The 20th edition of Charlottesville SOUP was held on Thursday, April 2 at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Yunina Barbour-Payne, Daniel Carmelo, Patricia Nguyen, and Jalia Dillard were chosen by a community selection panel made up of Megan Donovan and Tobiah Mundt to pitch their creative projects in need of funding. Each artist presenter was guaranteed a $600 honorarium. Learn more about each artist and their project below.
On April 2, after enjoying a delicious dinner and hearing from the artists, attendees voted to give the $5,828 grant to Yunina Barbour-Payne, an Affrilachian Theater maker planning to create The Whole of me Ain’t all Hill’s and Mountains, a multimedia community inspired dance for film based on Black Appalachian women’s writing.
This grant was the largest-ever awarded at a Charlottesville SOUP event. Since the first Charlottesville SOUP in 2013, a total of $58,455 has been awarded to 23 artists working on 20 different projects.
📷 See photos by Kristen Finn here.
2026 Charlottesville SOUP
At our event on April 2 at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, attendees got to know Charlottesville artists, voted on their favorite creative project, and enjoyed a delicious dinner featuring soup from Plenty, salad by Ian Walters, bread from Albemarle Baking Co., and dessert from Splendora’s.
Meet the Presenting Artists
Following a competitive application process, four artists were selected by a committee made up of Tobiah Mundt and Megan Donovan to pitch their creative projects at the March 16 meal:
Yunina Barbour-Payne: An Affrilachian Theater maker planning to create The Whole of me Ain’t all Hill’s and Mountains, a multimedia community inspired dance for film based on Black Appalachian women’s writing.
Daniel Carmelo: A landscape designer creating zines and an interactive display illustrating recently discovered precolonial grassland remnants in the Virginia Piedmont.
Patricia Nguyen: An interdisciplinary artist creating an artist book grounded in workshops with communities on breathing and meditation practices honoring survivors of violence.
Jalia Dillard: An artist making a live, mystery-themed matchmaking experience designed to foster intentional community connection and pilot a new episodic film project.
Attend
A $10 ticket gets you dinner, dessert, and a vote! The SOUP Ticket Lottery is now closed and the event is currently full.Email Lindsey if you would like your name to be added to the waitlist and be notified should tickets become available.
Thank you
Charlottesville SOUP is a program of New City Arts. The 2026 SOUP dinner is made possible by generous sponsors including theJefferson School African American Heritage Center, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, Eventide, Hello Comics, C-VILLE Weekly, Nest Realty, Kristen Finn Photography, The A/V Company, Splendora's Gelato, Daisy Dee, Amanda Monroe Finn, Women Advancing, and anonymous donors.
