Light Work Grant Deadline Approaching

Application Deadline: March 31, 2009
Application Drop-Off/Mailing Address:
Light Work/Community Darkrooms, 316 Waverly Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244

Light Work would like to remind you that the deadline to apply for the 35th Annual Light Work Grants in Photography is quickly approaching! Applications must dropped off in person at Light Work or postmarked by March 31.

Light Work began offering grants to CNY artists in 1975 to encourage the production of new photographic work in the region. Three $2,000 grants will be awarded to photographers, critics, or photo-historians that reside within an approximate 50-mile radius of Syracuse, NY. The recipients of these grants are invited to display their work in a special exhibition at the Light Work Gallery, and their work will also be reproduced in Light Work's award-winning publication, Contact Sheet.

In its thirty-five year history, the grant program has supported 110 artists, some multiple times. With the help of the regional grant, they were able to continue long term projects, purchase equipment, frame photographs for exhibitions, promote their work, collaborate with others, or otherwise continue their goals as artists.

Light Work is a non-profit, artist-run photography organization and imaging center located in Syracuse, NY. The organization is dedicated to helping artists who work in photography and related media, and supports artists from all over the world through its exhibitions, publications, and Artist-in-Residence program.

All applicants must reside in of one of the following Central New York counties: Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Tioga, or Tompkins.

Three judges, from outside the grant region, will review the applications. Their decisions are based solely on the strength of the candidate's portfolio and completed application. Individuals who received this award prior to 2005 are eligible to reapply. Full-time students are not eligible for this competition. Grantees will be notified of the results by May 15, 2009.

Application forms are available at Light Work or online at www.lightwork.org/grants.
To request an application or to obtain further information, please don't hesitate to contact Light Work at (315) 443-1300, or write to:
Light Work, 316 Waverly Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244

[Image: Darrell Matsumoto, 1991 Light Work Grant recipient]

Make sure to visit the Light Work Blog to find out about everything that's happening at Light Work - from exhibition information, to events and milestones, to updates on what past Artists-in-Residence are up to, to events we think are great to check out. The Light Work Blog also offers an RSS feed, if you would like to receive updates as new blog entries are added. Enjoy!

Exhibition Dates: February 1 - May 29, 2009
Artists: Dawoud Bey, Lonnie Graham, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis
Location: Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, Syracuse University Schine Student Center
Artist Lecture: Wednesday, April 8, 4:30pm

Light Work is pleased to announce the Embracing Eatonville exhibition, featuring the work of photographers Dawoud Bey, Lonnie Graham, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis, on view in the Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery in Syracuse University's Schine Student Center. The exhibition was featured in Light Work's main gallery in 2003, then proceeded to travel to various galleries throughout the country. In celebration of diversity, Light Work has decided to show this meaningful exhibition again in conjunction with a lecture by Deborah Willis to be held in April. A limited re-issue of the Eatonville Portfolio, which offers four exquisite signed prints, will also be offered for sale as part of Light Work's Fine Print Program.

Embracing Eatonville is a photographic survey of Eatonville, FL, the oldest black incorporated town in the United States, and place where celebrated writer Zora Neale Hurston lived and worked. Beginning in January 2002 Bey, Graham, Weems, and Willis spent time in Eatonville taking photographs to provide a meaningful reflection of the town's spirit and character, while concentrating on its social, political, and cultural landscape. In response to the unique character of the community and its history, these artists produced a diverse portrait of Eatonville using both traditional and interpretive documentary methods. The special project that enabled these artists to go to Eatonville was created by Light Work and supported in part by a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation.

Deborah Willis, one of the nation's leading historians of African American photography and curator of African American culture, will visit Syracuse University to talk about the importance of preserving the history of African American communities in Syracuse through a photography archive. She will speak on April 8 at 4:30pm in the Maxwell Auditorium. Willis' presentation, sponsored by the South Side Initiative, Light Work, and the Onondaga Historical Association, is free and open to the public. Funding was provided by Syracuse University's U.Encounter Grant.

[Image - Dawoud Bey: Jason, 2003]

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