KFW Gives Five Additional $8,000 Special Grants to Address Radical, Timely and Urgent Issues

In an effort to spark transformational change, the Kentucky Foundation for Women has awarded five additional special grants of $8,000 to individuals and groups working to create radical art for social change in Kentucky. These grants provide artists the means to actively change the conditions and circumstances that are currently affecting women and girls in Kentucky. KFW received 29 applications for the 2016 Special Grant: Radical Art for Social Change and awarded seven total grants.

Additional grantees include:

ArtThrust (Louisville): to support a series of art workshops with LGBTQIA youth that will address trauma experienced by these youth and the potential for serious health conditions that can stem from this trauma. The workshops will conclude with a public art exhibition, which will speak to the wholeness of each young person and will contribute to public dialogue about LGBTQIA issues.

Color Your City, Inc. (Hillview): to develop their Female Artists Behind Bars (FABB) Program, weekly creative writing and art workshops for incarcerated women in the Bullitt County Detention Center, and create a print anthology of participants’ work. The program aims to reduce recidivism and increase successful recovery and long-term sobriety.

Arwen Donahue (Carlisle): to write a graphic memoir that explores a year of life on her rural Kentucky farm. The narrative explores themes of ecology, privilege, poverty, motherhood, and reproductive justice. The publication and dissemination of this work will expand civic dialogue on these issues and how they intersect in women’s lives, both in Kentucky and nationally.

Chamara Jewel Kwakye (Lexington): to use an arts based social justice framework to engage Black girls from north Lexington in visual art workshops, which will culminate in a photo exhibit and film of the program to be shown at the Lyric Theatre. The program aims to influence a change in the way Black girls see themselves and trust each other, and in the way the larger community supports Black girls.

Doris Thurber (Frankfort): to work with Jennifer Zingg and Joanna Hay to develop a pilot project for women in Franklin County’s drug courts that will incorporate a variety of art experiences including creative writing, theatre and visual art self-portraits, which will help the women heal from addiction. The program will culminate in a public event showcasing participants’ work and a video will be created to raise awareness about addiction and drug abuse in Kentucky.

KFW congratulates these inspiring artists on the powerful work they’re doing in their communities.