Artists across the country to compete for $10K ArtPrize grants
Editor's note: The video in the player above is a report that ran on Sept. 27, 2024 about that year's ArtPrize winner.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Artists across the country have a chance to compete for $10,000 grants to bring them and their work to ArtPrize this year.
This is the first time ArtPrize has brought back pitch nights since the pandemic, Executive Director Catlin Whitington said.
'We're really excited to see this this program back in action,' he said.
ArtPrize has partnered with art organizations across the country to in April and May, starting in Louisville, Kentucky and ending in New York City.
ArtPrize saw 800K visitors, $71M economic impact in 2024
After applying to the pitch night, five finalists will have five minutes to pitch their idea to a panel of five judges. What the judges will be looking for will vary by organization. In Indianapolis, for example, the judges at the Eiteljorg Museum will be looking for contemporary Native American artists, while the judges at the Satellite Collective in New York City will be focused on finding new media installations and time-based art, Whitington said.
'Broadly, the grants we're looking for (are) merit and really exciting, ambitious works,' he said. 'Works that we feel really represent the region and that will be well served in coming out here to ArtPrize. And we're excited to see what the applicants bring to show.'
One artist from each city will be given a $10,000 grant to bring their idea to Grand Rapids.
ArtPrize is also working to put together local pitch nights in each Grand Rapids ward. It's still finalizing the venues and local partners for that series, but Whitington said local artists can expect an announcement soon.
Venue registration for ArtPrize 2025 — which runs from Sept. 18 through Oct. 4 — opens in the beginning of March. Artist registration will open at the end of March.
'We are very excited to share some of the big projects that we have coming here very soon,' Whitington said.
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Business Insider
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- Business Insider
THEN AND NOW: The cast of 'The Lord of the Rings'
The first installment of the beloved "Lord of the Rings" trilogy came out in 2001. Several stars like Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom reprised their roles in the "Hobbit" films. Sean Bean and Karl Urban have gone on to play iconic TV characters. Believe it or not, it's been over two decades since the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy wrapped in 2003. The film franchise, based on the J. R. R. Tolkien novel of the same name, received critical acclaim — and also launched several actors' careers. Since leaving Middle Earth, many of the franchise's stars have gone on to play other iconic roles. Here's a look at what the star-studded cast is up to today. Elijah Wood played Frodo Baggins. Wood played a hobbit named Frodo in the "Lord of the Rings" films. After inheriting the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, Frodo bravely volunteers to take it to Mordor to be destroyed, kicking off the epic journey across Middle Earth. Wood began acting at a young age and had several major film credits before "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), like "Flipper" (1996) and "Avalon" (1990). Wood has since acted across a variety of genres. Wood has stayed busy with movies of all genres, including the action-comedy "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over" (2003), romantic drama "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004), animated musical "Happy Feet" (2006), and psychological slasher "Maniac" (2012). In 2010, Wood cofounded the production company SpectreVision, formerly known as The Woodshed, and has gone on to produce films like "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" (2014), "Mandy" (2018), and "Color Out of Space" (2019). In addition to his other career as a DJ, Wood still found time to work on projects like Cartoon Network's "Over the Garden Wall," "I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore" (2017), and "Come to Daddy" (2019). These days, you can catch him in the ensemble cast of Showtime's "Yellowjackets." Viggo Mortensen played Aragorn. The Danish-American actor Mortensen played Aragorn — the son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur, and eventual King of Gondor. Aragorn is a member of the Fellowship and leads the fight against Sauron's army while the One Ring is being destroyed. Before joining the "Lord of the Rings" cast, Mortensen had worked with directors like Peter Weir, Brian De Palma, Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, and Jane Campion. Fans would likely recognize him from films like "Young Guns II" (1990), "Crimson Tide" (1995), "The Portrait of a Lady" (1996), and "G.I. Jane" (1997). Mortensen has been nominated for several Academy Awards. Mortensen has since been nominated for best actor at the Academy Awards