Past
Grantees

JESSE ROESLER, a Minneapolis-based documentary filmmaker, will travel to Ghent, Belgium, to develop as a documentary filmmaker and video artist by studying musical performance filmmaking at the Logos Foundation with Moniek Darge and Godfried-Willem Raes. In addition to working directly with Darge and Raes, Roesler will view archived films and a performance by the artists in their exhibition space, the Tetrahedron.

ROULETTE, New York City, received a two-year grant of $48,000 in support of payments to emerging composers and services provided to those composers. Roulette is a leader in the field of new music, offering over 50 concerts each year, commissioning new works, offering distribution and information services, providing rehearsal and recording facilities, and producing television and Internet programs that bring the work of contemporary composers to audiences throughout the world. As a substantial programmer of experimental music, Roulette is an incubator in its support for emerging composers. Its adventurous programming provides opportunities for composers to present new works and works-in-progress to audiences knowledgeable and responsive to new directions in music.

The mission of S.A.S.E.: THE WRITE PLACE is to make the literary arts accessible to a diverse community. It was founded with a deeply held belief that the world is a large writing tablet, and that the act of putting pen to paper is one of the most powerful tools we have to create an environment of civic literacy in which everyone's voice is heard. The mission of INTERMEDIA ARTS is to be a catalyst that builds understanding among people through art, fosters excellence in the creative process and product by presenting diverse cultural perspectives, and creates a context in which those multiple perspectives can be understood and ultimately bring people together. S.A.S.E.: The Write Place has received Jerome support for programs serving emerging writers. It intends to move its programming to Intermedia Arts. Jerome Foundation made a one-year grant commitment of $49,500 to both organizations to continue in 2006 the operation of the Verve Grants for spoken word artists, the S.A.S.E./Jerome Fellowships and the Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Program. Since 1997, the Fellowship Program has made it possible for 65 emerging writers to enhance their literary work and careers in ways that are specifically meaningful to them. The Verve Grants for spoken word artists recognize one of the fastest growing artistic movements in the country. Five $3,000 grants are awarded annually for a variety of purposes proposed by the artists. The Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Program pairs emerging writers who want to develop in skill and confidence with senior writers who give them individualized attention as they work together in small groups.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for SAVAGE AURAL HOTBED, received a two-year grant of $16,000 in support of the creation and production of new work. The Southern Theater presents alternative performances by artists working at the grassroots of the Twin Cities' varied cultural, political and economic communities. The musical ensemble Savage Aural Hotbed uses found objects and conventional percussion instruments, bass guitar, modified horns and vocals, and power tools to create visual and aural spectacles with high-energy rhythms and flying sparks. The four members of Savage Aural Hotbed collaborate in the composition process, drawing from modern minimalist, electronic and ethnic styles of music. New works created will be presented in small concerts in the first year and in a major show in the second at The Southern Theater. For that, the members of Savage Aural Hotbed will build large machines/sculptures that produce sounds.

Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a grant of $19,575.48 to THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in support of the further development of Quick and its presentation in the Prague International Fringe. 3-Legged Race originally developed this work. When that organization closed, it entrusted funds committed to this project to the Jerome Foundation as a donor advised fund. A number of factors came together late in 2005 that allowed the artists involved with Quick to return to its active development and ready it for production in Prague.

SCULPTURECENTER, Long Island City, New York, received $14,000 in support of the 2006-07 In Practice program. SculptureCenter, dedicated to experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture, commissions new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and international artists. Founded in 2003, the In Practice program provides emerging artists at pivotal points early in their careers with opportunities to make and exhibit new work and gain exposure that is vital to career advancement. The program primarily serves artists living in New York City, selected from submissions in response to an open call. In Practice artists receive honoraria and production stipends to support the creation and presentation of new work at the Center. In the 2006-07 season, In Practice artists will participate in two exhibition slots, the first this past fall as part of the thematic exhibition Denial is a River. The second installment of works by six to eight artists and artist teams will be mounted January through April of 2007.

JAMES SEWELL BALLET, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $12,000 in support of the participation of two emerging choreographers in the Ballet Works Project. The mission of James Sewell Ballet is to create and perform works that connect artists with audiences and to advance contemporary ballet. The Ballet Works Project promotes the development of new works by choreographers from inside and outside of the company. It provides 30 hours of subsidized workshop time to each of two emerging choreographers to develop new works utilizing the Sewell company. This culminates in open showings of the works-in-progress.

SUZAN SHERMAN, a writer residing in New York City, will travel to Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas and California to conduct research for a novel, Pearl O'Shea, which traces an elderly woman's recollection of being an Orphan Train Rider from New York City to Nebraska in 1873. Prior to the establishment of foster care and adoption, the Orphan Train was a social program for unwanted and orphaned children, founded by the Children's Aid Society in New York City. From 1854 to 1929, hundreds of thousands of urban children were sent on trains to rural areas in the United States to be raised by farm families.

SMACK MELLON, New York City, received a two-year grant of $28,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the exhibition program. Its mission is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized mid-career and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work. Smack Mellon provides exhibition opportunities, studio workspace, and access to equipment and technical assistance toward the realization of ambitious projects. Smack Mellon mounts five exhibitions a year, featuring a majority of emerging artists. The 2006 exhibition program began with Site 92, a group exhibition of 27 artists who created site-specific installations responding to Smack Mellon's new home at 92 Plymouth Street. This summer, Smack Mellon is presenting an emerging artists exhibition designed to build relationships between artists and emerging curators.

