Today marks an important and imperfect moment in our country's history. One hundred years ago today, after decades of uphill battles, American women finally secured the right to vote.
As we collectively reflect on suffrage's impact on our country — its shortfalls in enfranchising the Black women who boldly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our most renowned feminists included — and what it means to commemorate this centennial during a major election year, we at Brooklyn Arts Council considering the women in our own neighborhoods who have led the charge toward a more equitable, diverse, and creative world: Shirley Chisholm, the first woman to run for President of the United States. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the second woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Rosie Perez, the Emmy-nominated doyenne of Spike Lee films. Lena Horne, the decorated multi-hyphenate performer who continued to express herself in film and on stage despite being blacklisted by Hollywood.
And, of course, there's Charlene Victor.
Brooklyn Borough President Sebastian Leone with Brooklyn Arts Council Board Member Charlie Inniss and Brooklyn Arts Council Founder Charlene Victor, ca. 1970.
In 1982 — a year marked by soaring metropolitan crime rates, the breathtaking toll of the AIDS epidemic, the Equal Rights Amendment's faltering, and massive proposed cuts to the arts in America — Flatbush resident and Brooklyn Arts Council founder Charlene Victor testified before Congress in the hopes of staging a one-woman intervention.
"I submit that it is the local arts council's hands-on community involvement, through its outreach and training programs, which services the cultural constituency at the grassroots level where it counts most," Victor implored. "It seems to me that without this experience and this participation between the arts councils and the constituents, there can be no future for the arts at all. Where does our future paying audience come from? Who is interested enough to be a part of it? And most importantly, where will our future artists of tomorrow come from?"
As artists and stewards of art, these are the very questions we are asking ourselves and others today. The answers — not to mention Victor's passionate legacy — are key components of Brooklyn Arts Council's work today.
Several years ago, we were honored to launch the Charlene Victor and Ella Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund to commemorate the legacies of Victor and former Brooklyn Arts Council president, Ella J. Weiss. Together, they paved new paths for generations of women-identified artists and arts leaders in Brooklyn. Now open for applications as part of our 2021 grants cycle, this annual award provides recipients with the support to supplement their creative passions with ambitious professional development opportunities.
Below, you'll find the stories of some of the women who have received support through our Cultural Entrepreneur Fund. It is our privilege to review every application with care and meet the women who continue to make Brooklyn a special place for women of every kind.
Charlene Victor and Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund Alumni
From now through September 11, Brooklyn Arts Council will be reviewing applications for the 2021 iteration of the Charlene Victor and Ella J. Weiss Cultural Entrepreneur Fund. Applications and requirements can be accessed via our website. Questions? Our dedicated grants team is eager to field your questions at grants@brooklynartscouncil.org.
Persephone DaCosta
Neighborhood: Brownsville
Award Year: 2020
Professional Development Project: Roots to Evolution: Journey to Africa Linking Roots to Dances of the Diaspora
Persephone's professional development activity involves attending traditional and contemporary dance and drum classes in Ivory Coast West Africa. She will attended the Ivorian Summer Intensive dance program, EDEC. Next, she will visit the village of Toufinga to witness authentic mask dances and drumming. Lastly, she will participate in a five-day intensive at Afrik Art Dance, She plans to learn traditional dance, drumming, songs, origins, and backgrounds of Ivorian traditional dances as well as various contemporary modern dances such as Zouglou. Persephone will also conduct interviews to see if and how the youth in Africa have translated traditional dance to contemporary styles of dance and how they have been influenced by Western culture.
Tyshawn Henry
Neighborhood: Bushwick
Award Year: 2019
Professional Development Project: Selected Workshops: On Printmaking and Paper
With the support of her Charlene and Ella Fund award, Tyshawn participated in a selection of workshops and classes on papermaking, printmaking, and mixed media. She chose classes that would benefit her personal practice and would add to my tool box as a teaching artist. These included a chine colle and monotype class proposed at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, a printmaking workshop with Hilary Lorenz, Intro to Papermaking at Dieu Donne. On May 10, 2019, nineteen 3rd and 4th grade students participated in her hands-on papermaking workshop at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Sarah Nicholls
Neighborhood: Greenpoint
Award Year: 2020
Professional Development Project: Urban Plant Papermaking Project
With the support of the Charlene and Ella Fund, Sarah will take formal workshops on hand paper making techniques at Dieu Donne and Carriage House Paper in Brooklyn, procure basic supplies to carry out community based paper making activities, and pay rental fees for specialized equipment to process paper pulp. She will use learned techniques to produce paper made from locally grown and harvested weeds and wildflowers, using these papers in projects that document the changing coastline of Brooklyn.
Workshops in paper making techniques will take place at Dieu Donne in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and at Carriage House Paper in Greenpoint. Both facilities specialize in the production of fine art paper and offer workshops to the general public on an ongoing basis. Carriage House Paper also offers a wide variety of supplies to the paper making community. Once Sarah has a basic body of knowledge under her belt, she will be able to use open studio time in the community papermaking studio at Dieu Donne in the Navy Yard to process her plants into paper pulp.
Deneen Reynolds-Knott
Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant
Award Year: 2020
Professional Development Project: Learning to Branch Out
Deneen intends on attending several creative conferences to hone her professional network and skills, including the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) National Conference.
She aims to develop best practices for dealing with the unpredictable workflow of metropolitan artist life so she continues to feel empowered by guiding the direction of my career. At the conferences, she will connect with theatre artists and practitioners nationally and learn best practices to work in professional, community, and educational settings. Deneen will explore new processes to create theatre pieces in the workshops she takes at the conferences and with the Dramatist Guild. The artist wants to balance having her work produced in professional theaters with writing work in collaboration with students in educational settings and with residents wishing to ground work in their communities.
Additional Funding Opportunities for Women-Identified Artists