Junebug Productions, the New Orleans local and national performing arts production company, has announced the institution of the John O’Neal Cultural Arts Fellowship honoring the late John O’Neal (founder of Junebug) as part of the organization’s 40th anniversary celebration. The fellowship will award more than $100,000 in funding to five local artists whose artistic endeavors have benefited and supported the New Orleans arts and cultural landscape and the national arts ecosystem. John O’Neal, actor and founder of Junebug Productions and Free Southern Theater, dedicated his life and legacy to supporting local artistic opportunities for African-American communities.
Through the altruism of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the John O’Neal Arts Fellowship functions in tandem with the mission of Junebug Productions: to directly support artists who center and emphasize their art within their local communities. Executive Artistic Director of Junebug Productions, Stephanie Mckee-Anderson states, “We are grateful for the Andrew Mellon and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s partnership as we evolve in addressing the needs of our local arts field by raising the voices of local artists who are tackling relevant issues and, through their exemplary work, serve as ambassadors for our great city. The John O’Neal Cultural Art Fellows illustrate the ways in which art and culture flourishes in our city, playing an active and vital role in not only our local arts ecosystem but the national arts ethos.”
The Fellowship was awarded to artists Ausettua Amor Amenkum, Sunni Patterson, Frederick “Hollywood” Delahoussae, Kiyoko McCrae, and Shana Griffin. The practices of these artists range from African drum and dance to spoken word, film, arts, and organizing.
Junebug Productions is a performing arts production company that emerged from the Free Southern Theater in 1980 through the efforts of John O’Neal. Its purpose seeks to create and support art that challenges inequitable conditions historically faced by African American communities on a local and national level.
