The SEED Money Fund is a rapid-response funding program for Black artists in the Pittsburgh region who are new to the public art sector. SEED Money supports these artists with ample opportunities to develop the necessary skills, experiences, and network to advance their practices and prepare them to work in the public art realm.
SEED Money was designed and organized by Jessica Gaynelle Moss in collaboration with Shiftworks Community + Public Arts in 2021.
SEED Money plants seeds, or early stage investments, that nurture the growth of Black artists, ensuring that our local communities and the entire public art sector flourish.
Over the course of 2022, SEED Money supported six artists throughout the Pittsburgh region with opportunities for funding, networking, mentorship, and professional development.
In addition to $3000 in unrestricted seed funding, each artist received an additional $500 for their involvement in every step of the process. Artists were compensated for completing an initial intake form, attending office hours, submitting their proposal, and attending feedback sessions.
Prior to formally sharing their proposals, artists could attend Office Hours, a professional development support program with SEED Money and Shiftworks staff that included reviewing work samples, resumes, websites, draft proposals, and more.
Artists also received opportunities for networking, mentorship, and feedback from internationally-known Black artists and industry professionals.
In late 2021, ten community members were invited to submit nominations for artists, activators, activists, and curators in the region who were poised to work in the public realm, but who hadn’t yet had the opportunity or resources to do so.
In February 2022, all ten of the nominated artists received direct invitations to participate in the SEED Money process. First, they were invited to complete an initial artist intake form, for which they were compensated. Of the ten, six ultimately opted in, receiving a customized structure of support. Office Hours, led by SEED Money and Shiftworks staff, provided professional development support to all to help shepherd their success. By the end of April 2022, all six artists submitted their very first formal public art proposal.
Traditionally, a panel constitutes a cadre of experts convened to conduct an official appraisal, pooling their opinions, experiences, and expertise from diverse vantage points. Panelists wield pivotal influence in the grantmaking process, typically tasked with autonomous evaluation and ranking. Although panel discussions provide insight into grantmaking, artists rarely have the opportunity to witness this closed-door process. Additionally, after recommendations have been made, applicants often only have access to the panel’s notes, which can be ambiguous or confusing.
The SEED Money Anti-Panel was created in an effort to flatten this hierarchy, build a bridge between applicant and reviewer, make the process more fair and transparent, and establish all participants as “experts.”
“It's all about breaking down the walls between applicants and reviewers and making everyone feel like they're experts in the process.”
—Jessica Gaynelle Moss
The Anti-Panel was an online convening that was informed by the principles of an artist’s studio visit. The Anti-Panelists were selected based on their alignment with the SEED Money artist’s interests. These four arts professionals, across disciplines,were invited to listen, guide and provide feedback.
There were two Anti-Panels over the course of the program. The first Anti-Panel took place online in June 2022 and was structured as an opportunity for networking, peer-review of the artist’s completed proposals, and an open share about upcoming events and projects. The artists then incorporated the feedback from the Anti-Panel into their projects and processes over the summer.
The second Anti-Panel was held in November 2022. This final convening was a celebration, an opportunity for the artists to share their progress and workshop possible next steps with the Anti-Panelists.
Artist Kahmeela Adams has archived the 2022 project in video form, viewable at the top of this page. The video features interviews with SEED Money artists and the program team. Everyone involved, including artists and participants, received compensation for their interview contributions.
Black – A racialized classification of people who may identify as Black, African American, African, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Indigenous and/or of the African diaspora.
Pittsburgh – The Pittsburgh region is defined as the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland.
Storytime
Abreihona
Abreihona’s proposal for SEED Money blended her dual concentrations in museum education and curatorial work into a pop-up book exhibition. The exhibition proposed to provide a tactile means for children within the community to engage with Black art, artists, and art history as an educational resource. The installation would include children’s books, artist monographs and biographies, and art history texts. Ideally housed within a museum setting, the books would be in conversation with the works of Black artists already on view and be activated by asynchronous art-making prompts. SEED Money supported the research, conceptual development, and workshopping of Abreihona’s concept.
Abreihona, born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art educator, art historian, and curator. Abreihona graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a major in Art History and a minor in Museum Studies. Her concentration centers on modern and contemporary artists, particularly US-based Black artists, due to a lack of representation in most art history courses and the traditional art world. Abreihona has worked at the Carnegie Museum of Art education department as a Museum Educator, where she has taught The Art Connection (TAC) program, art summer camps, and k-12 programs, and served as a Gallery Ambassador. Abreihona has co-curated the “WOV ART: Celebrating 40 Creative Years” exhibition at BNY Mellon Satellite Gallery, student-curated the “Women of Visions: Celebrating 40 Years” exhibition retrospective at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Art Gallery (UAG), and stands as the first curatorial resident at the Black-owned gallery 38A in East Liberty. In support of Black artists, Abreihona promotes marginalized voices, artistic expression, and experimentation.
