Meet our 2021 Grants for Artists’ Progress (GAP) Award Recipients!

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Meet the 2021 Grants for Artists’ Progress (GAP) recipients! We are so proud to support these 65 inspiring Washington State artists of all disciplines with unrestricted grants of $1,500. Each of these incredible artists has given so much to their communities as creatives and leaders during this time of great uncertainty and change. We believe their work is essential to our collective well-being, imagination, recovery, and power.  

“As an artist, this award means that my artwork is being received in the way I have always pictured it. I want to inspire and motivate others to chase their dreams and goals because I believe that is what I am here to do.” – T.S Solution (Multidisciplinary, Spokane County) 

“The GAP award is so many things to me, but I’ll narrow it down: public affirmation of my artistic choices and eagerness to see what I can do next… So many organizations and institutions think artists will (or should) be satisfied with the occasional project stipend. So many institutions consider art last on their priorities lists. Artist Trust awards provide sustained acknowledgment that artists need to feed body and soul *and* their careers.” – Lisa Meyers Bulmash (Visual, Snohomish County) 

2021 GAP totals $97,500, making this the largest investment in individual artists ever awarded through GAP in its 32-year history. It is the first time that the recipients are 100% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). 2021 GAP is also the most geographically diverse GAP cohort ever. Funding reached across the mountains to artists in Okanagan, Yakima, Chelan, Franklin, Spokane, and Walla Walla Counties, to the west to the Olympic Peninsula, and throughout Puget Sound.  

“As a Low-income POC without access to generational wealth, the GAP Award will have an enormously beneficial impact on forwarding my artwork. Living in rural Jefferson County, the opportunities to receive substantial funding are scarce.” – Iván Espinosa (Performing, Jefferson County)  

Congratulations to the 2021 GAP Recipients! 

 

Swede Albert, Visual, Okanogan County 

Kathya Alexander, Performing, King County 

Darishma Alphonse, Multidisciplinary, Thurston County 

Aviona Rodriguez Brown, Performing, King County 

Damon Brown, Visual, King County 

Dahveed Bullis, Performing, Spokane County 

Dayana Capulong, Media, King County 

Valencia Carroll, Visual, King County  

Andrew Creech, Performing, King County 

Abrian Curington, Literary, Pierce County 

Myron Curry, Visual, Pierce County 

Jacinthe Demmert, Visual, King County 

Gabriel Diaz, Multidiscipline, King County 

Ryan Doss, Media, Chelan County 

Lauren Du Pree, Media, King County 

Iván Espinosa, Performing, Jefferson County 

Le’Ecia Farmer, Visual, King County 

Sabella Flagg, Multidisciplinary, King County 

Miz Floes, Literary, King County 

Clyde Ford, Literary, Whatcom County 

Aisha Harrison, Visual, Thurston County 

Greyson Hatcher, Visual, Spokane County 

Dale Hom, Visual, Walla Walla County 

Hoa Hong, Visual, King County 

Vivian Hua, Media, King County 

Shantell Jackson, Multidisciplinary, Spokane County 

Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti, Literary, King County 

Haein Kang, Media, King County 

Mark Keats, Literary, Clark County 

King Khazm, Multidisciplinary, King County 

Eunice Kim, Visual, King County 

Natasha Lane, Literary, Pierce County 

Jennifer Lanier, Performing, Clark County 

Jiemei Lin, Visual, Whitman County 

Linley Logan, Visual, King County 

Henry Luke, Visual, King County 

Natasha Lumba, Performing, King County 

Cynthia Masterson, Visual, King County 

Jessica Mehta, Multidisciplinary, King County 

Maiah Merino, Literary, King County 

Brianna Miller, Visual, Spokane County 

Linda Minor, Multidisciplinary, King County 

Roin Morigeau, Visual, Spokane County 

Lisa Myers Bulmash, Visual, Snohomish County 

Marie Okuma Johnston, Visual, King County 

Kyler Pahang, Visual, King County 

Io Palmer, Visual, Whitman County 

T.S The Solution, Multidisciplinary, Spokane County 

Kanako Pooknyw, Media, Thurston County 

Mx. Pucks A’Plenty, Performing, King County 

H.R. Emi, Visual, Yakima County 

Miguel Renteria, Performing, Okanogan County 

Betania, Visual, Okanogan County 

Cris Romento, Media, Clark County 

Jovino Santos Neto, Performing, King County 

Michael Sekaquaptewa, Multidisciplinary, Yakima County 

Abha Sharma, Literary, King County 

Savita Srinivasa, Performing, King County 

Zoe Stern Stillinger, Multidisciplinary, Thurston County 

Jac Trautman, Visual, King County  

David V35, Visual, Franklin County 

Lourdez Velasco, Multidisciplinary, King County 

Thuy-Van Vu, Visual, King County 

Tanner Weiss, Visual, King County  

Bernice Ye, Performing, Island County 

2021 GAP was the result of the collective ideation and expertise of many members of our community. Deep appreciation to our focus group participants (Syd Arrojo, Kamari Bright, Whitney Evans, Pamela Awana Lee, Hanako O’Leary, Troy Osaki, Joey Veltkamp, and Gina Williams); artists Fin’es Scott, Paul Rucker, and Aaron Jin; Artist Trust’s Strategic Vision and Racial Equity committees; artists and community members who participated as moderators and panelists in Artist Trust’s 2020-2021 series of Community Conversations; and our friends at the Tremaine Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, North Carolina. 

We are also grateful to the many community partners, donors, and artists that supported this work! GAP 2021 was made possible thanks to generous support from Warner Media, funded by AT&T, along with Artist Trust’s donor community and Board of Trustees. No public dollars were used to fund this program. As a fundraising organization, we rely on support from our community to power programs like GAP. To make a gift in support of Washington State artists now, visit www.artisttrust.org/donate.   

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