From Black Art Matters ATX, this month's Get Involved spotlight organization:
Black Art Matters ATX (BAMATX) is committed to funding Black artists living and working in Austin. Funding is a critical part of an artist’s journey. Without funding artists may have difficulty buying supplies, securing space or hiring crew. Since we began accepting artist proposals this past summer, we’ve been able to fund—partially or fully—7 Black Austin-based artists. These artists are filmmakers, multidisciplinary artists, theatre makers and more.
Some of our current funded artists include:
Emanuel Limuel a independent filmmaker, born and raised in Austin. He is currently working on a project called “I’m Somebody” about 3 African-American males who at some point in their lives encountered racial injustice.
Funmi Ogunro is a Nigerian-American Lonestar Emmy nominated producer and editor. Her current project chronicles the history of Austin’s Black Freedom Communities.
Jeffery Da’Shade Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist and his current project is called Battleground - A Multimedia performance about fighting to live in a society that views you as less than human. Battleground is cathartic story telling though cinematic shorts, spoken word, hip-hop, stage combat and martial movement.
More of our funded artists can be found on our social media pages and on our website.
Our curatorial panel’s backgrounds and artistic endeavors are just as diverse as the artists we’ve funded. On our panel: Dewy Brooks, Jeanette Hill, SaulPaul, Winston G. Williams and Indiia Wilmott.
Dewy Brooks has an extensive history in the Austin arts community and is currently the board president at Austin Creative Alliance. Jeanette Hill also has deep ties to the Austin arts community and runs a production company that produces theatre and film. SaulPaul is an award-winning, globally known musician. Winston is the executive director of the Capital City Black Film Festival. Indiia is a voice actor and director.
In order to be considered for BAMATX funding, the project must be related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Other criteria include clarity of idea, originality, and artist’s portfolio. We want a wide variety of proposals, so we haven’t put too many “rules” on the proposals.
BAMATX is a special funding program because the money goes directly to the artists. When you donate to us you know that all monies go to helping an a Black Austin artist make an idea come to life. Black art is vital to preserving the cultural richness in Austin, donate today to keep Black art alive in Austin.
