I am a filmmaker/photographer based in Seattle WA. Born and raised in Minnesota, I started art a couple years after I moved to Seattle. I had a rough start as an artist, but was able to jump over those hurdles. One of the things that changed my outlook as an artist was realizing that vulnerability is key to authentic work.

My work fits surreal and abstract, heavily inspired by expressionism and is a real life manifestation of my personal life and real world imagination. I combine key elements of love, death, mental health and blackness into my films. I am subtly inspired by Stanley Kubrick.

I have worked with editorial magazines and high profile artists as a photographer. I held a solo exhibit at the King Street Station. I have worked with brands such as Puma & Adidas Originals. I have also screened an original film at the NWFF.

Award Statement:
All Praise to the Most High, I am always grateful to be able to share my art with the world. It’s truly an honor to be selected for this award among a talented pool of applicants. I am humbled to be a part of the Artist Development Grant, and thank the members for picking me. This means a lot to me as a Black & Muslim artist. It is a bleak world as artists for us, not many opportunities or chances come our way, and when they do we are often left in the dust. No matter how talented or astounding what we create is, we don’t have the same privileges/resources as our other counterparts. I would love for this narrative to change and hope to create an even playing field in the world of art. I appreciate any opportunity that comes my way, and never take it lightly. Thank you to the members once again!

With the goal of creating something that starts the process of healing for herself and others, Kamari Bright is a poet, videopoet, and creative that is heavily inspired by her life lessons and observations. The award-winning creator transcends the bounds of imagery and language by fortifying one with the other, creating a work more closely resemblant to the multi-sensory experiences of life. Her videopoems have been internationally received and lauded at Seattle Black Film Festival, the Film and Video Poetry Symposium, Tacoma Film Festival, and others festivals. The 2018 Jack Straw Writer is currently working on a manuscript connecting the influence of Christian folklore on present-day misogyny, and a videopoem extrapolating collective trauma and its connection to land stewardship.

Award Statement: This award came at a time when I decided to devote more time toward my art. It is a much appreciated affirmation that fuels me to keep going. This kind of support as an emerging artist makes it possible to progress and mature in my craft.

Lauren Du Pree is an actor, vocalist, writer, and filmmaker from Seattle, WA. After studying musical theatre at Howard University, she began working at theaters like The Kennedy Center, 5th Avenue Theatre, and Ford’s Theatre, until her failing health prophetically revealed how she’d been dimming her light to fit into an industry that was never created with her in mind. These health issues felt like an obstacle in the way of her purpose, but refocusing revealed her greatest strength was in her biggest perceived weakness. She began sharing her healing journey online and creating the stories she wasn’t seeing on stage and film. The lessons we learn during life’s challenges equip us to be a help to others; that’s the purpose of her work. Art should make us feel a little more seen and a little less alone. Most importantly, it is a tool for positive change.

Ruth Kazmerzak is an artist living and working in Seattle, born in Iowa. They earned a BFA in Photomedia and a BS in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences from the University of Washington (2016). Kazmerzak employs the strategies of critical theory, sculpture, sound, images, and installation in their art practice.

Award Statement: I feel very grateful to have received the Collective Power Fund’s Artist Development Grant to support my art practice. This grant will help to advance my research into the relationship between ecological sciences and capitalism. I look forward to future grant opportunities provided by Collective Power Fund to my fellow artists. Programs such as this have the potential to help address dual problems of economic instability—high living costs and low wages—faced by many emerging artists in King County.

Yewon Kwon is an artist and publisher currently residing in Seattle, WA. Yewon received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017, with a focus in printmaking, illustration, and bookmaking. While gaining an avid interest in Silkscreen printing and Offset printing at school, Yewon decided to specialize in Risograph printing following an internship at Perfectly Acceptable Press in 2016. From 2017-2020, Yewon worked as PARP’s Press Operator in Chicago, IL. In addition to their own work, Yewon is one half of GELKHEHT, a visual/audio project with Benjamin Kraco, and is the creator of Pallor Pink, a bi-yearly publication focused on publishing themed works from artists around the globe.

