The Boston Foundation Announces 2019 Live Arts Boston Award for The Forgotten Kingdom

12 March 2019 — The Boston Foundation announced the recipients of the 2019 Live Arts Boston awards, including its continued support for The Forgotten Kingdom — Sand Stories, a special collaboration between Guy Mendilow Ensemble and sand artist Kseniya Simonova.

The arts in Boston are demonstrably more vibrant, thanks in part to the LAB grant, which began funding artists, artist collectives and presenting organizations at a grassroots level in 2017.

2019 marks LAB’s third cycle, in which it funds sixty-one projects. The Forgotten Kingdom — Sand Stories has received LAB awards all three years.

“It is a profound honour to have Live Arts Boston’s continued support,” says project director Guy Mendilow. “There are very few programs providing serious risk capital for grassroots level artists in Boston. And that is where so much of the innovation comes from. Since its inception, LAB has played a vital enabling role for artists — cultural innovators — including this project.” Significantly, more than seventy percent of LAB artists are people of colour, defying the colour lines often perceived in major arts institutions.

A live tour of The Forgotten Kingdom — Sand Stories is slated for fall 2019, and is the first to bring acclaimed sand artist Kseniya Simonova live to US performing arts stages. Millions recently fell in love with Simonova’s art on America’s Got Talent: The Champions.