Superhero costumes, an animated short film, paintings of a woman's family history and a transforming car are the projects that four Arizona artists, including three ASU professors, presented at the ASU Art Museum Saturday.
Creative Capital, a 100 percent privately funded, nonprofit organization from New York City, funded the four projects.
The organization has funded 242 projects over the past seven years, said Ruby Lerner, Creative Capital president.
"It changed my life," said Beverly McIver, art professor in the Herberger College of Fine Arts.
McIver received an initial grant for $7,000 from Creative Capital in 2001, which helped her create her oil painting collection, "Mammy, How I Love You."
Her collection, which has been shown across the country, including New York City, depicts the roles of domestic workers in the south based upon her experiences growing up in Greensboro, N.C., McIver said.
Only a select few artists receive grants from
Creative Capital. Approximately 3,300 artists applied for the 40 grants the organization will issue this year, Lerner said.
"We look for exciting, challenging and provocative work," Lerner said.
They not only fund great projects but also great people, she said.
"Niceness counts," she added.
Creative Capital selects people who not only have exciting and interesting projects, but also have the capacity to deliver on the project and are willing to give back to the community, Lerner said.
She said it was great to be in Arizona because it was the first time she was together with all four artists at the same time.
A grant award winner in 2005, ASU art professor Mark Newport showed off his creation of superhero costumes.
Newport presented images of his Spiderman, Batman and Iron Man costumes, including a picture of him wearing the Batman costume in front of an audience at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts.
Newport received some laughs from the audience when he explained the costume was sized for a traditional superhero, so it was a bit large for him.
Creative Capital also funds multimedia projects such as "Imperial Silence" created by John Leanos, ASU professor in the Department of Transborder Chicana/o Latina/o studies.
Leanos received approximately $30,000 to create a 35-minute, partially animated film depicting the "Day of the Dead" with modern political overtones.
Leanos credits Creative Capital with helping him plan his project.
"They help you say, 'This is how you can do it,'" Leanos said.
Paradise Valley resident Liz Cohen created "Bodywork," a project in which an East German Trabant transforms into an El Camino in a matter of seconds.
Her 30-second video showed her car stretch in length and in height, which drew gasps from the audience.
Cohen received her grant in 2005.
Gregory Sale, visual arts director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, said these artists are part of the energetic and growing Arizona art community.
Groups like Creative Capital help provide the infrastructure and the funding to help support artists, Sale said.
"Creative Capital does a phenomenal job," Sale said.
The commission and Creative Capital jointly backed a research project, which began in spring 2006, to look at resources and opportunities for Arizona to help support artists on a state level, Lerner said.
The research results will be unveiled at the end of January, Lerner said.
Creative Capital selected only two states, - Arizona and Maine - for the study because of the budding potential of both artist communities, Lerner said.
"Years ago, the opportunities [in Phoenix] were not in place," McIver said.
"The Arizona art community is much more vibrant than it was 10 years ago." McIver said.
McIver said she teaches what she has learned to her ASU students - how to write a grant, how to be confident in your work and how to network.
"You have the ability to reach your dreams and the sky is the limit," she said.
The deadline for a 2007 grant is in March and the application can be found at creative-capital.org.
Reach the reporter at: jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu.
