2017 Artist Enrichment Grants

KFW is proud to announce the 2017 Artist Enrichment grantees! These inspiring artists are finding diverse and innovative ways to further their own artistic development while creating art for positive social change throughout the state. Learn more about these exciting projects below.

• Sylvia Ahrens (Lexington): $1,000 for research and writing time to create a manuscript of poems about Rosalind Franklin. Creating the work will further advance her commitment as a feminist writer. The poems will highlight the life and accomplishments of a much undervalued voice in the field of science, reinforcing the idea that women can succeed in any field they choose.
• Leslie Anglin (Louisville): $2,750 to attend a workshop on the art of kintsugi (the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery) and to create a new series of mixed-media work that addresses the transformative effect of loss on feminine identity. The workshop will expand her visual language as an artist. The resulting work will encourage dialogue among women about breakage and repair as essential parts of life.
• Carrie Billett (Harlan): $7,000 to create new works and an exhibition exploring unconventional uses of traditional craft materials and techniques often seen as “women’s work.” Experimenting at the intersection of these varied techniques will refine her artistic voice. The finished work will create space for conversations in her community about art and women’s roles.
• Tasha Cotter (Lexington): $1,000 for completion of a narrative-driven poetry collection tentatively titled Near and Far: A Poet’s Journey through America’s Parks. This grant will enable her to visit two parks that will be explored in detail in the manuscript. The finished work will address issues related to climate change, sustainability, and preserving natural resources from a feminist perspective.
• Shannon Davis-Roberts (Murray): $2,000 to attend a series of workshops through Women Who Write and to write a short story cycle that centers on a young woman who develops a relationship with an intersex man. Attending events will help her develop as a feminist writer, and the stories will challenge traditional concepts of intimacy, love, and gender identity, and promote dialogue about the social stigma surrounding sexual ambiguity.
• Rachel Grimes (Milton): $4,500 to support the continued creation and development of the music and script for a folk opera, The Way Forth, which explores perspectives of generations of Kentucky women from 1775 to the present. Creating the piece will expand the scope of the work and help her hone her orchestration skills. The finished work will inspire dialogue about the systematic oppression of women of European and African-American descent, and envision a new path forward.
• Vanessa Grossl (Lexington): $1,000 to create a multimedia pop-up exhibit showcasing the stories of immigrant entrepreneurs/ restaurant owners in Lexington, KY. The project will further develop her skills as a photographer and cultural anthropologist. The exhibit will humanize immigrants and increase understanding of their hopes, dreams, and contributions in communities across the state.
• Aaisha Hamid (Louisville): $3712 to produce and market a series of books dedicated to encouraging high school and college aged women to embrace their identities and speak up in a society that continuously stills their voices. The project will enable her to refine her writing skills while celebrating her own identity as a Pakistani American, Muslim woman. The books will introduce young women to powerful women protagonists and redefine the literary narrative society has created for them.
• Julie Hensley (Richmond): $1,507 to fund a writing residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, where she will complete and revise her novel, The Recklessness of Water. The residency will deepen her skills as a feminist novelist. The finished work will foster more open dialogue about (in)fertility, sexuality, depression, abuse, and other topics affecting women, ultimately guiding readers toward personal and familial healing and growth.
• DaMaris B. Hill (Lexington): $4,500 to create a multimedia digital poem titled “Harriet’s Crown” — a remixed version of a piece from her forthcoming poetry manuscript. Working in mixed media will expand her scope as a literary artist. The finished work will honor the legacy of Black women activists across time and create dialogue about the complex negotiation between national identity and the mass media coverage of police brutality against black bodies.
• Jenny Hobson (Berea): $3,020 to complete a set of letters and essays exploring what it means to communicate with powerful men who set national policies with local impacts, and to create web-based tools and workshops with local activists based on this work. The letters and essays will create public dialogue about this form of political participation, and workshops will encourage others to communicate with and reflect on their interactions with those in power.
• Rebecca Gayle Howell(Hindman): $3000 to work on her third book of poems, The Decisive Moment, which grapples with the 24-hour news cycle and the confessional voice. Writing in this mode will help her develop her feminist voice and connect the personal and the political in new ways. The finished work will encourage dialogue and inspire other women to speak their truths.
• Trish Lindsey Jaggers (Smiths Grove): $3,711 to complete a poetry collection titled Birdshot: The Pellet Poems, and to conduct workshops and poetry readings based on this work. The grant will provide her the time, space, and objective distance needed to create the work. The workshops and readings will enlighten and encourage women to break old patterns of subservience and self-doubt and renew their goals.
• Karen Jones (Lexington): $3,200 to produce an audio and videotape session of music and interviews with contemporary women fiddlers from Central Kentucky, to be held at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington. Producing the project will further her goals as a feminist artist by helping her fine-tune her own skills while providing a unique opportunity for other women fiddlers to hone their craft, learn from one another, and highlight their accomplishments.
• Karen Lanier of KALA Creative (Lexington): $2,500 to attend conferences, work with a writing mentor, and attend workshops to develop her skills to better communicate about women’s perspectives on farming and the food systems. The activities will strengthen her writing skills and help build connections with women in the sustainable farming community, and will ultimately expand the scope of her work and its impact in the community.
