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The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2024 Spark Award for Oregon Artists. In this first year of a three-year pilot program, the Foundation welcomed applications from artists in the performing arts and received 299 applications. The Foundation will award $25,000 to each of the twenty mid-career artists receiving the Spark Award this year, providing flexible funding for their overall creative development. This investment in individual artists is inspired by the Foundation’s belief that the self-directed pursuit by professional artists of new ideas, opportunities and skills is essential to our state’s cultural vitality.
During the development of the Spark Award program, the Miller Foundation consulted dozens of stakeholders to ensure that the program reflects the wisdom and experience of the artistic communities it is intended to serve. This first cohort of Spark Awardees was selected by a panel of twenty-eight national and Oregon-based performing arts professionals.
The panelists were chosen for expertise within their discipline, and in alignment with the genres identified in the applicant pool. They assessed applications with a detailed set of review criteria – skill, original output, audience engagement and midcareer stage – to ensure that the awardee roster represents the goals and spirit of the Spark Award: to sustain and advance the practice of individual working artists in Oregon. The Foundation considers the Spark Award an important investment in both artists and communities throughout Oregon.
Thank you to our panelists for lending their expertise in the performing arts:
Antonio Anacan, Jackie Apodaca, Byron Au Yong, Susan Banyas, Kelly Bosworth, Ed Bourgeois, Kenji Bunch, Sarah Dougher, Tracy Cameron Francis, Kyle Haden, Benjamin Hunter, Jaleesa Johnston, Abby McKee, Brian McWhorter, Margot Melcon, Cristi Miles, Naeim Rahmani, Reuben Roqueni, Terrance Scott, Jeffrey Stolet, Peter Swendsen, Nicole Taney, Minh Tran, Holcombe Waller, Jonathan Walters, Katie Watkins, Ruth Wikler, and Kaya Yamazaki.
In 2025, Spark Awards will go to twenty artists in the literary and media arts, and to twenty visual artists in 2026. To learn about upcoming deadlines and opportunities, sign up for our mailing list. To read more about the Spark Award for Oregon Artists visit here. Stay tuned in early 2025 for more information about our 2024 Spark Awardees!
Images from top to bottom and L-R (photo credit in parentheses):
Sara Jean Accuardi (by Scott Dittenhauser); Okaidja Afroso (by Clayton Cotterell); Laura Allcorn (by Ashley Courter); Marisa Anderson (by Jodi Darby); Amber Kay Ball (by Woodrow Hunt and Olivia Camfield); Adam Eccleston (by Andrew Wallner); Michelle Fujii (by Joni Shimabukuro); Ethan Gans-Morse (by David Lovere); Francisco Garcia (by Owen Carey); Allie Hankins (by Ruy Carpenter); Jimmie Herrod (by Paisley Lee); Anthony Hudson (by Anthony Hudson and Gia Goodrich); Carlyn Hudson (by Jingzi Zhao); Hannah Krafcik (by Hannah Krafcik); Talilo Marfil-Tran (by Beau Ryan); Lamiae Naki (by Nat Hulskamp); Jesse J. Sanchez (by RJ Lewis); Rachel Slater (by Christopher Peddecord); Andrea Stolowitz (by Michael Morrow); Luke Wyland (by Mia Braverman)
