Checking in with our VSCO Voices 2019 Grant Recipients

By Adrian Octavius Walker

Earlier this year, together with Access Ventures, we announced the 2019 VSCO Voices grant recipients. For the second year in a row, the program supported five creators with mentorship and funding to make art that empowers marginalized communities in the United States. 

Over the past six months we’ve followed the creative journeys of recipients Alexandra Cuerdo, Cori Corinne, Dave Kasnic, Lauren Vied Allen, and Khristopher “Squint” Sandifer, and have learned so much from their artful and unique storytelling around the theme of style. 

We’re so thrilled to be able to share an update on their final projects, and to continue watching where they go next on their creative journeys. 

Alexandra Cuerdo

Dancing on My Own

Celebrating queer Asian identity

Alexandra "Allie" Cuerdo is a Filipino-American writer and director who seeks to drive awareness about issues of cultural and religious identity within the queer Asian and Filipino community.

Dancing On My Own is a short documentary film about Bubble_T, the largest queer Asian dance party in New York, and a pioneering celebration for the queer Asian community. The film is a love letter to Bubble_T and its community of inspiring creatives. Allie’s own story is woven into the film, and she hopes it encourages others to tell their stories. Dancing on My Own will premiere in 2020.

Cori Corinne

Dress. Code.

Expressing identity through style

Cori Corinne is an independent, multidisciplinary designer and creator based in Ohio. She combines her background in design and art to solve problems, tell stories, and create compelling, interactive experiences.

Dress. Code. is a portrait series that explores the freedom of expression through style. Over the past six months, the Cincinnati-based artist and designer has visually examined how society’s scrutiny of the bodies of women and non-binary individuals can affect how they present themselves, ultimately fragmenting their identities. In creating the series, Cori wanted to illustrate the ways that society can splinter a person’s sense of self. She hopes that this work will spark dialogue about fostering a more open and expressive environment for individuals everywhere.

Dave Kasnic

Alpha & Omega Ministries

Portraits of strength, unity, & worship

Dave Kasnic is a photographer who was raised in rural Washington State and is currently based in Chicago, Illinois. His work surrounds race, community, and religion

Alpha & Omega Ministries documents the life and congregation of Pastor Martha Freeman, who is a pillar of positivity in her often-marginalized and narrowly-depicted community of Garden Homes, Milwaukee. Upon meeting Pastor Martha, Dave was captivated by the warmth she exudes, and the sense of togetherness and community she fosters. The series celebrates Pastor Martha’s strength and dedication to her community, and challenges negative perceptions of the neighborhood. Dave’s images are now exhibited on the Alpha & Omega storefront.

Lauren Vied Allen

'GRITO': A Display of Mexican Pride

Finding strength through dance

Lauren Vied Allen is a visual creative who focuses on culinary traditions, food, people, and the crossroads where they collide. She creates compelling photographic stories as a means of understanding cultural identities and enriching her community.

GRITO is a film and portrait series that documents immigrant youth in North Carolina, as they deepen their relationship with their culture through ballet folkórico, a Mexican folk dance. GRITO captures De Colores, a dance troupe of first- and second-generation Mexican immigrants in the rural South. Ballet folkórico offers young dancers an empowering way to preserve their heritage and traditions, and share their culture with their local communities. Lauren hopes to help a broader community understand what it means to be Mexican-American. 

Khristopher "Squint" Sandifer

The Innovations of Jazz

Reflecting an art form's impact

Khristopher "Squint" Sandifer is a multifaceted creative whose diverse skill set includes branding, film directing, photography, and public relations. Currently, he is focused on narrowing a cultural gap in the innovation economy by exposing underrepresented communities to innovators and inventors like themselves.

The Innovations of Jazz is a portrait series honoring the impact of jazz artists. Jazz was born from a desire to create a new sound, and a new identity, during a time of great racial inequality and tension. Squint puts the origins of jazz into context, reminding viewers that even in the face of extreme injustice, people can create entirely new and original forms of self-expression.