REMA HORT MANN FOUNDATION

LA Initiative: YoYoYo 2014 Grantees

Press Release

July 25, 2014

The Rema Hort Mann Foundation is pleased to present this year’s recipients of the YoYoYo Artist Grant, part of the RHMF’s Los Angeles Initiative. The LA Initiative was started in 2013 as a way to extend the New York-based foundation’s programming to the Los Angeles area. The YoYoYo grant was established as a supplement to the Emerging Artist Grant in order to provide monetary support to projects that focus on fostering community involvement, and revolve around modes of communication or cultural exchange specific to the LA area. YoYoYo is open to all nominees of the LA Emerging Artist Grant, and collaboration between artists is encouraged to promote an even greater sense of community. The LA Initiative is currently in its third season, and this year the Foundation will incorporate its Quality of Life Grants that provide travel, hotel, phone, and childcare accommodations to help cancer patients in need of an emotional support system connect with their families while undergoing treatment.

The recipients of the YoYoYo Grant have been chosen by a selection committee in a two stage process which allows for both anonymous and discussion based selection. Please find this year’s list of selection committee members below, followed by the grant recipients and a brief description of their projects the grant will support.

2014 YoYoYo Selection Committee: 
Marcy Freedman (Chair) – Artist Consultant and Collection Advisor
York Chang – Artist
Travis Diehl – Artist, Writer
Jonathan Griffin – Contributing Editor, Frieze magazine
Soo Kim – Director, Otis Department of Photography
Aili Schmeltz – Artist and Co-founder of Los Angeles Art Resource
Aandrea Stang –Director, OxyArts, Occidental College

2014 YoYoYo Grant Recipients: 
Shagha Arriannia (& Gelare Khoshgozaran): “All the Cops in the Donut Shop” 
The project will feature a unique, collaborative dance performance by two Iranian born artists living in the US. The live performance will take place on September 11, 2014.
Funds from the grant will cover costs of the project, including artist fees, props and costumes, musicians and documentation fees.

David Bell: “Process of Elimination” 
Process of Elimination will be comprised of a 20 mile walk through the rapidly changing art scene of East Los Angeles, providing for enrollment of up to 100 participants. Funds from the grant will go towards the costs of emergency personnel, maps, refreshments and commemorative backpacks. 

Kate Brown: “Owen Land” 
This project will bring all of the available 16mm films of Owen Land to Los Angeles for a screening in a show curated by Kate Brown, which will also include films by LA artists. Funding will go toward the film rental, projection and general expenses of the project / screening. 

Claude Collins-Stracensky: “The Retreat at Hoarsemore” 
This project will help initiate a retreat in rural Connecticut for creative professionals of mixed genres from Los Angeles, New York, Boston and abroad. The retreat carries forward the mission of Collective Field, started in 2009 by Collins-Stracensky, to share knowledge of diverse fields through creative experiences in new and interesting contexts.
Funds from the grant will be used for the project director’s travel as well as preparations for the Fall 2014 invitees. 

Fiona Connor (& Ramak Fazel): “Placeholder for a Grand Central Market Archive” 
Over the course of two years, the team will create an archive of 24 photographic prints and recorded interviews at the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. Upon the completion of the project in 2016, the archive will be given to the Los Angeles Central Library, where it will be accessible to library users.
The grant will fund monthly costs, photography, recorder cost and purchase of domain name.

Akina Cox (& Joseph Imhauser): “lyeberry” 
The founders of lyeberry will host a screening of new video works that explore Camp Mozumdar, and expand on the project by filming in upstate New York and hosting an event in
Mexico City in November.
Funds from the grant will pay for artist fees and travel to New York City and Mexico. 

Michelle Dizon: “Year Zero” 
Year Zero is a hypermedia project that explores the intersection between art and ecology with a specific interest in indigenous peoples and climate change. Year Zero will exist as a hyperlinked archive of the artist’s footage as well as footage that other communities will add over time.
The fund will provide general support for the project, including web development costs. 

Jonathan Hornedo (& Veronica Duarte): “Rock, Paper, Guns” 
Rock, Paper, Guns is a binational curatorial project that aims to create an exchange of visual and conceptual ideas between artists from Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) and Los Angeles (U.S.). The project features an exhibition (in LA and in Mexico), panel discussion, and 2-5 workshops.
Funds from the grant will go towards project and artist costs. 

Ian James (& Matt Siegle): “PCS DVD”
PCS DVD is a nine month experimental video series connecting contemporary LA video artists with video makers from abroad. Exhibitions began in June 2013, and continue to occur in weeklong exhibitions at metro pcs, a Chinatown artist project space. The grant will be used to assist with equipment and production costs.

Zach Kleyn (& Adam Overton, Jay Erker): “Doubtful: Creative Uncertainty and Transformation” 
Doubtful is an interview-based radio show within the creative community in Los Angeles that aims to examine the connections between art-making, fear, and the evolution of culture. Doubtful will begin recording in September 2014 and will initially be available as a podcast.
Funds from the grant will cover costs of recording equipment, a website and interview stipends. 

Simone Montemurno: “Wik-Ed Women” 
Wik-Ed Women will be a series of Wikipedia editing sessions / workshops for Los Angeles women in the arts to contribute their expertise to Wikipedia, specifically expanding its contents
about women artists. Wik-Ed Women will take place on the first Wednesday of each month beginning in September 2014 at the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA).
The grant will fund supplies, printing costs, and research subscriptions. 

Ignacio Perez Meruane: “Area” 
Area is a group exhibition scheduled to be held at Commonwealth and Council in December 2014 / January 2015.
Funds from the grant will be used for the shipping and framing of work for the three artists currently committed to the show as well as materials. 

Monica Rodriguez 
This project will feature a collective reading group, taking as a starting point the tradition of reading aloud from the Tobacco Factories in the Caribbean.
The grant will be used for supplies, refreshments and artist fees
.

Asha Schecter: “Image and image and image and image…..” 
The project is a newsprint publication dealing with our contemporary relationship to image production, circulation and consumption, consisting primarily of interviews with artists and professionals. The publication will be distributed at art bookstores.
The grant will go toward design, printing, and transcription of interviews. 

Martine Syms: “Black Radical Imagination” 
Focusing on the Black Diaspora, Black Radical Imagination will be a publication that comes out of a touring program of visual shorts that delve into the worlds of new media, video art, and experimental narrative. The book will be between 100-200 pages and the project will launch in October 2014.
The grant will fund a portion of the printing, writer’s fees and distribution. 

Robert Wechsler (& Christopher Stewart): “Specie” 
Artists will combine their expertise to create ultra-high resolution images of uniquely patinated US Pennies, to be explored via a “Google-Earth” like website.
The grant will provide funds for technology services, a developer, and design costs. 

Marisa Williamson: “Hemings in Paris: A Film Project” 
Marisa Williamson will travel to Paris to make a short film exploring the experiences of Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s slave and, according to most historians, his mistress of almost forty years.
The funds from the grant will go toward overall travel and artist costs.