Abraham Alexander
Abraham Alexander
It seemed like a natural transition from The New Normal.
That’s what Lauren Childs, owner of art gallery Fort Works Art and founder of the nonprofit Gallery of Dreams, says of Sounds of Resilience, a new grant program for Fort Worth musicians.
“Let’s support these musicians,” she says. “They will create if they’re supported.”
Childs, the administrator of the initiative, teamed up with musician Abraham Alexander to create a project similar to The New Normal (which benefited visual artists), adapting it to encourage local musicians to get back in their studios and begin producing again.
The program invites musicians to perform two original songs explaining their ideas about resilience and upload the recordings to YouTube or Vimeo. Then, Alexander and a team of five other professionals in the industry — including T Bone Burnett, Amy Miller, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Troy Campbell, and Rosana Eckert — will select the 35 artists who will be awarded $2,000 each and the six who will receive $5,000 each. The six finalists will be paired up, each group writing another original song and performing it at Bass Performance Hall.
This project has emerged in an ever-changing environment characterized by the uncertainties of an ongoing pandemic and the calls to push back against racism and oppressive systems.
“To bring all of that to the forefront with these musicians, talking about what it means to them to be resilient through these times, I think that music will speak to the community at large as well,” Childs says.
Panelists will base their choices on the quality of the music, and applicants will also have the chance to explain their loss of income during the pandemic and what they would do with the grant money.
This project is meant not only to support the musicians financially but also provide bonding and networking opportunities. The musicians will be able to showcase their work to the selection panelists, many of whom have influence in the industry, Childs says.
“Our panel will create so many opportunities, in my opinion, for all of the musicians applying, whether selected or not,” Childs says.
In addition, she says she hopes musicians will discuss their work with each other and strengthen their community in that way. Unlike other grant programs for artists, the funds for Sounds of Resilience are set aside only for Fort Worth musicians.
Childs says she expects about 200 musicians will submit work to be considered by the panel, the same number of artists who participated in The New Normal.
The application period closes Aug. 2.
