2012 Grant Awards: Art Works

[ March 10, 2011 deadline ]

Artists Communities | Arts Education | Dance | Design | Folk & Traditional Arts | Literature | Local Arts Agencies | Media Arts | Museums | Music | Musical Theater |
Opera | Presenting | Theater | Visual Arts

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Folk and Traditional Arts

African Caribbean Dance Theatre, Inc.
Tallahassee, FL
$15,000
To support the 15th annual Florida African Dance Festival. The event will include workshops in dance and drum taught by African immigrant artists as well as a final performance concert.

Alabama Folklife Association, Inc.
Birmingham, AL
$25,000
To support Alabama in the Making: Traditional Arts of People and Place, a traveling exhibit. Composed of free-standing panels, listening stations, and artifacts, the exhibit will interpret the traditions of the state's five geographical regions.

Appalshop, Inc. (on behalf of WMMT-FM)
Whitesburg, KY
$30,000
To support Pick and Bow: Traditional Arts in Community, a series of afterschool programs that offer instruction in traditional music to students of the Appalachians. In addition to instruction, the project will provide performance opportunities for students, as well as radio broadcasts of traditional music.

Asian Americans United, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
$10,000
To support the 17th annual Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival will feature a day of arts and crafts activities for youth and concludes with an evening performance of Chinese folk and traditional artists from the neighborhood and the larger region.

Blue Ridge Traditional Arts, Inc.
Galax, VA
$30,000
To support traditional music programming at the Blue Ridge Music Center. The project will present concerts, lectures, and workshops celebrating music and dance traditions of the Appalachian Mountains, and will feature local and regional talent, including NEA Heritage fellows Wayne Henderson and Doc Watson.

Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
Rock Hill, SC
$25,000
To support Dupa Icignii--Because of the Children--the Teaching and Sustainability of Catawba Arts. The project will involve at-risk children of the Catawba Tribe (ages 5 to 18) in a total immersion program, teaching language and traditions of the Catawba tribe, such as pottery, beadwork, storytelling, drumming, and dancing.

Celtic Arts Foundation
Mount Vernon, WA
$15,000
To support the Masters of Scottish Arts Concert and Celtic Arts Instructional Schools. The project will produce a concert of traditional Scottish music, performed by recognized masters of Scottish bagpipes, Scottish-style drums, and fiddling from the United Kingdom and Canada; additionally, the master musicians will present instructional classes for aspiring Scottish-style musicians.

Center for Southern Folklore
Memphis, TN
$20,000
To support the Annual Memphis Music & Heritage Festival. The two-day event will feature music, dance, crafts, stories, and traditional food that represent the cultures of long-time residents and recent immigrants to the Memphis region.

Chippewa Valley Museum
Eau Claire, WI
$30,000
To support State of Superior, Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture's 2012 Here at Home Cultural Tour. The project will support a folklife survey of the state's far northwest and the Lake Superior south shore regions, which will inform a professional development program that will introduce teachers to local traditional artists and demonstrate how to integrate local culture into classroom curricula.

Chitresh Das Dance Company & Chhandam School
San Francisco, CA
$10,000
To support the creation of a new narrative dance and its performance by the Chitresh Das Dance Company. Heritage Fellow Pandit Chitresh Das will choreograph and direct Darba, a performance using traditional Kathak dance, master Indian musicians, and multimedia images to tell a story of the royal court of North India.

City of Saxman, Alaska
Ketchikan, AK
$10,000
To support the construction of Strengthening Our Community Totem Pole. Native American (Haida) Master Carver Donnie Varnell will collect stories from Native youth about the community of Saxman and work with them to incorporate these stories into a totem pole, which he and the youth will carve.

Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts
New Bedford, MA
$40,000
To support the Working Waterfront Festival. The festival will present the occupational culture of commercial fishing and other port industries through traditional music, dance, storytelling, poetry, foodways presentations, and demonstrations and contests of occupational skills.

Croatian Cultural Center of San Francisco (aka Croatian American Cultural Center)
San Francisco, CA
$15,000
To support the 2012 San Francisco Tam Fest. The festival will present Croatian American Tamburitza ensembles and soloists who, in addition to performing, will lead master classes, jam sessions, provide music for dancing, and participate in a panel discussion about Tamburitza music in the lives of Croatian people.

Cultural Resources, Inc. (Consortium)
Rockport, ME
$20,000
To support the Wabanaki Artists' Network. In collaboration with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance, Cultural Resources will offer training and marketing opportunities to young, emerging Native artists. In addition, a statewide network will be established, linking non-Native organizations and tribal artists through a traveling exhibition and artists residencies, providing the potential for a national model for Native and non-Native collaboration.

