Program Venture Fund Grantees
The KUOW Program Venture Fund has been awarding grants to fund radio productions since 2009. The diverse mix of projects includes series about addiction and recovery in native communities, storytelling in Seattle, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and highlighted moments in Pacific Northwest history. All of these productions aired on KUOW.
2011-2012 Grantees
Refugees In Puget Sound, Grantee: Jessica Partnow
Refugees in Puget Sound is a four–part series that highlights the refugee experience through personal stories as they transition to their new lives in the Puget Sound region. The series explores employment, mental and health issues and education. The series was produced in partnership with the Common Language Project.
Behind The Cascade Curtain, Grantee: Dominic Black
In this four–part series Dominic Black finds out what the cultural divide between Eastern and Western Washington really is, exploring the similarities and differences between the wet side and the dry side. We'll hear from politicians, farmers, religious leaders and artists, and uncover the roots of our views of different parts of Washington state.
More Than A Tree, Grantee: Sarah Waller
This is a series of three–to–four minute stories that catapults five Pacific Northwest trees into the forefront of our imaginations. We get to know a tree that has orbited the moon, a tree that gave us one of the most important cancer treatments of the last 50 years and a tree that has sperm (yes sperm) that looks strangely human.
2010-2011 Grantees
This NOT Just In: Audible Moments In Northwest History, Grantee: Feliks Banel
This NOT Just In: Audible Moments from Northwest History is a series of features highlighting important people and events from Pacific Northwest history, placing them in contemporary context. Using narration, vintage audio and interviews with living witnesses, "This NOT Just In" will cover moments from history such as the 1971 D.B. Cooper hijacking, the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and VE Day in 1945.
A Guide To Visitors: Storytelling In Seattle, Grantee: Jeannie Yandel
Seattle has been home to a live storytelling series for more than seven years. A Guide to Visitors is modeled after The Moth from the Public Radio Exchange. All of the stories have been recorded, and those recordings became shows comprised of first–person, nonfiction stories — all told by people who live in the Seattle area.
The Viaduct, Grantee: Dominic Black
Once upon a time The Alaskan Way Viaduct was a solution rather than a problem. As Seattle considers replacement of the viaduct, this four–part documentary examines why it was built, how it was built and what it represented to a city that was changing radically in the years after World War II. It's a largely untold story that is strangely familiar. Expect politics, infighting, competing interests, mischief, great technical expertise and concrete.
Addicted On The Rez, Grantee: Kristen Millares Young
Though Puget Sound tribes are scattered amongst urban communities, feelings of isolation and separation reign over reservation youth. For recovering addicts, leaving the reservation after rehab is often not an option. This feature examines the response of Native spiritual and community leaders who are fighting to take back their youth from burned out futures. Using canoe races, potluck dancing and sweat lodge ceremonies, they are trying to reestablish the cultural and spiritual core in young people recovering from addiction.