Tulsa artists will debut diverse work in visual, literary and performing arts and film
The Artists Creative Fund (ACF) has awarded 20 Tulsa artists $10,000 each to test, explore and create innovative work.
From a pool of 110 applicants, ACF welcomes its second annual cohort, rewarding local artists' achievements and supporting the development of creative projects in Tulsa. The selected artists, who will showcase their work during the grant period (August 2024 - March 2025), are as follows:
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Jackson Augustus Adair is a photographer specializing in documenting rodeos, including Gay, Black, and Indigenous rodeo culture. He will bring this vibrant world to life through a multimedia experience featuring bull and bronc riding.
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Ryan Allen, with Tulsa-based folk-rock band Bandelier, will produce a digital release of Six Stars – Song for the Pawnee, an American roots-inspired song blending folk-rock with chamber music elements.
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David Bizzaro is an Emmy award-winning puppeteer, actor and clothing designer who has worked with The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Street, The Muppets and The Flaming Lips. His project will highlight Oklahoma’s once thriving garment industry, fusing his Indigenous heritage and 1800s workwear techniques to produce the first seed-to-stitch garments made in Tulsa.
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Maryalice Carroll will produce a ceramic-based exhibition called Finding Acquiescence, which brings to light the unseen struggles associated with chronic pain, autoimmune disorders and neurological conditions, drawing from both her own experiences and those of others who endure similar discomfort and pain.
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Rogelio Esparza will utilize his experiences as an immigrant child from Mexico to produce Los Nopales Del Norte, a collection of portraits featuring Mexican-born and American-raised dreamers.
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Carey Flack is the creator of @pressed.roots, a blog that explores the intersection of Black and Native land memory in Oklahoma and the South. Her project will explore the profound relationship between Black Oklahomans and the state's landscapes, towns, neighborhoods and historical sites through photos and narratives that intertwine with Southern, Cowboy, Trans-Atlantic, Afro-Indigenous and Tulsa histories.
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Janae Grass is an interdisciplinary artist from the Sac and Fox, Mvskoke and Absentee Shawnee Nations. Her project will explore Oklahoma history and Sac and Fox material culture, through portraits of women who have contributed to the continuation of the Nation wearing their hand-sewn ribbonwork blankets
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Deborah Hunter is a poet, spoken word artist, playwright, essayist, actor, teaching artist, workshop facilitator and social justice activist. A descendant of 1921 Greenwood Massacre survivors, she will host a poetry workshop for seniors culminating in a spoken word performance by the participants in a public venue.
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Brandy Jackson “Branjae” embodies Black American soul, funk and R&B. She empowers and inspires hope through her music, which has been featured in Billboard, Afropunk, and Rolling Stone. Master of Ceremonies is a 20-minute film and seven-piece musical project that delves into mental health, resilience and overcoming self-doubt. A digital musical release will follow the film.
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Mark Kuykendall “The New Honey Shade” is an artist and producer who will produce Plant Music, a generative music experience that invites audiences to witness the organic interplay between technology and the natural world by utilizing live plants to harness the subtle bioelectrical signals they emit to create an evolving soundscape.
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Tammy Mercure is a photographer and writer whose project North Tulsa Community Photo Album, will invite residents to have their photograph made—with captions of their choosing—to add to an ever-growing community-based photo album.
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Onyx Montes will host a zine-making workshop series and social sculpture project comprising three workshops dedicated to creative self-expression and celebrating Tulsa's unsung heroines.
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Anjelica Lindsey is a Cherokee-American composer producing Oklahoma Woman Quartet, featuring original compositions arranged for a string quartet. Spanning two decades of work, this project will culminate in a free live concert.
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Nichole Newton is a filmmaker who will create short stories featuring children enacting their perspective of stories of Black historical figures. Similar in approach to Drunk History, each sketch will be fun and lighthearted yet historically accurate.
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Amairani Pérez Chamu will present Coyolxāuhqui: Poems, a debut collection of poetry that explores undocumented perspectives and the complexities of identity in the United States. The project delves into the history of Aztec culture, focusing on enigmatic figures featured in creation stories such as Coyolxāuhqui, the Moon Goddess, and her intricate relationship with Huitzilopochtli, the Sun God.
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Damion Shade “Damion Shade & The Boom Bap Chorus” will release its debut album and a unique multimedia performance centered on the visual mythology and motifs of Black American Pentecostal tent revivals, while honoring the complex musical and spiritual legacy and history of Black Wall Street and Oklahoma's storied musical past by exploring faith, relationships, personal Black identity and history.
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Logan Sours “Dreamspace Lab x The Makers Out” seek to redefine experiential art and public performance through Silver Seed, a sensory-shifting art installation inspired by nature and human interaction.
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Loren Waters, an award-winning Cherokee and Kiowa filmmaker, will produce a short documentary film Tiger, which highlights Dana Tiger, an Indigenous award-winning, internationally acclaimed artist and elder, and the resurgence of the iconic Tiger T-shirt Company.
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Jerica Wortham, a bestselling author and spoken word artist, will produce The Pärlā Citywide Creative Festival, a dynamic celebration of BIPOC creativity, September 15 - 22, 2024. This week-long event will feature pop-up visual art installations in storefronts and BIPOC-owned venues, live concerts, fashion shows, film festivals, wellness workshops and a vibrant dance festival.
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May Yang, an artist, designer and muralist, will present Wordplay, a gallery exhibition of wall-mounted relief paintings and interactive work that allows visitors to create compositions and contribute to a community relief painting that evolves throughout the run of the exhibition.
“Through ACF, George Kaiser Family Foundation has had the privilege to support a broad array of creative projects. I have full confidence the current awardees will continue that effort in unique and exciting ways,” said Annie Koppel Van Hanken, chief program officer for GKFF.