Institute’s Andrade-Watkins Using Grant to Advance Film Storytelling

Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies Professor Claire Andrade-Watkins recently received a three-year grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA).

She will use her award to support digital and archival documentary projects,  cover studio expenses, archival and preservation supplies, digital/archival restoration, editing, travel, and research.

Andrade-Watkins is one of three artists who will receive $6,000 annually for three years.

Andrade-Watkins is a historian, filmmaker, and storyteller. She is a second-generation Cape Verdean, born and raised in the Tockwotton area of Fox Point in Providence, the first Cape Verdean settlement in Rhode Island. Her films focus on Fox Point and the Cape Verdean Diaspora, beginning with The Spirit of Cape Verde (1986) and her first feature documentary, Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican?: A Cape Verdean American Story (2006).  

The RISCA panel praised Andrade-Watkins.

“This artist is very clear about what she wants to accomplish and has worked a long time to prepare for this next step in her practice. Her personal story clearly and directly relates to her artistic vision and voice and shows a through line of this artist’s career…The panel was impressed by her use of archival footage and thinking about creating her documentary films in a multidisciplinary way…”

Her past awards and grants include a Fulbright Fellowship, the American Philosophical Society, the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, RISCA, Mass Humanities, the LEF Foundation, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship. Her films have been screened at festivals worldwide, including Hot Docs (Toronto), Athens International Film & Video Festival, Black Maria Film Festival, FESTin, Lucerne,  and FESPACO.

Andrade-Watkins provided insight into seeking out and earning grants.

“Competing for grants, awards, and fellowships requires discipline, tenacity, perseverance, and a little luck,” said Andrade-Watkins. “My journey as an inter/intradisciplinary storyteller, scholar, and teacher builds on rich archival source materials and a fantastic team of Emersonians, digital archivists, librarians, and community stakeholders who leverage and utilize a suite of digital tools and platforms to reconstitute the intangible memories of community, resilience and hope.”