three times, for "Eastern Promises" (2007), "Captain Fantastic" (2016), and "Green Book" (2018), and has received numerous other honors. He made his feature directorial debut with the 2020 drama "Falling," which he also wrote, coproduced, and starred in opposite Lance Henriksen. Sean Bean played Boromir. Bean played Boromir, the son of Denethor and a member of the Fellowship. Boromir primarily appears in the first movie, as he dies defending Merry and Pippin against a horde of orcs after briefly allowing himself to be tempted by the One Ring. Bean was previously known for his roles in action thrillers like "Patriot Games" (1992), "GoldenEye" (1995), and "Ronin" (1998). Bean played another beloved fantasy character on "Game of Thrones." After meeting his character's demise in "The Fellowship of the Ring," Bean appeared in "Equilibrium" (2002), portrayed Odysseus in "Troy" (2004), and chased Nicolas Cage in "National Treasure" (2004). He went on to famously play Ned Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones." More recently, he played Mr. Wilford on TNT's "Snowpiercer," John Parse in Brandon Cronenberg's 2020 sci-fi thriller "Possessor," and Ian on the BBC drama "Marriage." Dominic Monaghan played Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck. Monaghan played the troublesome hobbit Merry in the "Lord of the Rings" films. Merry is a hobbit from Frodo's village who finds himself leaving the Shire and joining Frodo's dangerous adventure. He had acted in several TV movies, but "The Fellowship of the Ring" was Monaghan's big-screen debut. Monaghan had a major role on "Lost." After concluding the film trilogy, Monaghan landed the role of Charlie Pace on ABC's "Lost" and appeared on the series until 2010. After that, he hosted and produced the BBC wildlife docuseries "Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan" from 2012 to 2016. He also starred in the video short for Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie," played a mutant in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2009), and joined another major franchise when he appeared in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" (2019). He voiced Archibald Desnay on Amazon Prime's 2022 animated adaptation of "Critical Role," "The Legend of Vox Machina." Most recently, he voiced an Orc in the animated "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The War of the Rohirrim" (2024). Sean Astin played Samwise Gamgee. Astin portrayed the loyal hobbit Samwise, Frodo's best friend. Save for a few brief separations, Sam is always by Frodo's side and risks his life many times to save his friends. Astin had several notable credits before the fantasy franchise, famous for roles in films like "The Goonies" (1985) and "Rudy" (1993). Astin has worked on several major TV shows. Astin has since done a lot of voice-over work for animated films and video games, even providing the voice for Raphael on Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." In 2017, he joined the second season of Netflix's "Stranger Things" as Joyce's love interest, Bob Newby. He has several projects in the works, and he also recently played a recurring role on the sitcom "The Conners." Ian McKellen played Gandalf. If not for McKellen's character, the Fellowship would never have formed and likely would not have survived. McKellen mainly began his professional acting career on the stage in the early 1960s. A year before the fantasy trilogy debuted, he joined the Marvel universe as Magneto in the "X-Men" franchise. McKellen also appeared in the "Hobbit" films. McKellen continued playing Magneto during and after the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, most recently in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014). The actor is one of the few "Lord of the Rings" cast members to also appear in the "Hobbit" films, reprising his role as the powerful wizard. Some of McKellen's more recent turns include Cogsworth in the live-action "Beauty and the Beast" (2017) and Gus the Theatre Cat in "Cats" (2019). He also has several recent theater credits in the UK, including "Hamlet" and "The Cherry Orchard." John Rhys-Davies played Gimli. The Welsh actor Rhys-Davies portrayed the dwarf warrior Gimli. 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The arrow-wielding hero is also a member of the Fellowship and eventually becomes Gimli's best friend, even though dwarfs and elves historically hated each other. Bloom was relatively unknown when he was cast in the trilogy, but between the first and second films, he appeared in "Black Hawk Down" (2002). Bloom has played other action-packed roles. Bloom famously played Will Turner in four of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" installments. Alongside McKellen, he also revisited the role of Legolas in the "Hobbit" films. In addition to other hit projects like "Troy" (2004) and "The Three Musketeers" (2011), the actor starred on the Amazon series "Carnival Row" as Rycroft Philostrate. More recently, he starred in the action film "Red Right Hand" (2024). Billy Boyd played Peregrin "Pippin" Took. Boyd played Pippin, the immature best friend of Merry, and appeared in all three "Lord of the Rings" films. 