About the Community Fund
Through our first iteration of the CELC, which ran from 2020 - 2021, we raised a community fund of $74K and distributed these monies to queer, trans, disabled, Black, Indigenous, and arts leaders of color (QTDBIPOC+).
Grants and donations include:
$25K Arts Administrators of Color’s Arts Leaders of Color Emergency Fund, which supports BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) artists & arts administrators impacted by COVID-19 through $200 microgrants.
$25K ripple granting process: our CELC artists and facilitators nominated BIPOC arts leaders to each receive a $250 microgrant. These leaders then nominated an additional BIPOC arts leader to receive a $250 microgrant.
$4K special org grants made to The Flavor Continues (in honor of Brian Lim), Women of Color in the Arts (in honor of Kaisha Johnson), SpiderWeb Show Performance (in honor of Adrienne Wong) and New Rep Theater (in honor of Michael Bobbit).
$3K special artist grants were made to Tammy Hailiʻōpua Baker, Lilly E Manycolors, Ty Defoe, Martha Redbone and Sharon Day.
$10K focused on building out a QTDBIPOC fellowship as part of the next CELC iteration.
$4K honorariums made to Alyssa Liles-Amponsah, Deidra Montgomery, Meena Malik and Joseph Quisol for their support on the community fund dispersement, $1K p/person.
$3K will be used for grantee celebrations and honoring activities.
These grants and donations are in addition to the over $15K paid out to QTDBIPOC+ guest artists and speakers who shared their work as part of the CELC.
We are thrilled to share bios and work of some of our ripple grantees below!
Follow them, engage with them and their art, and hire them! (authentically and equitably)
Artist Alisha M Patterson smiles in front of a brick wall. Alisha wears a white sleeveless dress with green and brown accents in abstract floral patterns, paired with a pearly necklace and earrings.
Alisha M Patterson
Baltimore, MD
instagram
Artist Ashley Wonder holds the rails of a bridge, lips tilted up in a gentle expression. She wears blue jeans with a belt and glasses, and a patterned top of rainbow radials over a black shirt and silver necklaces. Hazel floods the background through trees and grass and cityscape with a corner of blue sky.
Artist Billy Dean Thomas sits forward, smiling on a black rectangular stool, wearing a long navy blue coat with black pants and white shoes that have faces drawn on in black. They rest one arm on their knee, reaching up to gently cradle their chin. That hand wears a ring and a watch. They rest their other arm on their hip.
A black and white portrait of Briana speaking into a headset with a mic. Briana wears round black glasses and a long sleeve black shirt with a pendant necklace. She holds a stack of white folded papers in one hand and her other hand is delicately raised up against the headset. Her hair is half pulled up with long braids that cascade over the headphones.
Briana Williams
New Haven, CT
instagram
A portrait of Cedric standing in front a large artwork that depicts a Black person’s eyes framed by green, white, yellow and red geometric shapes. Cedric wears a glasses, a septum piercing, baseball cap, a black hoodie and a black windbreaker.
A portrait of Daniel lightly smiling wearing black rectangular glasses and a coat with a high collar. Daniel is backlit by soft, radiant sunlight behind him.
Daniel Callahan
Jamaica Plain, MA
facebook
A portrait of Dawn smiling in front of a black cloth backdrop. She wears black rectangular glasses and a black shirt under a deep, royal blue blazer with black silk lining. Her curly hair is side parted and flows down.
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Dew Jareanvai” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
A portrait of Elizabeth smiling brightly, speaking into a microphone held in her right hand. She wears a black knit hat, a white long sleeve cardigan, earth-toned glasses and a long black scarf. In her other hand is an open black binder.
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Glori Tuitt” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
Glori Tuitt
Brooklyn, NY
instagram
A portrait of Ifé seated with a crossed leg on a rattan peacock-style chair against a peach wall framed in multi-color flowers at the top. Ifé wears a black halter tank top and a pendant necklace with a rich blue shawl wrapped around her arms. Ifé holds a sign of a pan-African flag with black and white text that reads, "DESCENDANTS OF ROYALTY", a sign to her right reads "WE STILL LIVE HERE" and another sign is cropped out of frame below.
A portrait of J standing with his hands interlaced in front of him. He wears black rectangular glasses, a black long sleeve shirt, a gold chain necklace, and a sash with black and grey geometric shapes over his right shoulder. He wears two beaded bracelets.
