Living Artists Grant Winners
February 2, 2024
Congratulations to the winners of the inaugural $1,000 Living Artists Grants. Awardees Rowan Eriksson, AshaAung Helmstetter, and Seattle Stories are emerging visual artists with lower incomes in the Seattle-area. They were chosen by LAC’s grant committee made up of five local arts leaders as excellent representations of all the local creative scene has to offer. In addition to the financial award, winners will be automatically included in LAC gallery shows this year, and featured throughout 2024 on our platforms. Read on to learn more about these amazing creative people and the grant process.
Thank you to our donors for making these grants happen. Please contribute to help us fund the next round of grants. Artists, and anyone else who wishes to remain up to date on LAC’s future grants and other programming: sign up for our newsletter! We send it out about once a month, and it’s the best way to stay informed.
About the Awardees
During the finalist round, grant committee members interviewed each of the three eventual winners. This was a great way to connect on a personal level and get context behind the artists’ work that wouldn’t normally be revealed through the classic artist statement or bio. We’ll be working on individual feature posts for each artist with the information gathered, but until then here’s an introduction to the three winners. Please support them by following on Instagram, checking out their websites, turning out to their in-person shows, and reaching out directly if their work particularly strikes you!
AshaAung Helmstetter
“We’re Close” by AshaAung Helmstetter, 2023.
AshaAung Helmstetter (she/her) was born, bred, and currently resides in Seattle’s Central District. She left school early to manage chronic health issues, and discovered when auditing art classes at age 17 that art was her calling and a profound source of healing. She calls her oil and mixed media pieces “Freedom Paintings”, a term that captures the sheer energy within each piece as well as Asha’s desire to help people feel seen through her work. Asha lives by the three pillars of creating art, building community, and being unapologetically herself, which she accomplishes partly through teaching and participating in community spaces like the Northwest African American Museum, and her recent residency at Wa Na Wari Seattle.
Website: artsyasha.com
Instagram: @artsyasha
“In My Pride I Am Goddess” by AshaAung Helmstetter, 2023.
Seattle Stories
“Star” by Seattle Stories, 2023.
“Seattle Stories” is the project name by which we’ll refer to this grant winner, who wishes to remain anonymous due to the nature of his work. The artist, an award-winning photographer and videographer, began the Seattle Stories project to pursue authentic connection and contribute positively to his community through art, leading to documenting the stories of people who are experiencing homelessness. The artist shares about the Seattle Stories project with unhoused strangers, asks if they’d like to work together, and pays them for their time. LAC’s grant committee interview with the artist revealed a unique perspective that centers the essential work of telling humanizing stories, while balancing his own needs as a person living at a lower income in Seattle.
Website: seattlestories.org
Instagram: @_seattlestories
Rowan Eriksson
“The Crash” by Rowan Eriksson, 2023.
Rowan Eriksson (they/them) makes work that navigates the complexities of contemporary queer culture within the framework of capitalism. Growing up with an auditory disability in a conservative southern US commune, they learned to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and identity with images. Rowan is deeply involved in Seattle’s art community, helping to develop arts education curriculums and manage studio programming for local organizations including Common Area Maintenance and The Fishbowl Seattle. They currently have a solo show on view in Pioneer Square throughout February 2024 at Sew Generously Bespoke.
Website: rowaneriksson.com
Instagram: @scout_spout
“Three Tall Women” by Rowan Eriksson, 2024.
The Grant Process
One of LAC’s primary goals as an organization has always been to distribute financial awards so artists can spend more time creating and less time struggling to make ends meet. This inaugural Living Artists Grant program was developed between September-December 2023 to fairly pay and uplift hard working emerging artists who call this increasingly expensive area home.
The round kicked off in December 2023 with an application that required artists be making $58k/year or less to qualify, chosen as it is half of the Seattle-area’s median income, and because it is an income level many local artists are living below.
Artists submitted artwork samples and information about their art practice, and were added to the pool of applicants scored by our five local arts leaders who made up the grant committee. 94 applicant artists were scored by many factors: the skill demonstrated in work samples, how clearly they explained and conveyed their work’s themes, how committed they seemed to their practice, and how strongly the committee members connected to the pieces. You can read a more extensive introduction to the applicant scoring parameters in this blog post. After extensive discussions, five finalists were chosen to be interviewed. From those five, the winning three were chosen.
Winning artists may use the award money however they wish, as the committee is confident that all the chosen winners are committed to furthering their art careers while making ends meet. No financial reporting is required as a part of this grant. Winners are required to participate in at least one LAC gallery show in 2024, and interviews will be conducted at the end of the year to catch up and share in the joy of their year’s art making.
All of us at Living Artists Collective are proud to have taken the first plunge into making this happen. LAC staff and grant committee learned a lot in the process of awarding these inaugural grants, and we look forward to funding and facilitating the next round. Please donate to the Living Artists Grant fund to help us make that happen.
“Vance” by Seattle Stories, 2023.
“Matiaret” by AshaAung Helmstetter, 2023.
“Hamburgler in Love” by Rowan Eriksson, 2022.
Congratulations again to the awardees! Follow us on Eventbrite, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about LAC’s grants and other programs.
-The Living Artists Collective team