Ida B Wells Fund Expands to Include Filmmaking, Visual Arts and Creative Placemaking

Atlanta, GA,  – chromatic black launches Season Two of the Ida B. Wells Fund and calls for entries in short filmmaking and two new categories – visual arts and creative placemaking. This season, the fund expands to offer awards ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 in three categories—short-form filmmaking, creative placemaking and visual arts.

Ida B Wells Fund competition is open to storytellers whose original work explores the spirit of exploration and deepens our collective literacy.   Here are key dates for the fund.

Ø  The Short Film Fund applications will support five Black filmmakers with $15,000 each (a total of $75.000).  Short form film applications open on July 16, 2022.  Deadline for submission is August 27, 2022.  Short Film winners will be announced on September 23, 2022.

Ø  The Visual Art Fund will support 12 visual artists at $1000 each (a total of $12,000).  Visual arts applications launch on July 21, 2022. Deadline for submission is August 31, 2022.  Visual arts winners will be announced on September 23, 2022.

Ø  The Creative Placemaking Fund will support four creative placemakers at $25,000.  Creative placemaking making applications open on October 1.  The deadlinefor submission is December 1. Winners will be announced on February 14th, 2022.

The Ida B. Wells Fund partners with artist – activists across a spectrum of creative disciplines.  This year, the fund has two new developments – a new curatorial leadership of chromatic black’s Artistic Director, Jessica Green and three categories—short-form filmmaking, creative placemaking and visual arts. 

“We are equity architects. We are building cultural power by partnering with dope artists, creative teams and communities. For impact investors, we tie up the messy middle  connecting folks to the next wave of Black smarts, creativity, vision, grit, and determination” says Angela Harmon, co-founder and an Emmy-nominated storyteller, filmmaker, and creative director chromatic black.

Ida B. Wells Fund Short Film Competition

The award recipients will be chosen by an interdisciplinary panel composed of expert curators, filmmakers, producers, other arts professionals, scholars and winners from last  year in a thorough, multi-step review process.

“Ida B Wells Fund enables filmmakers to take disruptive risks with new original works,” says Aunjanue Ellis, Oscar Nominee, Actress, and Writer.

The fund will invest in five projects that critique dominant social and historical narratives and embody artistic attributes: commitment, communal meaning, disruption, cultural integrity, emotional experience, risk-taking, coherence, openness, stickiness, and resourcefulness.

Winners of last year’s film fund at $10,000 each include Lamard W Cher-Aime’s “Captain Zero: The Animated Series” which speaks to the importance of mental health awareness in the Black communities and Christine Swanson’s “Sunflower: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story” staring Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis.

Ida B. Wells Fund Expands To Include Visual and Creative Placemaking

In addition, the Ida B. Wells Fund will expand to visual arts and creative placemaking.

“Not only are artists producers of aesthetic objects and creators of experiences, they help to make places healthier, more equitable, and sustainable,” said Artistic Director, Jessica Green. The expansion of the fund to include creative placemaking is an acknowledgment of creativity as a radical act of resistance.”

Black placemaking is a reclamation of space rooted in remembrance. The fund acknowledges this praxis of remembrance, reclamation, and renewal as a creative act of resistance. The fund will partner with cultural bearers fortifying our participation in the public commons.

Visit the Ida B Wells Fund  to apply and for additional updates. 

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