Mikael Owunna + The Rainbow Serpent

“The STUDIO’s Director’s Fund has been a game changer for my work and trajectory as a Black queer artist in Pittsburgh. In 2022, I received support for my live performance The Four World Ages. This piece retold a West African Igbo myth of the history of humanity utilizing a spatial augmented reality platform that dynamically tracked the movement of the dancers in real time, projecting sacred symbols from African cosmology onto their bodies. This was the first time we had seen this technology successfully used on Black dancers, as these AI algorithms are notoriously poorly calibrated for darker skin tones. This was expanded into a full stage performance performed at The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard in 2023, public art installations in Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Baltimore viewed by tens of thousands of people, and is currently being adapted into a film. This year, I had the great fortune of receiving a second Director’s Fund grant for my virtual reality film Blackstar Sanctuary. With this support, I adapted the film into a full scale immersive mixed reality exhibition entitled Myth-Science of the Gatekeepers at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, including 16 glass sculptures of Black queer Egyptian gods that I created with Marques Redd and our Rainbow Serpent collective, and 360 degree projections from Blackstar Sanctuary. This installation immerses viewers into a Black queer ancient Egyptian temple complex and presents an imaginal world of the gatekeepers, queer spiritual mediators in many indigenous African traditions who bridge the physical and spiritual realms. The installation has been viewed by thousands to-date and received front page coverage in the Pittsburgh City Paper. 

As a grantee, I have now been able to launch my creative projects into the XR space, harnessing the power of VR, AR, and mixed reality to present and revive endangered Black queer spiritual traditions. The Director’s Fund has been crucial in making this storytelling possible, and I am particularly grateful to the STUDIO for offering this program as funding opportunities like this can be difficult to come by for Black queer artists interested in new media work.”

— Mikael Owunna

Co-Founder and Executive Director of Rainbow Serpent

Dr. Mame-Fatou Niang + Échoïques

“The Director’s fund offered crucial support for Échoïques (Sounds of Silence), a collaborative sound tapestry project with the residents of Clichy-sous-Bois/Montfermeil. It began as a State-funded art residency in Paris at the Atelier Medicis. Due to political pressure, we were removed from the residency’s roster prior to completion. The Director’s Fund support made it possible to complete this critical work and support our collaborators Collectif Manlän: Naema Lalalwi, Nassima Ameur, Assa Doucouré, Layla Faradjee and Azzedine Melki” (more photos)

JADED Collective

“In 2023, AAPI artists collective JADED teamed up with Rivers of Steel to host a free cultural summer block party called WILDNESS at Homestead’s historic Pump House. The event included local food and crafts vendors, and performances by local artists and AAPI community; as well as a screening of “The Last Mayor of Chinatown,” spotlighting Pittsburgh’s Chinatown history. The Director’s Fund helped make this event free and accessible to the public while allowing us to pay competitive rates to our artists and our team. You can follow JADED on Instagram @jadedpgh.”

— JADED Collective

“I maintain my relationship with the STUDIO not just because I personally support its work, I support the bridging of disciplines which it represents.”

— Nathan Martin
Founder and CEO, Deeplocal