COLUMBUS, Ohio — A national jury has selected seven winners – one in each of seven disciplines – to receive the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s (GCAC) $25,000 Artists Elevated awards for 2024: Antoine T. Clark (music), Gerardo Encinas (fashion), Orlando Hunter-Valentine (dance), Travis Chi Wing Lau (literary), Christopher Leyva (theater), Andrea Myers (visual arts) and Mike Olenick (film).
Antoine T. Clark (he/him) is the founding artistic and music director of the Worthington Chamber Orchestra. Known for his compelling interpretations, energetic stage presence and innovative programming, he has conducted prestigious orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic and Chicago Sinfonietta. He also directs the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2022, Clark was selected as Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s MAC Music Innovator and in 2024 he earned the Columbus Symphony Music Educator Award. This summer, Clark further solidified his reputation as a rising conductor when he was awarded third prize at the Los Angeles Conducting Workshop and Competition.
Originally from Sonora, Mexico, Columbus-based fashion designer Gerardo Encinas (he/him) is known for his captivating runway spectacles. Since premiering his first official collection in 2017, he has participated in the Couture Fashion Show at HighBall Halloween, designed costumes for multiple productions at Opera Columbus and opened his own downtown boutique. Encinas has designed dresses for Tiffany Moon from The Real Housewives of Dallas and for the international celebrity drag queen Nina West, who wore one of his gowns on the cover of New York magazine in 2019. He was also selected to design costumes for the North American premiere of McQueen, a theatrical production inspired by the life of British icon Alexander McQueen.
Orlando Hunter-Valentine (they/them) is a choreographer who researches, illustrates and creates from a same-gender-loving, African American, U.S.-born perspective. Their work tackles issues resulting from a capitalistic, imperialist, patriarchal, white-supremacist system. Hunter-Valentine is a founder of Brother(hood) Dance!, a 2020 Bessie honoree for Afro/Solo/Man and a certified Ohio urban master farmer. They work as a hood agroartupreneur, encouraging dance, agriculture and technology for embodied and ecological sustainability. They received an MFA in dance from The Ohio State University.
Travis Chi Wing Lau (he/him) is an assistant professor of English at Kenyon College. His research and teaching focus on 18th- and 19th-century British literature and culture, health humanities, and disability studies. Alongside his scholarship, he has been published widely in venues of public scholarship and poetry, including three chapbooks and a forthcoming full-length collection of poems, What’s Left Is Tender.
Christopher Leyva (he/him) is a neurodivergent writer who was raised by Jesus Christ Superstar and Walt Disney, and is a forever “theater kid,” having a degree in directing from Coe College and an MFA from the Playwrights Workshop at The University of Iowa. Leyva grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico in a Mexican/Puerto Rican household, and was recently chosen as a fellow for the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Series Scriptwriters Program. He has been awarded multiple Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and his plays have been commissioned by The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio, CLIMB Theatre, MadLab, Alliance Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference and others.
Andrea Myers (she/her) received her BFA in print media in 2002 and her MFA in fiber and material studies in 2006 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Toledo Museum of Art, Art Miami, Fiber Arts International, Columbus Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, coGalleries (Berlin, Germany), and the Textil und Rennsportmuseum in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany. She was a 2018 participant in GCAC’s Dresden Artist Exchange and will be traveling to Japan in 2025 as one of five 2024-2025 U.S. Japan Creative Arts Fellowship recipients.
Mike Olenick (he/him) is a filmmaker and editor with an MFA in photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in media studies from Columbus College of Art & Design. His films have screened at film festivals and museums around the world, including Fantastic Fest, the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Nightmares Film Festival and the Wexner Center for the Arts. His films have been featured as a Vimeo Staff Pick and won awards at the Slamdance Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Cinematexas and the Big Muddy Film Festival.
Each of the seven artists will receive an unrestricted award of $25,000. The awards are focused on providing substantial funds to Columbus-based artists who have been working professionally for at least three years and are intended to provide a more meaningful investment in moving an artist forward in their career. This year the awards were expanded from five to seven recipients.
