The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is dedicated to upholding the legacy of Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, (née Grace Kelly) and elevating extraordinary emerging artists in theater, dance and film through career-advancing grants.
Her commitment to advance the arts in the United States is sustained by the Princess Grace Awards which supports and elevates extraordinary early career artists in theater, dance and film through game-changing grants; and nurtures and supports Princess Grace Award winners throughout their careers.
In 2021, the Princess Grace Foundation is proud to recognize 18 Princess Grace Award winners and 12 Honoraria recipients. This extraordinary group of artists were selected from over 200 applications and now join the community of over 800 Princess Grace Award winners and honoraria.
THEATER
Nominated by: Ars Nova
Gant Gaither Theatre Honor
i’m an interdisciplinary artist focused on creating performances for, with, and about Black womxn & femmes through the storytelling medium that best serves the narrative.
Nominated by: Amas Musical Theater
John Gore Theater Honor
Musical Theatre Writer and Actor
Nominated by: Kansas City Repertory Theater
Ron and Vicki Simms Theater Honor
director/ choreographer/ performer/ educator
Nominated by: American Repertory Theater
Robert and Gloria Hausman Theater Honor
Theatre Maker, Cultural Worker
Nominated by: The Theatre School at DePaul University
Grace Le Vine Theater Honor
Multi-hyphenate artist: Actor, Singer, Poet, Rapper, Dancer/Choreographer, Screenwriter, and Director
THEATER HONORARIA
Nominated by: McCarter Theatre Center
Actor
Nominated by: Long Wharf Theatre
An NYC based director, producer, designer, one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of the OBIE Award winning The Movement Theatre Company, and the Associate Artistic Director of The Sol Project.
Nominated by: HERE Arts Center
I am a video artist, performance-maker, and multi-disciplinary designer
Nominated by: James Darrah
I am a composer who works with music, text, movement, and film. My work is cross cultural, cross genre, and multi-disciplinary.
Nominated by: California Institute of the Arts
I am a multidisciplinary artist and designer who works with space, light, and technology.
PLAYWRITING FELLOWSHIP
New Dramatists
Playwriting Fellowship
I am a playwright, artist, and educator writing on experiences in relationship to capitalism, cybernetics, queerness, and an unraveling of latinidad.
DANCE
Nominated by: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
John and Jenny Paulson Dance Honor
I identify myself as an artist, as someone who is motivated by purpose. A purpose that is greater than myself. My personal story and my faith have always been the engine to serve others as they need through my artistic gifts.
Nominated by: Pacific Northwest Ballet School
Martyn Ravenhill Dance Honor
A non-binary dancer specializing in both gendered techniques
Nominated by: TRIBE Multidisciplinary Visual Performances
Chris Hellman Dance Honor
I am a professional dancer and early-stage choreographer.
Nominated by: Whim W’Him
John and Barbara Lehman Dance Honor
I’m an artist trying to make a difference in my community and for the generations to come. I want to be an example that perseverance and gratitude are the foundation of your work.
DANCE HONORARIA
Nominated by: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
A multi-faceted performer, teacher, director and student focused on sustaining community in all parts of my work.
Nominated by: School of American Ballet
I am a dancer who uses ballet as a way to push the boundaries of what humans can create with movement and elevate current standards. With a large focus on technical details, I dance to express my own passion for ballet, communicate with audiences, and hopefully touch communities with my art.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Nominated by: Stephen Petronio Company
I consider myself a movement philosopher, a think-maker who uses the skill sets of a choreographer to work more forwardly as a director, facilitator, educator, and budding social entrepreneur.
Nominated by: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Brian and Amy France Choreography Honor
I am a Christian Black woman who speaks through and to the Spirit while standing at the intersection of art, education, ministry, and culture.
CHOREOGRAPHY HONORARIA
Nominated by: Centrum
I am a transnational immigrant choreographer, curator and hybrid performance artist who creates site-responsive performance rituals and live art installations that examine how history and politics enter the body and condition how we move and relate.
Nominated by: South Chicago Dance Theater
I am a contemporary dance choreographer who works with black women’s memories and embodiments while rooted in cultural significances of the American South. This is a political and cultural endeavor that works against erasure and moves towards rhythms of justice for diverse dancing bodies.
FILM AND ANIMATION
Nominated by: Jacob Burns Film Center
Cary Grant Film Honor
I am a Nigerian-American storyteller that uses film as my primary medium. I write, direct, and produce stories with a primary focus on African and diaspora cultures and experiences.
Nominated by: Synchronicity Theatre
I am a multi-disciplinary artist and actor working in theater, film, and experimental works.
Nominated by: California Institute of the Arts
John H. Johnson Film Honor
I am a filmmaker, curator and producer who works primarily in creative nonfiction cinema.
Nominated by: University of California, Los Angeles
I am a filmmaker who works primarily in narrative forms.
