DR. DORIS DERBY
CREATIVE SPARK AWARD
The Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Award recognizes Black women — individuals or collectives — dedicated to creating art that ignites change and impacts our local arts ecosystem.
In 2015 we were reunited with Dr. Doris Derby as we set forth to find our roots during Free Southern Theater’s 50th Anniversary gathering. Ever since then we’ve been inspired by Dr. Derby’s legacy as an artist, storyteller, and documentarian of Black life in all of its facets. We are honored to celebrate her and that legacy with the debut of the Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Award.
The Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Award will be awarded annually to one Black woman artist or collective nominated by local partners and selected by the Junebug team and a panel of community members. The Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Awardee will receive $5,000 in funding and marketing and technical support during the award year to support their artistic practice.
2022 Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Awardee
The 2022 Dr. Doris Derby Creative Spark Awardee is Sha’Condria “iCon” Sibley.
Sha’Condria “iCon” Sibley is an Alexandria, Louisiana native and longtime New Orleans-based poet, writer, multi-inspired artist, and teaching artist, whose work spans across page, stage, canvas, theater, music, talk radio, and short film. She studied Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana and Community Health Sciences at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. A multiple-time national poetry slam champion and spoken word artist, she appeared on the third season of TV One's Verses and Flow, and her work has been featured on many platforms including Huffington Post, For Harriet, Teen Vogue, BBC World Radio, and recording projects with Grammy Award-winning artists. Sha'Condria is the author of My Name Is Pronounced Holy: A Collection of Poems, Prayers, Rememberings, and Reclamations.