Christopher Blay
The five winners for the inaugural session of the new biannual Nasher Microgrant were announced today.
The grants are for $1000 each. Here is the list of Spring 2015 winners and brief descriptions of their proposals, via the Nasher Sculpture Center:
Christopher Blay, Fort Worth. Blay plans to realize a video production and installation of the project Kara Walker Texas Ranger which considers the history of violence toward African Americans by police and other armed authorities. The project will be done in collaboration with New York puppeteers Lake Simons and Christopher Green.
Brick Haus Collective, Denton. Artists Rachel Fisher and Abby Sherrill will use funds to establish an artist-run incubator space in Denton which will include affordable studio spaces as well as opportunities for artists to collaborate and participate in exhibitions, performances and instructional workshops.
Celia Eberle, Dallas. Eberle has been using stone and natural materials in her work in recent years which require pneumatic tools to carve, so she plans to use her microgrant to purchase a new compressor to operate carving tools.
Jeff Gibbons, Arlington. Gibbons will use his funds to rent a studio space in Dallas and pay for the transport of his work to national and international exhibitions at this critical point in his career.
Margaret Meehan, Dallas. Meehan often uses clay in her artistic practice and has always had to rely on outside sources for the use of a kiln to fire the work. However, she recently was able to purchase a kiln, and she will put her Nasher microgrant funds toward hiring an electrician and purchasing an environmental vent to make it function safely in her studio.
This session’s grant jurors were DFW artists Frances Bagley, Annette Lawrence, and John Pomara; the Chicago artist Tony Tasset; and the Nasher’s own Leigh Arnold and Anna Smith. The grant was made possible by contributions by Michael Corman and Kevin Fink, and Christen and Derek Wilson.
The next session takes place this fall. For more info on the microgrants, go here.