Desir
Sakony Burton
Sakony Burton used his SEED Money funding to propel his ongoing business and largest artistic outlet: his brand, Desir. Burton used the funding to develop and purchase print ads to promote his business. This included engaging photographers and models for photo shoots, photo editing promotional materials, and posting and marketing his pieces online. SEED Money also supported the sampling of a Desir hat and jacket, as well as the sampling and production of a Desir long sleeve t-shirt.
Sakony Burton is a Pittsburgh-based graphic designer. Born and raised there, he attended Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School from middle to high school. Towards the end of his time there he would discover his love for graphics and photography, combining the two to create his brand, which is now known as Desir. Sakony has been designing cover art and fliers for many of Pittsburgh’s local acts while still maintaining his own personal projects from design to music production, using all experiences past and present as his muse.
What should be here(?)
Vania Evangelique
“What should be here(?)” was a proposal for a freestanding wall installation in front of spaces that have either been gentrified or torn down in the Pittsburgh area. As conceived, the artist would work in collaboration with community members in the Hill District to gather stories, pictures and news clippings from the Hill District. Evangelique would incorporate these materials onto the front side of the wall installation, celebrating the Hill District’s vibrant past and history. The back of the installation would be painted with black chalkboard paint, providing a surface for community members, neighbors, youth, and elders to answer to the question, “What should be here?” Paying homage to James and Karla Murray’s wood-framed structures at Seward Park of lost Lower East Side Businesses in New York, this proposal sought to provide opportunities to envision the future of these spaces. SEED Money supported the research and fabrication of Evangelique’s freestanding wall concept.
Vania Evangelique, formerly known as Zeal Eva, is a painter, photographer, curator, and arts educator whose work is deeply rooted in personal history and the histories of the communities in which she works. Originally from Bethlehem, PA, Evangelique is currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. Evangelique’s artwork tells stories of home and celebrates the Black experience through the use of digital and film photography, painting, and illustration. Evangelique’s artwork has been exhibited in solo exhibitions including, Today// Yesterday at Bunker Projects and Where Flowers Bloom at Thoughtrobbers Gallery. Evangelique has been a collaborator with organizations including the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Boom Concepts, Assemble Gallery, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Brew House Arts. Evangelique has been an Artist-in-Residence at Brew House Association and Head Curator of the Coloured Section Arts.
Come As You Are
Daontay Knight
Daontay Knight’s project, “Come As You Are,” was a proposal for a series of reimagined depictions of religious scenes intertwined with scenes of Black traditions and cultural behaviors. It is an exploration of both the sacred and the cursed, and the many ironic ways they intersect. The intent of this project is to encourage and promote sonder, which by definition is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.
As Knight writes, “Very rarely when we think of the holy and the divine do we consider Black people. Instead we often think of misfortune and despair.” Knight’s work challenges these biases and confronts the harsh judgements we cast on others. Knight’s proposal is for a series of 10-15 photographs of newly discovered and cast subjects at photoshoots within his studio, as well as a digital video for a short film that features moving images from the shoots and commentary from the subjects about their spirituality and personal beliefs. Ideally, the photographs will be installed in a church setting as a public-facing exhibition. Viewers would be invited to not only view the work, but also participate in a discussion around work and related topics.
Daontay Knight is a self taught photographer and visual artist living and working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His primary medium is photography, utilizing both film and digital styles in addition to painting and drawing. Inspired by artists such as Deana Lawson, Henry Taylor, and James Baldwin, his works aim to continue centering and exploring the Black Experience. Concerned with controlling the narrative, Daontay believes our stories are our legacies and that it is not only our duty to preserve and protect them, but that we must also share them and make them felt. His current work is a study on Blackness as a religion, and the many parallels between Christianity and the African American plight. As a Pittsburgh native, he believes deeply in strengthening his community and documenting the city as it changes over the years, ensuring we won’t ever be forgotten. He believes art is a lifelong practice and is committed to learning his craft.