THE SOAP FACTORY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $22,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists from Minnesota and New York City in the 2006 Exhibition Program. The Soap Factory, a nonprofit alternative space, is dedicated to the production, presentation and promotion of emerging contemporary practice across the visual arts, media installation and performance. Dedicated to experimentation and risk taking, The Soap Factory is committed to a curatorial process that engages a variety of viewpoints and an open application procedure.

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK, Long Island City, New York, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Fellowship Program. Sited on what was once an abandoned riverside landfill and illegal dumpsite, Socrates Sculpture Park provides artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale sculpture and multimedia installations in an outdoor environment that encourages interaction among the artists, the art works and the public. Occupying four and a half acres on the East River waterfront overlooking the Manhattan skyline, the Park is open free of charge year-round and makes both the creative process and finished art work accessible to broad and diverse audiences. The Emerging Artist Fellowship Program provides to competitively selected artists financial support and access to materials, equipment and technical assistance as they create new public works that are sited at the Park. The program encourages young artists to experiment and take risks with their work, in order to realize innovative and ambitious projects.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $60,000 in support of artists' commissions for ELECTRIC EYES: NEW MUSIC & MEDIA FESTIVAL. The Southern Theater's mission is to build and sustain a vibrant artistic community by supporting creative independent performing artists and presenting them to an audience in an intimate environment that encourages artistic exploration. The Southern will launch a two-year pilot encompassing ten commissions and productions of original works performed by their creators. The focus is collaborative work that pairs new music with multimedia. Artists will receive commissioning fees, performance fees, subsidy for equipment rental, and creative consulting. The Southern will provide a range of services designed to add value to each artist's work including lighting design, technical consultation, marketing and front-of-house services and a facilitated feedback/peer review process.

THE FIELD, New York City, acting as fiscal sponsor for ROSEANNE SPRADLIN DANCE, received $10,000 in support of the development and production of new work. RoseAnne Spradlin Dance was founded in 1995. Jerome funding will be directed to the creation and production of Survive Cycle, an evening-length dance work investigating destructive processes, natural and unnatural, as a means to explore dancing with the blows of life. The theme will be followed through several levels of meaning, exploring the personal, cultural and global reverberations of cycles of excess and decline, accumulation and decay.

SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $62,000 in support of services to artists and its new Diversity and Accessibility Initiative. Serving numerous artists and nonprofit arts organizations each year through a range of services and programs, Springboard is skilled at offering consultations and professional development opportunities to individual artists. It maintains a loan fund for artistic and business development, an Emergency Relief Fund, and computer workspace and meeting spaces for artists. A new translation and training program will expand the ways Springboard serves immigrant artists.

THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM, New York City, is a collecting and exhibiting institution that is a nexus for black artists locally, nationally and internationally, and for work that is inspired and influenced by black culture. In addition to exhibitions, the Museum offers an educational program for young people, literary readings and performing arts events, and an active critical dialogues program focusing on the intersection of black art and contemporary culture. The Artists-in-Residence program supports the creation of new works by emerging artists of African descent, competitively selected from applications for year-long residencies at the Museum. Artists are given studios at the Museum, financial assistance and professional development. The artists are coupled with Critical Dialogues partners, usually curators or critics, enabling them to cultivate ongoing relationships with arts professionals in New York. The program concludes with an exhibition that introduces the work of three emerging artists to the broader public. Jerome Foundation provided a grant of $11,000.

THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM, New York City, received $11,000 in support of the Artists-in-Residence Program. The Studio Museum, a collecting and exhibiting institution, is a nexus for Black artists locally, nationally and internationally and for work that is inspired and influenced by Black culture. The Artists-in-Residence Program offers studio spaces in the Museum, stipends, materials, professional mentoring and a culminating exhibition in the Museum's gallery, with a catalog, to three competitively selected emerging artists each year. Studio spaces are generous in size and accessible to the artists 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The Program provides opportunities for emerging artists of African descent to create new work and benefit from a number of professional development initiatives. It has fostered the careers of over 100 artists.

A grant was awarded to MARK TANG and LU LIPPOLD for Open Season, a one-hour documentary about a still festering multiple shooting incident for which a Hmong immigrant hunter is convicted of killing six white hunters in northern Wisconsin. Part courtroom drama, part intimate portrait, this documentary brings into high relief the simmering tensions-racial, cultural, economic-that lurk in America's heartland.

Rochester, Minnesota poet YUKO TANIGUCHI, will travel to Hiroshima City, Japan, to study the landscape of the city, visit the peace memorial park, visit museums and libraries, and conduct interviews with Hibakusha (victims of the atom bomb) in order to enhance and complete a poetry manuscript, Story of Rivers. Many Hibakusha have died or are dying. Saving their memories is a real concern. This trip will make it possible for Taniguchi to discover her own voice to tell the stories that need to be told.

AMANDA TAYLOR, St. Paul, Minnesota, will spend time at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, investigating Professor Paul Vasey's research on homosexual behavior among female Japanese macaque monkeys. The research will inform Taylor's documentary, Freak of Nature, which explores the state of science on animal homosexuality, exposes the suppression of this research from the general public, and considers how American culture influences how we think about sex.

The TEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a national center for fiber art. Its mission is to honor textile traditions and promote excellence and innovation in fiber art. It represents and supports fiber artists working in all forms including weaving, quilting, knitting, sewing, needlework, lace making, basketry and beading. A critical part of its mission is to bring validation and visibility to the textile arts, which arise from all cultures. A Jerome grant of $16,000 will support programs and services for emerging fiber artists in the 2006-07 program year. Primary among those activities supported are the exhibition program, seminars, workshops designed to develop skill levels, the dye lab and a Mentor Program.