Nominated by: Daniel Chein
Director
Nominated by: California Institute of the Arts
Stephen Hillenburg Animation Honor
I am an experimental animator who works in mixed mediums and interactivity in primarily documentary forms.
FILM HONORARIA
Nominated by: New York University
I am filmmaker and writer. My work is focused in narrative storytelling. Additionally I direct music videos and commercials. I was formerly a singer-writer and recording artist.
Nominated by: Ohio State University
I am a filmmaker from Baltimore, Maryland, whose observationally-driven nonfiction work explores the musicality and multidimensionality of the human experience.
Nominated by: Temple University
I’m a documentary filmmaker.
ADVANCEMENT GRANTS
The Princess Grace Foundation continues to support and nurture our Princess Grace Award winners and Honoraria throughout their artistic journey, offering exclusive grants to Princess Grace Award winners & Honoraria for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development. In 2021, 6 artists will receive Special Project grants and 2 artists will receive Works in Progress residencies, in partnership with the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
SPECIAL PROJECT AWARDS
I am a filmmaker, video artist, cultural worker and educator who sees art as a pathway to liberation and understanding the afterlife.
Project: My Grandma Taught Me to Pray
Filmmaker
Project: Time Hunter
I am a queer black dance maker, born and raised in Los Angeles, California, amidst racial divide, gang warfare, and earthquakes. My work explores blackness, spirituality, queerness and liberation.
Project: Sermon on the Mount
Documentary Filmmaker
Project: The Death Anniversary
Scenic and Installation Artist for Theatre, Opera and Immersive Experiences
Project: rasgos asiáticos
I am a filmmaker and a visual artist who works primarily in animation and documentary forms.
Project: Pour the Water as I Leave
WORKS IN PROGRESS RESIDENCY AWARDS
I am a filmmaker who works in documentary and often incorporates performance and dance-like studies of the body in motion in my films.
Project: How We Look // Untitled Dwarfism Project
Dancer and Choreographer
Project: On Mending
GRACE KELLY SCHOLARSHIPS
The Grace Kelly Scholarship for Thespian Excellence identifies and nurtures high school theatre-makers and performers. In partnership with the Educational Theatre Foundation, Grace Kelly Scholarships provide access to the necessary resources and encouragement that meaningfully impacts young artists’ ability to succeed on their paths to becoming successful professional artists.
Grace Kelly Scholarship recipients are chosen from participants in the International Thespian Society and the annual International Thespian Excellence Awards (or Thespys). There are 2 types of scholarships:
- Grace Kelly Training Scholarships: (grades 9-11): 5 recipients selected annually will receive a one-time award of $1,000 to encourage ongoing pursuit of artistic education.
- Grace Kelly Scholarships: 5 recipients selected annually will receive a total of $6,000: $1,000/year 4-year scholarship to attend a college, conservatory, or pre-professional training program, a $1,000 award upon completion plus a $1,000 internship stipend. Winners will be paired with a professional mentor chosen by the Princess Grace Foundation from its Princess Grace Award winners.
Grace Kelly Training Scholarship recipients
Laila Carter
Musical Theatre
Caroline Lim
Scenic Design
Dane Lackey
Acting
Emma Stellmach
Sound Design
Jacki Vellandi
Acting
Grace Kelly Scholarship recipients
Margaret Hammond
Costume Design
Natalie Lawton
Stage Management
Grace Sorenson
Musical Theatre
Pradanya Subramanyan
Stage Management
Trysten Williams
Acting
Selection Process
SELECTION PROCESS
Princess Grace Award winners and honoraria are selected annually by experts in theater, dance and film. Each Panelist brings their own experience and aesthetic to the table, and decisions are made by panel consensus. Applicants undergo 3 stages of review, and the 3rd stage is a multidisciplinary panel comprising of representatives from each Discipline Panel.
In 2021, applicants to the Princess Grace Awards self-identified a primary discipline and secondary discipline(s) to be evaluated in.
2021 Panelists
Theater
- Chris Coleman
- Lauren Gunderson
- Theodore Rawlins*
- Rachel Sussman*
- Seret Scott*
- Darron West
- Tamilla Woodard
Dance & Choreography
- Neal Beasley
- Marjani Forte-Saunders*
- Gillian Murphy
- Julie Nakagawa
- Margaret Tracey*
- Eduardo Vilaro
Film
- Linda Blackaby*
- Rose Bond
- Stephen Gong
- Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich*
- Andrew Okpeaha MacLean*
- Adam Piron
- David Riker
*Panelists who served as representatives in the 3rd and final panel.
Advancement grants are selected by members of the Arts Advisory Board (AAB). AAB members are experts, practitioners and leaders in their artistic fields; at the Princess Grace Foundation they work alongside the PGF-USA staff develop funding that is responsive to the needs of the artistic community. In addition AAB members participate as panelists for the Advancement grants to Award winners, recommend Adjudicators and Panelists for the Princess Grace Awards and are ambassadors of the Princess Grace Foundation in the artistic community.