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The English actor Holm played Bilbo Baggins, the previous ring bearer. Bilbo is Frodo's guardian and cousin, and he is unnaturally old because of the effects of the One Ring. Even before the film franchise, Holm was a Tony Award-winning actor, probably best known to fantasy and sci-fi fans for playing Ash in the Ridley Scott film "Alien" (1979). Holm has starred in a variety of films. After the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Holm worked on an impressive array of films like "Garden State" (2004), "Lord of War" (2005), and "Ratatouille" (2007). In 2020, Holm died at age 88 of complications related to Parkinson's disease. Liv Tyler played Arwen Undómiel. Tyler brought Arwen, daughter of Lord Elrond, to life on the big screen. The elf saves Frodo from the Black Riders and later marries Aragorn. Before "The Fellowship of the Ring," Tyler had been in plenty of films, including "Stealing Beauty" (1996) and "Armageddon" (1998). Tyler has since been on several hit shows. Tyler joined another major franchise in 2008 as Betty Ross in Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk." In 2025, she reprised the role in "Captain America: Brave New World." Elsewhere, Tyler played Meg Abbott on HBO's "The Leftovers," Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam on ITV-Hulu's "Harlots," Eve in the sci-fi thriller "Ad Astra" (2019), and Michelle Blake on Fox's "9-1-1: Lone Star." Hugo Weaving played Lord Elrond. Elrond, played by Weaving, is the Lord of Rivendell. The elf was there when Isildur claimed the One Ring and tried to get him to destroy it, to no avail. Fans would likely recognize Weaving as Agent Smith in "The Matrix" films, a franchise that mostly ran at the same time as the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Weaving continues to act in blockbuster hits. Weaving went on to play V in "V for Vendetta" (2006), voice Megatron in Michael Bay's "Transformers" films, and portray the Red Skull in "Captain America: The First Avenger" (2011). Weaving starred in the drama "Lone Wolf" and appeared on the Binge miniseries "Love Me" in 2021. Most recently, he played the villainous Frank Harness in the thriller series "Slow Horses." Cate Blanchett played Galadriel. Blanchett portrayed Galadriel, Lady of the Golden Wood and grandmother to Arwen. In "The Fellowship of the Ring," she gives each traveler a special gift, including the "star-glass" that later proves useful against the giant spider. Blanchett didn't get a ton of screen time in the films — only a minute and 23 seconds, according to Screen Rant. She had appeared in several movies before "The Lord of the Rings," like "Elizabeth" (1998) and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999). Blanchett is now an Academy Award-winning actor. Immediately after "The Lord of the Rings," Blanchett appeared in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) and "The Aviator" (2004), which earned her an Oscar win. She racked up more nominations for "Notes on a Scandal" (2006), "I'm Not There" (2007), and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007) before winning another Oscar for "Blue Jasmine" (2013). Blanchett was nominated yet again for her work in "Carol" (2016) and played the activist Phyllis Schlafly in the FX miniseries "Mrs. America." More recently, she starred in "Don't Look Up" (2021), "Tár" (2022), "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" (2022), and the TV series "Disclaimer" (2024). Andy Serkis played Gollum. Serkis' portrayal of Gollum was an impressive feat of motion-capture technology. Throughout the films, Gollum, originally known as Sméagol, is painted as an antagonist and a representation of the One Ring's consequences. Before his performance in the trilogy, Serkis had been in several shows and films, like "Career Girls (1997)" and "Among Giants" (1998). Serkis has appeared in other major film franchises. Serkis reprised Gollum in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012) and did groundbreaking performance-capture work for the "Planet of the Apes" films. He then joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the flesh as Ulysses Klaue, provided the voice of Baloo in "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" (2018), and was Snoke in the recent "Star Wars" trilogy. Recently, Serkis played Alfred Pennyworth in "The Batman" alongside Robert Pattinson and Kino Loy on the Disney+ series "Andor." Christopher Lee played Saruman. A film legend, Lee took a notable turn as the wizard Saruman the White, who was introduced as a respectable ally but turned out to be a power-hungry pawn of Sauron. Before his role in the fantasy films, he starred in many movies like "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace" (1962) and "Count Dracula" (1977). Lee acted in several other notable films. After the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Lee