The Gospel in the Wake Project
Bonita Lee Penn
This project is a poetic connection between the contemporary practices in Black churches and how they reflect what was practiced by our ancestors. Penn proposed to create a short film to bring the Project’s poem alive and as a prequel for the future full-stage performance as well as a sample for a grant application. This film will be staged in two churches as a poetry performance surrounded by praise songs of the choirs. The work includes a robust team to work with the artist to develop choreography, videography, stage direction, music direction, and sound and lighting design. Rehearsals would take place in the churches to allow the videographer to set up and work with the sound and lighting staff prior to the final filming. SEED Money supported the research, development and pilot filming of Penn’s project. Immediately following SEED Money, Penn was awarded an Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grant through The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Bonita Lee Penn is a Pittsburgh poet, literary curator, Creative Writing Facilitator, and author of Every Morning a Foot is Looking for my Neck (2009 Central Square Press). Her work has been published in the anthology Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience (2022 Cherry Castle Publishing); Taint Taint Taint Literary Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, and others. She is a member of the experimental performance group Heroes Are Gang Leaders and teaches poetry through the Madwomen in the Attic Creative Writing Workshop (Carlow University). Her most recent manuscript is being considered for publication.
The Redd Studio
Marques Redd
Redd’s introduction to art came through his parents, who owned “Miracles Fine Art,” a gallery that specialized in exhibiting the work of Black artists. Due to illness, that gallery was closed in 2000. Now, over two decades later, his goal is to digitize the approximately 300 pieces in this collection and launch an online museum called “The Redd Studio.” This archive includes a wide variety of work, including masks and wood carvings from across the African continent and paintings from figures like Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Kathleen Wilson, Charles Bibbs, and William Tolliver.
Redd proposed to engage in a three-month period of planning for the development of this project. During this time, he consulted with an archivist and conversator to gain best practices on database creation and preserving sensitive artwork and hired a web designer to build a template for the site and a photographer to professionally capture a subset of the archive for digital display. This research time also provided Redd with an opportunity to prepare for larger grant applications and construct a multi-year timeline for the museum and its planned impact into the future.
Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, and multimedia artist. He is immersed in a wide array of African spiritual systems, particularly from ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara cultural contexts. His published essays include “Astro-Black Mythology: The Poetry of Sun Ra,” “Those Mysteries, Our Mysteries: Ishmael Reed and the Construction of a Black Esoteric Tradition,” and other pieces he has written for arts institutions such as Silver Eye Center for Photography. In September 2021, he released the film Obi Mbu (The Primordial House): An Igbo Creation Myth. In October 2021, he launched a public art collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra entitled Playing the Cosmic Strings, and he has curated shows in cities such as Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Tampa, and Miami. Other work in production includes a series of glass sculptures of queer African deities that will be exhibited at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in 2023.
“The SEED Money Fund nurtures artists with early-stage investments, valuing their ideas over financial constraints. We aim to support artists of all levels and to provide access to the public art realm, understanding that this process is vital for their personal and professional development. These capital investments redistribute wealth, diversify the field, amplify voices, preserve culture, and help to document overlooked legacies.”
Jessica Gaynelle Moss
Jessica Gaynelle Moss is an artist, curator, custodian of art, and arts consultant to institutions and private clients. Jessica is committed to developing innovative, ethical, and responsible solutions to improve the conditions that advance the lives and work of black queer trans indigenous people of color women m/other and elder artists.
She has an extensive background in nonprofit leadership, program management, equitable development, public art and community engagement with a diverse roster of institutions including The Joan Mitchell Center, The City of Pittsburgh, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art + Culture and DreamWorks Animation..
Jessica is the founder and director of The Roll Up CLT artist residency in Charlotte NC, and the Managing Director and Curator of Sibyls Shrine collective and artist residency in Pittsburgh PA. As a philanthropic advisor, Jessica has partnered with The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Shiftworks Community + Public Arts, The Opportunity Fund, Foundation of the Carolinas, The Arts & Science Council, and Grantmakers in the Arts to reimagine philanthropy as a bridge for artists towards access and advancement.
Jessica received a bachelors in Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009; a masters in Arts Administration, Policy and Management from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015; and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2018.
This program would not have been possible without the collaboration of many artists, administrators, curators and creatives. We are deeply grateful to the Nominators and the Anti-Panelists:
Nominators
J. Thomas Agnew, Tereneh Idia, Charlotte Ka, Justin Laing, Njaimeh Njie, Mikael Owunna, Kendra Ross, Janelle Young
Anti-Panelists
Amina Cooper, Skyla Hern, Kevin ‘Surf’ Mitchell, Avery R. Young
Funding for The SEED Money Fund was provided by The Pittsburgh Foundation and Shiftworks Community + Public Arts.
Top to bottom, left to right:
(1) Video by Kahmeela Adams, courtesy artist; (2) Sunflower by Juliandra Jones aka PBJ Customs, image courtesy artist; (3-8) Artist headshots, courtesy artists; and (9) The Redd Studio, photo by Chetuan Amina, image courtesy Marques Redd.
