2012 Joyce Award Winners Announced

Grants Commission Artists of Color to Make New Works in Four Midwest Cities

The Joyce Foundation announced today four winners of the prestigious 2012 Joyce Awards to commission artists of color to create new works with cultural institutions. The Joyce Awards recognize innovative, thought-provoking projects and come with a $50,000 grant. Winners were selected for artistic merit, audience engagement potential, and are commissioned in collaboration with an arts or cultural institution that contributes to a dynamic community engagement plan.

The Joyce Foundation seeks to fund projects that bring diverse audiences together, and create common cultural experiences that encourage participants to see art as integral to their lives and communities. This year's winners will create projects in four Midwest cities; Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Indianapolis.

2012 Winners Are:

• William Pope.L working with SPACES in Cleveland to create," Parade: a large-scale public project that interweaves the memories, dreams and histories of Clevelanders." (Watch Video)
• Reggie Wilson working with Columbia College Chicago Dance Center to create Moseses Project, an evening-length dance theater work, exploring the interfaith mythical, biblical, historic and global references of Moses. (Watch Video)
• Luis Alfaro as lead artist, working with Enrique Adyanthaya and Marlina Gonzalez to write a season of plays based on the ideas behind Latino/Asian fusion in collaboration with two Twin City theater companies, Teatro del Pueblo and Pangea. (Watch Video)
• Rafael Lozano-Hemmer will create an interactive, light-based work for a prominent location in downtown Indianapolis, which will be the first significant work by an artist of Latino descent in the city center. Indianapolis Museum of Art will provide curatorial oversight of the project. (Watch Video)

The goal is for these commissions to produce vivid, new works of art that strengthen cultural venues and draw people of diverse backgrounds to experience the rewards of participating in the arts. "Artists change cities. Artists change neighborhoods. Artists change individuals," explained Angelique Power, The Joyce Foundation's senior program officer for Culture. "That's why the Joyce Foundation supports democratizing the arts experience. As we can see from the long legacy of Joyce Award winning projects, neighborhoods and communities inspire world-class artists to create new works, and the artists in turn spark the imaginations of the people they touch. It's a wonderful relationship."

After ten years, the Joyce Award program is opening up to all 501 C-3 nonprofit organizations. Find more information about the changes and how to apply here.