WSU hosts 20 BLM artist grants

PULLMAN – Washington artists will have the opportunity to share their creative visions in response to the Black Lives Matter movement with help from a new grant program established by Jordan Schnitzer in partnership with Washington State University’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

The Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program will distribute $2,500 grants to 20 artists across the state who will be asked to use their voices, experiences and artistic expression to reflect on social justice efforts in response to systemic racism.

“I have often said artists are chroniclers of our time. We all feel anguish about the death of George Floyd and many others at the hands of racial oppression,” Schnitzer said. “We, more than ever, need artists to help us understand this issue and help us heal.”

The call for grant applications from Washington artists is part of a broader $150,000 effort funded by Schnitzer that includes similar grant opportunities for Oregon artists as well.

A combined total of 60 grants will be issued across both states.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at WSU will work in partnership with the Black Student Union; the Department of Fine Arts; the School of Languages, Cultures, and Race, and the Honors College to determine grant recipients.

Artists who live throughout the state of Washington are encouraged to submit proposals for new work or projects, or recently created work directly responding to: the current Black Lives Matter movement; marginalized communities; experiences with systemic racism and inequality; and artists whose work thematically connects to these experiences.

Artists working in all mediums are invited to apply.

Interested artists should submit their applications no later than Sept. 30, 2020. Submission instructions may be found on the art museum’s website beginning on Aug. 4.

Selected works may be exhibited online at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s website in late 2020, leading to a gallery exhibition in winter 2021.

Grantees will be notified by Oct. 31.