Announcing the Spring 2021 PRJC Grant Recipients

The Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research is proud to announce five new projects that have been awarded funding through the PRJC Grant Program. The grant committee received a wealth of excellent proposals for innovative projects and researching surrounding the Center’s focus on the achievement of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all elements of our arts profession. The projects receiving funding for the Spring 2021 grant cycle include:

Tanatchaya Chanphanipornkit and Chaowen Ting – Haverstraw, NY

• Rising to the Podium: Intersectionality of Gender and Race- This research project will focus on factors influencing young women of color entering the profession of conducting. The project will explore three primary questions: (i) How do female mentorship and role models influence young women’s potential career to include conducting? (ii) How do racial/ethnic differences affect career aspirations as a conductor? and (iii) What racial/ethnic differences affect perceptions of opportunities and barriers in career as a conductor?

Lindsay Fredrickson – Chicago, IL

• Chicago Arts and Music Project: 2021 Ear Taxi Festival/Depaul School Residency- This project will include a composition residency for CAMP students at the DePaul School of Music as a part of the 2021 Chicago Ear Taxi Festival. CAMP students will participate in a weeklong residency at the DePaul School of Music involving side-by-side and sectional rehearsals with college orchestra students, team building exercises, an original composition, and culminating in a public performance at the Kehrein Center for the Arts.

Melissa Ngan – Kenosha, WI

• Sonic Murals- This is a collaborative project between Fifth House Ensemble and Kenosha Creative Space. Building off of 5HE’s long connection to Kenosha, the project invites broad participation in a public art project rooted in the voices of Kenosha’s citizens, their lived histories, and their visions for the future. The project engages advocacy groups and their constituencies, creates inter-generational and cross-community dialogues, and provides opportunities to new languages for creative expression and storytelling through visual and performance media.

Austin Richey – Detroit, MI

• Synergistic Mythologies: Re-Imagining African Music in Detroit- This research project will include ethnographic research with the cohort Synergistic Mythologies, an innovative ensemble of black experimental musicians who present multi-media performances in alternative spaces. The project seeks to explore how the soundscape of black neighborhoods offers a new way to understand the city of Detroit.

Dustin Seo – Los Angeles, CA

• Street Symphony: Messiah Project Festival- Street Symphony will collaborate with several partner provider organizations and with the Skid Row Arts Alliance (SRAA) to present an expanded “Messiah Project Festival” (MPF), which will commence with an open-air “Block Party” celebration, include 12 outdoor workshop events throughout Skid Row facilities and public spaces, and conclude with SS 6th annual Messiah Project.