“Columbus has such an incredible, world-class pool of talent, and we’re proud to recognize these seven artists across the disciplines for their already-accomplished bodies of work,” said Tom Katzenmeyer, president and CEO of GCAC. “We can’t wait to see how these awards expand on their work and advance their careers.”
GCAC invited community and arts leaders to nominate Columbus-based artists to apply for this year’s award. A total of 309 artists were nominated to apply and 122 applications were received.
The seven award-winners were selected from a group of 14 finalists that also included:
- James Filmore (dance)
- Joey Hebdo (music)
- Andrew Johnson (film)
- Anne McGreevy (literary)
- Lubna Najjar (fashion)
- Chineze Okpalaoka (visual arts)
- Matthew Sierra (theater)
In recognition of their standing, these seven finalists will each receive an award of $1,500. The Artists Elevated recipients and finalists will all be invited to apply to GCAC’s Dresden Artist Exchange.
Recipients were chosen by a national jury of creatives with representation across disciplines. They included:
- Stevie Soul Ansara (music)
- Christiana Ine-Kimba Boyle (visual)
- Antoinette Brim-Bell (literary)
- Barbara Cloyd (music)
- Zola Dee (theater)
- Alex Dimitrov (literary)
- Coco Elysses (music)
- Ricky “Glytch” Evans (dance)
- Jazelynn Goudy (dance)
- Jordana Guimaraes (fashion)
- Michelle Hanabusa (fashion)
- Sara Hinz (theater)
- Eunkang Koh (visual)
- Ani Javian (dance)
- Ty Johnston-Chavis (film)
- Coco McCracken (literary)
- Matthew Moore (visual)
- Dean Otto (film)
- Rey Benedict Pador (fashion)
- Markus Potter (theater)
- Kris Young (film)
More info on each of the jurors can be found on the 2024 Artists Elevated page.
“Serving on the GCAC’s Artists Elevated Award program jury was an enlightening experience that showcased the incredible depth of artistic talent in Columbus,” said juror Stevie Soul Ansara. “I was really impressed by the diversity of applicants, from seasoned professionals to emerging artists, all united by their passion and dedication to their craft. I really enjoyed reviewing applications from artists at various stages of their careers, each striving to reach new heights. Some were seasoned veterans seeking to expand their horizons, while others were brimming with ideas and eager to make their mark.”
“Our artistic journeys can often feel isolating and challenge the self-esteem of even the most talented creators. Grants like Artists Elevated help to clear space around common obstacles, making room for our work to flourish,” said juror Coco McCracken. “Carefully reviewing this year’s applications left me humbled as a writer, knowing that so many of my peers, regardless of where they live, are seeking the most basic resources creators need: time, financial assistance and validation. The quality of the applications was impressive, and choosing just one was incredibly difficult, as every artist presented a unique vision and a high level of dedication to their craft.”
The seven awardees, along with the seven finalists, will be honored at GCAC’s Big Arts Night on Oct. 24, 2024 from 5-8 p.m. at the Southern Theatre and Westin Great Southern Columbus. Guests can visit my.cbusarts.com/7886 to reserve free seats to the event, although tickets are very limited and may sell out.
The awards are part of GCAC’s Artists Elevated endowment campaign, designed to uplift individual artists through investment. GCAC currently has an endowment, the GCAC Community Fund, at the Columbus Foundation. GCAC’s giving site can be viewed at givetogcac.org.
Mission of the Greater Columbus Arts Council: To champion and elevate the arts and cultural expression of Greater Columbus. www.gcac.org
The Greater Columbus Arts Council receives major financial support from the City of Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners, the Ohio Arts Council and The Ohio State University.
For translations of this release and other pages, please see the dropdown menu at the top right corner of gcac.org.
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CONTACT: Jami Goldstein
(614) 221-8492
jgoldstein@gcac.org
