National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu to Visit Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham, Alabama May 31 – June 1, 2017
Washington, DC – Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will visit Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma, Alabama, May 31- June 1, 2017. She will be joined on her tour by Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. On May 31, Chairman Chu will visit Montgomery and Selma arts organizations and on June 1, Chairman Chu will visit Birmingham and make a special announcement about the NEA’s FY 2017 grants in the morning. That afternoon, she will participate in a public event with Al Head at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
On Wednesday, May 31, Chairman Chu begins her day in Montgomery, visiting the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Blount Cultural Park. Chairman Chu will first tour Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s facility and learn more about the Southern Writers’ Project, which is supported by the NEA. Next, Chairman Chu will tour the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and learn about art exhibits, events, and the educational programs provided by the museum.
That afternoon, Chairman Chu will travel to Selma where the Alabama State Council on the Arts, ArtsRevive Community Development Corporation, and the Black Belt Community Foundation will host a reception for her to meet with local artists and arts leaders and learn more about their efforts to support local communities through the arts.
On Thursday, June 1, Chairman Chu will be in Birmingham where she will first visit the Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. As part of this visit, Chairman Chu will make a special announcement about new NEA grants to support the arts in Alabama. Following this announcement, Chairman Chu will meet with Sloss Furnaces staff to learn more about their arts programming and tour the national landmark.
Next, Chairman Chu will tour the Birmingham Museum of Art, including the current exhibition Third Space: Shifting Conversations About Contemporary Art.
That afternoon at the museum, Chairman Chu will give remarks about the ways the arts are bringing vitality to Alabama communities while also supporting our national and local economies. Following her remarks, Chairman Chu will participate in a conversation with Al Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. This event is free and open to the public.
Following this event, Chairman Chu will tour the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Last December the NEA announced a grant to support the presentation of dance companies at the center.
The following events are open to the media but media who wish to attend must RSVP in advance to Liz Auclair at auclaire@arts.gov.
Wednesday May 31, 2017
10:00–11:15AM Site visit with Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Location: 1 Festival Dr., Montgomery, AL 36117
Participants: Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA Geoffrey Sherman, producing artistic director, Alabama Shakespeare Festival Nancy Rominger, associate director, Alabama Shakespeare Festival James Bowen, playwright Laurie Jean Weil, board chairman, Alabama Shakespeare Festival Eve Loeb, development director, Alabama Shakespeare Festival11:30AM–12:15PM Tour of Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
Location: 1 Museum Dr., Montgomery, AL 36117
Participants: Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA Mark Johnson, director, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Margaret Lynne Ausfeld, senior curator of art, Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts2:30–4:00PM Reception with the Selma arts community Location: Gallery 905, 905 Water Street, Selma, AL 36701 Participants: Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA Mayor Darrio Melton Felecia Lucky, Black Belt Community Foundation Martha Lockett, Arts Revive Sulynn Creswell, Black Belt Treasures The Quilters of Gee's Bend, including NEA National Heritage Fellows Mary Lee Bendolph and Lucy Mingo
Thursday, June 1, 2017
9:30–10:30AM Site visit and grant announcement at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark
Location: 20 32nd St N, Birmingham, AL 35222
Participants:
Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA
Mayor William A. Bell
John Nixon, director, Sloss National Historic Landmark
Renee Kemp-Rotan, director of master planning, Sloss Initiative
Peter Prinz, director, Space One Eleven
Marshall Christie, director, Sloss Metal Arts program
Karen Utz, historian and curator, Sloss National Historic Landmark
10:45–11:45AM Tour of Birmingham Museum of Art
Location: 2000 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35203
Participants: Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA
Graham C. Boettcher, Ph.D., deputy director & The William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art, Birmingham Museum of Art
Emily G. Hanna, Ph.D., senior curator and curator of the Arts of Africa and the Americas, Birmingham Museum of Art
1:00–2:00PM Conversation with NEA Chairman Jane Chu
Location: Birmingham Museum of Art
Participants:
Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA
2:30–3:00PM Tour of University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center Location: 1200 10th Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35294
Participants: Jane Chu, chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Albert B. Head, executive director, ASCA
Anna Thompson, executive director, Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center
About the National Endowment for the Arts Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about NEA.# # #
