{"id":16710,"date":"2024-09-04T20:52:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/?p=16710"},"modified":"2024-09-04T20:54:12","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T20:54:12","slug":"asc-surprises-artist-junior-gomez-with-a-3000-seed-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/asc-surprises-artist-junior-gomez-with-a-3000-seed-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"ASC surprises artist Junior Gomez with a $3,000 SEED grant"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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ASC surprises artist Junior Gomez with a $3,000 SEED grant he didn\u2019t know he\u2019d been nominated for<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"2024
2024 ASC SEED Grant recipient Junior Gomez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
By PAGE LEGGETT<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Let\u2019s say you see an email from the Arts & Science Council (ASC) informing you that you\u2019ve won $3,000 \u2013 no strings attached. What do you do?<\/p>\n

Delete it, and congratulate yourself for recognizing a phishing attempt when you see one? Many of us would.<\/p>\n

When artist\/muralist Junior Gomez<\/strong><\/a> got that email, he wondered if it was too good to be true. \u201cI read it four times just trying to process it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Then, he called Ivan Garnica, ASC\u2019s grant manager and the rainmaker who\u2019d sent Gomez the email. Garnica confirmed it was legit and told Gomez that an ASC Fellow had nominated him for a SEED grant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone is awarded an ASC fellowship, they have the opportunity to nominate another creative from the community they believe deserves recognition,\u201d Garnica said. In Gomez\u2019s case, artist and muralist Abel Jackson<\/strong><\/a> was the nominator.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbel had asked for my email a few weeks prior,\u201d said Gomez, who described his style as \u201ccontemporary graffiti.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he was sending me some information on something we\u2019d discussed. I had no idea this was coming. And it came during a difficult time where I needed motivation to keep me going. I was extremely taken aback and just so happy and excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome windfall<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s incredible is that Gomez had applied for \u2013 but not been awarded \u2013 another grant a few months prior. He\u2019d proposed a trip to Egypt to gain inspiration for a new series of paintings. \u201cIt was great to see him awarded this SEED grant so soon thereafter,\u201d Garnica said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJunior called me when he was declined,\u201d he continued. \u201cHe was understandably disappointed, but he was grateful for the guidance we gave him for when he applies again. He hadn\u2019t known SEED grants were even something ASC did. He was incredibly grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most grant applications are long, involved and time-consuming to complete. But SEED grant recipients have been vetted by their nominators and only have to answer a few questions about how they\u2019ll use their funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t ask for a budget,\u201d said Garnica. \u201cWe don\u2019t ask for a lot of details. We do request a final report afterwards to see what they learned through this process and to ask if there\u2019s anything they would change. But it\u2019s nothing like our full application.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez\u2019s application spelled out how he\u2019d use the grant to invest in his business: \u201cI will use these funds to enhance my current technology, enabling greater creativity and efficiency in my artistic endeavors,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI plan to upgrade and enhance the technological tools and resources integral to my creative practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

He originally planned to invest in a new iPad. But shortly before the suspicious-sounding email arrived, his best camera broke \u2013 the one he uses to photograph his art and share it on his website and social media. It\u2019s also how he documents his creative process. He posts those videos to YouTube.<\/p>\n

So, the windfall was even more welcome.<\/p>\n

Fairy godfather <\/strong><\/p>\n

Garnica\u2019s role at ASC has made him a kind of modern-day fairy godfather.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a certain age, you\u2019ll remember Publishers Clearing House TV commercials depicting Ed McMahon surprising an unsuspecting family with balloons, streamers, a film crew and a giant check.<\/p>\n

Garnica is Charlotte\u2019s version of Ed McMahon. He gets to surprise SEED grant recipients with happy news they weren\u2019t expecting. He loves it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a surprise for someone to receive this kind of funding,\u201d he said. \u201cASC wants to invest in their creative practice, wants them to expand their knowledge and have opportunities they wouldn\u2019t otherwise have. And yes, it\u2019s absolutely amazing to be the person who delivers this news.\u201d

It\u2019s also amazing to be the person who receives the news \u2013 and soon after, the funds. For Gomez, ASC opened a door he\u2019d thought was closed.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s had plenty of doors open of late. In July, he completed his largest mural to date. His client was SUPERCOOL Air Conditioning & Heating, and he painted a mural titled \u201cIntention\u201d at their NoDa headquarters at 954 N. Davidson St.

Source of inspiration <\/strong><\/p>\n

Gomez is more than artist. He also strives to be a role model for other artists.<\/p>\n

One way he does that is by taking risks. \u201cMy journey as an artist is driven by a desire to push beyond boundaries and to set no limits on where I can go and what I can achieve,\u201d he wrote in his statement for the ASC. \u201cWith each project, I strive to discover new levels within myself, continually evolving and expanding my creative horizons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in the transformative power of art and am committed to being a beacon of inspiration and encouragement for all those who dare to dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the surprise SEED grant has served as inspiration for him. When asked if he\u2019d apply for another ASC grant, he said, \u201cIf I\u2019m eligible, I\u2019ll apply for every single one they post.\u201d

He added that \u201cCharlotte is lucky to have a resource like ASC that helps fund artists and allow us to follow our dreams. Artists I know in other cities and states have told me they don\u2019t have the same opportunities that we do in Charlotte. It\u2019s just such a motivating thing to feel that someone is watching out for us, supporting us and uplifting us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Learn more about Junior Gomez and his art at <\/em>juniordesignsart.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/section>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ASC surprises artist Junior Gomez with a $3,000 SEED grant he didn\u2019t know he\u2019d been nominated for By PAGE LEGGETT…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-fullwidth.php","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-blog","category-cultural-community-highlights"],"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16710"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16718,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16710\/revisions\/16718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsandscience.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}