appeared in several films and shorts, like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) and "Hugo" (2011), before reprising his role as Saruman in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." In 2015, Lee died at age 93 after being hospitalized for heart failure and respiratory problems. Miranda Otto played Éowyn. Otto played arguably one of the most important characters in the trilogy, Éowyn. Disguised as a Rider of Rohan, Éowyn, shield maiden of Rohan and daughter of Éomund, ultimately kills the Witch-king of Angmar during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Before her turn in the "Lord of the Rings" films, Otto appeared in movies like "The Well" (1998) and "The Thin Red Line" (1998). Otto has acted on several series. Shortly after the Middle Earth films, Otto appeared on-screen again in the 2005 adaptation of "War of the Worlds." She has since worked on films like "Annabelle: Creation" (2017) and miniseries like USA's "The Starter Wife," ABC's "Cashmere Mafia," and Fox's "24: Legacy." In 2018, she showed off her fantasy roots on the Netflix series "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" as aunt Zelda Spellman. Otto recently appeared on several TV miniseries, like SBS' "The Unusual Suspects." In 2024, she reprised her role of Éowyn in the "Lord of the Rings" prequel anime film, "The War of the Rohirrim." John Noble played Denethor II. Noble made playing a troublesome ruler look fun. The last viewers saw of Denethor, he was falling off a cliff on fire after he had tried burning his son alive. Before the fantasy franchise, the actor had been on TV series and in films like "The Monkey's Mask" (2001). Noble has since worked on several hit TV shows. Noble is probably best known for playing Walter Bishop on the Fox series "Fringe." Like his "Lord of the Rings" costars Blanchett and Weaving, Noble also appeared as a guest on the ABC series "Rake" before signing longer stints on shows like Fox's "Sleepy Hollow," The CW's "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," and CBS' "Elementary." He also showed up as Billy Butcher's father on an episode of Amazon Prime's "The Boys." More recently, he worked on Netflix's "Cowboy Bebop," Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Prodigy," and Apple TV+'s "Severance." Karl Urban played Éomer. Urban played Éomer, the leader of the Riders of Rohan who later becomes King of the Mark. Before the trilogy, he played Julius Caesar on Syfy's "Xena: Warrior Princess" and appeared in several films. Urban continues to make a name for himself as an action star. Urban became an action-movie star shortly after "The Return of the King" with "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004), followed by "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004) and "Doom" (2005). He later played Leonard "Bones" McCoy in "Star Trek" (2009) and continued his action-star legacy as the titular judge in "Dredd" (2012). Urban plays Billy on "The Boys" — making Noble's guest appearance a "Lord of the Rings" reunion.
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Route 66: The Arizona Sidewinder, wild burros and a living statue
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Yahoo
3 days ago
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Hate crime or neighborhood feud? Everything we know so far about Jonathan Joss's killing
Jonathan Joss's struggles didn't begin when he was shot Sunday night. In the midst of a years-long feud with the man accused of killing him, the actor was self-admittedly dealing with the loss of his house and pets, financial hardships, and substance abuse. These problems are all too present in LGBTQ+ and Indigenous communities and were particularly felt by Joss toward the end of his life. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. "As we reflect on the recent coverage surrounding Jonathan's final days, we carry this ache like a stone in our chest," the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions said in a statement. "Public reports describing his distress are heartbreaking, not because they define who he was, but because they point to a more profound crisis that is all too familiar in Native communities: the unspoken, underserved, and ongoing struggle with mental hardship and lateral violence." While the circumstances surrounding his shooting are complicated, one thing remains clear — Joss's death is a tragedy that has deeply impacted queer and Native circles. Here's everything we know about Joss's killing and the events leading up to it. Fox/NBC John Redcorn on 'King of the Hill'; Chief Ken Hotate on 'Parks and Rec' Jonathan Joss, 59, was an out gay Indigenous actor of Apache and Comanche heritage known for his roles in Fox's animated series King of the Hill and NBC's sitcom Parks and Recreation. Joss voiced John Redcorn, a Native American masseur and healer, on King of the Hill, and portrayed Ken Hotate, a Native American chief, on Parks and Recreation. He had reportedly already recorded some of his lines for the upcoming King