Jade Presents has announced their fall 2017 Jade Presents Arts Partnership grantees, made to musicians in the Fargo-Moorhead Metro. The grants recognize outstanding talent and provide recipients with financial support and other resources to realize their artistic visions, improve their artistic skills and build sustainable careers.
The grantees are:
Jade Presents 2017 Arts Partnership grantees: (l to r) Stephanie Carlson, Brian Carmona, Lacey Guck, Max Johnk.
Stephanie Carlson, oboist, $2,000 to record an album of music by British composer Ruth Gipps, primarily of works that have never been recorded.
Brian Carmona, indie/dream pop musician, $1,500 to create a full-length album accompanied by an intimate live experience.
Lacey Guck, singer/songwriter, $2,500 to record and distribute her first full-length studio LP of original music.
Max Johnk, bassist/composer, $1,800 to record a full-length studio album of jazz music by the Max Johnk Quartet.
Jade Presents has partnered for the past three years with The Arts Partnership to support local musicians. Jade Nielsen, owner of Jade Presents, said, “Music is one of the few things that we all respond to positively. The Metro is lucky to have such a wide-ranging music scene – from indie singer/songwriters to classically trained musicians and everything in between. We’re particularly excited this year to be supporting such a diverse range of artists and musical genres.”
The four grants total $7,800; Jade Presents allocated a portion of every ticket sold to the 2017 Bluestem Summer Concert Series toward the grant fund. “This is our way of giving back to those who bring so much joy to the community,” Nielsen said.
The Jade Presents grants are part of The Arts Partnership’s initiative to ensure that local artists working in dance, literature, media, music, theatre, traditional and folk arts and craft, or visual arts have the financial and other resources to be successful.
