Mariah Garnett Receives COLA’s Independent Master Artist Project Grant

In November, the city of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs announced the grant recipients of the 2023/24 City of Los Angeles Independent Master Artist Project (COLA-IMAP). The chosen 11 master artists, which includes filmmaker and CalArts alum Mariah Garnett (Film/Video MFA 11), will each produce a series, set, or singular new artwork with a grant of $10,000 from the city of Los Angeles.

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Now in its 27th edition, COLA-IMAP not only provides financial support but also serves as a vital platform for local artists to showcase their talent. The works funded by the COLA-IMAP grants will be premiered by the city in the spring of 2024.

Garnett, one of the distinguished 2023/24 recipients, is known for her groundbreaking films and installations. Garnett challenges the conventional hierarchy between filmmaker and subject—a realm historically dominated by individuals with economic, racial, and gender privilege. Her recent list of solo exhibitions include the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Commonwealth + Council, and a comprehensive 10-year survey of her work featured at the LA Municipal Art Gallery and Sundance Film Festival. Garnett is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow in Film/Video, and has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, and Bomb. In addition to her artistic pursuits, Garnett serves as an assistant professor of media at the University of California San Diego.

The full list of 2023/24 COLA-IMAP recipients in the performing, literary, design, and visual arts are: Jay Carlon, Gina Boring, Sheba Sarwar, Chris Wabich, Dorian Wood, Jane Brucker, Yasmine Diaz, Garnett, Janna Ireland, Debra Sacco, and Bari Ziperstein.