‘Hoop Dreams’ Director, Composer Named Sxip Get $50,000 Grants
Sxip Shirey
Resnicow Schroeder via Bloomberg
Experimental composer Sxip Shirey is one of the 52 recipients of a 2011 United States Artists $50,000 fellowship awarded to "innovative and influential artists'' in their field who struggle to make a steady income.
Experimental composer Sxip Shirey is one of the 52 recipients of a 2011 United States Artists $50,000 fellowship awarded to "innovative and influential artists'' in their field who struggle to make a steady income. Source: Resnicow Schroeder via Bloomberg
Steve James
Resnicow Schroeder via Bloomberg
Documentary filmmaker Steve James was selected today as one of 52 recipients of a $50,000 United States Artists fellowship. His films include "Hoop Dreams'' (1994) and ``The Interrupters,'' which had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Documentary filmmaker Steve James was selected today as one of 52 recipients of a $50,000 United States Artists fellowship. His films include "Hoop Dreams'' (1994) and ``The Interrupters,'' which had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Source: Resnicow Schroeder via Bloomberg
A documentary filmmaker, a group of edgy choreographers and a glass artist are among the 52 winners of the 2011 United States Artists fellowships.
The $50,000 grants, announced today at a ceremony hosted by actor Tim Robbins in Santa Monica, California, went to a group ranging in work from poets to photographers and in age from 31 to 78.
The winners include Steve James, who directed the 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams” about the struggle of two black teenagers to become professional basketball players; Tennessee- based photographer Mike Smith, known for images of rural Appalachia; modern-dance pioneer Donald Byrd, who choreographed “The Color Purple” on Broadway; and experimental composer Sxip Shirey, whose offbeat guitar playing blends odd noises with music.
“The grant allows me to work on my next film without having to secure funding immediately,” said James, whose most recent documentary, “The Interrupters,” had its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
USA provides funds for “the most innovative and influential artists” in their field who struggle to maintain a steady income, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit said in a statement.
“Our staff makes the phone calls to the winners, and sometimes they’re crying or they’ll say, ‘You’ve pulled me back from the edge,’” Katharine DeShaw, USA’s executive director, said in a phone interview. “You get a sense that the award is a real life saver.”
Candidates are nominated by an anonymous panel of people in the arts and then apply for grants. Past recipients have included cartoonist Chris Ware, fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte; choreographers Benjamin Millepied and Bill T. Jones; and the novelist Sapphire.
Origins
The Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential and Rasmuson foundations helped set up the USA Artists program in 2005 with $22 million in seed money. Those institutions teamed up last year with the Omaha-based Todd and Betiana Simon Foundation to expand the program by establishing a $50 million endowment and capital campaign.
Other winners this year include glass artist Beth Lipman, architectural designer Jenny Sabin, guitarist Manuel Barrueco; poet A.E. Stallings (who won a $500,0000 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in September); assemblage artist John Outterbridge; and theater artist and painter Roger Shimomura whose work addresses Asian-American stereotypes.
A complete list of the grant winners can be found at http://www.unitedstatesartists.org.
To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff in New York at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
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