• Amira Karaoud (Louisville): $3,890 to create a multimedia art installation showcasing the variety of perspectives and experiences of Arab women living in the United States. The activities will strengthen her interviewing and photography skills and further her development as a feminist artist. The finished work will provide a voice for a community that is underrepresented and misrepresented locally and nationally.
• Lori Larusso (Lexington): $5,000 to create a series of painting installations and printed materials that explore the relationship between traditional domestic practices and everyday activism. Creating the work will deepen her engagement with social change through art. The finished work will celebrate and encourage structural change though individual acts of resistance.
• Jaqui Linder (Versailles): $1,000 to rent a gallery for a one-woman show and to exhibit a body of feminist artwork, much of which has never before been seen due to its very personal and gender political nature. The exhibit will increase her visibility as a feminist artist. The work itself will inspire dialogue about body hatred, eating disorders, media representations of women, and other feminist issues.
• Looking for Lilith Theatre Company (Louisville): $4,000 to work with New Orleans’ based RacePeace to develop a framework for shifting racial dynamics and dismantling racism within their company. Working with RacePeace will help them develop as intersectional feminist artists, and will ultimately strengthen their ability to inspire social change within the larger community in which they live and work.
• George Ella Lyon (Lexington): $1,500 to revise The Other Side of Everything, a novel about unacknowledged sexual abuse and grief carried over from one generation to the next. The revision process will deepen her ability to represent women’s silencing, shaming and scapegoating through the story. The finished work will be a catalyst of change within herself as an author, as well as her readers.
• Kristen Renee Miller (Louisville): $4,500 to translate a book-length collection of poetry by indigenous poet Marie-Andrée Gill into English. The project will help Miller hone her skills as a feminist translator. The finished work will bring Gill’s work, which addresses themes of colonialism, ecology, and commodification, to an English-speaking readership that has not previously been able to access the work.
• Marie Mitchell (Richmond): $1,000 to write a biography of Mary Creegan Roark, the first female President of what is now Eastern Kentucky University, for young readers. Working on the biography will strengthen her skills as a nonfiction writer. The finished work will educate readers about Roark’s contributions and inspire students to set goals and overcome obstacles in their lives.
• Mary K. Morgan (Chappell): $1,000 to assemble a series of feminist, provocative, abstract, marketable, multimedia visual works. The grant will provide an opportunity for her to create and exhibit her work in an area where there are few resources for artists like herself. The work will expose audiences to perspectives, mediums, and ideas that challenge the status quo and foster respectful engagement across a variety of differences.
• Jill Robertson (Hazard): $7,500 to take classes with a local artist and to produce a large community sculpture to be placed along the River Arts Greenway in the heart of downtown Hazard, Kentucky. The classes will further develop her metallurgy skills. The finished work will increase her visibility as a female welder and help normalize welding as an art form practiced by women.
• Savannah Sipple (Lexington): $4,000 for a year of continuing education in creative nonfiction craft, ultimately leading to the completion of a collection of interconnected memoir essays. Attending workshops will strengthen her prose and give her the opportunity to work with other feminist LGBTQ writers. The finished work will address the intersection of issues such as women’s autonomy, physical and emotional abuse, Christian fundamentalism, body shaming, and homophobia from a queer, rural, feminist perspective.
• Rainbow Star (Berea): $1,000 to complete her debut folk pop album and to tour this new work in venues across Appalachia. The tour will build her confidence as a feminist singer/songwriter and broaden her audience. The music will encourage dialogue about patriarchy and inspire women to pursue creative outlets as a means of healing and as a form of activism.
• Jamey Temple (Williamsburg): $3,950 to complete a book of poetry about Korean international adoption informed by her experiences as an adoptive parent of Korean children. The project will develop her writing skills and deepen her commitment as a feminist writer. The finished work will raise awareness about the injustices facing the adoption triad (birth family, adoptee, and adoptive family) within a deeply flawed adoption system.
• The Local Honeys (Linda Jean Stokley & Montana Hobbs) (Versailles): $2,000 to record a full-length album of songs to preserve and share traditional music of their region, including original works that speak to their experiences as Kentucky women. Creating the album will expand their reach and scope as musicians. The finished work will increase the visibility of women in traditional music as a way to inspire social change.
• Tanya Torp (Lexington): $3,500 to attend writing classes and workshops and to develop a creative nonfiction instructional book raising awareness about subversive and effective community building strategies. Attending the workshops and classes will hone her skills as a writer in a new genre. The finished work will highlight the effectiveness of recurrent community gatherings for relationship building and community problem-solving, fostering hope in divisive times.
• Tucky Williams (Lexington): $7,500 to create a second Daggar Kiss film, a fantasy adventure about two women from different worlds who fall in love. Creating the work will expand her reach to include a younger audience. The finished work will continue to spread the message of acceptance of lesbians and all women who love women romantically.
• Lindsey Windland and Meg Wilson (Berea): $6,260 to purchase materials needed to create a series of tintype portraits, and to attend a workshop covering the wet plate collodion process. Attending the workshop and creating the work will enhance their skills in creating photographic portraits. The finished work will raise awareness about feminist change-makers in the Berea community and celebrate their accomplishments.
• Whitney Withington (Big Hill): $3,000 create three artist books featuring vintage vernacular photography from Eastern Kentucky to reverse the trend of invisibility of African American women in Appalachian imagery and literature. The activities will strengthen her computer, design, and decoration skills. The finished work will create dialogue and challenge stereotypes about African Americans in the Appalachian region.