Sista Creatives Rising: The 2024 Sistas Uprising Fund

ALT TEXT: Image has a blue animated background of flowing water. The Sistas Uprising Fund Logo is on top of the background, surrounded by green floating lily pads with pink and purple lotuses. The logo says, "Sista Creatives Rising Presents: The Sistas Uprising Fund." The logo shows brown hands watering a lighter brown hand cupping some lotus sprouts. The water is from a steel watering can and it's pouring out rainbow water. In the background is a sun, pink and yellow lotuses and lily pads. Under the logo it says "Developing Grants For Marginalized Artists" on a half circle green graphic. In the right corner is the SCR logo which says above it, "Graphics by Amaranthia Sepia."

I am excited and grateful to receive a grant from the Sistas Uprising Fund this year! I enjoyed the overall application process where I got to reflect on my creative practice not only as a healing force but as a way of uplifting my community. Despite the feeling of powerlessness that I sometimes feel due to all the injustice, war, exploitation, genocide, fear and suffering that I see in the world, I know that it my responsibility and JOY to step up in the spaces that I belong to, contribute to, and cherish.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” ― Edward Everett Hale

"The Sistas Uprising Fund" is a charity project to help marginalized women & marginalized genders gain financial support through microgrants. Developed by Sista Creatives Rising, co-founded by Black disabled mother-daughter duo Claire Jones & Amaranthia Sepia, these microgrants aid these underrepresented creatives who’ve gone through immense hardship. Please check out the finalists for this year’s grant as well as the documentary they created with the contributions of each artist!”

Something I deeply admire about Claire and Amaranthia is how they prioritize accessibility for all creators and consumers of the arts. I noticed this in their care and intention about utilizing alternative text for visuals on their webpage and videos, connecting their work to social justice practices, and uplifting artists with all kinds of disabilities and personal circumstances.

You can support their work by donating directly through Paypal or following their social media pages including the Sista Creatives Rising Instagram page.

Webpage celebrating the grant recipients and showcasing their artwork: https://www.sistacreativesrising.com/2024-recipients

Documentary spotlighting the creative work and words of the recipients via YouTube: https://youtu.be/M4gUyef9y14

The two pieces below were included in my submission for this grant:

This self-portrait was created spontaneously from a sense of frustration and insecurity with my artwork, ultimately representing my inner critic. This piece helped to shift my perspective on the creative process because I finally allowed myself to intentionally make "ugly art." I expressed in words the resistance and creative block that paralyzes me, along with the realities of my circumstances at the time. I share this portrait with the hope that it could normalize the experience of the inner critic, and inspire others to make "ugly" art anyway!

ALT TEXT: The face has two eyes with dark eyelids shedding blue tears framed by rectangular glasses, a nose with green mucus running out the right nostril, and a mouth with a pink tongue sticking out. The text above the face reads "I resist against creating because I'm scared to be wrong, I resist because I don't feel like I'm good enough. I resist because I can't work on something for a long time. I resist because I don't have appropriate and dedicated space to create. I resist because I feel like an imposter. I resist because my art is ugly."

This art piece was created during my art therapy training to represent the infusion of my spiritual beliefs into my therapeutic practice. The rain represents the struggles, pain, and trauma that life naturally brings. The angelic figure floating over the smaller figures represents the divine protection we have within and without us all and the divine intelligence that allows for growth despite the pains of life. The creative spirit is represented by the yellow stars within each figure. I have faith that it is possible to heal from trauma and transform your life through the creative arts.

ALT TEXT: The art piece consists of thick coarse lines of oil pastel in bright colors. On the top half of the white paper canvas is a blue sky with dark blue rain drops falling down on a golden figure that splits the top and bottom half of the canvas. The golden figure has brown hair and is hovering over various human-like figures of different shapes and colors, each with a yellow star in their center. In between the figures are green leaves sprouting.