National Council On The Arts Convenes for 155th Meeting

		Contact: Garrick Davis 682-5551 davisg@arts.endow.gov

July 12, 2005

Washington, D.C. – The National Council on the Arts, the advisory body of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will meet in a public session on Thursday, July 14 in Room M-09 of The Nancy Hanks Center, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The public session will also include three presentations. Two of them will discuss ongoing NEA National Leadership Initiatives: the National Poetry Recitation Contest and American Masterpieces. The third will focus on the field of arts presenters.

The National Poetry Recitation Contest is a pilot program sponsored by the NEA and the Poetry Foundation to encourage the nation's youth to learn about great poetry. During the 2004-2005 school year, the NEA coordinated a pilot program in Washington area schools. In the program, participating students received two poetry anthologies and an original audio CD featuring readings and commentary by well-known writers and actors. Participating teachers received a guidebook with contest guidelines and tips on teaching poetry memorization and recitation. In the Washington D.C. area, more than 4,000 students have participated in a series of classroom and schoolwide recitation contests leading up to the regional finals at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The Poetry Foundation managed a similar program and regional competition among Chicago-area high schools, which culminated with an April 11th recitation event at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

American Masterpieces Visual Arts Touring grants support the creation and touring of major exhibitions of art of the highest quality that otherwise may not be available to communities across the nation. Through this category the NEA will fund 11 projects, for a total federal investment of more than $1.1 million, to support visual arts touring of exhibitions from the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.

Mario Garcia Durham, NEA Director of Presenting, will give an update about the presenting field in the U.S. Mr. Durham has invited representatives from three of the field's outstanding institutions to speak. The guests are Ms. Sandra Gibson, President/CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Ms. Anita Scism, President/CEO of the Walton Arts Center, and Mr. Terrence Jones, President/CEO of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Highlights will include:

• A selection from the NPR Jazz Profile of Dave Brubeck.

• A poetry recitation by the D.C. student regional winner of the National Poetry Recitation Contest, plus an update on the project from Dan Stone, NEA Program and Media Manager, and John Barr of the Poetry Foundation.

• A presentation on the first round of American Masterpieces grants by Bob Frankel, NEA Director of Museums & Visual Arts, with guests from the George Eastman House and the Phillips Collection.

• A presentation on the presenting field by Mario Garcia Durham, NEA Director of Presenting, with guests from Arts Presenters, Arkansas' Walton Arts Center, and Wolf Trap.

Meeting Schedule:

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