A digital illustration of a black figure with pure white eyes, white lashes and a pearly cap with their hair curling around the edges of the cap. Behind them is a deep purple background with swirling light purple shapes.
Jordan Campbell
Athens, GA
instagram
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Kat Littleturtle” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
Kat Littleturtle
Rowland, NC
facebook
A portrait of Kyoung smiling in front of a mango colored backdrop. He wears black rectangular glasses and a blue button up shirt.
Artist Lisa Ravensbergen stands on a rocky, stone-filled beach. She wears a red beret-style hat, a grey sweater and a blue skirt with a colorful striped hem. Behind her is a frozen water landscape with many wind turbines on the horizon.
A portrait of Lydia smiling in a blue jean jacket and a black top. She is in front of a dark grey backdrop. Her curly hair is parted in the middle and ends at her ears.
A portrait of Mel wearing a puff sleeve yellow dress and a white button shirt. She stands in front of a blank white wall with her hands gently folded together in front of her. She wears red lipstick, a gold earring and her hair in a bun.
An art piece by Emeka featuring textiles woven together then displayed in a vertical orientation. There are hues of blue, black, and gold pieced together alongside a strip of bright yellow caution tape.
Nnaemeka (Emeka) Ekwelum
Chicago, IL
instagram
Portrait of arts leader PennyMaria radiantly smiling wearing a red printed headwrap and a matching red printed dress. She wears blue eyeshadow and a soft pink lip color. Behind her is a backdrop of small golden tiles that compliment her necklace.
A night portrait of Richie in a three quarter pose wearing a windbreaker with teal, lavender and wine red fabrics. He has a tattoo of a planetary figure on his neck and behind him is a city skyline with palm trees peeking in. The sky is a dusty pink with deep blues.
A portrait of Samantha wearing a yellow sun dress and a printed head wrap. She stands in profile with her left hand holding a pie and her right hand outstretched reaching for fresh apples from a tree.
Samantha Estrella
Queens, NY
instagram
A portrait of Sannii lightly smiling with her copper-toned hair pulled back into a high bun. She wears pearly stud earrings with a silver necklace; behind her is a cream backdrop.
A black and white portrait of Shanyse holding a a gorgeous french horn. She wears a long sleeve dress and a pair of large metallic earrings that dangle just below her shoulder-length hair.
A black and white digital artwork by Shurvina. It is a short looping video of her in hoop earrings moving her hands in two different camera angles, then a digital clock ticking from 5: 34pm to 5:52pm.
Shurvina Heraldo
Boston, MA
instagram
A portrait of Soni Moreno smiling wearing a multi-colored top that has a textured black sheer neckline and patchwork style orange and white fabrics. She has grey-white hair and wears a soft pink lip color. Behind her are myriad sunlit plants.
Soni Moreno
Staten Island, NY
facebook
A logo image with a white background and a paint stroke that gradients from a peachy orange to a light purple. Above the paint stroke graphic is black text that says, “CREATIVES OF COLOR BOSTON”.
An artwork with a technicolor glitching effect. Just below center, aqua blue text says 'CYBERBULLY' and a darker blue text says 'TRAP BEAT TRANNY' below in a phone-font above a net-like electrified blue pattern. Behind the net-like electrified pattern is a figure wearing a red and black patterned headscarf with their hands raised above their head.
A portrait of Vanessa with a warm, smiling expression. She wears hoop earrings, a sleeveless patterned white shirt and a beaded white and red necklace. Her dark hair is pulled away from her face and flows behind her shoulders.
A black and white photograph of 6 figures laying on a dark floor with their hands by their sides in a star-shape with their feet touching. Beyond the figures on the ground is a white door.
Yari Cervas
Chula Vista, CA
instagram
A self-portrait by artist Amariah Woodson. In this rendering, we see their face with skin in sunset hues of red and orange; their hair and glasses are illustrated in textures of brown. The background is formed by overlapping shapes of seafoam shades.
Amariah Woodson
Saginaw, MI
instagram
A digital illustration, by Bee Harris, of a black woman with purple lipstick, two flowing ponytails, perfect edges. She wears an orange garment and a pair of geometric, colorful earrings. Behind her is an array of flowing shapes in the colors of orange, teal, purple and yellow.