Davis & Elkins College
Elkins, WV
$20,000
To support the Augusta Heritage Center's Traditional Arts & Crafts Program. The project will document and present the folk arts of West Virginia through educational programs, including more than 200 workshops of traditional music, dance, and crafts.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Oakland, CA
$20,000
To support Artist Residencies: Master Artists from Bali. Renowned artists and culture bearers will disseminate rare forms of Balinese music and dance in classes and educational activities, assist in the creation and performance of two major works, and support establishment of an artistic exchange program.

Historical Association of Southern Florida, Inc. (aka HistoryMiami)
Miami, FL
$30,000
To support the Folk Heritage Spotlight Series. The series will present local folk and traditional artists in both school and public programs, and will provide educational materials and technical assistance.

Idyllwild Arts Foundation
Idyllwild, CA
$20,000
To support the Idyllwild Arts Native American Arts Program and Festival. The project will include free performances, lectures, demonstrations, gallery events and storytelling, as well as hands-on workshops with prominent Native American traditional and contemporary artists.

Indiana University (on behalf of Traditional Arts Indiana)
Bloomington, IN
$10,000
To support Musical Diversity in the Hoosier State. Traditional Arts Indiana staff will create touring exhibit panels that celebrate a diverse group of traditional musical ensembles and will be displayed in libraries throughout the state, augmented by public programs featuring the ensembles and a website.

International Accordion Festival
San Antonio, TX
$25,000
To support the 12th International Accordion Festival. The weekend-long event will present as many as 50 free performances and 12 workshops by accordion masters representing ethnic, regional, and national music traditions from throughout the world.

Jubilee Community Arts, Inc. (aka The Laurel Theater)
Knoxville, TN
$10,000
To support traditional music programming at the Laurel Theater and on local radio. Featuring music of the southern Appalachians, the weekly programming has previously presented NEA National Heritage Fellows Clyde Davenport, Ralph Stanley, and Kevin Burke.

Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (aka Spirits of Poongmul)
Chicago, IL
$15,000
To support performance of Korean Poongmul music. Spirits of Poongmul will mount a large production that will combine Poongmul (traditional Korean percussion music) with other forms of traditional Korean music and dance, showcasing the performers' skills that were learned during apprenticeships with South Korean masters.

Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble (aka Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemlbe)
Philadelphia, PA
$15,000
To support Dance to the Rhythm of the Drum: A Celebration of African Dance & Drumming. The project will explore the interaction between Afro-Cuban and Guinean dance traditions through workshops led by choreographers Danys Perez (Afro Cuban) and Moustapha Bangoura (Guinean).

Louisiana Folk Roots, Inc.
Lafayette, LA
$30,000
To support the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week. The project will teach, present, and celebrate Cajun and Creole cultural heritage---including music, dance, foodways, crafts, and storytelling---through participatory workshops, artist presentations, dances, and performances.

Maimouna Keita School of African Dance, Inc.
Brooklyn, NY
$10,000
To support the 20th annual African Dance & Drum Conference: Sila Djiguiba, Path of Hope. Master artists will perform and offer classes in traditional dance and drumming techniques rooted in a variety of African cultures.

Michigan State University (Consortium)
East Lansing, MI
$40,000

To support the 2012 Great Lakes Folk Festival. In collaboration with the City of East Lansing, the festival will showcase the traditional music, dance, foodways, and other cultural expressions of the nation's Upper Midwest using an innovative approach, highlighting the cultural sustainability and adaptive reuse (recycling) inherent in traditional culture in conjunction with modern technology (a solar powered stage).

National Council for the Traditional Arts
Silver Spring, MD
$45,000
To support the 74th National Folk Festival in Nashville, Tennessee. The festival is a large outdoor event that showcases the nation's finest traditional artists, and will present a wide array of music and dance performances, workshops, storytelling, material culture, and regional and ethnic foods prepared by community members.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Inc.
New Orleans, LA
$25,000
To support the seventh annual Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival. Staged in the heart of downtown New Orleans, the festival will feature the blues music of Louisiana and the Delta South as well as local crafts and foodways; additionally, a narrative stage is scheduled where blues artists will be interviewed by scholars.

Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association
Black Diamond, WA
$30,000
To support the annual gathering of basketweavers, youth weaving programs, and mini-gatherings. The gathering offers an opportunity for indigenous weavers to showcase their basketry and share their artistic techniques with one another and the general public; the mini-gatherings provide opportunities for people in remote communities to engage in and learn about weaving techniques and learn about the historical and cultural significance of basketry.

