Twelve Miami-based artists, curators, and collectives will receive grants up to $6,000 each for projects that are accessible to the public via process, presentation, production, or publication.
Locust Projects announces the latest round of recipients of WaveMaker Grants, an Andy Warhol Foundation funded regional re-granting program. Twelve Miami-based artists, curators and collectives will receive up to $6,000 each in three categories: New Work / Projects, Long-Haul Projects, and Research & Development + Implementation. In the spirit of Locust Projects’ artist-centric mission, WaveMakers take risks outside of art institutions and markets, creating innovative work that is accessible to the public via process, presentation, production, or publication. This year’s projects represent diverse visions, subjects, and mediums, including a hybrid-disco chapel installation for self-identifying exiles, curated virtual reality experiences for senior living communities, and a participatory digital archive where Miami’s women artists can shape their living legacies. Since 2015, the WaveMaker Grants program has awarded $399,000 in funding to 77 of Miami’s most visionary artists, curators, and collectives providing vital funds at critical moments in the development and implementation of publicly accessible, innovative projects across Miami-Dade County including supporting ongoing artist-run initiatives such as: BLCK family, Commissioner, Dimensions Variable, EXILE Books, Fresh Art International, Fringe Projects, Obsolete Media Miami, Miami Women’s Artist Archive, Page Slayers, Public Hives, Open Source Art, Sunday Painter, and Third Horizon, among others.
“As part of Locust Projects mission to Make Art Happen by supporting artists with opportunities and resources to advance their careers, WaveMaker grants is a unique grants program supporting artistic practice at various stages – from idea inception to implementation—even over the long-haul,” says Lorie Mertes, Executive Director at Locust Projects. “Focused to support projects intended for non-institutional/nontraditional spaces accessible to the public, WaveMaker introduces audiences to innovative artistic practices and serves as a catalyst for dialogue and exchange.”
This year’s grant recipients were selected from a competitive pool of applicants through a dynamic review process by two local and two national arts professionals: Dejha Carrington, former WaveMaker grant recipient and Vice President of External Relations & Communications at National YoungArts Foundation; Stephanie Seidel, assistant curator at Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Khadija Adell, multimedia artist and Program Manager at The Grit Fund in Baltimore, a member of the regional regranting program; and Mary Magsamen, artist at Hillebrand+Magsamen and curator at Aurora Picture Show, which along with Project Row Houses administers the regional regranting program, The Idea Fund. The twelve grant recipients were selected from approximately 100 applicants. The jurors selected the grant recipients based on the projects’ conceptual rigor and relevance to the local cultural, geographic, and socio-economic context, uniquely innovative interactions with and impact on the local community, and the accessibility of the resulting project to the public.
In response to COVID-19, this year’s grantees are able to use up to 50% of their grant funds for emergency relief due to lost income as needed. As this current moment demands creative solutions to change, the Wavemakers may also adapt their project content, scope, form, venue, and/or timeline as necessary.
“Artists are especially good at seeing opportunities where there are challenges and at creatively adapting. Our WaveMakers are already showing their resilience and their commitment to their visions. We are so excited and curious to see how their projects evolve,” said WaveMaker Coordinator Monica Peña.