Celebrating Excellence in the Arts
Description
Supported by the Cleveland Foundation and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, Verge Fellowships provide unrestricted monetary stipends to promising, developing artists across multiple disciplines from Cuyahoga County. This program celebrates and supports artists at the introductory stages of their careers, recognizing those who demonstrate creativity, passion, and commitment. Fellows, in addition to receiving monetary support, will also be introduced to community partners that will help promote their works, provide mentorship and offer other crucial wrap-around skills and networking opportunities during their fellowship period.
Watch previous virtual info sessions here with Chair Aisia Jones and Carol Malone.
See photos from the 2026 Verge Fellowship Awards on March 16, 2026 HERE.
A special thank you to our 2026 jurors: Aisia Jones, Chair, Jasmine Golphin, Carol Malone (Verge ‘24), Theresa May (CAP ‘21), and Kortney Morrow. The jury evaluated applicants based on artistic merit, potential for growth, and the impact of their work on the cultural landscape.
Support Provided by:
Eligibility
- Only one application per person will be accepted.
- Applicants must be at least 15 years of age.
- Applicants must reside in Cuyahoga County.
Congratulations to the 2026 Fellows!
Nathan-Paul William Davis
Nathan-Paul William Davis is a Cleveland-based musician, composer, and educator whose work blends Black church traditions, jazz, and hip-hop. A saxophonist, flutist, pianist, and producer, he studied jazz at the University of Akron and leads several projects, including the Bootleg Music live recording series. He has performed at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival and throughout the region. Davis serves as district band director at Richmond Heights Secondary Schools and teaches in Tri-C’s Saturday Jazz Academy. https://nathanpaulsound.com/
Sierra Delaine
Sierra Delaine is a Cleveland-based musical artist, songwriter, and creative facilitator whose work centers feeling, presence, and play. Blending soul, jazz, R&B, and experimental looping, she creates interactive performances using guitar, voice, and live looping technology to build layered sound in real time. She has performed with Cleveland Public Theatre and as a Summer Artist in Residence at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and develops community-centered projects supported by the Ohio Arts Council. www.deepdaisy.com
Avery LaMar Pope
Avery LaMar Pope is a Cleveland-born storyteller and arts educator working across theater, literature, and music. As an actor, he has performed with Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater, Karamu House, and Cleveland Public Theatre. A produced playwright, director, and commissioned poet, he is a founding member of The Sparrow’s Fortune who is recognized for his dynamic artistic voice and community impact. @averylamarpope
Unity Powell
Unity Powell is a Cleveland-based writer, journalist, photographer, and storyteller whose work spans fiction, theater, and cultural documentation. A 2018 Anaphora Arts Residency alum and 2022 Roots. Wounds. Words. fellow, she wrote and produced A Black Girl’s Space Oddity for the 2024 BorderLight International Theatre Festival. Founder of Tell It, she has been published in The Land and Midnight & Indigo and is currently writing a Cleveland-set romance novel. @msunitees
Wayne Smith III
Wayne Smith III is a Cleveland-based filmmaker, artist, and entrepreneur whose work pushes the boundaries of cinema and storytelling. A Syracuse University graduate, he founded Liaison Media LLC, partnering with organizations such as Americans for the Arts and The Scratch Foundation, and later launched Narrative Roux to explore expanded cinema and interdisciplinary artistic expression. His documentaries, including Where We Overlap and No Two Flowers, have been showcased at CIFF, GCUFF, Ingenuity Cleveland, and Borderlight Theater Festival. Trained in projection arts, cinematography, and devised theater, Wayne also served as DP on NASA’s commissioned film Gathered in Darkness. Narrativeroux.com
Past Verge Fellows
Stephen Bivens
Stephanie Fields
Amanda King
Damien McClendon
Archie Green II
Lexy Lattimore
Samuel McIntosh
Ryan Charles Ramer
Na-Te’ “Tae” Sturdivant
Antwoine Washinton
Mariama Whyte
McKinley Wiley