Michele P. Ellison
Transformative Justice Exposure 2023 awardee: $20,000
This grant will support development opportunities in writing.
Michele P. Ellison is dedicated to further developing as a literary and media artist. Her artistic processes will include writing retreats, having a writing and media coach and being in a writing group. The digitizing of her FBI file will help her organize files into categories according to themes. The files will be placed in the archives at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for future writings by the artist and other writers.
2022 Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grant Amount: $5,000 over one year
Award Category: Planning Grant
Michele P. Ellison is an author who aims to produce a memoir detailing her and her family’s involvement in the civil rights movement. The $5,000 grant will be used to fund the production of her memoir through consultation and interviews with experts, the printing and procurement of research materials and travel expenses related to the project. This project lays the foundation for the telling of the story through narrative and poetic prose concerning the African American experience in the United States and subsequently adds to the literary arts about Pittsburgh and the United States.
"As an artist, the project gives me the opportunity to develop my voice and answers the questions: Who is this woman? and Who are we?" Says Ellison. "On my trajectory as an artist, it lays the foundation for future narrative and poetic works."