Interlace Grant Fund is proud to announce the nine recipients of its 2024 Project Grants, an annual initiative which supports visual arts projects produced and presented in Providence. The grants, totaling $54,000, support new and experimental work by local artists with visions for projects that might otherwise fall outside of traditional arts funding opportunities. Collaboration is at the heart of Project Grant artists’ work–with fellow artists, local communities, or sites. The cohort’s proposed projects engage fashion, photography, printmaking, textiles, installation, and beyond. They will explore themes including (self-)healthcare, love and relationship in BIPOC communities, intergenerational storytelling, and meditations on the natural world of the city.
“Now in our third year of funding, it is a privilege to work with artists committed to an ethos of collaboration and care through art-making in and with the diverse communities and cultures of Providence,” said Carol Stakenas, the new Director and Chief Curator at Providence College Galleries. “We are excited for this cohort of artists and proud to support their thoughtful and engaged projects through the Interlace Project Grants.
“Special thanks go to this remarkable group of grantees, all the thoughtful artists who applied, our insightful panelists, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for their sustained support of this regional regranting initiative, which Providence College Galleries co-founded and administers with Dirt Palace Public Projects. Together, we are pleased to support and amplify the community-driven dedication of Providence visual artists.”
Interlace will celebrate the 2024 Project Grantees at an awards ceremony held at Providence College Galleries’ Smith Center for the Arts at 5:30pm on Wednesday, January 10, 2024. Learn more about grantees, projects and the awards ceremony in the text that follows.
Awarded Artists & Projects
African American Paradise | DJ Chappel
Textile artist DJ Chappel reveals his design evolution through his latest collection “African American Paradise.” Known for his ability to manipulate unconventional materials into couture garments, Chappel
will be presenting his first fashion show. He’ll be focusing on materials that are considered stereotypes of African Americans. This will be a public performance using elements of dance, theater and music to engage the audience with the local designer.
Bodies of Water, Bodies of Land, Bodies | Linda Ford
Linda Ford will create a series of public installations left for passersby to experience outside of art world spaces and institutions. She will fill sidewalk cracks with eco-resin, creating miniature rivers in the urban landscape that draw attention to global and local issues around water contamination. QR codes will be placed near each installation, directing interested passersby to eco-journalism links that alert the public to serious environmental issues. The codes will link to ecori.org, a watchdog that reports on environmental issues across southern New England. At the conclusion of the project, Joanna Detz and Frank Carini, the founders of ecoRI News will give a free public lecture on these issues.
Cambodian Photography Project | Kannetha Brown
Kannetha Brown will produce a series of environmental portraits of her mother and grandmother in Rhode Island and New York that pay homage to the Cambodian legacy after the Khmer Rouge Genocide. This project will be photographed from a 1st generation perspective and explores memory. Pulling from a memoir her mother wrote at URI, the project will reference her journey from Cambodia to Rhode Island.
Tree of Life for Breast/Chest Health: Self-Exam and Early Detection Save Lives | Eliza Squibb with Selam Bedada
Building on the history of textile art as a channel for communication and storytelling, Eliza Squibb and Selam Chale Bedada are creating a contemporary visual story about health and prevention with a printed fabric design that blends historical references and scientific imagery. By working with community leaders and medical experts, their aim is to educate about the signs of breast/chest cancer and share best practices for self-monitoring with imagery that is gender-inclusive and culturally appropriate.
GOD’S PROVIDENCE | Leiyana Simone Pereira
Leiyana Simone seeks to create a portrait-based photo series on the definition of Providence. Across dictionaries, Providence is defined by the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power. Leiyana Simone’s “GOD’S PROVIDENCE,” explores the intersection of divinity and diversity. GOD’S PROVIDENCE captures the cultures of BIPOC communities while subverting image stereotypes by directing photo subjects in an angelic style. These portraits reveal the complexity within identities and power of the people.
In the Mood For Love | Rafael Taveras
Rafael Taveras will produce a series of portraits and video interviews depicting what love looks like in the modern day. Rafael wants to shed a light on Providence BIPOC lovers, friends and families; exploring the unique journeys that people go through together and how love (in all its forms) is the glue that holds them together.
Interwoven Crossroads: Celebrations, Dreams, Sacrifices, and Struggles of Filipinos in Providence | Bhen Alan
Bhen Alan will engage with Filipino-American communities, families, and individuals to share personal narratives and promote cultural awareness to foster connections between the past, present, and future Filipino immigrants in Providence. Bhen’s project aims to create a series of “banig” (woven mats) as ways to honor shared experiences and aspirations that resonate with both Filipino immigrants and the broader American society, resulting in a visually captivating representation of Filipino celebrations, utopic pursuits, sacrifices, and struggles.
Rhode Island Bird Guide | JooHee Yoon with Marie Otsuka
JooHee Yoon will produce an illustrated guide of birds observed in Rhode Island. A meditation on place encouraging everyday appreciation of the local environment, the artist will collaborate with the designer Marie Otsuka to create an engaging and easily accessible risograph printed pocket guide. Using the East Bay Bike Path as the main frame of reference for observation and research, a variety of birds that live or pass through the Ocean State will be featured
SCULPTING SILENT NARRATIVES | Janice Lardey
Janice Lardey will create six abstract depictions of women on fabric, utilizing her distinct textural and dynamic artistic style. The pieces will be displayed in a gallery setting, which will be set up as an immersive maze. The fabric artworks will blend with the immersive maze built within the architectural frame of the gallery space. These abstract portrayals represent women from various generations in Janice’s family based on their visual likeness and narratives.