Shoreline artist receives $3,000 grant to support artistic vision

In the Presence of Absence
Artist Emma Levitt

Shoreline resident and artist Emma Levitt is a recent recipient of an Artist Up Grant Lab award of $3,000 to support her artistic vision. She is one of eighteen Washington artists to receive funding.

Emma is a dedicated visual artist and teacher. She actively exhibits and her work has been shown locally at Gallery4Culture, Pratt Fine Art Center Gallery, and the Museum of Northwest Art.

She comes from a long line of knitters and needle pointers, and her most recent body of work In the Presence of Absence featured a large knit tapestry exploring her own personal experience of grief and grieving.

As a teacher, she has led classes in drawing, printmaking, art appreciation, bookbinding and kite-building.

“I couldn't be more excited to receive a grant from Artist Up because this support means I will be able to rent a studio!” says Levitt. 

“Beyond allowing me the very necessary physical space in which to create, it will provide privacy and the ability to think, to experiment and to make a mess without interruption or distraction. It will offer me the opportunity to share my work with the public during art walks and host artists and curators for studio visits.”

This grant puts into action the goals of ARTISTS UP, a collaborative effort by 4Culture, the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and Artist Trust to improve and expand capacity and networks for under-supported artists in Seattle, King County, and Washington State. The Grant LAB funds artists working in all disciplines.

The Grant lab is an experimental program designed to remove barriers for historically under-represented artists and increase racial equity in grant making programs.