New York Stage and Film Announces NEXUS Initiative Artist Grants
New York Stage and Film has committed $100,000 to their new NEXUS Initiative that brings together 20 multihyphenate artists to explore the question "where does story exist at the intersection of stage and film?" Through this inaugural program, NYSAF will offer direct support to these artists - each participant receives $5,000 and will take part in a series of conversations focused on the needs of new and expanded forms of storytelling that resonate with our time.
In order to increase access to the program and respond to the ideas of a broad range of storytellers, these 20 participants were recommended by 14 leading artists of stage and film for their accomplishments in exploring new forms of storytelling. The leading artists selection committee includes Ayad Akhtar, César Alvarez, Luis Castro, Elsie Choi, Marcus Gardley, Zach Helm, Beth Henley, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Patricia McGregor, Lila Neugebauer, Madeline Sayat, Shelby Stone, Regina Taylor, and Chay Yew.
"Bringing artists together in community is a guiding principle for New York Stage and Film and the motivation behind Nexus," said Artistic Director Chris Burney. "We wanted NYSAF to be able to engage artists in an entirely new way, so NEXUS provides them direct financial support and also a forum to chart new ways to make and share stories. We are thrilled that so many inspiring creative thinkers from across the country will be a part of it - and we look forward to building even newer, more flexible processes for their work."
Board President Barbara Manocherian added, "NYSAF's response to the pandemic has been to continue its practice of putting artists first, and to support their work in new, flexible, and meaningful ways. NEXUS is a perfect example of that. We are so grateful to everyone participating, for the leading artists that made recommendations, and to NYSAF's Board of Directors, who wholeheartedly endorsed this exciting investment in new work."
NEXUS PARTICIPANTS:
Garrett Allen (they/them) is a Black, queer interdisciplinary artist and director working primarily in performance, video, and installation. Their work navigates the recent, dramatic changes in the ways we consume, perceive, process, identify, and, ultimately, empathize. They create pieces that are urgent, emotionally vulnerable, unapologetic, and visceral; aiming to combat spectator (and general worldly) passivity by collaboratively creating sensorial and actively engaging experiences. Their recent projects include body100 with collaborator Nazareth Hassan (Prelude Festival), co-creating BLK MLK (blackmilk) with poet Kyle Lopez (Spectrum NYC), directing ...When The World Is No Longer: by Dante Green (Ars Nova ANTFEST, Polyphone Festival), and devising/creating We Were All Rooting For You (Flamboyan). Their video and performance art works have been exhibited at The Invisible Dog, School of Visual Arts NYC, Harvard, Knockdown Center, Signal Gallery, The Deep End, and You Are Here. They are the co-founder of LEGACY: A Black Queer Production Collective. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Directing at Yale School of Drama.
Ace Anderson works as a professional actor, graphic designer, and photographer. He is a member of the outstanding league of elite Dallas actors known as the Brierley Resident Acting Company at the Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center. He is a 2013 alum of Southern Methodist University with a BFA in Acting from Meadows School of The Arts. After working at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as the lead Graphic designer for a couple of years, he started his own brand design & development company called The Striped Heart. His primary goal is to build a blockbuster film acting career to create an influential platform to revolutionize the way humans tell stories.
BRITTANY BLAND is a storyteller who has dedicated her life to the proliferation of empathy. As a projection designer for the stage, she has designed for theater, dance, and opera. Her work as a video artist often explores the ideas of legacy, memory, and empathy. Originally from Atlanta GA, she holds a BA in Technical Theater and Production from Catawba College and MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama. Her recent design credits include Cuttin Up (Classical Theater of Harlem), Rage (Quinnipiac University), Florencia en el Amazonas (Shubert Theater), Alice (Yale University Theater), Black History Museum (Here Arts Center), Twelfth Night (Yale Repertory Theater).