of the Hill reboot, which will be available in August on Hulu. Joss married his partner, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, 32, on Valentine's Day of this year. The couple had been living in Joss's childhood home in San Antonio, Texas — which his father built for his mother in 1957 — for several years before his death. Joss struggled with addiction throughout his life and had been open about spending time in mental health treatment. He said on the Bwaaa! The King of the Hill Podcast that he was not sober. Recorded one day before his death, the episode would become his last interview. "I've already lost everything. My house burnt down. I ain't going to give up drugs. I ain't going to give up drinking. They're my friends," he said. - YouTube Joss's home burned down in January, resulting in the deaths of his and Kern de Gonzales's three dogs. The couple had been staying in a hotel due to electricity issues after the home was vandalized but returned regularly to take care of the dogs. Upon returning one afternoon, Joss found a blaze had consumed the house. Joss said that he had been using a propane tank inside the house for heat but that he had turned it off before he left. He and Kern de Gonzales soon after launched a GoFundMe to help with their living expenses. "This is a house I grew up in. I'm more concerned about my dog that died, but you know what? The good Lord will protect us,' Joss told local outlet KSAT at the time. 'Mistakes happen, man. And it's my fault for, I guess, leaving something on. Or if somebody came in and did something, who knows?' Joss was often candid on social media about their financial struggles, offering Cameos to earn revenue. He denied a rumor that he started the fire for insurance money, telling the the Bwaaa! podcast hosts that he would never kill his dogs. "My closest friend said, 'Jonathan, we know you set that fire. ... We know you did it for money,'" Joss said. "I said, 'Guys, my dogs ... were there. I would never hurt my dogs. ... I would never light my dogs on fire.'" - YouTube Just two days before his death, Joss interrupted a King of the Hill reunion panel by claiming the fire that destroyed his house was a deliberate act of arson against him because of his sexual orientation. Joss was not invited to the panel, which was meant to be a small gathering of he main cast, but attended in the audience. When one of the actors said of Joss, "We love our guy, Johnny, and so sad he's not here," he revealed himself in the crowd and took a microphone meant for fan questions. 'You were talking about Johnny, and I want to say something about him,' the panel moderator from Variety recalled him saying. 'Our house burnt down three months ago. Because I'm gay." Joss explained the moment on Bwaaa!, saying that he did not initially intend to interrupt the panel but spoke up in the heat of the moment. "The worst thing about not existing in the world is someone ignoring you when they have taken from your culture," he said. Jonathan Joss Kern de Gonzales revealed in a Facebook post that he and Joss were "involved in a shooting" when they returned to the site of their former home to check the mail. He claimed that the fire and the shooting occurred "after over two years of threats from people in the area who repeatedly told us they would set it on fire" and that despite reporting the threats to law enforcement multiple times, "nothing was done." "When we returned to the site to check our mail we discovered the skull of one of our dogs and its harness placed in clear view," Kern de Gonzales wrote. "This caused both of us severe emotional distress. We began yelling and crying in response to the pain of what we saw. While we were doing this a man approached us. He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us. He then raised a gun from his lap and fired." "Jonathan and I had no weapons. We were not threatening anyone. We were grieving," he continued. "We were standing side by side. When the man fired Jonathan pushed me out of the way. He saved my life." - YouTube Kern de Gonzales later told NBC that he and Joss, after seeing their dead dog's skull placed in front of their burnt down home, believed it to be a message from their neighbors taunting them. In anger, Joss began shouting and walking back and forth in the street with a pitchfork. One neighbor shared a video with KSAT that shows Joss walking with the pitchfork and yelling about half an hour before his death. 'I knew something was going to happen. I wanted to call the police, but he hadn't done anything," she said. Kern de Gonzales said the suspect pulled up in his car several minutes after Joss had returned to his side. Kern de Gonzales said the man called him and his husband "jotos," a Spanish slur for gay people, before shooting Joss. 