The catering, events and hospitality company Great Performances announced the four recipients of its 2025 Artist Fellowship Awards, who will be honored during a ceremony on Monday, Jan. 12, at Mae Mae Café and Plant Shop, located at Great Performances’ headquarters at 2417 Third Ave. in Mott Haven.
The four honorees will each be given a $5,000 grant to support their projects, which advance employees’ artistic careers and creative ambitions. Each of the projects from the grant winners reflects New York City’s depth, imagination and cultural vitality.
This year’s honorees include Dane Terry, for a fictional podcast musical inspired by a pivotal week in his life when he was 12, Ananda White for a short film, “The Butterfly Vase,” which involves a girl suddenly finding herself at her boyfriend’s funeral carrying a secret, Yuleima Gonzalez, for a poetic, conceptual audiovisual work, titled “The Manifesto of Grief,” that explores memory, the body and spiritual connection to the land, and Michael Russell for “Everybody Eats,” an illustrated children’s book meant to foster inclusivity by examining cultural differences around food.
Applicants for the grant were evaluated by a panel of judges, each of whom had deep ties to the cultural landscape of New York City.
Members of this distinguished panel included Museum of the City of New York Director and President Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Find Your Light Foundation Deputy Director Jake Goldbas, Serino Coyne Senior Director of Events Suzanne Tobak, Winston Wächter Fine Art Owner Christine Wächter-Campbell, Roar Social Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships Toby Milstein Schulman and Roundabout Theatre Director of Leadership Giving Glen Stiskal.
The Artist Fellowship Awards reflect Great Performances’ founding mission of providing flexible employment that empowers women in the arts to pursue their creative dreams.
The Jan. 12 presentation ceremony, which will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will feature award presentations by Great Performances Founder and CEO Liz Neumark, as well as remarks from New York State Assemblymember Amanda Septimo and former Deputy Bronx Borough President and current Bronx Children’s Museum Board Member Janet Peguero.
