Past
Grantees

THE PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE/PILLSBURY UNITED COMMUNITIES, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-part grant. The Theatre's mission is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change and connection. Jerome Foundation made a two-year commitment of $24,000 in support of the development and production of new works by emerging playwrights. In addition to mainstage productions by Heather MacDonald, Kimberly Morgan and Tracey S. Wilson, the Theatre will present the Three Mondays: Reading Series showcasing the works of new and emerging playwrights. A grant of $34,500 was made in support of the 2005 Non-English Speaking Spoken Here: The Late Nite Series. Late Nite is a concept that represents a transformation of culture where text, music, spoken word, sounds and images weave together in a fearless celebration of new voices and new art. The Series presents opportunities for artists to develop and perform new works and works-in-progress in front of audiences. Late Nite is organized into three series each year, centered on a theme.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $81,000 to support the 2005-06 Jerome Playwriting Residency Fellowships and the Many Voices Program. The Center fuels the theater by providing services that support playwrights and playwriting. It nurtures artistic excellence and new visions of theater, fosters playwright initiative and leadership, practices cultural pluralism, discovers emerging artists, advocates for playwrights and their work, connects playwrights with their audiences, and develops a community for new work. In the Residency Program, five fellowships are awarded to competitively selected emerging playwrights who spend the fellowship year in Minnesota and participate in readings, workshops and related program opportunities. The writers develop new work in a variety of ways for a variety of venues. Jerome support was also authorized for the Many Voices Program, designed to develop playwrights of color through stipends, education, and opportunities to develop new work with theater professionals. Eight nine-month residencies are awarded. The playwrights meet twice a month to read works in development, undertake writing assignments and exercises, discuss issues relating to their work, and engage in a peer support and learning network.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $81,000 to support the 2005-06 Jerome Playwriting Residency Fellowships and the Many Voices Program. The Center fuels the theater by providing services that support playwrights and playwriting. It nurtures artistic excellence and new visions of theater, fosters playwright initiative and leadership, practices cultural pluralism, discovers emerging artists, advocates for playwrights and their work, connects playwrights with their audiences, and develops a community for new work. In the Residency Program, five fellowships are awarded to competitively selected emerging playwrights who spend the fellowship year in Minnesota and participate in readings, workshops and related program opportunities. The writers develop new work in a variety of ways for a variety of venues. Jerome support was also authorized for the Many Voices Program, designed to develop playwrights of color through stipends, education, and opportunities to develop new work with theater professionals. Eight nine-month residencies are awarded. The playwrights meet twice a month to read works in development, undertake writing assignments and exercises, discuss issues relating to their work, and engage in a peer support and learning network.

The QUEENS THEATRE IN THE PARK, Flushing, New York, received $10,000 in support of its Immigrant Voices Project. The mission of this Theatre is to provide high quality and diverse performing arts activities that are economically and geographically accessible to the residents of Queens. Integral to its mission is the Immigrant Voices Project, which fosters cultural appreciation, presents new and ethnically diverse works, reflects on the wide range of cultures that make up the borough of Queens, and supports emerging writers who reflect and address issues relevant to Queens. Emerging playwrights are given opportunities to develop their works through readings, workshops and fully staged productions.

DANIEL RAGUSSIS received a grant in support of a 30-minute narrative short, titled Haber, which tells the story of one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century, and the terrible moral dilemma he faced. Fritz Haber was a brilliant German chemist with one of the most extraordinary dual legacies in history. On the one hand, his revolutionary process for creating synthetic fertilizers averted the greatest overpopulation crisis the world has ever known, won him the Nobel Prize in 1918, and now feeds over 2 billion people. On the other hand, he is the father of modern chemical warfare, a dubious accomplishment that resulted in his wife committing suicide.

The Directors approved a grant of $9,000 for RAGAMALA MUSIC AND DANCE THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal agent for APARNA RAMASWAMY, in support of the creation and production of new works. Ragamala Music and Dance Theater presents classical and contemporary/collaborative work based in Bharatanatyam, the ancient classical dance of southern India. Aparna Ramaswamy, choreographer and dancer with the company, will create two new works, Aathma and Flying Horses. Aathma is an exploration of the works of 13th century Persian poet Jelaluddin Rumi. This evening-length work will interweave Bharatanatyam and abstract and narrative dance. Flying Horses will be created to a musical work by Mu Daiko Artistic Director Rick Shiomi, contrasting and juxtaposing two culturally-based art forms, Japanese Taiko and Bharatanatyam.

