09/17/2009

Contact:
Liz Bartolomeo
press@artsusa.org
202.371.2830


Emerging Arts Leaders Awarded Scholarships

Washington, DC — September 17, 2009 — Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts, announces the selection the 2009-2010 fellows for its Professional Development Fund for Emerging Arts Leaders of Color, supported by the Joyce Foundation. All five Joyce Fellows are from the Great Lakes Region and each will receive a $3,000 scholarship to attend three Americans for the Arts events: the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Providence, RI (October 30–November 2, 2009), Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, DC (April 12–13, 2010), and the Annual Convention in Baltimore, MD (June 25–27, 2010). Throughout the year, fellows will meet with arts leaders, work alongside mentors, and receive individualized career coaching.

This year’s Joyce Fellows are:

    •    Makeba Dixon-Hill
          The Art Institute of Chicago / Chicago, IL

    •    Christina Jensen
          Hyde Park Art Center / Chicago, IL

    •    Tetia Lee
          Tippecanoe Arts Federation / Lafayette, IN

    •    Uri Sands
          TU Dance / St. Paul, MN

    •    Sioux Trujillo
          community+public arts:  DETROIT (at the College for Creative Studies) / Detroit, MI

“We are proud to contribute to the advancement of these bright and talented local arts leaders,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Dedicated and ambitious leaders are essential to the success and growth of arts and culture in this country.”

The Emerging Leader program at Americans for the Arts works to identify and cultivate the next generation of arts leaders in America.  Through special meetings and networking opportunities taking place across the country, the program encourages new arts leaders to participate fully in the field and their communities.  Emerging arts leaders bring fresh perspectives, new ideas, and vibrant energy to careers that build their foundation on creativity. New professionals are valuable to the arts community, and the members of the Emerging Leader Council are dedicated to see that the support for the arts continues for generations to come. 

Brief bios of the Joyce Fellows follow:

Makeba Dixon-Hill
Museums and Public Schools and School Partnership Program Coordinator, Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Makeba Dixon-Hill is a special projects coordinator in the Museum Education department at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Her primary duties include serving as a liaison between the museum and its partner schools by providing professional development, guidance on arts integration methods and general support to teachers and staff.  Previously, Makeba worked as the Curatorial Assistant and sole programmer at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.  She has also served as the Education and Public Programs Coordinator at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In addition, Makeba was the Managing Editor of Code Z, an online publication dedicated to black visual culture. After graduating with concentrations in English and Art History from Spelman College, she participated in the first annual David C. Driskell Summer Arts Institute for the study of the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, College Park.  She recently completed the necessary coursework in fulfillment of a Masters degree in Arts Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a consultant and writer who has contributed to several visual and literary arts publications and currently serves as the Programming Co-Chair of the Young Non-Profit Professional Network of Chicago.

Christina Jenson
Director of Development, Hyde Park Art Center
Chicago, IL
Christina Jenson leads the development office for the Hyde Park Art Center, the oldest alternative contemporary art venue in Chicago where exhibitions, installations, artist/curator talks, discussions and events invite visitors to experience the unexpected and explore untraditional topics in a stimulating and fun environment. She is responsible for creating and implementing a comprehensive annual development plan that raises $900,000 annually for this midsized arts organization. Christina is also a Fellow with the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and recently completed a fellowship with the Development Leadership Consortium. She is currently a board member of Stage left Theater in Chicago and holds degrees from the University of Colorado and Loyola University in Chicago. 

Tetia Lee
Executive Director, Tippecanoe Arts Federation
Lafayette, IN
Tetia Lee has worked for nonprofit arts councils throughout the state of Indiana for the last 13 years. She currently serves as executive director of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation, an arts council and umbrella organization for a fourteen county region in North Central Indiana.  She served in the capacities of Gallery Director, Instructor, and Outreach Coordinator while completing her degrees from the American Academy of Art and Indiana State University. After completion of her MFA in painting, Tetia focused on her passion for the arts and community by assuming the role of Assistant Director at Arts Place, serving east central Indiana and west central Ohio. As executive director, she developed and implemented three programs to provide access to the arts to at-risk and underserved youth, leadership for a cultural plan, and elevated the profile of the organization within the community, around the region and throughout the state. Tetia also serves as a member of the Community Council, the Regional Leadership Institute, the board of the YWCA, and is Vice President of the Indiana Coalition for the Arts.

Uri Sands
Co-founder and artistic director of TU Dance
Minneapolis, MN
Uri Sands’ choreography has received national recognition for the fusion of classical elegance with edgy contemporary action, for pulsating intensity with poetic lyricism.  A principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for five years, he also danced with Philadanco, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, as guest artist with Complexions under the direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, and as a principal dancer with North Carolina Dance Theatre.  His recent choreographic commissions include, among others, Zenon Dance, Vocalessence, North Carolina Dance Theater, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In addition to several film and television credits, Uri has taught dance extensively throughout the United States and Europe. He was awarded a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellowship and a 2005 Princess Grace Award in choreography. Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands were honored with the Sage Cowles "Best Performance" award in 2005 and 2007 and were named "2005 Artists of the Year" by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Sioux Trujillo
Associate Director, community+public arts: DETROIT at the College for Creative Studies
Detroit, MI
Sioux Trujillo received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. She has worked in the Detroit art community for 11 years as an artist and more recently as an administrator. Currently, she is the Associate Director of community+public arts: DETROIT, a two-year pilot initiative that brings community-driven public art projects to six underserved Detroit neighborhoods. This initiative helps youth reimagine their landscape and transform their communities. From 2005-2008 Sioux led Art on the Move (AOM), a program that promotes cultural awareness through the creation and exhibition of public art in Detroit. Sioux is also the recipient of a 2009 Kresge Artist Fellowship which provides $25,000 creative work and she is the recipient of a Michigan Educational Grant. She has also received awards for her mixed media works from Burren College of Art and College for Creative Studies. She has exhibited locally at the Pioneer Building, Susanne Hilberry Gallery, and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and internationally at Muria Art Gallery in Kinvara, Ireland, Burren College of Art Gallery in Ballyvaughan, Ireland, in Pont-Aven, France, and at Taller Galleria Fort in Barcelona, Spain.