Recipient Information
Location
Lexington, Kentucky
Year of Award
2022
Grant or Fellowship
Leaders of Color Fellowship
Grant Amount
$0
Tassa-Nieta Wiggington
Founder, Whistle Work
My trajectory as an arts administrator has been non-traditional. Like a quilt-in-progress, my career path has been a stitching together of corporate and non-profit experiences leading me to my summative role as founder of Whistle Work(WW), an emerging non-profit providing youth and the adults who advocate for them layered programming and community events that include Art (i.e. visual and performing), Humanities and civic engagement. Consistent elements in the programming include the celebration of individuals from the African diaspora whose paths reflect triumphant mindsets- that when applied with their artistic calling - transformed the world. An alumna of Harvard Graduate School of Education and Howard University with 10+ years at a premier media conglomerate, I am a life-long learner, educator and performing artist who embraces the privilege of service. For 2 years I served as grants manager for LexArts (regional arts council and fund). Supporting 50+ organizations, I created empowering paths for small and under-resourced organizations. A KY Ambassador of Goodwill, I serve on community boards and was recently nominated as a 2021 KY UnApologetic Woman. In 2021, I committed fulltime to transitioning WW from a community light of 5 years to a regional beacon equipped for sustainability and succession.