The Kenneth Rainin Foundation, an Oakland-based organization that champions the arts, literacy, and supports research to cure chronic diseases, announced last week the recipients of its Rainin Arts Fellowship. The fellowship supports artists who work in public space, dance, theater, and film. Each fellow will receive an unrestricted grant of $100,000.
Public space fellow Cece Carpio, dance fellow Sarah Crowell, and film fellow Cheryl Dunye are all based in Oakland. Theater fellow Danny Duncan is from San Francisco.
The fellowship was launched in 2021 and is administered by United States Artists, a Chicago nonprofit that provides unrestricted grants to artists, works with foundations and philanthropists to administer grants, and provides professional services such as legal advice and marketing to artists. The grant supports artists who, through their work, create a vibrant cultural hub in the places where they live.
The fellows were nominated by Bay Area artists and cultural leaders. The selection process included a two-part review with national and local jurors, including Isabel Fondevila (Roxie Theater), Keith Hennessy (Circo Zero), Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen (Artist/Curator), and Sean San José (Campo Santo, Magic Theatre).
“At the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, we are working to build a Bay Area where artists have the resources to not only live and create, but also thrive in their practice and community,” Liz O’Malley, the foundation’s director of arts strategy and ventures, said in a press release. “As federal and philanthropic funding continues to shrink, this unrestricted support recognizes their vast contributions and generates lasting impact.”
Cece Carpio’s mural “We Got Us” was part of the artwork that transformed Downtown Oakland during the summer of 2020. Credit: Azucena Rasilla/The Oaklandside
Cece Carpio’s work through murals, public space activations, and collaborative projects fuse folkloric forms, bold portraiture, and natural elements. She was one of the artists who transformed downtown Oakland in the summer of 2020 with evocative social justice murals. Carpio previously served as a public art commissioner for the City of Oakland and a manager of the San Francisco Arts Commission. As a member of the artist collective Trust Your Struggle, her work has traveled all over the world. Earlier this year, she unveiled her solo exhibition “Tabi Tabi Po: Come Out with the Spirits! You Are Welcome Here” at SOMArts.
Black girl magic trio from the 2023 production “TELL” at Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco Credit: courtesy of Robbie Sweeny
Sarah Crowell is a queer dancer, choreographer, arts educator, and nonprofit leader who has dedicated the last three decades to inspiring youth through movement, spoken word, and storytelling through a social justice lens. She is the artistic director emeritus of the Oakland dance company Destiny Arts Center and artistic director of Dance Mission Theater.
Cheryl Dunye and Guinevere Turner in Dunye’s 1996 film, “The Watermelon Woman.” Credit: courtesy of Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye is a renowned Black queer filmmaker, writer, and actor. She is best known for her groundbreaking 1996 feature “The Watermelon Woman.” Dunye has created various indie projects and directed episodes for TV series including “Queen Sugar,” “Dear White People,” “Bridgerton,” and “Lovecraft Country.” She is also the cofounder of Cinemama, a group formed by local filmmakers Boots Riley, George Rush, Laura Wagner, W. Kamau Bell, and others to foster the Bay’s filmmaking community.
In 2017, Danny Duncan directed the Tony-award musical “Ragtime at the historic Nourse Theatre in San Francisco. Credit: courtesy SFArtsED and SFBATCO
Danny Duncan is an American playwright, choreographer, composer, and educator. Duncan began his career in the 1960s on off-Broadway stages in New York. He founded the Duncan Company of Performing Artists when he was 17 years old, where he choreographed and danced Afro-Haitian ballets, touring for seven years. Besides his work in New York and San Francisco, Duncan has also worked with the Oakland School for the Arts. This fall, he will unveil his latest production, “Every Saturday Night,” with the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company.
More information about current and past fellows can be found on the foundation’s website.
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