The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts announced its inaugural Artist Project Grants recipients today; nine local non-profits will receive a combined total of $310,000 to provide artist fees, pay for supplies and lend support to specific projects.
One of these projects, spearheaded by performance group Los Angeles Poverty Department and artist Rosten Woo, will be a 9-hole mini golf course in Downtown LA. Its theme? Zoning issues in Skid Row. The project, called "The Back 9: Golf and Zoning Policy in Los Angeles," will feature buildings and other symbols of current and historic zoning issues in the area. It's scheduled for 2017.
Other projects to look out for include digital reproductions of vintage and modern day political posters exploring police violence against people of color, exhibited by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics; video projects from visiting international artists hosted by Los Angeles Filmforum; and a survey exhibition of work by classically trained artist and sign painter Norm Laich from the Santa Monica Museum of Art.
The goal of this (hopefully) yearly grant program is to support projects representing and reflecting what's happening in LA, both in the art world and at large. John C. Welchman, chair of the Mike Kelley Foundation’s board of directors, says, "In the spirit of Mike's passion and candor we want to support work that may be difficult to fund due to its content or complexity. Whereas some funders are risk-averse, we hope to be risk-friendly."
To learn more about the Mike Kelley Foundation and this year's grant winners—including the Echo Park Film Center, Frogtown's Clockshop, Coaxial Arts Foundation and more—check out the foundation's website.
Photograph: Production still from Mike Kelley's Extracurricular Activity Projective Reconstruction #36 (Vice Anglais), 2011