Cultural Affairs Office

Press and Communications

City Awards New Round of Grants to 22 Local Arts Projects

October 15, 2019 -- The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA) is happy to announce another group of recipients of Let Creativity Happen! competitive arts grants.

A total of $55,000 will support 22 creative and innovative projects throughout the City of Houston. The $2,500 grants were awarded to 13 artists, eight organizations and one group.

Funded by the portion of the City of Houston Occupancy Tax that is dedicated to the arts, Let Creativity Happen! is administered by MOCA with the Houston Arts Alliance.

“Since the launch of this grant program last year, the City has offered unique opportunities to risk-taking creative projects that presents the public with bold bodies of work,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said. “These projects have taken place throughout the City of Houston and have drawn visitors and Houstonians alike to engage with arts and cultural events created through local talent.”

“With the beginning of each cycle, it is always exciting to see how these group of recipients will continue to take a dynamic and fresh approach to engage with their communities, introduce new and unique art experiences, and involve the public in their creativity,” said MOCA Director Debbie McNulty.

“The projects culminate in a presentation where recipients talk about what they created, learned and have an opportunity to engage with other grant recipients," she said. "I invite everyone to join me at the next 8x8, eight artists x eight minutes, on Thursday, Oct. 17 at The Print Museum (1324 W Clay St, Houston, TX 77019), 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.”

MOCA congratulates all award recipients as they embark on their projects and thank them for their dedication to the arts and cultural vitality of Houston.

To learn more about the Let Creativity Happen! Express Grant program visit: https://www.houstonartsalliance.com/opportunities/grants/let-creativity-happen-express-grants.

The next deadline for grant applications is 5:30 pm Nov. 1.

In photo below: Waterscapes with Buffalo Bayou Partnership by Carrie Schneider

Grant Recipients:

Project Title

Discipline

#Afro-LatinHTX

#Afro-LatinHTX

Literature, Radio and Podcast

Gbenga Ayeni

Houston Open Canvas: Version 2.0

Painter

Chapman Dance

Folding and Unfolding: a dance and visual art collaboration

Dance

David Dove

Down Time

Music

Frame Dance

Micro Dances

Dance, Music and Film

Irraschenal Pictures

Whistle

Film Producer

JUICEBOX

JUICEBOX

Music

Brandon Kafarela

BUSSANT Fashion Collective – Launch

Fashion & Textiles

KRISTINA KOUTSOUDAS

Dance of the Maghreb: A Taste of Culture

Dance

Lynn Lane

The Noctambulist

Multi-media performance art

Melinda Laszcynski and John Forse

You know what I could go for…

Ceramics and digital

Deniz Lopez

All Real Children’s Rising Programming

Media and Electronic Arts

Anna Mayer

We Are Not Only Everything

Sculpture/Social Sculpture

Jesus Medel

Journal Writing and Collective Memory

Literature (Creative)

Mystery Loves Company

Mystery Nights

Music

Obsidian Theater

Othello The Remix

Theater

Reyes Ramierez

The Three Masks of Iturbide Villalobos: A Reading and Wrestling Performance

Literary, Performing Arts

BABA RUEROB

Rue's World

Music/Film

Carrie Schneider

Waterscapes with Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Socially Engaged Art

Mich Stevenson

A Lot A Land

Multidisciplinary

Sarah Sudhoff

Point of Origin

Dance and Kinetic Sound Installation

Young Audiences Inc., of Houston

HCJPD Youth Mural Project

Visual Art

Waterscapes Graphic