The Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, recently announced the 21 recipients of research and development grants for 2024.

Among those awarded is Shawnte Orion, of Surprise.

Orion attended Paradise Valley Community College for one day. He is the author of “Gravity & Spectacle,” a collaboration with photographer Jia Oak Baker from Tolsun Books, and “The Existentialist Cookbook.”  He has performed in bookstores, bars, universities, hair salons, museums and laundromats and his poems have appeared in Threepenny Review, Barrelhouse, Sugar House Review, New York Quarterly and elsewhere. He has also recorded several poems for the flipside of a split 7-inch vinyl record with the band Sweat Lodge.

Awarded through an application and review process, these $5,000 grants support Arizona artists as they work to advance their artistic practice, expand their creative horizons, and deepen the impact of their work.

Grantees represent a variety of artistic disciplines and reside in communities throughout the state.

Research and development grants are funded through a public-philanthropic partnership between the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Arizona Community Foundation, who match the Arts Commission’s allocation to the program dollar-for-dollar with funding from the Newton and Betty Rosenzweig Fund for the Arts.

Visit azarts.gov/news/21-arizona-artists-awarded-research-development-grants for more information.