Photos by Kat Wilson / Artists 360

Twenty artists from Northwest Arkansas received grant funding in the latest round of awards from the Artists 360 program.

The Mid-America Arts Alliance program is made possible from support by the Walton Family Foundation. Its aim is to identify and elevate the Northwest Arkansas area’s leading artists.

The three-year pilot program began in 2018, and awarded a total of $114,000 to 20 artists. This year’s winners included another 20 local artists.

Fourteen people received project grants in the amount of $7,500, including Keely Brice, Megan Downey, Rodney Wilhite, Amos Cochran, Simone Cottrell, Crescent Dragonwagon, Rachel Lynett, Traci Rae Manos, Lia Urib, Craig Colorusso, Robert P. Gordon, Danielle Hatch, Zora Murff and Loring Taoka.

Project grants range in discipline from literary, performing, and visual arts, and include mixed media, photography, sculpture work and more.

Six student artists received $1,500 grants including Samuel Binns, Peter Mason, Mahshid Iraniparast, Ashley Gardner, Ziba Rajabi and Samuel Rivera Lopez.

“It is a great privilege to work with and connect artists who are taking inspiration from the rich creative ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas right now,” said Todd Stein, president and CEO of the Mid-America Arts Alliance. “As we welcome the second cohort of Artists 360 awardees, we are invigorated by the breadth of their projects and talents, and we look forward to building deeper networks and skills for all involved artists.”

The program aims to serve a total of 60 artists over the three-year life of the project. A third round of artists will be awarded grants in 2020. The application period for the 2020-2021 cycle is expected to open sometime in mid-2020.

For more information about the program, visit artists360.art.