'I could give two fucks less if me or my husband had 50 pitchforks in every orifice of our body rolling up and down that street like tumbleweed," Kern de Gonzales said. "It don't matter." Bexar County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez's mug shot Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 56, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with Joss's killing, telling officers as he was being detained "I shot him," according to the police report. The two neighbors had reportedly been feuding for over a year, with law enforcement frequently being called to Joss's residence to settle their disputes. Alvarez told police in June 2024 that Joss approached his house with a crossbow while calling him racial slurs, though Joss claimed that he walked over to "talk about their dogs fighting with each other." Upon searching Joss's house, officers found a crossbow and confiscated it. Joss accused Alvarez of being the one who burned his home down in January, according to a separate police report via NBC. The officer taking the report wrote, "I have classified this fire to be undetermined in nature at this time but cannot rule out human involvement intentional or unintentional." Alvarez posted his $200,000 bond Monday night, a Bexar County court spokesperson told Yahoo News. He is now under house arrest, during which he is subject to random drug testing and is not allowed to access firearms. NBC Jonathan Joss Multiple neighbors have said that Joss often spoke loudly and behaved erratically but that no violent confrontations had occurred until he was shot. One woman said that Joss and Alvarez would often fire guns on their own property, but never at each other. 'I've been here six years and when we moved in, it was already going on, so it's just been years of feud with these two,' she told the New York Post. 'I'm not taking nobody's side because I do have reports on both of them, but nothing got done. This man should be alive today, but nothing got done.' The neighbor who took the video of Joss with the pitchfork also said that he "was always yelling at the top of his lungs." She explained, "He would say that all the children on this street were going to die, and that we were all going to go to hell because we're sinners and God is on his side.' Another neighbor told San Antonio TV station WOAI that she had seen Joss outside minutes before his death and that he seemed upset about something. She said that he and his husband "had been repeatedly harassed because they were gay and their home was burned down after years of threats from neighbors." The San Antonio Police Department released a statement shortly after Joss's death claiming it had uncovered "no evidence" to suggest that the killing was a hate crime, which his husband's statement contested. The department later retracted its comments. Police Chief William McManus walked back the statement at a press conference Thursday while also apologizing to the LGBTQ+ community for dismissing their concerns, saying "it was way too early in the process for any statement of that nature to be issued." "We understand that many in the LBGTQ+ [sic] community are feeling anxious and concerned," McManus said. "A lot of that has to do with that premature statement that we released, and again, I own that. We shouldn't have done it. The loss of Jonathan Joss was tragic and most heavily felt by the LBGTQ+ [sic] community." McManus also clarified that the police department doesn't charge hate crimes in Texas. Instead, police "gather the facts and we give those facts to the district attorney's office; then that hate-crime designation is determined at sentencing." Kern de Gonzales had asserted in his Facebook post that throughout their time living at Joss's family home as a couple, they "were harassed regularly by individuals who made it clear they did not accept our relationship. Much of the harassment was openly homophobic." "He was murdered by someone who could not stand the sight of two men loving each other," he said. Screenshot from @prattprattpratt on Instagram Chris Pratt tribute to Jonathan Joss Several of Joss's colleagues from King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation have posted messages mourning the actor. The official social media accounts for the shows have also posted tributes. King of the Hill creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and current showrunner Saladin Patterson released a statement on the show's Instagram page saying that "his voice will be missed at King of the Hill, and we extend our deepest condolences to Jonathan's friends and family." Toby Huss, who voiced Kahn Souphanousinphone and Cotton Hill on King of the Hill, wrote on Instagram Story in reaction to the news,"RIP old friend. Godspeed." Chris Pratt, who played Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation, also posted a message to his story, which read, "Damn. RIP Jonathan. Always such a kind dude. He played Ken Hotate in Parks and was also in Mag 7 [The Magnificent Seven]. Sad to see. Prayers up. Hug your loved ones." Nick Offerman, who played Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation, told People that the cast had been texting about the news and were all "heartbroken." He added,"Jonathan was such a sweet guy and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy."
