The Berlin to Yale Express!
Donation protected
The past few years have been a non-stop whirlwind of opportunities for me as an artist and storyteller. In 2015, I finished up a nine month exhibit for my photojournalism project We The People: The Citizens of NYCHA in Pictures + Words at the Brooklyn Historical Society to great acclaim. The exhibit drew accolades from the likes of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as well as Emmy winning documentarian/ lauded Harvard University - Hutchins Center Director Dr. Henry Louis Gates . The exhibit was also the subject of a story produced by NPR.
That same year, I exhibited my project Finding Dante as a response to the social upheaval in relation to unarmed Black and Latino men shot by law enforcement (which made the cover of Metro NY ). Later that year, I secured a fellowship with Columbia University , installed an interactive billboard in downtown Brooklyn , had my work included in a group exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York , installed the second phase of Finding Dante at New York University (which got a great shout out from Afropunk), and embarked on a two month artist residency with tech start-up Social Print Studio in San Francisco. Whew!
Fast froward to 2017. In the spring, I was awarded artist grants from the New York City Cultural Agenda Fund (as part of NOCD-NY's Creative Transformations program) as well as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. I also completed a summer long artist research fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. Later that year, I was accepted to a graduate program at Freie Universität (that's "university" for the non German speakers and the cognate impaired) in Berlin, Germany. So far, my experience in Germany has been remarkable.
A few days ago, I was made aware that I'd been accepted to Yale University's annual workshop series Thread. The workshop convenes the most promising storytellers across various mediums (photography, journalism, podcasting, etc.) over a three day period in efforts to sharpen their craft while plugging into an invaluable network. Attendees will learn from storytelling professionals who have made great strides in their respective careers.
Past workshop instructors at Thread include Glynn Washington (NPR's Snap Judgement), Jenna Wortham (New York Times, Pineapple Street Media's Still Processing podcast) and Nikole Hannah Jones (MacAurthur Genius Grant winning New York Times investigative journalist). While this has all the makings of a great opportunity, I am faced with a dilemma. The full tuition for the workshop ($1,895 + $275 for lodging) must be paid by May 29th...that's five days away!
Any donations would go towards the cost of the workshop, lodging and airfare. I would love to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I humble myself in asking for your help to enable me to do so.
That same year, I exhibited my project Finding Dante as a response to the social upheaval in relation to unarmed Black and Latino men shot by law enforcement (which made the cover of Metro NY ). Later that year, I secured a fellowship with Columbia University , installed an interactive billboard in downtown Brooklyn , had my work included in a group exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York , installed the second phase of Finding Dante at New York University (which got a great shout out from Afropunk), and embarked on a two month artist residency with tech start-up Social Print Studio in San Francisco. Whew!
Fast froward to 2017. In the spring, I was awarded artist grants from the New York City Cultural Agenda Fund (as part of NOCD-NY's Creative Transformations program) as well as the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. I also completed a summer long artist research fellowship at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. Later that year, I was accepted to a graduate program at Freie Universität (that's "university" for the non German speakers and the cognate impaired) in Berlin, Germany. So far, my experience in Germany has been remarkable.
A few days ago, I was made aware that I'd been accepted to Yale University's annual workshop series Thread. The workshop convenes the most promising storytellers across various mediums (photography, journalism, podcasting, etc.) over a three day period in efforts to sharpen their craft while plugging into an invaluable network. Attendees will learn from storytelling professionals who have made great strides in their respective careers.
Past workshop instructors at Thread include Glynn Washington (NPR's Snap Judgement), Jenna Wortham (New York Times, Pineapple Street Media's Still Processing podcast) and Nikole Hannah Jones (MacAurthur Genius Grant winning New York Times investigative journalist). While this has all the makings of a great opportunity, I am faced with a dilemma. The full tuition for the workshop ($1,895 + $275 for lodging) must be paid by May 29th...that's five days away!
Any donations would go towards the cost of the workshop, lodging and airfare. I would love to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I humble myself in asking for your help to enable me to do so.
Organizer
Rico Washington
Organizer
Berlin
