September 2011 General Program Grants Press Release

The Jerome Foundation Board of Directors met on September 9, 2011, to review 133 applications.  Directors authorized 18 grants and membership commitments in the General Grants Program for a total of $763,800, as described below.  Directors also authorized nine grants totaling $110,300 in the Minnesota Film and Video Program.  A separate press release on the film and video grants is posted on the Foundation’s website.

The James Sewell Ballet, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $12,000 in support of the 2011-12 Ballet Works Project.  The mission of the company is to create and perform works that connect artists with audiences and to advance contemporary ballet.  This company of dance artists challenges their physical limits and expands their notions about ballet.  The Ballet Works Project has a 15-year tradition in the Twin Cities.  Emerging choreographers from outside as well as inside the company are provided with the resources they need to create and develop new works on the dancers, moving forward with inventive freedom.  The new works created will be presented in concert in February 2012.

The Textile Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-part grant of $30,800 in support of Fiber Artists Project Grants and programs and services for emerging artists.  The mission of the Textile Center is to honor textile traditions and promote excellence and innovation in fiber art.  Fiber art is broadly defined to include a wide range of forms such as weaving, quilting, knitting, sewing, dyeing, felting, needlework, lacemaking, basketry, and beading.  The Fiber Artists Project Grant Program was launched in 2008 to advance the professional development of emerging fiber artists in Minnesota and foster vitality and excellence in the field of fiber art.  In response to an open call, emerging fiber artists apply with individually designed project proposals.  They receive monetary awards, professional development opportunities, and a culminating exhibition.  Grants are used for such activities as devoting time to studio work, experimenting with new techniques and materials, studying with a mentor, travel, purchasing equipment and supplies, and renting studio space.

STREB, Brooklyn, New York, received a grant of $21,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Commissioning Program.  Under the direction of choreographer Elizabeth Streb, this organization is committed to creating a laboratory for testing specific principles on the body, inventing action ideas that are archetypal, noticeable, and understandable.  S.L.A.M., STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, is an open-access venue that models a new kind of artist-driven community institution welcoming all ages and types of people to the building, infused with the driving force of art and action.  In the Emerging Artist Commissioning Program, emerging artists whose work is movement/action-based, including choreographers, aerialists, and circus artists, are given subsidy and access to the SLAM facility.  The artists capitalize on the resources distinct to SLAM to inform and inspire new creative experiments.  They receive commissions to support their creative work, opportunities to showcase their work in development, and critical feedback.

The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP), New York City, received a two-year grant of $92,000 in support of FACE OUT: Maximizing the Visibility of Emerging Artists.  CLMP supports and promotes non-commercial literary publishing to ensure that readers and writers are well served by a strong and vibrant literary culture.  As the service and advocacy organization for independent literary publishers, CLMP services and resources are designed to develop each member’s publishing capacity to increase marketing and organizational skills, while promoting communication and shared learning across the field.  FACE OUT is a re-grant and technical assistance program for New York City small presses and the emerging writers they publish.  Publishers based in the five boroughs of New York City apply with New York City-based emerging writers for books scheduled to be published and marketed over a two-year period.  Funds are used to build emerging author/publisher relationships, including author tours and author-focused marketing initiatives.  Workshops/roundtables and evaluation sessions provide technical assistance and peer learning through networking.  CLMP gathers information learned in FACE OUT and produces case studies that benefit other independent publishers and emerging writers. 

VocalEssence, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $26,000 in support of Essentially Choral 2012.  The mission of VocalEssence is to champion choral music of all genres, celebrating the vocal experience through innovative concerts, commissions, and community engagement programs.  Essentially Choral focuses on the creation and development of new works by emerging composers.  Since inception in 2002, it has nurtured emerging composers in the field of writing for chorus.  The program is implemented in partnership with the American Composers Forum and features an open call for applications.  Selected emerging composers engage in an intensive three-day workshop.  Jerome support enables emerging composers from Minnesota and New York City to participate.

The Foundation Center, New York City, received a grant of $2,000 in general support of its 2011 program.  The Center’s mission is to strengthen the social sector by advancing knowledge about philanthropy in the U.S. and around the world.  Its current online database contains information on more than 2,000,000 grants and nearly 100,000 U.S. grantmakers.  The Center’s training, educational programs, and special events are attended by thousands of people throughout the United States every month.  The Foundation Center of today is preparing for the knowledge-driven philanthropy of tomorrow.  It is committed to providing grantmakers, advisors, social investors, nonprofits, and others with the kinds of data-driven tools, research, and analysis that help them maximize the allocation of their resources.

The Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $26,500 in support of the Ceramic Artists Project Grant Program.  The Center’s mission is the advancement of the ceramic arts.  Ongoing programs include classes and workshops for children and adults at all levels of proficiency; exhibitions of work by regional, national, and international artists; studio space and grants for artists; and a sales gallery representing many of the top ceramic artists from the region and elsewhere.  The Ceramic Artists Project Grant Program annually awards three project grants to competitively selected emerging ceramic artists to support individually designed avenues of advancement.  These may include the creation of new exhibition opportunities; time in the studio to further develop a technique, glaze, or firing method; work with a mentor; and travel to another state or country for a residency.  The grant year concludes with a group exhibition at the Northern Clay Center, which provides artists with substantial exposure. 

Cave Canem Foundation, Brooklyn, New York, received a grant of $17,000 in support of 2011-12 fall and spring writing workshops for emerging poets.  Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.  Cave Canem’s community has grown from an initial gathering of 26 poets to become an influential movement with a renowned faculty and a high-achieving national fellowship of 319.  Cave Canem offers writing workshops that provide opportunities for emerging poets to build writing skills, increase knowledge of poetic traditions, and participate in a community of writers.  The 2011 workshop Breaking Line, Building Lyric will approach the line as a basic and propulsive element of the lyric poem.  In early 2012, Writing across Cultures will encourage participants to push beyond comfort zones; experiment with new forms, grammars, and vocabularies; and consider cultural inflections on poetics.  Each workshop consists of eight sessions and culminates in a reading.

