MAP and AdvantageWest announce three cash grants to Western NC media arts and film projects

Grant fund of $17,000 dedicated to local kayaker and videographer, Daniel Delavergne

Asheville, NC – May 23, 2006: AdvantageWest and the Media Arts Project (MAP) are proud to announce the winners of the inaugural Media Arts Advantage Fund. The Fund, administered by Advantage West, was developed in 2005 to foster and promote innovative media arts and film in Western North Carolina. According to MAP Board Chair Greg Lucas, “the grant fund is an opportunity to get cash into the hands of artists and entrepreneurs to complete projects that will enhance our region’s digital arts and culture.”

The grants awarded for the Daniel Delavergne Media Arts Advantage Fund are as follows:

• Moon Europa, a full-length science fiction film shot entirely in WNC, submitted by Gary Craig Hobbs, receiving $3,000
• Three-Dimensional Zoetrope, a multi-media installation piece, submitted by Stewart Dickson, receiving $1,000
• Twin Rivers Media Festival Workshops, featuring set design and HD workshops serving local media artists, submitted by Carlos Steward, receiving $1,000

The Media Arts Advantage Fund is dedicated to the late kayaker and filmmaker Daniel Delavergne, who was recently named an “Adventurer of the Year” by National Geographic Magazine. His Asheville-based production company, Penstock Productions, produced numerous classic outdoor adventure features. Daniel was an ardent supporter of the MAP and Platinum level sponsor at the MAP’s November 2005 fundraiser, which raised seventeen thousand dollars for the Fund.  The next grant cycle will be before the end of 2006, announcements to follow.

Cash grants were awarded to three of the nineteen applicants for this round of funding. Three independent judges chosen to select the grant recipients pared down the pool to seven finalists. Projects ranged from documentary films about environmental issues to a 3-D holographic installation. The judges were Glenn English, a local media artist and business-owner, Jessica Irish, Professor of Media Arts, 3-D Design and Installation at Wellesley College, and David Dombrosky, Contemporary Arts Manager of the Southern Arts Federation based in Atlanta. “The esteemed judging panel reflects the unique nature of this grant which is the first of its kind in the country that we know of, joining an economic development agency and media arts non-profit,” says Mary Trimarco, Director of the Western North Carolina Film Commission.

The judges convened at the Haywood Park Hotel on May 22nd for the final selection of grant recipients. The process culminated in a dinner reception at Bobo Gallery May 22, 2006. The event, sponsored by AdvantageWest and the Media Arts Project, honored the three judges and AdvantageWest’s CEO & President, Dale Carroll. Carroll said, “It was a great evening and we are excited to help the winners get their products out to the region and world.”

Special thanks to our sponsors Haywood Park Hotel, Bobo Gallery, Flying Frog Cafe and Biltmore Estate.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Voorhees at AdvantageWest, 828-687-7234