Award Statement: Thank you so much to the Northwest Film Forum and the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for choosing me to be one of the recipients of the Collective Power Fund Artist Development Grant, I am so so grateful! I’m really looking forward to working with the mentors and everyone at NWFF, and excited to share my work with you all.

Lex Marcos is a Seattle-based designer, visual-storyteller originally from Manila Philippines. He studied Painting and Art History at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. His exposure to visual Arts, Music, and Theatre has inspired him to pursue a career in Scenic Design,  He designed sets in Manila for several years. Lex was invited to join the MFA program in Scenic Design at the University of Washington School of Drama. After finishing the degree, He started designing productions in town and other parts of Washington.  For Intiman Theatre, ArtsWest, Sound Theatre Company, Theatre Battery, ACT, Tacoma Arts Live, Portland Center Stage, Washington Ensemble Theatre among others.  Lex was recently inaugurated by Village Theatre as one of the invited residents of the new BIPOC Northwest creator residency program.

Award Statement: This grant is a great gift and encouragement for me continue to pursue what I am passionate about even in times of uncertainties.

barry johnson is a self-taught interdisciplinary artist whose work explores race, community and culture. He’s held residencies throughout the Puget Sound region, Hawaii, Tulum and Argentina. barry recently authored and illustrated a children’s book titled, Oh What Wonderful hair. barry’s work has been shown and collected around the world ranging in mediums and sizes. He’s also created multiple permanent works across King and Pierce County. barry has also spoken at a TEDx event in Seattle about the power of creating multiple personas to aid you in your career. He has received multiple grants and awards including the Edwin T. Pratt Award, smART Ventures award, the 2018 GAP Award and he was a finalist for the Conductive Garboil Grant in 2018. barry is currently going to school to be an architect and lives in Federal Way.

Satpreet Kahlon is a Panjabi-born artist located on Coast Salish lands. She is a co-founder of New Archives and yəhaw̓ Indigenous Collective.

Clyde Petersen (they/he) is a transgender Northwest artist, working in film, animation, music, installation, and fabulous spectacle. He re-creates lost worlds and documents queer culture that has been largely erased by AIDS, capitalism and gentrification. He works to offer alternate, more equitable realities and futures through the reexamination of overlooked histories of queer communities. His work is slow and patient, animating only a few seconds of film a day, gathering new oral histories and building scale-model worlds to tell stories in. In 2019, Clyde founded The Fellow Ship Artist Residency, a paid residency for queer and BIPOC artists to spend a week on Guemes Island in the Salish Sea. He lives in a wooden boat on land on Guemes Island, works on films, and runs the residency space.

About Collective Power Fund

Collective Power Fund focuses primarily on supporting work that incites public dialogue, pushes boundaries, explores genre fluidity, speaks its truth through an authentic perspective, and is often non-traditional, anti-institutional, socially responsible, or disruptive of existing structures and conventions. It encourages a community-forward environment of resource-sharing, mutual support, and fellowship in the Pacific Northwest arts ecosystem. Our first round in late 2020 provided $70,000 in COVID-19 relief funding to 140 artists. This Artist Development Grant is our second round, which will help inform the design of a larger grant in late 2021, and will disburse $60,000 to artists in incorporated and unincorporated King County. collectivepowernw.org

About Northwest Film Forum

Founded in Seattle in 1995 as an independent film and arts nonprofit, Northwest Film Forum incites public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. Each year the Forum presents hundreds of films, festivals, community events, multidisciplinary performances, and public discussions. As a comprehensive visual media organization, the Forum offers educational workshops and artist services for film and media makers at all stages of their development. More information is available at nwfilmforum.org

About Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program

The Regional Regranting Program was established in 2007 to recognize and support the movement of independently organized, public-facing, artist-centered activity that animates local and regional art scenes but that lies beyond the reach of traditional funding sources. The program is administered by non-profit visual art centers across the United States that work in partnership with the Foundation to fund artists’ experimental projects and collaborative undertakings. warholfoundation.org