Zeitgeist, Saint Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $23,500 in support of the Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop.  Zeitgeist’s mission is to enliven today’s music and expand its public with performances that absorb, stimulate, and hearten.  It forges new links between musicians and music lovers through concerts, commissions, recordings, and dialogue with audiences.  The Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop is designed to give emerging composers the opportunity to develop creative ideas and stretch artistic boundaries in an environment that celebrates exploration and experimentation.  The focus is not on the completion of a composition but rather on the generation and development of ideas and the exploration of musical possibilities. 

The Field, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, New York City, received a grant of $9,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of the new work And Lose the Name of Action.  The Field is dedicated to providing strategic services to performing artists and companies in New York City and beyond.  It fosters creative exploration, stewards innovative management strategies, and helps artists reach their fullest potential.  Miguel Gutierrez makes solo and group pieces with a variety of artists under the moniker Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People.  In his work, the interplay of movement, text, sound, and light creates, for the performers and the audience, an immersive state of immediacy and attention.  And Lose the Name of Action will be an evening-length performance that uses dance and improvisation as the bridge between discoveries from research into neurology, embodied philosophy, somatic/healing practices, and the paranormal.

Harlem Stage, New York City, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of emerging artists’ commissions within the Fund for New Work.  Harlem Stage is a performing arts center that celebrates and perpetuates the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture.  It provides opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color; makes performances easily accessible to all audiences; and introduces children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.  The Fund for New Work addresses Harlem Stage’s long tradition of supporting the creation, development, and presentation of works by artists of color.  It formalizes commissioning and development support for artists at all career levels.  Jerome subsidy enables the Fund to provide commissioning and development support to emerging artists, many of whom receive their first commissions through this program. 

Springboard for the Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for choreographer Vanessa Voskuil, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $8,000 in support of the creation and production of SHIFT.  The mission of Springboard for the Arts is to cultivate a vibrant arts community by connecting artists with the skills, contacts, information, and services they need to make a living and a life.  Voskuil is a choreographer; director; performer; visual and sound designer; teaching artist; and creator of dances, interdisciplinary performances, and films.  SHIFT is an audience participatory, sound and interactive movement environment that includes a movement-base performance component.  The work cultivates individual and social health by fostering a sustainable model of communication and social interaction that is of equal exchange.

The Givens Foundation for African American Literature, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $18,000 in support of the Givens Black Writers Collaborative Retreat Program.  The mission of the Givens Foundation is to enrich cultural understanding and learning through programs that advance and celebrate African American literature and writers.  The Retreat Program engages ten emerging African American writers from diverse genres in an eight-month program providing mentoring and peer support, building literary community, honing literary craft, and producing new works.  The Program begins with an intensive urban retreat and continues with monthly craft workshops, culminating in a performance of new work created during the year.

Full Circle Productions, Bronx, New York, received $8,000 in support of the development and production of Soul Intention.  Full Circle Productions offers original programming of dance theater works, workshops, mentorships, and classes that cover all the major forms of Hip-Hop expressions.  The organization operates under the artistic direction of Rokafella and Kwikstep.  Soul Intention aims to show how music and dance inspire each other in the generation and development of new moves and sounds, and how audiences play a part in this creative moment on stage. 

Jerome Foundation elected to renew its associate membership in and general support of Philanthropy New York, New York City, at the level of $1,000.  Philanthropy New York is the principal professional community of philanthropic foundations based in New York State.  It enhances and increases the grantmaking activities of organizational and individual philanthropists.  It supports meaningful collaborations and knowledge sharing among funders; promotes effective, strategic philanthropy through programs, services, and resources; and informs and advances public policies that support affective philanthropy and a productive nonprofit sector.  It also fosters effective communications about the value of philanthropy, the philanthropic sector, and the larger community.

Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York, received a grant of $10,000 in support of the Artist Studio Program and solo shows of works by emerging artists in the Exhibition Program.  Smack Mellon’s mission is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized mid-career, and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work, by providing exhibition opportunities, studio work space, and access to equipment and technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects.  The Artist Studio Program provides six emerging artists with access to private studio space, shared work space, and $5,000 fellowships for eleven months. 

The Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $179,000 in support of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 Jerome Fellowship Program and the 2012-13 Many Voices Program.  The Center champions playwrights and plays to build upon a living theater that demands new and innovative works.  It is a national resource for script development and provides a range of services for writers at all stages of their careers.  Since inception in 1976, the Jerome Fellowship Program has supported emerging American playwrights through the provision of funds and services to aid in the development of their craft and careers.  Initiated in 1994, the Many Voices Program for playwrights of color provides grants, education, and opportunities to develop new works.  The program focuses on emerging artists interested in developing their playwriting skills and creating theater in a supportive artists’ community.

The Foundation committed $230,000 over two years to the 2012 and 2013 Travel and Study Grant Program.  Guidelines and application materials for the 2012 Program will be available in November, 2011, on the Foundation’s websit

For further information about these grants, please contact Jerome Foundation Program Director Robert Byrd, Program Officer Eleanor Savage, or President Cynthia Gehrig at 651.224.9431 or 1.800.995.3766.  Visit the Jerome Foundation on the Web at www.jeromefdn.org.

The Jerome Foundation, created by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill (1905-1972), seeks to contribute to a dynamic and evolving culture by supporting the creation, development, and production of new works by emerging artists.  The Foundation makes grants to not-for-profit arts organizations and artists in Minnesota and New York City.