentations for Dance/NYC, Hunter College, Curtis High School, St. George Theatre, and SYEP/UAU. Her writing and research include topics around dance and place, history and aesthetics, and arts and culture on Staten Island. West is a 2023-24 Culture Push Fellow in Utopian Practice. She is a 2023 Mertz Gilmore Dance Research grantee from Staten Island Arts. https://www.mwestdances.nyc

 

Katie Trubetskaya 

My name is Katie Trubetsky and I was born In Russia but grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Even though English is not my first language, I still consider myself a true New Yorker at heart. When I was five years old, I remember watching my father and grandfather perform on stage (both known theater actors in Russia) and I knew that film and the theatrical world would be my passion for life. I graduated from AADA and SFT. I didn’t want to wait to create something different in this world. I decided to bend the rules on what a woman can achieve. I wrote, directed, and starred in my first dark comedy mafia film called “CACTUS”, which went on to win 11 International Film Festival awards in Italy, India, New York including, Independent Short Awards, and has been featured in Toronto Film Magazine. “CACTUS” won Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Cast. I performed in numerous films as well, episodic shows, and theatre performances and won awards for acting and directing.  In the past year, I’ve starred in a supporting role in my first musical “Mirror Mirror” and had my 2nd tour of a nominated Off-Broadway play called “Resurrection”, which was nominated on Broadway World. “Resurrection”  where I was nominated in a lead antagonist role as Lula Noble. As of right now I’m paying off my first film, but still I can’t help but want to create more. Now I’m in the process of finishing up two new scripts, one being a feature and another being a short film that I would like to direct as soon as possible. The short film is a period piece with a twist on reality called “HER RAIN” which I will be starring in and directing as well. I am creating my vision, along with trying to fulfill my life’s passion in the craft that I love with my whole soul and being. It’s always a gamble in this line of work, but I wouldn’t choose to be on this earth if I couldn’t do what I love to do which is create memorable, timeless films that simply need a financial push in order to come to life. https://www.instagram.com/ktrubetsky

 

Bri Nicole 

Bri Nicole (Brianna Nicole Montalbano) is a singer-songwriter, producer, and poet based in NYC. Several years ago, Bri’s love of poetry collided with her passion for music and she began to create original songs that blended lyrical depth with haunting melodies. She embraces her unique voice and draws inspiration from artists with distinctive sounds and poetic lyrics, such as Lacey Sturm, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots, and Gin Wigmore. Bri believes music is meant to be felt, not just heard. Her songs are infused with raw emotion and honest themes, such as mental health, personal battles, and social issues. She writes with the intention of bringing awareness to the unspoken and socially-avoided topics that are universally relatable. She hopes that her music will resonate with her listeners and inspire them to embrace their own personal journeys. Bri Nicole began performing her original music at local venues and events in 2021 and released her first single, “End of the World”, in 2022. She is currently in the process of writing new music and intends to release a new EP soon. https://brinicolemusic.com/home

 

John Navarro 

I am a multidisciplinary storyteller finding expressive freedom through music, using art as a way to both understand and communicate with the world around me. I approach my art with the grit and honesty instilled in me by my NYC upbringing. My music aims to explore both the trials and triumphs of life, working as a medium to make peace with both, and connect with listeners experiencing the same.  https://www.instagram.com/awwmadeyoulook/

 

Ariana Andretta 

Ariana is a multi-hyphenate artist from/based in New York City. She is an active member of Actors Equity Association as well as an Associate member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers society. Most recently, Ariana was in process of developing a new dance narrative as a recipient of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation’s dance research grant. Ariana also had the privilege of being selected as the 2023-2024 SDCF Shadow for MOULIN ROUGE! Broadway with Associate Choreographer Camden Gonzales. Ariana’s choreographic works have been shared through local festivals like New York Theatre Barn, Jazz Choreography Enterprises, and Arts On Site’s performance party. Her favorite theatre performance credits include THE WIZARD OF OZ (Capital Repertory Theatre) and MARY POPPINS (Potsdam Music Theatre). She has also directed, choreographed & produced her original dance narrative, LOVE & OTHER STORIES, which will have a revival in the near future. In educational settings, Ariana enjoys passing on the gift of movement to her students and engaging in community. arianaandretta.com

 

