USC Annenberg Announces Seventh NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater

The University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced today that applications are now being accepted for the seventh annual Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. The Institute, which will be held June 14-24, 2011, is an 11-day intensive theater and musical theater fellowship program for critics, reporters, editors and broadcast and online producers from the United States. Staff journalists and freelancers who work in print, radio, TV or online media – and whose main subject is the arts, culture or entertainment – are welcome to apply. Institute applications are due March 29, 2011. To apply, visit:http://annenberg.usc.edu/nea. The NEA fellowship will coincide with the 2011 Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference, hosted by the LA STAGE Alliance, which will bring more than 1,000 influential theater organizers, producers, artists and journalists to Los Angeles on the occasion of TCG’s 50th anniversary. In addition, the RADAR L.A. Festival, Hollywood Fringe Festival 2011 and National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival will be taking place concurrently in L.A. The opportunity to see world premieres from across the globe, as well as new works by resident companies and artists, and to interact with frontline theater people from all over the country will shape the NEA Institute’s programming. Sasha Anawalt, founding director of USC Annenberg’s nine-month graduate degree program in Specialized Journalism (The Arts), will for the seventh year direct the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Joining her as associate directors are Douglas McLennan, editor and founder of Artsjournal.com, and Jeff Weinstein, editor and critic formerly with the Village Voice, Philadelphia Inquirer and Bloomberg News. “This fellowship will take the pulse of what’s going on in theater right now, because we will not only avail ourselves of the stunning confluence of artists, resources, ideas and performances, but we will report on them, “ said Anawalt. “We will use the stuff of the conferences and festivals as the raw material for this fellowship that is about advancing the understanding and practice of arts journalism in the digital age.” Most costs are covered by the Institute, including air travel, hotel, transportation within the city and most meals. Registration to the TCG conference and tickets to all theater performances are also covered by the NEA fellowship. Professional sessions addressing changes in the media industry will be offered and special attention will be paid to multimedia storytelling skills. Participants will also meet theater professionals ranging from directors and administrators of L.A.’s primary theater companies to critics of national stature, who will work with them individually and in small workshops. Faculty in the past has included Hilton Als, Susan Brenneman, Robert Brustein, Robert Christgau, Sylvie Drake, John Lahr, Charles McNulty, Dominic Papatola, Michael Phillips, Ann Powers, Steven Leigh Morris, Laurie Ochoa and Jack Viertel. About the NEA Arts Journalism Institutes The Theater and Musical Theater Institute at USC Annenberg is one of three NEA Arts Journalism Institutes, along with the Institute in Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York and theInstitute for Dance Criticism at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C. In 2009, an International Institute in the Visual Arts at American University in Washington, D.C., also was created. Funded by a multimilliondollar NEA initiative, these institutes offer intensive training for arts reporters and their editors. The four Institutes also partnered in October 2009 to produce the first-ever National Summit on Arts Journalism held at USC Annenberg. The summit explored new ideas for arts coverage and journalism business models in front of a live and virtual audience of nearly 20,000 people. For more information, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/nea. About the National Endowment for the Arts 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 atarts.gov. About the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is a national leader in education and scholarship in the fields of communication, journalism, public diplomacy and public relations. With an enrollment of more than 2,200 students, USC Annenberg offers doctoral, graduate and undergraduate degree programs, as well as continuing development programs for working professionals across a broad scope of academic inquiry. The school’s comprehensive curriculum emphasizes the core skills of leadership, innovation, service and entrepreneurship and draws upon the resources of a networked university located in the media capital of the world.