With applications for the second round of 2023-2024 Artist Grants fast approaching, Norman Arts is proud to announce the winners of the first round of $1,000 awards!
Deanna Wong, Reb NoFun and the team of Chase Spivey and Julius were selected from many worthy applications to support their creative endeavors.
Norman-based artists who are interested in applying for their own Artist Grant are encouraged to do so before the deadline this coming Wednesday, May 29. Learn more and apply here!
For more about the selected artists and their projects, read on below.
Deanna Wong
Deanna Wong is a non-binary Chinese-American artist born and raised on Duwamish and Coast Salish land (also known as Seattle). They received a Bachelor in Visual Media Arts with the specialization of Film Production from Emerson College in Boston, leading them to a successful career as a producer for video game marketing in Los Angeles. After several years of working an office job, the pursuit of new challenges and a more meaningful existence beckoned. Deanna returned to the Pacific Northwest to reconnect with land and community, becoming a Harvest Manager at a biodynamic organic farm on Bainbridge Island. In 2020, the pandemic forced another change in work and lifestyle, which birthed the creation of Dwadlings Art - Deanna’s dive into life as a full-time artist. Dwadlings Art utilizes the meditative practice of ceramics to center around glee and whimsy. To dawdle is to waste time. To dwadle is to do so purposefully, recognizing the benefits of taking things slow.
The NCECA Conference is an invaluable meeting of the minds for ceramic creatives. Deanna was offered the opportunity to attend by volunteering my time and was seeking funds to cover costs of transportation to and from this conference. From this experience, she hoped to learn from fellow artists far and wide, be inspired by demonstrations and local galleries, and find areas for future growth. As a self-taught and full-time artist with a limited budget, she struggled to find the resources to grow my art practice while balancing the need to create products for markets and sales. This conference provides a break from production pottery, a rejuvenating breath of inspiration, and a week of intensive learning opportunities.
She was particularly interested in hearing from global voices that I would not normally have the chance to learn from, such as Japanese wheel-throwing techniques, West African philosophies in clay, and adaptive ceramic works during the decolonization of Puerto Rico. There are also practical techniques and classes such as screen-printing on clay and portfolio feedback that will help refine my craft and current artwork.
Reb NoFun
Reb NoFun is an Oklahoma based artist with a lifetime of experience in art and 20+ years in the graphic design industry. She loves to help build the local art community by participating in, and co-producing as many local art shows as possible. She also host workshops and art nights to encourage others to explore art without taking things too seriously. Her public art can be seen around the area at skate parks and alleyways, and she has completed numerous commissions successfully capturing clients’ visions. She often vend at public events, as well as sell online, and she hopes that her love for art inspires and encourages others to pursue their own passions. She paints, draws, collages, sculpts, deconstructs, screen prints, does woodwork, and honestly, whatever else she can get her hands on to create.
In 2011, she organized an event called Art Battle OK, an art show and painting competition designed to raise money for a local charity, as well as participating artists. Four years later, she competed in a similar competition with a much faster time limit (20 minutes per painting, as opposed to 3 hours) in which the proceeds went to the artists and the event coordinators. Since then, she has had a vision to revive Art Battle OK by combining the two events to create a monthly, or possibly semi-monthly speed painting competition that cultivates local artistic talent, stokes some healthy competition, and also serves as fundraising for local charities.
Her artist grant allows for a new Art Battle OK to bring together local artists for adrenaline-fueled speed painting competitions, where they’ll showcase their skills under time constraints, to produce paintings that will then be voted on by attendees, and auctioned at the end of the event. There will be collaboration with local businesses which will include donated prizes for competition winners and also goodies for the event itself. Proceeds from art sales are distributed among the artists and funding future events, and all other proceeds, which will include donations, voting tickets, entry, etc going to a chosen charity.
Chase Spivey & Julius
Chase Spivey and Julius were able to attend the opening reception for their project "Toci," establishing a connection with the Field Projects Gallery in the Chelsea District of New York in the process. In the Spring of 2023, Chase and Julius were approached by Alicia Smith, a graduate of Oklahoma University, to produce an art performance video that will be part of a several year series introducing themes of Mexican indigenous heritage and lore by mixing scifi and surrealistic aesthetics using video and multimedia. The first story in the series features a collection of women whisked away by Toci, the bat woman warrior who is awakened to relieve them of the trauma of colonization by transporting them to Mars where they can establish their own society and process grief from their time on Earth. The video itself is elusive and resembles a ritual where the women slowly descend into madness after arriving in their new home.
The video was filmed in July of 2023 with choreography by Maggie Boyett. The video debuted at the Field Projects Gallery on January 13th at 6 p.m. and also featured a large mural photographed and produced by Julius to accompany the work. This was an incredible opportunity to have two local Norman artist's represent Oklahoma creativity and connect with a gallery in one of New York's thriving and active art districts. The goal of this trip was to meet and generate long term connections between our communities.
Chase Spivey was born in 1983 in rural Texas, but has called Norman home since 2000. He has been a part of several artistic projects over the years, including Ghost of Monkshood, Penny Hill, Welcome to the Ranchero, Prairie Folk Circus, Universe City Art Co-Op, Form & Function Lab, and Uncanny Alley Art House. He serves as a board member for the Norman Music Festival and Norman Arts Council and has four public art works on display throughout the City of Norman. He co-founded the Norman Film Festival in 2017, which he still volunteers for, and is now on the screening committee for deadCenter Film. He is a Film & Media Studies graduate from the University of Oklahoma, and currently owns and operates the digital creative agency Spivey Media.
Julius is a long time resident of Norman Oklahoma getting their start in multimedia and installation through collaborations with Dope Chapel and Resonator. They received their Bachelors in painting from Cameron University in 2015, moving to Norman shortly after graduation to work as a screen printer and has worked in the commercial print industry for the last 8 years. Their experience in freelance video and new media has led to many collaborations with a variety of creatives and organizations around the metro including Chat Pile, 1984 Studios, ArtSpace Untitled, and Oscillator Press. They currently serve as a worker owner at the Opolis in downtown Norman.
More about the Artist Grants
Norman Arts Council operates its artist grant program to serve Norman-based artists and further our creative community. While the longstanding Norman Arts Grant Program has benefited local artists through its support of dozens of arts organizations around town, this furthers NAC’s commitment to directly benefit local artists in a variety of ways.
The program offers three grants of $1,000, each in a different category.
The categories include Community Project, Creative Project and Education/Travel.
Community Project grants help artists initiate a community-based project that leads to artistic creation. Evaluation is based on quality, the community impact and overall concept. Apply here!
Creative Project grants support creation of new work or body of work. Evaluation is based on quality of creative opportunity, career building potential, and overall concept. Apply here!
Education/Travel grants support opportunities to participate in conferences, residencies or workshops that provide education and further one’s artistic practice. Evaluation is based on quality of educational opportunity, career building potential, and overall concept. Apply here!
Artists can apply for all three grant opportunities in each cycle, but a maximum of one grant will be awarded to any artist in a given grant cycle.