Bee Harris
Glenwood, IL
instagram
Artist Brandie Blaze, donning electric blue hair, performs into a mic that she holds angled down in front of her mouth. Her other hand rests on her chest. She wears a black cap angled to the side with a black lace top.
A sepia-toned black and white portrait of Candy seated by a window. They wear round earrings that dangle at their shoulders and a white embroidered short sleeve dress with intricate details on the neckline. Their elbow rests gently on the ledge of the window. Filling the ledge of the window are various potted plants.
Candy Alexandra González
Philadelphia, PA
instagram
A portrait of Claudia smiling looking cozy in a soft, beige turtleneck sweater. She is leaning forward with her elbows propped on a table in front and her hands tucked in her turtleneck collar.
A painting of a Black youth blowing seeds off of a dandelion. The seeds float into a colorful, abstract series of shapes that resemble river deltas or arteries.
Dara Bayer
Roslindale, MA
website
A portrait of Deana seated in a large wooden chair with a deep pink cushion. She smiles gently with her right hand resting on her chin and her left hand outstretched on the arm of the chair. Behind her is a couch and several large portrait artworks on the wall.
A portrait of EJ smiling up at the camera and wearing a deep blue tshirt. Behind him is a grey background of columns.
A watercolor by Ellen Cappard. A Black person with red shades and magenta lipstick wears an orange two-piece swimsuit, and reads a magazine while sitting in a beach chair on sand next to the blue of water and sky.
A portrait of Goussy performing in a fabulous striped red jumpsuit and a black and white geometric print cardigan. Her left hand reaches out a thumbs up and her other hand is pulled in toward her body. Behind her are a crowd of participants with their right hands resting on their chests. There is a large art installation on the wall behind them featuring illustrated 1890's femme figures.
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Indigo Mateo” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
A soft, warm portrait of Jacqueline smiling against a light peach colored backdrop. She wears a light colored solid top and black hoop earrings.
A collage, by Kah, with a bright yellow background and black text that says “Trans is Freedom!” around illustrations of three silhouetted figures surrounded by red, purple and pink clouds. Two of the figures are nestled into a sailboat, with one of the figures holding a telescope up to their eyes. The third figure is wearing a baseball cap and floats between the clouds above the sailboat.
Kah Yangni
Philadelphia, PA
instagram
A portrait of Keith smiling wearing a three-quarter zip dark sweater and a white t-shirt. Behind him is an earth toned background.
A portrait of Leea gracefully smiling in a rich blue three quarter zip blouse, round tortoiseshell glasses, and a red lip. Her shoulder length hair is parted to the side and swept behind her neck. Behind her is a brightly lit, sunny green space with trees.
A portrait of Liza joyfully smiling in front of a multi-colored geometric mural on a brick wall. She wears multiple beaded necklaces, a green and white patterned crop short-sleeve shirt, and a patterned multi-color skirt with many shapes. Her long dark hair is pulled back into multiple braids that sweeps to wrap around her.
An artwork by Lynore that features a bottle shape intricately decorated with fine, colorful beadwork. At the front of the bottle is a golden moth, surrounded by mandala-esque rainbow shapes of all colors. The artwork is placed on a wooden surface with a blank white backdrop behind.
Lynore Routte
Staten Island, NY
instagram
A portrait of Nathan performing on a dramatically lit black stage. Nathan wears a black hoodie and black pants with his long hair pulled back into a bun. Nathan gestures to his right with his palms open. Behind him are three other performers also dressed in black. Just behind Nathan is a low wooden stool with a material burning and wafting gentle smoke into the space.
Nathan Berglund
Minneapolis, MN
instagram
A portrait of Payton seated at the edge of a dock wearing a black short sleeve blouse with ruffle sleeve details. Payton wears a beautiful, colorful beaded long necklace in the shape of a turtle. Behind her is a bright blue sky with many white sheer clouds, a body of water and green trees on the horizon.
A portrait of Perpetual in a three-quarter pose with a soft and sage expression in front of an earth-toned beige background. She wears a warm toned blazer with a small checkered linen pattern and a necklace made of fiber wrapped rings. Her braided hair is swept into an updo.
