2011 Grants Awarded For Radio Projects
The KUOW Program Venture Fund has awarded grants to fund four new radio productions. 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. The projects will be produced in 2011–2012 and will air on KUOW.
Refugees In Puget Sound
Grantee: Jessica Partnow
Washington is one of the top 10 receivers of refugees in the country. While Washington state represents just 2 percent of the US population, we receive 4 percent of the country's refugees. Cities such as Tukwila, Kent and Burien have become home to people escaping high–profile conflicts. They are from Iraq, Burma and Somalia and other countries with lesser–known turmoil such as Bhutan or Eritrea. "Refugees in Seattle" will be a four–part series that will highlight the refugee experience through personal stories as they transition to their new lives in the Puget Sound region. It will explore employment, mental and health issues and education. The series will be produced by Jessica Partnow, Alex Stonehill and Sarah Stuteville of the Common Language Project.
Jessica Partnow is a cofounder of the Common Language Project, a nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to covering underreported stories and based at the University of Washington. Jessica, along with CLP cofounders Alex Stonehill and Sarah Stuteville, teach Entrepreneurial Journalism at the University of Washington. The three reported together on the Duwamish River and surrounding communities for KUOW in 2007 and have covered education in Pakistan and water issues in eastern Africa. Last year the team produced Between Worlds/Behind Bars, a series about immigration detention and deportation in the Pacific Northwest. In November and December 2010 they traveled to the Middle East to explore the impact of the Iraq War on young people in the wake of US troop withdrawal.
Behind The Cascade Curtain
Grantee: Dominic Black
The Cascade Curtain is a handy shorthand for the political and cultural gulf between the east and west of Washington state. But does it really exist? In this four–part series Dominic Black finds out, 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.
Dominic Black is the founder of Glass Island Media, an independent production company based in Seattle. He spent ten years working for the BBC as a documentary maker before working for two years with KUOW/Puget Sound Public Radio. Born on the North Coast of Ireland, his work has spanned a huge range of subject areas, from the role of women in country music to a history of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
More Than A Tree
Grantee: Sarah Waller
Over half of Washington state is covered in forest. That's nearly two–billion trees — 252 for every person living here. We see them everywhere in parks, out our living room windows and even along highway corridors. But we rarely see them in the headlines.
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.
Sarah Waller has worked for KUOW since 2006. She is thrilled to produce radio in a region that is home to both giant pacific octopus and hummingbirds. Her stories often examine the interaction between people and the natural world. Nalini Nadkarni will serve as the scientific advisor on the series. Nalini is a leading tree scientist, professor at Evergreen State College and president of the International Canopy Network.
To support KUOW's Program Venture Fund please contact Marilyn Buckso at 
or call 206.543.7018. Thank you for your interest and support.
