2019 SPRING GRANTEES
Hannah Reimann - Musician
Music Grantee - Hannah Reimann
Café Royal Cultural Foundation Hamburg has awarded a musical grant to Hannah Reimann to complete her upcoming album “Mi Corazòn”. Hannah Reimann’s music has spanned multiple genres from the time she was both teenage concert pianist and singer for the punk band Kikigurushii in Kyoto Japan. Her first performances as a pro singer in the late 1990’s included Bossa Nova songs that influenced her style as a songwriter and performer. Mi Corazòn was originally recorded in 2000 as a simple piano and vocal ballad for her album First Songs. In 2017 Hannah asked Latin soul singer, songwriter and Universal recording artist Gonzalo Astaburuaga Allen, aka GO, to write Spanish lyrics for the song and thus began a collaboration that evolved to include four songs on Hannah’s upcoming album Mi Corazòn.
Thana Alexa - Musician
Music Grantee - Thana Alexa
Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC first 2019 Spring Music Production Grant has been awarded to Thana Alexa to complete her upcoming album, “ONA”. Chosen as Downbeat Critic’s Poll Rising Female Vocalist for four consecutive years, Thana Alexa’s upcoming album is a musical exploration of what being a woman means to her. It is her discovery of the wild woman spirit within her and the experiences she has encountered in setting her free. It celebrates the inspirational women who have given Thana the confidence to realize her truth and express it freely. “ONA” conveys what Thana learned about the lives of women, their experiences, emotions, sexuality, worth, desire for freedom and ability to overcome injustice by fighting for what woman believe in.
Steven Burton - Photographer
Visual Grantee - Steven Burton
Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC has awarded a 2019 Spring Visual Grant to Steven Burton to help with the installation of his “Skin Deep” project at a future Exhibition. Originally from the UK, now a full time NYC resident, Steven Burton is a self-taught portrait, travel and lifestyle photographer with an education in graphic design and advertising. Steven was inspired to launch his “Skin Deep” photo project after seeing the documentary G-Dog which is about the work of Father Greg Boyle, who founded Homeboy Industries, to help former gang members reintegrate into their communities. With “Skin Deep” Steven is trying to change the way people view former gang members and lift the stigma that surrounds them in their post-gang lives.
Victoria Manganiello - Artist
Visual Grantee - Victoria Manganiello
Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC first 2019 Spring Visual Grant has been awarded to Victoria Manganiello to help with the installation of her “Computer 1.0” project at the Tower49 Exhibition. An artist, designer and adjunct professor of Textiles at NYU and Parson’s the New School, Victoria was named as one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 for 2019. Victoria has exhibited her work throughout the USA and internationally including at the Queens Museum, Museum of Art and Design, Isabella Gardner Museum, Indianapolis Contemporary Art Museum and the Tang Museum. Victoria’s installation work, abstract paintings and kinetic sculptures are made meticulously with hand-woven textiles using hand-spun yarn and hand-mixed natural and synthetic color dyes alongside mechanical alternatives and modern technologies.