Ruby Pérez faces a crowd of masked protesters on a sunny sidewalk. She has long dark hair, wears an auburn shirt and black backpack, and is using a pink megaphone. One protestor is holding a sign that says, "HOY POR TI MAÑANA POR MI" and another protestor holds a sign that has the Mexican flag and black text that says, "NO JUSTICE NO PEACE".
A portrait of Savalu smiling in front of a peach backdrop. Her hair is styled in an updo, she wears a black top, large golden earrings, a red lip, and an intricately crafted necklace of turquoise, yellow, and red.
A portrait of Sharbreon brightly smiling wearing an orange printed headwrap, gold hoops and tortoiseshell round glasses. She wears a white sleeveless top and a nose ring. Behind her is a beautiful woven cloth that is green with deep pink, wine purple and yellow stripes on the left side.
Sharbreon Plummer
Denham Springs, LA
instagram
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Sir Curtis Kirby” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
A portrait of SublimeLuv wearing a black turtleneck and gold chain necklaces. She has pink shoulder-length hair that frames the crown of her head with 6 large bejewled hairpins. She wears gorgeous pink and purple eyeshadow and a pink lip color.
An artwork created by TANNER / Renee that features a human face at the center. There are multiple, layered lines in the colors of green, blue, orange and earth tones that serve as both foreground and background in the artwork. Radiating from the human face are several orange/earth toned tendrils.
TANNER / Renee E Neely
Providence, RI
A portrait of Tyahra by @shotsxdjo_. Tyahra wears a fabulous mock neck, long sleeve pink and purple dress with a slightly metallic sheen. She wears pink tassel earrings that dangle by her shoulders and a DSLR camera slung on her right shoulder. Her afro is windswept as she joyfully smiles. Behind her is a brick building.
A portrait of Victoria gazing into the camera with a soft smile and her hands stretched above her head. She wears a white blouse with puff sleeves and ruched bodice details, and navy-colored bottoms. Behind her is an interior space with yellow walls and two windows with earth-toned shades pulled down.
Artist Ally Ang smiles with a doggo. They wear a purple-y knitted sweater with complimentary nose, septum, and earlobe jewelry.
Artist Arielle Gray simmers wondrously, her body in profile and head turned toward us over her left shoulder. She dons a shimmering fabric of brown and lavender hues, her hair cascading around her face in front of green foliage.
A painting by Billie Krishawn. The piece features a brown-skinned person standing in right profile. The figure is adorned in minimal green clothing that compliments the background's green shading, pale shell earrings, and a newspaper crown that wraps around the face like a headband before blooming into a golden-glowing flower at the top.
Billie Krishawn
Washington, D.C.
instagram
A portrait of Brian standing toward the camera with his face in profile. He wears a grey t-shirt with a chest pocket. His hair is pulled up into a bun and his hands are down at his sides. Behind him are string bulb lights below bridge underpasses.
A portrait of Caridad smiling wearing an earth-toned wide brimmed hat and a black and beige sweater with a star motif print and a black tank top with lace details. She wears a white earring and loosely holds a clipboard with a paper on it.
A film portrait of CUIDADX wearing a fishnet bodysuit and a short-sleeve pink dress with small polkadots. Wrapped around their dress are chain details, light pink roses, and pearls. They wear their hair up with a pink fabric and a soft tulle veil. They stand with their torso facing the left side of the frame, with their left hand on their hip and the other hand gently holding the chain details on their garment.
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Dashawn Borden” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
Dashawn Borden
Boston, MA
email
An artwork by Delgreta that is a long rectangular shape divided diagonally in half by red and earth tone triangles. In the foreground are black geometric shapes that form trapezoids and triangles along the artwork. The largest shape forms a triangle on the left hand side that is filled with a complex pattern of more black geometric shapes. Connecting the black geometric shapes is a vibrant blue line that zig zags across the artwork. Photographed by Brian Johnson.
A portrait of Eli wearing a red monochromatic outfit: a short sleeve button up shirt and pants. He stands with his arms at his side, a guitar strapped around his body on his back. Lush tall grass surrounds him.
Eli Lakes
Atlanta, GA
instagram
A black and white flyer for "Firebird Ballet". Below the title is text reading "A DANCE SHOWCASE". In the featured image, a dancer using crutches wears a black mask and a long black dress on stage. They lean into their left crutch. The rest of the text says, "BE IN ATTENDANCE FOR OUR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENT / MAY 14 -15, 2021 / 8:00PM / FOR TICKETS, CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO... / LIVESTREAMED FROM THE CALDERWOOD PAVILLION WIMBERLEY THEATRE".
