The Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, on Tuesday announced the recipients of research and development grants.
Twenty-four awards of up to $5,000 each will help artists in the state advance their artistic practice and expand their creative reach.
Kesha Bruce, artist program manager for the Commission, said the recipients represent a broad spectrum. “It’s across disciplines, so we have writers, puppeteers, people that work in creating virtual reality experiences and environments and, of course, theater in all types of forms," Bruce said.
Diana Marie Delgado, literary director at the University of Arizona Poetry Center and a widely published poet and author, was excited to be among the winners. Her grant, "will fund research that will inform the writing of prose poems about the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire," according to a social media post.
Bruce said a new application period will open this month and there will be workshops for artists to help prepare their entry materials. Stage one of the next selection process begins in July and stage two will happen in October. The judging panel will convene the following month and award announcements will be made just before Christmas.
The selections were made by a panel that included other artists with a range of expertise.
Artists Who Received Awards:
- Dexter L. Booth (Phoenix)
- Jacqueline Chanda (Tucson)
- Craig Cully and Kelly Leslie (Tucson)
- Coley Curry (Tucson)
- Diana Marie Delgado (Tucson)
- Stacey Gordon (Phoenix)
- Ryan Greene (Phoenix)
- Tiffany Hawk (Tucson)
- Dominique Holley (Litchfield Park)
- Rob Jameson (Mayer)
- Sharayah (Shay) Jimenez (Tucson)
- Maximiliano Larrea (Tucson)
- Mary Lucking (Phoenix)
- Tim “Tucson Tim” Madril (Tucson)
- Amanda Meeks (Tucson)
- Meghan Diego (Phoenix)
- Karen Odden (Scottsdale)
- Nicole L. Olson (Phoenix)
- Penelope Starr (Tucson)
- Cynthia Stokes (Tucson)
- Deswood Tillman (Chandler)
- Vo Vera (Sedona)
- Ashley White (Tucson)
- Kristian Williams (Tempe)
Arizona Artists And Arts Professionals Who Reviewed Applications:
- Amy Dunn (Tucson) – Artist
- Bijoyini Chatterjee (Bisbee) – Artist & Founder of Onrica Productions
- Mel Dominguez (Tucson) – Artist
- Lawrence Lenhart (Flagstaff) – Artists & Lecturer at Northern Arizona University
- Antoinette Cauley (Phoenix) – Artist
- Roman Orona (Chandler) – Artist & Founder of iamHUMAN Media
- Amanda Mollindo (Phoenix) – Artist & Marketing Coordinator at the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation
- Geneah Berrian (Yuma) – Artist & Founder of EVE Events Group
- Elizabeth Guzman (Phoenix) – Artist & Instructor at Arizona School for the Arts
- Delisa Myles (Prescott) – Artist
