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Chairman Rocco Landesman Announces the Latest National Endowment for the Arts Grants

NEA to invest more than $26 million to support arts projects nationwide

November 23, 2010

		Contact: Liz Stark 202-682-5744 starke@arts.gov

Washington, D.C. -- National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman today announced the latest round of NEA funding totaling $26.68 million awarded through 1,057 grants to nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide. This also includes the NEA’s most recent class of Creative Writing Fellows.

Chairman Landesman said, "I continue to be impressed with the creative, innovative, and excellent projects brought forward by arts organizations across the country. Our grantees are not only furthering their art forms but also enhancing their neighborhoods by making them more vibrant, livable, and fun."

This round of funding is provided through three grant programs: Access to Artistic Excellence, Challenge America Fast Track, and Creative Writing Fellowships.

Access to Artistic Excellence grants support the creation and presentation of work in the disciplines of artist communities, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, media arts, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts. Projects include commissions, residencies, workshops, performances, exhibitions, publications, festivals, and professional development programs. This round of funding also includes grants to local arts agencies for multidisciplinary projects, such as community-wide festivals and public art commissions. Through the Access to Artistic Excellence category, 843 grants out of 1,524 eligible applications are recommended for funding for a total of $23.75 million.

Examples of projects supported by Access to Artistic Excellence grants include:

• On the Boards in Seattle, Washington, is recommended for a $20,000 grant to support dance presentations and outreach activities involving three artists: Sarah Michelson, Catherine Cabeen, and Crystal Pite. Outreach activities include filming and On the Boards.tv distribution of new works, a regional choreography competition, the 12 Minutes Max Performance Lab, podcasts, audience review blogs, and master classes.

• John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is recommended for a $65,000 grant for their Connecting Communities program. Artists will collaborate with area immigrant communities, at-risk youth, unions, homeless families, seniors, and domestic-abuse shelters to develop residency projects and community-based commissions.

• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in St. Louis, Missouri, is recommended for a $25,000 grant to support the development of a new jazz opera by American composer and arranger Terence Blanchard.  In collaboration with Jazz St. Louis, the new work will be written and orchestrated for a symphony orchestra and/or jazz ensemble.  Eighteen artists are expected to benefit from the activities, which will include commissioning, development, workshops, and completion of musical materials.

Please see the complete listing of projects recommended for Access to Artistic Excellence grant support.

Through the New Play Development Project, two theaters are recommended for grants of $90,000 each. They are:

• Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, will receive support for final development and production of Behind the Eye by Carson Kreitzer, with accompanying educational activities.

• Classical Theatre of Harlem in New York City will receive support for the final development and production of Seed by Radha Blank, with accompanying educational activities.

Challenge America Fast Track grants offer support primarily to smaller and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, demographics, economics, or disability. In this funding round, 170 projects are recommended for support of $10,000 each for a total of $1.7 million.

Examples of projects to be funded by Challenge America Fast Track include:

• Chamber Music at the Barn in Maize, Kansas, is recommended for a grant to support concerts and master classes by chamber music ensemble Pro Arte Quartet.  In addition to concert performances, the quartet will provide youth concerts and master classes focused on classical and contemporary string chamber music for children from inner-city and rural communities.   

• West Valley Fine Arts Council in Surprise, Arizona, is recommended for a grant to support the creation of a mural through the council’s Gallery 37 program for installation at the Buckeye, Arizona fire department. Gallery 37 engages students ages 15 to 18 with professional artists to design, create, and install permanent pieces of public art for display in the West Valley.

• Mississippi Festival Foundation of Sardis, Mississippi, is recommended for a grant to support student and public performances by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  Additionally, local choral students and music teachers will participate in a workshop with the artists and also be invited to an open rehearsal. 

Please see the complete listing of projects recommended for Challenge America Fast Track grant support.

Creative Writing Fellowships encourage the production of new works of literature by allowing writers the time and means to write. The fellowships alternate annually between poetry and prose with poetry supported in this round.
Panelists reviewed more than 10,000 manuscript pages from the 1,063 eligible applications submitted. The 42 poets who were recommended will receive a fellowship of $25,000 each for a total of $1,050,000.

• Among the noted writers to receive a fellowship are Honorée Fanonne Jeffers from Norman, Oklahoma; Michelle Boisseau of Kansas City, Missouri; and Blas Falconer from Nashville, Tennessee.

Please see the complete listing of poets to receive a Creative Writing Fellowship.

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.  To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at arts.gov.

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