Bronx, NY - En Foco is proud to announce the awardees of the 2024 Media Arts Works in Progress Fund. The Initiative was organized in collaboration with public access television network BronxNet, and supports NYC-based, early-career artists of color who engage with digital media technologies in their art-making processes and need support for the completion of a quality work in progress.

The five 2024 Media Arts Fund: Work-In-Progress Initiative Awardees were chosen from a pool of 71 applicants by panelists, Tricia McLaughlin, Visual Artist, Katherine Emely Gomez, Visual Artist, Illustrator and Design Manager, Ramón Torres, filmmaker, educator, and musician. Awardees will receive a $2,000 support grant to be used towards the completion of the proposed projects, and be included in a special feature in the Fellowship issue of Nueva Luz. 

The 2024 Media Arts Fund Awardees include:

Laura Dudu is a multidisciplinary artist and queer feminist activist blending studio work with social practice. They use video, participatory performance, food, poetry, and installation to explore themes related to sinophone diaspora identity, power structures, and social justice. 

Deshon Leek, is a Harlem-based poet, writer-filmmaker, and Emmy award-winning producer. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Film at Morehouse College before relocating to New York City. Deshon’s work often focuses on challenging conventional notions around Black manhood, queer identity, and mental health. 

Ambika Raina is a choreographer and dance director in Lenape territory/NYC. Bharatnatyam-trained, her unique, eclectic modern choreography shapeshifts for her stage dance, theater, music videos, and dance films. Ambika has been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Choreography in a Play, for her regional theater debut choreographing and associate directing A Nice Indian Boy.

David Sainté is a multimedia visual artist rooted in Brooklyn, NY. He draws inspiration from a transformative journey rooted to Haiti just a week after the 2010 earthquake. His work serves as a profound vessel, encapsulating the impact of a Haitian American reconnecting with his ancestral homeland.

Tansy Xiao is an artist, curator, and writer based in New York. Xiao creates theatrical installations with non-linear narratives that often extend beyond the fourth wall. Her work explores the immense power and inherent inadequacy of language through the assemblage of stochastic audio and recontextualized objects.

About the En Foco Media Arts Fund

The En Foco Media Arts Fund: Works In Progress (WIP) Initiative is an outgrowth of the En Foco Photography Fellowship with a growing awareness of the expanding language of photography, and consideration for artists engaged in more inclusive forms of media-making. The Media Arts Fund is En Foco’s response to provide for more opportunities for early-career artists of color, who would like to have their work supported, and exhibited. En Foco has successfully assisted previous awardees in their fundraising as well as used the services of funded artists as consultants in various initiatives. En Foco is always available to media artists who are in need of career advice.