Carrie Ellman-Larsen 

Carrie Ellman-Larsen (she/her) is a born and raised NYC theatre maker, teaching artist and arts administrator. Carrie has been creating community and student-based theatrical work for seventeen years. As a teaching artist, she has worked with students and adults to create original theatre based on social issues that they care about. She also works in classrooms using theatre as a tool for language acquisition of ELLs, community building, connecting to literacy and social studies curriculum, and developing life skills with students with disabilities. She currently works for The Roundabout Theatre Company, The Theatre Development Fund, Arts Connection and Strike Anywhere and is the arts education consultant for Grand Pistachio Theatre, a theatre company that uses puppetry and mask to create Theater for Young Audiences in NYC and nationally. Carrie was recently hired as Education Director for Keen Company, an Off-Broadway theatre company for their Keen Teens program. Carrie created, produced and directed two documentary theatre projects on Staten Island; The Staten Island Dialogue Project, a documentary theatre piece where she interviewed Staten Island residents about the life experiences that influence their vote and Buried Stories a documentary theater project about people who lived near and worked at the Fresh Kills Landfill. These were both funded by the DCLA Arts Fund Grant. Carrie, along with her co-creator, Jolie Tong, have been awarded the 2024 DCLA Arts Grant to continue their work on Buried Stories this year. Carrie can be seen acting and directing with local theatre companies such as Ghostlight Theatre Productions and The Staten Island Shakespeare Company. She was recently in Lysistrata, Doubt, and The Penelopiad. Education: MA in Applied Theatre, CUNY SPS and BA in Drama, NYU. https://www.carrieellmanlarsen.com/

 

For dance artists, dance collectives, or dance nonprofits at any stage of their career. This grant supports the research and development of a new dance work.
7 awards, each artist received $7,500
Funded by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation

Melissa West 

Melissa West, is a choreographer and curator renowned for presenting her innovative dance works across NYC venues since 2008, including Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, and The Living Theater. She holds a dual degree in Dance and English from Hunter College and a Master’s in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. West directs the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor, where she founded the Snug Harbor Dance Festival in 2022. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Wagner College, continuously shaping young dancers’ futures while exploring themes of dance and place.

West’s current research explores the female form, autoethnography, and the concept of the muse, integrating poetry and writing into abstract, postmodern dance vocabularies. In her upcoming work, she aims to challenge societal norms and explore vulnerability through dance and film, inspired by mythological and historical texts.

 

Mai’yah Kau 

Mai’yah Kau, also known as Maima, The Water Spirit, is an emerging queer Liberian diasporic transcendental artist and community organizer rooted in Staten Island, NY. Their art explores themes of identity, heritage, and spirituality, blending traditional West African dance forms with contemporary queer performance art. Mai’yah is currently developing an immersive performance piece titled “Dreaming with Wala: Legacy Lines,” which builds on their exploration of ancestral migration to Liberia through spiritual dance and rituals. This project follows their acclaimed short film “Dancing with Wala (God and ancestors),” celebrating resilience and connectivity through movement.

Mai’yah’s creative process involves embodied exploration and collaborative workshops, fusing choreographic motifs with themes of cultural heritage and personal narrative. Grant support will go towards researching their family’s history and the resultant development of a transformative dance experience.

 

Ballet Imagination / Neil Mitchell

Ballet Imagination, a nonprofit serving Staten Island’s North Shore, enriches diverse communities through arts education and performance opportunities. Dedicated to fostering leadership and cultural engagement, they offer movement and arts classes to children and adults, supporting their artistic growth beyond traditional ballet. Their approach emphasizes inclusivity and community engagement, providing low-cost classes and free performances to underserved youth. Grant funding will allow them to develop new choreographic works, integrating themes of environment and community inspired by their local natural settings.

 

Christopher Paige

Christopher Paige, a lifelong dancer and choreographer, draws on his extensive experience in ballroom and Latin dance to inspire others. As a survivor of major health challenges, dance has been his solace and inspiration, prompting his new project “Recuperation with Rhythm.” This short film aims to showcase dance’s therapeutic benefits through a diverse range of dance styles, featuring not only Christopher’s story, but the stories of other dancers with varying health and mobility. Grant support will go toward obtaining the essential resources needed to produce a short film documenting this transformative journey.

 

Melisande Echanique

Melisande Echanique’s journey as a dancer and choreographer began at Prescott College, Arizona, where she explored dance improvisation and performance art. Rooted in Staten Island’s vibrant arts scene, she merges ecological themes with dance through Solarpunk principles, fostering community and resilience. Her ongoing exploration aims to bridge virtual and physical presence, nurturing connections through dance education and community outreach. Inspired by Dance Exchange’s Climate Institute, she seeks to deepen her artistic practice and explore transformative potentials through movement.

 

Anjoli Chadha

Anjoli Chadha is a performer and dance movement therapist with a rich background in Indian martial arts, ballet, and contemporary performance. Her artistic journey spans collaborations with international artists and organizations, with a focus on celebrating movement as a tool for personal and cultural expression. As a PASS resident at Snug Harbor and Artist in Residence at the Staten Island Children’s Museum, she continues to innovate through her interdisciplinary approach to dance and therapy. She will be using her funding to return to India for further training in Kalaripayattu, hoping to enrich her artistic journey and reconnect with her dance roots.

Paulette Young

Over the last four years, Paulette Young has used her passion for choreography to build a successful career as a line dance educator, teaching various levels to senior citizens at five centers across Staten Island. Inspired by the enthusiasm and skill of her advanced dancers, she is dedicated to challenging and engaging all students, fostering a loyal community. After transitioning from ballroom to line dance instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, she has taught and/or choreographed between 50-75 line dances. Paulette is passionate about expanding her repertoire, and aims to include more mid-20th century big band, pop, and smooth music in her classes, continually introducing new and exciting dances to keep classes fresh and enjoyable.