3Arts announces inaugural recipients of $50,000 grants for Teaching Artists
Chicago teaching artists Miguel "Kane One" Aguilar and Regin Igloria – along with visual artists Dianna Frid, Edra Soto, and Dorian Sylvain – announced as 2023 ‘Next Level’ awardees at November 13 celebration
CHICAGO, Ill. – 3Arts, the Chicago-based nonprofit grantmaking organization, announced the recipients of its 3Arts Next Level Awards—$50,000 unrestricted cash awards given to past 3Arts awardees—during the festive 3Arts Awards Celebration held last night at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. While 3Arts has in the past awarded three Next Level grants, the roster this year was expanded to include two additional awards for teaching artists; at $50,000, this is the largest no-strings-attached cash award for teaching artists in the world. 2023 Next Level recipients are teaching artists Miguel “Kane One” Aguilar and Regin Igloria and visual artists Dianna Frid, Edra Soto, and Dorian Sylvain in recognition of their outstanding work in the arts and in neighborhoods across Chicago.
"Receiving any major award is a milestone, for sure, but getting a second and even larger award when the time is right can be momentum building for an artist. Our Next Level program is all about helping power artists at pivotal times in their careers—when they are ready to bring their big dreams and visionary projects to life,” said 3Arts Executive Director Esther Grimm. She adds, “Last night, we announced the expansion of our program as we added two new Next Level awards to express our gratitude to teaching artists for all of the needed work they do, across generations, in schools, neighborhoods, hospitals, prisons, elder care centers, and more. They are our heroes."
During the November 13 event, 3Arts celebrated ten previously announced 3Arts Awards recipients with $30,000 in unrestricted cash grants. Another ten artists were selected by past 3Arts awardees to receive $2,000 unrestricted grants through Make a Wave, an artist-to-artist grant program.
The jam-packed awards ceremony featured high energy performances by Grammy Award-winning opera singer Will Liverman (on break from his starring role in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X currently running at The Metropolitan Opera); a dance excerpt from Gentle, Into That Good Night by critically acclaimed choreographer Stephanie Martinez (founder of PARA.MAR Dance Theatre); and a grand finale led by Chicago’s inaugural poet laureate avery r. young joined by an “all-star band” of past 3Arts awardees JoVia Armstrong, Meagan McNeal, Bethany Thomas, Caitlin Edwards, and Sam Thousand.
3Arts has supported more than 2,000 artists, including 70% women artists, 70% artists of color, and 20% Deaf and disabled artists working in the six-county metropolitan area, and distributed over $6.6 million in grants. Through unrestricted awards, project funding, residencies, professional development, and promotion, 3Arts helps artists take risks, experiment, and build momentum in their careers over time.
The celebratory evening was hosted by Grimm with event co-chairs Juana Guzman, Will Liverman, Nalani McClendon, and Jason Quiara.
The 2023 Next Level Teaching Arts Award panelists are: Charles Grode (President & Executive Director for Merit School of Music, Chicago); Jordan LaSalle (Vice President of Education at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.); and Jill LeCesne Potter (Senior Director of Learning Programs at Lyric Opera of Chicago).
The 2023 Next Level Visual Arts Award panelists are: Julie Rodrigues (Executive Director of UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA); Eugenie Tsai (curator and writer, New York, NY); and Folayemi Wilson (Professor of Art and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Architecture at Penn State, State College, PA).
The 2023 recipients of the unrestricted $30,000 grants are dance artists Donnetta “LilBit” Jackson and Rika Lin; musicians Rashada Dawan and Avreeayl Ra; teaching artists Jacinda Bullie and Eric Hotchkiss; theater artists Nancy García Loza and Charlotte “Chuck” Gruman; and visual artists Selva Aparicio and Jenny Kendler.
The 2023 recipients of the Make a Wave Awards ($2,000 per artist): Jonathan Emanuell Alsberry (stager, rehearsal director, producer, and teacher): Anaiet (composer, pianist, guitarist, and vocalist); Jasmine A. Barber (curator, rapper and educator); Andrea Coleman (interdisciplinary artist); Melissa DuPrey (actor, musician, and playwright); Amara “Rebel Betty” Martin (cultural producer, educator, organizer, and multidisciplinary artist); AiRos 頌恩 medill (visual and sonic mover, care worker, storyteller, and dancer); Rhea the Second (vocalist, songwriter, and producer); Lucy Vurusic Riner (dancer, choreographer, and educator); and Stephanie Shum (actor and theater administrator).
For more information about 3Arts, please visit www.3arts.org.
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