Light Work Awarded $35,000 NEA Art Works Grant

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced that Light Work is one of 1,000 not-for-profit national, regional, state and local organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. Light Work will receive $35,000 for its Artist-in-Residence Program and production of “Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual.”

The Art Works category focuses on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

“The arts enhance our communities and our lives, and we look forward to seeing these projects take place throughout the country, giving Americans opportunities to learn, to create, to heal and to celebrate,” says Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

“We’re grateful for the National Endowment for the Art’s continued support of our residency program and their recognition of Light Work as one of the leading arts organizations in the country,” says Light Work’s director Shane Lavalette. “Thanks to the support of the NEA we are able to offer today’s emerging and under-recognized artists the time, space and resources they need to develop their creative projects.”

Every year Light Work invites between 12 and 15 artists to come to Syracuse to devote one month to creative projects. Over 400 artists have participated in Light Work’s Artist-in-Residence Program, and many of them have gone on to achieve international acclaim. The residency includes a $5,000 stipend, a furnished artist apartment, 24-hour access to our state-of-the-art facilities and generous staff support. Work by each Artist-in-Residence is published in a special edition of “Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual” along with an essay commissioned by Light Work.

For more information on projects included in the NEA grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.