The Directors authorized a two-year grant of $36,000 to REPERTORIO ESPAOL, New York City, in support of the development of new works by emerging playwrights. Repertorio seeks to present, in rotating repertory, the finest Spanish-language theatre. Jerome dollars will be directed toward the Voces Nuevas program, which provides opportunities to emerging Hispanic playwrights to present their work and pursue artistic goals through readings and full productions of new work. The Desarrollo component adds mentor directors for playwrights to fully develop the potential of the writer and the script.

Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a two-year grant of $30,000 to RHIZOME.ORG, New York City, in support of its Commissioning Program. Rhizome.org is an online platform for the global new media art community. Its programs include commissions, e-mail forums, publications and a web-based archive of artwork and text. These support the creation, presentation, discussion and preservation of contemporary art that uses new technologies in significant ways. The Commissioning Program provides new media artists with opportunities to realize new works and receive financial support for their projects. Rhizome.org provides competitively selected artists with financial assistance and a platform for institutional support and access.

YORUBA RICHEN received a grant for Promised Land, a feature-length documentary that examines post-apartheid South Africa's efforts to bring about racial reconciliation through land redistribution. The film follows one black community in South Africa as it attempts to reclaim land from which it was forcibly evicted 40 years ago. By following the efforts of one indigenous black tribe to reclaim its land, Promised Land shows how one country is attempting to redress its violent colonial past in order to sustain its current fragile peace.

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, New York City, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of the Emerging Composer Commissioning Program. Roulette Intermedium offers over 50 concerts each year, paying fees, commissioning new work, providing publicity, offering production and recording facilities, and initiating recording and distribution programs. Launched in 1997, the Jerome Emerging Composer Commissioning Program has awarded 28 commissions of $4,000 each to emerging experimental composers. The commissions are made through a nominating process, using new music practitioners as curators. The focus is on young composers coming from a variety of musical backgrounds and ethnic cultures, who are generally interested in each other's instruments and techniques. The effect of the commissions is bolstered by Roulette's presentation of the commissioned pieces, forums for the artists to bring their works to the public. The commissions give the artists the liberty and the mandate to make a piece with a sustained structural intention, which can withstand a certain scrutiny and the focused listening experience that a Roulette concert provides.

S.A.S.E.: THE WRITE PLACE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $49,500 in support of the S.A.S.E./Jerome Fellowship for Writers, the Verve Fellowships, and Writer-to-Writer Mentorships. S.A.S.E. supports writing that aims for the highest literary standards while beating with the pulse of the people that it seeks to reach. The S.A.S.E./Jerome Fellowships have made it possible for writers to study with master teachers, travel to learn from writers in distant countries, bring work to publication, read and present their work, and subsidize writing time. The purpose of the Fellowships is to provide emerging writers with financial assistance, professional encouragement, and recognition. The Verve Fellowship Program for Spoken Word artists offers five fellowships of up to $3,000 to artists, who have used the subsidies to produce CDs, tour to promote their work, expand the range of performance opportunities, and develop new pieces. The Writer-to-Writer Mentorships provide individualized learning experiences for emerging writers. Mentors work with small groups of writers over a semester, which includes at least six group sessions in addition to one-on-one sessions between each writer and his/her mentor.

SAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY, Collegeville, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $54,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Program at the Saint John's Pottery. The Pottery utilizes Japanese techniques and incorporates indigenous materials. Since 1984, under the direction of Richard Bresnahan, the Pottery has supported a residency program for emerging artists to expand their creative abilities and to study and use indigenous materials. The competitively selected artists have 24-hour a day, seven-day a week access to the Studio with unlimited use of materials. The artists receive stipends and room and board. They often return to campus to participate in an annual kiln firing. Emerging artists who live in Minnesota and New York City are eligible.

SITI COMPANY, New York City, received $10,000 in support of the 2006 Associates New Work Series. SITI is an ensemble-based theater company led by Anne Bogart. Its mission is to create bold new productions, to perform and tour those works nationally and internationally, to train together consistently, to develop theater professionals and students, and to create opportunities for artistic dialogue and cultural exchange. The goal of the Associates program is to nurture the next generation of theater artists by facilitating the creation and presentation of new works in an atmosphere of artistic dialogue and exchange. In 2006, the Associates New Work Series will serve six emerging theater artists by supporting works-in-progress performances of new works initiated by these artists, assigning Company members as mentors for the artists, providing performance and rehearsal space in the SITI Studio, offering stipends and budgets to cover artists' fees and production expenses, and dedicating a series producer to supervise development and production matters.

The SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal agent for SAVAGE AURAL HOTBED, received $8,000 in support of the creation and production of the new work The Rate of Mass Displacement is Momentum at the Southern Theater. The Southern presents alternative performances by artists responding to contemporary issues and life situations from the perspectives of the varied cultural communities in the Twin Cities. Savage Aural Hotbed is an ensemble of four composer-musicians who create highly percussive music and sound experiences using found objects, industrial machines, and musical instruments. The composer-performers are Mark Black, William Melton, Stuart DeVaan and Dean Hawthorne. The changing urban landscape, which includes building and destruction, is the basis for this new work. Savage Aural Hotbed envisions a symphony of steel, the rhythmic cadence of pile drivers accompanied by pulsing, droning engines and whining motors, with beeping back-up signals providing counterpoint.

SCULPTURECENTER, Long Island City, received $10,000 in support of the 2005-06 In Practice program. SculptureCenter is dedicated to experimental and innovative developments in contemporary sculpture. It commissions new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and international artists. In Practice is an ongoing project series that encourages emerging artists to consider any area of the Center as a potential site and to experiment with the exhibition format in terms of the presentation and lifespan of the work. In Practice presents newly commissioned projects by emerging artists and artist teams selected primarily through an open call for proposals. Artists receive honoraria as well as production stipends. SculptureCenter promotes and documents all work.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, acting as fiscal agent for choreographer KAREN SHERMAN, received a grant of $9,000 in support of the creation and production of new work. The Southern presents alternative performances by artists working at the grassroots of the Twin Cities varied cultural, political, and economic communities. Choreographer Karen Sherman will create an evening-length dance/performance work that addresses the intersection of environment, terrain, the body, and memory through the specific lens of Midwestern weather, landscape, and culture. The working title is Tiny Town. This grant will support the creation and public showings of sections as work-in-progress. The final version of the piece will be produced in late 2006 or early 2007.

SKEWED VISIONS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $12,500 in support of the creation and production of a three-part site-specific work. This performance company specializes in works engaging in and engaged by their physical environments. It uses interdisciplinary approaches to create strongly visual works, seeking modes of seeing or conceiving that deviate from the linear. Jerome subsidy is directed toward Days and Nights, which includes three segments: The Hidden Room, A Quiet Ambition, and Time For Bed. They explore landscapes of myth and meaning, and are linked by the use of a common space-the Witch's Hat Water Tower in the Prospect Park Neighborhood of Minneapolis. Written and directed by Glgn Kayim, The Hidden Room is based on the life and art of Jewish/Ukrainian artist/author and Holocaust victim Bruno Schultz. Charles Campbell, collaborating with performance artist Cherri Macht, will develop A Quiet Ambition as an imagistic exploration of personal and social alienation as manifested in contemporary society. Time For Bed, created and directed by Sean Kelley-Pegg, is a cyclic, continuous film work about a watcher and the watcher's imagination.

SMACK MELLON STUDIOS, Brooklyn, New York, nurtures and supports emerging, under-recognized mid-career, and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work. It provides exhibition opportunities, studio workspace, and access to equipment and technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects. Jerome support of $14,000 is directed to the Exhibition Program, and within it, group and solo shows featuring the works of emerging artists. The 2005 program begins with an expansive exhibition of drawings by 17 artists. In the fall, the organization celebrates its new location at 92 Plymouth Street with installations created specifically for that space.

NO NAME EXHIBITIONS @ THE SOAP FACTORY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, supports and exhibits the work of emerging visual artists; enhances the public's understanding of and appreciation for artistic expression; and fosters strength and vitality in the arts, cultural and educational communities of the Twin Cities. It occupies an expansive former soap factory and presents four group shows, nine project rooms and six video installation rooms each season. Jerome support of $22,000 was approved for the participation of emerging artists in the exhibition program. The 2005 group exhibitions include Gigantic, a show of art that overwhelms; Art Shanties, a winter show of ice houses and an expanded summer version including a sauna installation; and Afrofuturism, an examination of Black artists' works in the context of the future rather than the past.

SOHO REPERTORY THEATRE, New York City, develops unconventional plays, cultivating new work from first impulse through fully mounted productions. A Jerome Foundation grant of $20,000 over two years was authorized to support artists' fees across a spectrum of play development activities. Development activities include research and development, commissions, staged workshops, and a Writer/Director Lab. Jerome support is directed to emerging playwrights based in New York City and/or Minnesota.