
MAP is thrilled to support 40 projects this grant cycle! The 2017 grantee projects are led by a mix of artists: first-time recipients as well as artists who have previously received MAP funding.
There are 71 lead artists / ensembles among this year’s cohort of funded projects; of these, 43 are first-time grantees. Some of these artists include:
Ismail Khalildi and Hadi Eldebek | Dead Are My People
Dead Are My People is a music and theater work created by playwright Ismail Khalidi and composer Hadi Eldebek. Told through the story of Nicola, a man fleeing the famine-stricken mountains of Lebanon for the U.S. during World War I, this play uncovers the little-known history of Arab immigrant lynchings in the South during the early 20th century.
Alice Sheppard | Descent from Beauty

Descent From Beauty is an evening length dance work — created as a response to Rodin’s “Toilette of Venus and Andromeda” — that asks new questions about social justice, movement and embodiment, and art and architecture. Disabled choreographer Alice Sheppard will work with Sara Hendren, Yevgeniya Zastavker and the students at Olin College of Engineering to create an architectural stage and immersive environment that challenges conventional notions of access.
NEW NOISE, Phil Cramer, and Bear Hebert | Jubilee

Jubilee, created by NEW NOISE and led by Phil Cramer and Bear Hebert, stages a Southern family feast to host a purposefully uncomfortable conversation about race in the American South. Following one white Alabama family’s history, this food play explores themes of Southernness, personal ancestry, and systemic white supremacy.
Congratulations to all of the 2017 first-time MAP grantees:
- Cornell Alston | JACK & JILL
- Jermone “Donte” Beacham | Let ‘im Move You: This Is a Formation
- Guillermo Brown | BEE BOY
- Diane Burko | Kai ‘Apapa: Of the Reefs
- Robert Uluwehi Cazimero | LILI’U: Tribute to a Queen
- Raven Chacon | At The Point Where The Rivers Crossed, We Drew Our Knives
- Tanisha Christie | bathtub
- Philip Cramer | Jubilee
- Hadi Eldebek | Dead Are My People
- Paul Flores | We Have Iré
- Marjani Forté-Saunders | Memoirs of a…Unicorn
- Galliard String Quartet | LILI’U: Tribute to a Queen
- Moses Goods | LILI’U: Tribute to a Queen
- Naomi Goldberg Haas/Dances For A Variable Population | LES Citizens Parade
- Bear Hebert | Jubilee
- Rosie Herrera | Make Believe
- Constance Hockaday | Always Get On the Boat
- Darrell Jones | Clutch
- Ismail Khalildi | Dead Are My People
- Mary Kouyoumdjian | Paper Pianos
- Jaamil Olawale Kosoko | Séancers
- The Living Earth Show | At The Point Where The Rivers Crossed, We Drew Our Knives
- Allison Miller | ink
- NEW NOISE | Jubilee
- Mei-Yin Ng | The Treasure of our Chinatown: Wu Wei Za Chen五味杂陈
- Laura Nova | LES Citizens Parade
- Alan Pierson | Paper Pianos
- jumatatu m. poe | Let ‘im Move You: This Is a Formation
- Ron Ragin | Vessels
- Mark Rayment | A Voluptuary Life
- Kaneza Schaal | JACK & JILL
- Rosy Simas | Weave
- Christine Southworth | Kai ‘Apapa: Of the Reefs
- Alice Sheppard | Descent From Beauty
- Amara Tabor-Smith | House/Full of Blackwomen
- Rulan Tangen | GROUNDWORKS
- Pramila Vasudevan | THERE | HERE
- Shontina Vernon | FORGING AHEAD
- Rory Wakemup | Kill the Idiot Save the Fan
- Howard Wiley | Richmond Second Line
- Tassiana Willis | Banneker Home
- Rhiana Yazzie | Kill the Idiot Save the Fan
Learn more about the full list of 2017 MAP grantees here.