Regional Artist Grants Announced 2013/2014

TRAC (Toe River Arts Council) Announces Grant Recipients

The Asheville Area Arts Council, the Madison County Arts Council, and the Toe River Arts Council are pleased to announce the 2013/2014 Regional Artist Project Grant recipients. 

The Regional Artist Project Grant is an annual grant program that provides financial support to developing professionals by funding a project pivotal to the advancement of their careers as artists. The selection criteria include artistic merit, the potential of the project to contribute to the artist's professional growth, and the feasibility of the project itself.

This year’s process saw 41 applicants with over $42,500 in requests from all art disciplines. A total of $9,400 was awarded this year. This program is supported by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency, and funds from the Asheville Area, Madison County, and Toe River Arts Councils. Additional funding came from the Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts, and included funding from the Avery Arts Council.

This year’s award recipients are:

Bromelia Aerial Dance Collection [Performing Arts]: $1,200 to help fund cost for its members to attend the international recognized Aerial Dance Festival, Boulder, CO;

Julie Becton Gillum [Performing Arts]: $1200 to stage a piece entitled, “Biosphere,” part of a larger five-section work entitled, “Sphere”;

Lockie Hunter [Literary Arts]: $400 to attend a four-day poetry workshop intensive at the 18th Annual West Virginia Writer's Workshop;

Cathie Langdon [Visual Arts]: $600 to purchase an eight-harness loom;

Harper Leich [Visual Arts]: $300 to paint “Flower Essence Portraits” – six paintings of six collaborators embodying the energetic essence of six chosen plants;

Tom Pazderka [Visual Arts]: $600 to assist in producing and continuing a new body of work;

Erin Canady [Visual Arts]: $1200 to fund participation as an artist-in-residence at the Gullkistan community in Laugavartn, Iceland.

Timothy Burkhardt [Literary Arts)]: $500 to help defray travel costs for a series of nonfiction stories about three friends who travel across the U.S. while working for a carnival.

Emily Reason [Ceramic Arts]: $740 to purchase tools needed to produce a series of narrative sculptures;

Francesco Lombardo [Visual Arts]: $1200 to hire a professional assistant capable of guiding the mixing of color, and to purchase a large quantity of paint for the process.

Elisa DeFeo [Ceramic Arts]: $294.86 to purchase materials and small equipment needs for studio in order to return to full-time production;

David Eichelberger [Ceramic Arts]: $660 to purchase a mechanical slab roller;

Scott Summerfield [Ceramic Arts]: $500 to purchase a computerized temperature controller to run a recently built annealing oven. 

Denise Cook, TRAC Executive Director stated, “It’s incredible to see the amazing work created by the many artists that live and work in our region. The time, energy, passion, and unbound creativity are extremely impressive.” After a peer panel reviews applications, finalists are selected. Then a final panel interviews these finalists. Panelists are composed of artists, arts administrators, and respected community leaders from each of the five participating counties. Cook added, “These artists are well deserving of this award. We wish each of them great success with their projects and their future work.”