August 2024 News
August 30, 2024 • 5 minute read
Putting People First: An Interview with NPN’s Addam Garrett
Addam Garrett joined NPN in 2016 as Facilities Manager, and over the past eight eventful years—as NPN moved to a new location, hosted several Annual Conferences, and continued to grow as an organization—he developed a philosophy of work/life balance that emphasizes self-care and personal growth. Now, as NPN’s new Director of Operations, he’s creating a culture at NPN that “places people at the center of success.” In this candid interview with NPN’s Resource Development Manager Riley Yaxley, Addam talks about how he came to join the NPN team and some of his favorite moments from the past eight years.
Mark Your Calendar: NPN’s Conference Returns October 6–9, 2025
NPN’s in-person Annual Conference returns! Join us in New Orleans on October 6–9, 2025, and together we will explore liberation, justice, and movement building with artists, cultural leaders, funders, organizers, and more. It will be our first in-person conference in six years, and everyone is welcome!
We’ll be sharing more information about this event soon. In the meantime, enjoy the inspiring and insightful discussions from our 2023 Annual Conference keynote panels.
NPN Artists Receive Princess Grace Awards and Grants
Each year, the Princess Grace Foundation supports and elevates extraordinary artists in theater, dance, and film with its Princess Grace Awards. Among the 2024 awardees are NPN Creation Fund artists Dahlak Brathwaite, Roderick George, and Mary Prescott (also an NPN Board Member). The foundation also awards Special Project Grants to past Princess Grace Award winners, and this year’s grant recipients include NPN Creation Fund artists Charlotte Brathwaite, Kaneza Schaal, and Kate Weare. Congratulations to everyone!
Michaela Pilar Brown Receives 2024 Joan Mitchell Fellowship
Michaela Pilar Brown, a multidisciplinary artist who incorporates object making, photography, installation, and performance into her work, has been awarded one of 15 fellowships by the Joan Mitchell Foundation. The award comes with an unrestricted $60,000 over five years, plus regular opportunities for skills development, peer exchange, and network building. In addition to making art, Michaela is one of the facilitators of Artists U, a partnership with NPN that provides a peer-to-peer incubator for changing the working conditions of artists. Congratulations, Michaela!
Congratulations to the 2024 Creation Fund Recipients!
Through this year’s Creation Fund, NPN has awarded an initial $242,000 and leveraged an additional $1.2 million to support the creation of 13 new artistic works. The Creation Fund awardees include a variety of artists spread across nine cities, and their projects represent innovative and transformative arts experiences that explore and challenge aspects of identity, history, culture, and social justice. The works range from a theatrical visualization of trans and non-binary visibility using reflected beams of light, to an exploration of adoption, foster families, and chosen families through the ancestral practices of Afro-Latine social dance, music, and imagery.
Applications Now Being Accepted for the 2024 Take Notice Fund
If you’re an artist and culture bearer of color living and working in Louisiana, be sure to apply for the 2024 Take Notice Fund — applications are open through September 30, 2024 at 11:59 pm (CST). The Take Notice Fund celebrates generative artists and culture bearers of color living and working in Louisiana whose work demonstrates artistic excellence and dedication to their practices. Annually, NPN awards 30 grants of $5,000 through a competitive process. The grant funds are unrestricted and intended to support artistic projects or activities that advance the artist’s creative practice, career, and well-being.
If you’re ready to apply, download the 2024 Take Notice Fund guidelines and application questions to get started. And if you know of any other artists or culture bearers who might be interested, spread the word!
Announcements
United Houma Nation Receives $56.5 Million Climate Grant
Congratulations to the United Houma Nation (UHN) for receiving a $56.5 million climate grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The funds will enable UHN to implement their Hazard Mitigation and Resilience Plan, which will help to create a sustainable and resilient future for New Orleans’ coastal communities. UHN was in the very first cohort of NPN’s Southern Artists for Social Change program, and we’re so excited to see all they will accomplish with this new funding!
San Cha, with NPN Funding, Prepares New Opera Inebria me for 2025 Premiere
Musical artist San Cha — recipient of NPN’s 2023 Creation Fund, 2023 Development Fund, and 2024 Documentation & Storytelling Fund — recently spoke with CALÓ News about Inebria me (formerly Asunción), a queer, experimental opera inspired by telenovelas that incorporates San Cha’s personal story, powerful stage presence, and signature musical sound. She tells CALÓ News that NPN “has been advocating for me and really helping me see a future.”
Dasan Ahanu Premieres Death of Cochise
Poet and performing artist Dasan Ahanu — recipient of NPN’s 2019 Creation Fund, 2020 Documentation & Storytelling Fund, and 2021 Development Fund — this month premiered Death of Cochise at the Carolina Theater of Durham in Durham, NC. Dasan co-stars with Bluz in “hip-hop and spoken word production [that] uses the art of emceeing, vivid imagery, and compelling storytelling to talk about the breadth of Black life and the value of Black creative expression.”