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Henu Josephine Tarrant” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
Two dancers of color are in movement wearing tan sleeveless garments on a dramatically lit stage with a red patterned background. One dancer lies on the stage on their side with their right hand outstretched and gazing up towards the light. The other dancer is arched backwards over the dancer below them, with one hand splayed on the stage floor and their right hand outstretched in the opposite direction.
A portrait of Karthik smiling joyfully wearing a grey plaid suit, a patterned sky blue tye and a white button up shirt.
Karthik Subramanian
Wilmington, MA
instagram
A black and white portrait of Keith wearing metallic rectangular glasses, a light colored blazer with a black v-neck shirt, light colored trousers and black leather shoes. Keith sits in his wheelchair in front a grey textured wall with wood detailing.
A portrait of Liana smiling wearing a bright red blouse, a sparkling and red lipstick. Her dark hair is curled and falls just above her shoulders.
A portrait of Lovely radiantly smiling and wearing a colorful red and purple scarf with a light grey shirt. She wears a purpley-pink lip color and her hair is tied into bantu knots.
An image of two artists painting a mural depicting portraits of women change-makers such as Malala Yousafzai and Lena Kesriwal in front of an illustration of the Earth. The two artist are standing on drop clothes that have painting materials on them. There is a deep playful shadow from a tree off-camera on the mural.
A portrait of Nicole smiling wearing a black shirt and cozy black scarf wrapped around her neck. She wears sparkly dangling earrings and behind her is a series of bookshelves filled with colorful books, cameras, a piano keyboard and other objects.
Nicole Agois
Cambridge, MA
facebook
A portrait of Peggy confidently smizing at the camera wearing a black turtleneck, large aqua blue rectangular earrings and a long beaded necklace with shell details. Behind her is a black backdrop.
A portrait of Salwa performing in front of a mic. They are cast in a saturated red light that falls away into darkness. They wear a dark long sleeve garment and a metallic necklace made of stacked rings. Their hands are folded across their chest as they speak with eyes closed and mouth open wide as if calling loudly.
Salwa Abdussabur
New Haven, CT
instagram
A portrait of Shaffany in a wide crouching pose. She wears an orange halter tank, a leather accessory in the shape of the African continent, denim shorts, a teal cardigan with white and beige hem details, and laced up orange boots. Her left hand rests on her knee while her hand reaches up to touch below her chin.
A portrait of Shey Rivera performing and speaking into a microphone. She is cast in blue light and holds a piece of paper in her left hand with her right hand placed over her heart. Her long wavy hair is swept to one side and she wears a floral patterned dress with silk ribbon details and sheer sleeves. Behind her is a screen with a desert-like landscape projection.
A digital nameplate with white text reading “Sinfónica Coral Canaima” in all caps. The background is made up of several shapes with blue to peach gradients.
A portrait of Sisi radiantly smiling in a red short sleeve shirt and a purple headband in her hair. Behind Sisi is a bright white backdrop.
A photograph of Symone smiling, seated with her legs crossed and wearing a floral printed black dress on an orange scaffold in front of a mural that depicts a pink lounging femme figure against a periwinkle background with the text “TRUST YOUR ANCESTORS will guide the way”.
A portrait of TAYLOR in a radiant all-yellow short sleeve jumpsuit. They wear light pink tassel earrings and are seated on a yellow chair against a saturated sky blue backdrop. They have one hand resting on their hip and the other hand lightly placed below their chin.
A portrait of U-Meleni smiling in front of a colorful graphic backdrop. She wears large round metallic earrings and a colorful short sleeve dress with multiple printed lined and geometric patterns in orange, purple, blue and pink. Her braided hair is swept into an updo.
Artist Wera Fono speaks into a mic outdoors; behind her is a person and a building’s painted mural. She wears a long magenta dress under an intricately woven mantlepiece that covers most her upper torso in myriad colors across the rainbow.
A portrait of Zenaida wearing an earth toned scarf and a cozy textured grey sweater with pink, green, and navy geometric details. They are wearing a coral lip and round glasses with their lobe and nose piercings.