Philadelphia Folklore Project (Consortium)
Philadelphia, PA
$35,000
To support the Liberian Community Drama Project. In an inaugural collaboration with the Roadside Theater from Kentucky, Philadelphia Folklore Project will collect traditional stories, songs, and dances from the local Liberian immigrant community and fashion this material into an original drama that reflects the issues of importance to this community.

Plaza de la Raza, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
$15,000
To support Día De Los Muertos/Day of the Dead Festival at Plaza de la Raza, a traditional Mexican/Chicano celebration. The project will attract local and regional audiences for public performances of music and dance, as well as workshops on the material aspects of the holiday (altars, sugar skulls, and skeletons).

Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, Inc.
Austin, TX
$10,000
To support Celebrando 2012: Bomba de Loiza with Los Hermanos Ayala. The project will explore Puerto Rico's African heritage through dance. Beginning with a two-day workshop with members of Los Hermanos Ayala, a Puerto Rican ensemble specializing in traditional, African-influenced, Puerto Rican dance, the event will culminate in a joint performance featuring the Los Hermanos and Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance, Inc.

Radio Bilingüe, Inc.
Fresno, CA
$35,000
To support Radio Bilingüe's presentation of the 29th annual ¡Viva el Mariachi! festival. Radio Bilingüe will present a concert featuring mariachi ensembles, folkloric dance performances, and workshops taught by master mariachi musicians, open to all levels of participants.

Stecoah Valley Arts, Crafts & Educational Center, Inc. (aka Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center)
Robbinsville, NC
$10,000
To support An Appalachian Evening Performing Arts Series. To be held in summer 2012, the concert series will feature traditional Appalachian music and entertainment such as old-time, bluegrass, Celtic music, dancing, and storytelling, and will include informal demonstrations to deepen the audience's understanding of Appalachian culture.

University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
$25,000
To support Vine Online: Engaging Audiences in China's Traditional Culture and Big Ideas about Art and Heritage. The project will upgrade the existing Chinavine website, facilitating user access, improving search capabilities, and creating five new website units concerned with China's traditional culture.

University of Oregon (Consortium)
Eugene, OR
$20,000
To support the Native Language Arts Apprenticeship Program. In collaboration with the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, this project will provide opportunities for master native artists to teach art forms such as basketmaking to apprenticeships in their native language.

Voice of Roma
Sebastopol, CA
$20,000
To support Crossing Boarders: The Impact of Migration on Romani Art & Families, a project showcasing Romani music, dance, films, history, art, food, and culture. Beginning with the 11th annual International Roma Day, and coinciding with the Herdeljezi Festival, a traditional Romani celebration of the return of Spring, the Petaluma Museum's exhibit will highlight Romani visual arts and present renowned European and U.S. Romani artists in concerts and demonstrations.

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Olympia, WA
$30,000
To support a continuation of Celebrating Cultures: Multicultural Celebrations & Concerts Series in Washington State Parks. The project will present a series of concerts and festival celebrations in state parks, diverse urban centers, and rural locations, featuring occupational poetry, traditional music, craft demonstrations, and Chinese puppetry.

Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Inc.
Millville, NJ
$30,000
To support Communities and Cultures of the Balkans. A day-long cultural celebration, the project will include concerts, school programs, classes, workshops, demonstrations, film screenings, discussions, and other activities celebrating folk art and cultural traditions of New Jersey's residents from the Balkan Peninsula.

World Arts West (aka San Francisco Ethnic Dance FEstival)
San Francisco, CA
$25,000
To support the 34th annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. A panel of dance educators, performers, and ethnologists will select dance ensembles and solo artists, whose work is rooted in various cultural traditions, to perform at the festival.

World Music Institute, Inc.
New York, NY
$40,000
To support Great Voices of the World, a series of concerts featuring vocal traditions from artists who are contemporary masters of their inherited and evolving traditions. The series will feature leading artists from Portugal, Guadeloupe, Senegal, India, France, and Spain, making these significant traditions accessible to American audiences and providing opportunities for these communities to celebrate their heritage.

Zoological Society of San Diego (aka San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research)
San Diego, CA
$20,000
To support Native Roots: The Nature of Art, a series of workshops that will strengthen the understanding of Native American basketweaving and the environment that supports the tradition. Renowned Native American artists will instruct youth from their own tribal communities in the art of basketmaking, including training them to identify and harvest plants used for the baskets and to preserve and maintain the environment that supports these plants.

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