Gloucester, MA—Manship Artists Residency is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Challenge America award of $10,000.00. This grant will support the Vessels of Slavery project, a collaboration with the Cape Ann Museum. In total, the NEA will award 257 Challenge America awards totaling $2,570,000 that were announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.
“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to Manship Artists Residency, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”
The Vessels of Slavery project is creating an opportunity for our community to access and experience its obscure yet significant slavery history in meaningful ways. Guided by their studio practices, five women artists of color are collaborating, and engaging members of the public by facilitating public artmaking workshops, dialogues, and events during a series of four visits to Gloucester over a two-year period. The NEA grant will go to fund the second year of the artist stays at the Manship Artists Residency, the first year was funded by generous donors who contribute annually to The Prometheus Circle of the Manship Artists Residency.
“The Manship Artists Residency is grateful to be able to support the residency of the Vessels of Slavery artists cohort as they explore the little-known history of slavery within our community, respond to their discoveries, and are inspired to create their participatory, public art project at the Cape Ann Museum,” said Rebecca Reynolds, Executive Director of the Manship Artists Residency. The Manship Artists Residency offers artists, scientists and innovators a critical escape from the distractions of everyday life to devote focused time on their creative process in the natural oasis of Starfield.
For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, click here.
