Former Briarcliff Manor and Cortlandt Manor (Hen Hud class of 2016) resident and current River Journal videographer, Hunter Begun, has received an Artist Employment Program (AEP) grant from Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY). Hunter’s grant was received in conjunction with Ma’s House Studio, a communal art space on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, New York. Ma’s House features an artist residency program for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists, an art studio, library, and hosts an array of art and history-based programs for tribe members and the broader local community. Hunter is a member of the Shinnecock Nation. Hunter will be documenting via video the artists in residence. Other Ma’s House Studio artists receiving grants were Denise Silva-Dennis, Brianna Hernandez, and Jeremy Dennis.
Designed to support employment opportunities for artists, the program is funding 98 collaborations involving a dynamic group of 300 artists employed by community-based organizations, municipalities, and tribal governments across New York State. CRNY has awarded a total of $49.9M in funding to support artists’ salaries and benefits, with an additional $11.7M in funding provided to the organizations holding employment.
“If we are to truly rebuild our amazing state, we must celebrate artists’ contributions not only to the economy but to what makes us human,” says Creatives Rebuild New York’s Executive Director Sarah Calderon. “The incredible work being funded through CRNY’s Artist Employment Program underscores the importance of direct support for both individual artists and the organizations that hold their employment.”
Artist Employment Program recipients were selected through a two-stage process by a group of twenty external peer reviewers alongside CRNY staff. From an initial pool of over 2,700 written applications, 167 were shortlisted for interviews with reviewers. To view the list of 98 Artist Employment Program participants, visit https://www.creativesrebuildny.org/participants/.
For more information about Creatives Rebuild New York’s Artist Employment Program, please visit creativesrebuildny.org.
