We are pleased to announce the 2024 Live Arts Boston (LAB) Grantees:
2ruTh7, Spoken Word
Elizabeth Addison, Opera/Musical Theater
Kyara “DJ TROY Frost” Andrade-Howell, Music
Andrés Ballesteros, Music
Chavi Bansal, Dance
Samuel Beebe, Opera/Musical Theater
Christina R. Chan, Theater
Andrew Choe / Abilities Dance, Dance
Arielle Colella, Dance
Donatella Fermata, Opera/Musical Theater
David Guerra, Literary/Performance Festivals
Laury Gutiérrez / La Donne Musicale, Music
Reynaliz Herrera, Music
Cerise Lim Jacobs, Opera/Musical Theater
George Lernis / Ize Trio, Music
Seba Molnar, Music
Olivia Moon, Dance
Jaclyn O’Riley / Jackie O’Riley and Rebecca McGowan Duo, Traditional/Folk Performing Arts
Isaura Oliveira, Dance
Mayowa “MO” Osinubi, Music
Ernesto Lea Place, Circus Arts
Moe Pope, Music
Laura Sánchez, Dance
Red Shaydez, Music
Amanda Shea, Spoken Word
Jacquinn Sinclair, Literary/Performance Festivals
José Soto, Music
Yung Chi Sung, Traditional/Folk Performing Arts
Crystal Valentine, Spoken Word
Ilya Vidrin, Dance
These artists were selected from a total of 180 applicants and 83 percent (25 out of 30) identify as artists of color and/or multi-racial/multi-ethnic and 20 percent identify as living with a disability.
The 2024 reimagining of LAB is a blueprint for holistically supporting artists with a focus on personal and professional growth. Building on prior LAB programming and feedback from over 350 alumni, this year’s program launches with several key updates—notably, each of the 30 awardees receive $30,000 to support them at any stage of their creative career. Additionally, these artists have committed to undergoing an 18-month experience designed to support their artistry and provide tools to fortify their ongoing creative practice.
Partnering with National Arts Strategies, Dunamis, and Meta Mind Art, LAB will provide customized supports such as individual and group wellness coaching, business and entrepreneurship workshops, brand development seminars, and creation labs to meet the current and future needs of artists. In response to the pressure artists experience around creating and presenting new works, LAB will focus on fostering lifelong artistic risk-taking through personal and professional development that centers well-being, collaboration and feedback, and creative storytelling.
Live Arts Boston was originally launched in 2016, as a partnership between The Boston Foundation (TBF) and Barr, in response to findings from a comparative study of nine cities that revealed Boston had the lowest rate of new artistic work production. It was developed in alignment with the Boston Creates Cultural Plan to prioritize support for individual artists. Over the course of six cycles, LAB has supported 360+ projects and has invested $5M directly into artists based in Greater Boston with more than 70 percent of funded projects led by artists of color.
We envision Greater Boston artists thriving in their careers, propelled by LAB’s holistic investment in their potential. To learn more about this year’s awardees and their work, click the button below to view their profiles.
