Past
Grantees

CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $10,000 in support of Zaraawar Mistrys new work The Tragedy of Sohrab and Rustum. It is a solo piece based on the legend of the warrior Rustum and the unfortunate circumstances under which he killed his son Sohrab. Mistrys play intertwines elements of the ancient epic with the tragi-comic story of a contemporary Zoroastrian family from Bombay. It incorporates traditional rituals, object transformation, and stylized movement to tell a story of individual dreams and passions set against a backdrop of the zenith, decline, and now preservation of the Zoroastrians. Center for Independent Artists nurtures artistic vision and fosters diverse cultural perspectives by providing resources and services to independent artists.

A grant was awarded to PAUL CHAN in support of Happiness (Finally) After 35,000 Years of Civilization, an experimental animated film that reinterprets the drawings of outsider artist Henry Darger and utopian socialist Charles Fourier to explore the Western conception of Utopia.

CHEAP THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $5,000 for its 2001 New Play Series, the primary vehicle for advancing the mission of the company as a producer of new plays. The playwright is considered the final word on director selection, dramaturgical selection if required, interpretation and design choices. Two works by emerging playwrights will be produced this spring, The Primitive by Todd Irvine, co-presented with The Playwrights Center in its newly renovated theater space; and First Lady by Erica Christ, in a co-production with Hidden Theatre.

THE CHERRY LANE ALTERNATIVE, New York City, received a grant of $30,000 to continue its Mentor Project. The Project provides emerging playwrights the opportunity to develop new plays and work one-on-one with master playwrights. Five emerging playwrights are paired with three mentors. After a period of script development, three of the five emerging playwrights will have their works produced in a showcase. Cherry Lane is committed to the development of emerging playwrights within an environment that nurtures, challenges, and offers unlimited potential for artists and audiences alike.

IL PICCOLO TEATRO DELLOPERA/CREATE!, Brooklyn, New York, submitted a request as fiscal agent for THE DANCERS CO-OP, the company of choreographer Gabri Christa. Jerome Foundation Directors authorized $10,000 to support the development of new work by Christa for The Dancers Co-Op. Her style of movement is a blend of her Caribbean/European heritage, African Diaspora religions and popular culture. An ongoing theme is the exploration of social and cultural displacement and how populations are able to negotiate the differences between community and identity. Funding was authorized for The Winti Project, in which Christa will focus on former and present Dutch colonies and the results of the colonial influence in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname. She is particularly interested in the Sarammacan culture, which reflects one of the Surinames largest Creole populations.

MAYA CHURI was awarded a grant in support of Forest Grove, a narrative fiction web site that will explore the architecture of storytelling by aligning it with the architecture of manufactured communities. The site will incorporate hyperlink technology, flash, live-action, audio and text to enable the user to explore a more structured environment using an unconventional form.

Choreographer JOE CHVALA received funding to spend 16 days attending various festivals in Hungary and the Czech Republic. Chvala will investigate Eastern European folk dance, music, and theater, with an emphasis on dance and music influenced by Gypsy culture. Chvala spent two years living in Scandinavia taking in the culture and traditions that reflect that portion of his heritage. He developed two full-length pieces with Flying Foot Forum, which incorporated Scandinavian themes. He now wants to explore the Czech portion of his heritage and let the Eastern European and Gypsy traditions influence his future work.

COFFEE HOUSE PRESS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $27,000 in support of the publication of three new titles by emerging authors from Minnesota and New York City. The mission of the Press is to promote exciting, vital, and enduring authors of this time; to delight and inspire readers; to increase awareness of and appreciation for the traditional book arts; to contribute to the cultural life of its community; and to enrich literary heritage. Jerome funding will support the publication of The Mermaid that Came Between Them by Carol Ann Sima, Red Suburb by Greg Hewett, and Miniatures by Norah Labiner.

COLLAPSABLE GIRAFFE, New York City, is an experimental theater company that incorporates contemporary technology and borrowed vocabularies from dance and film within its theatrical productions. It seeks to re-imagine live performance in ways that captivate new audiences. Jerome Foundation funding of $8,000 was authorized for the development and performance of three company created projects during the 2001-02 season. Jim Findlay will develop Witch Mountain, Black Tarantula; Amy Huggans will create a work based on Louis Aragons Le Con dIrene; and Iver Findlay will create a new piece based on Artauds unrealized film script 18 Seconds.

The Jerome Foundation renewed its membership in and provided general support for the programs of the COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, Washington, D.C.; the MINNESOTA COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and GRANTMAKERS IN THE ARTS, Seattle, Washington. A total of $32,170 was authorized for three service organizations important to the fields of philanthropy and the arts.

LISA CRAFTS received funding for The Flooded Playground, a digitally animated fairy tale about a young child living under persistent assault, who gets jolted into a craggy emotional wonderland where he wanders into deep forests and through his inner inferno in a quest to mend his damaged spirit. The visual style is a hybrid technique in which Ms. Crafts scans photographs, drawings, and objects, then digitally manipulates them to create the settings, atmosphere and animation.

CREATIVE TIME, New York City, is a nonprofit arts presenter that fosters artistic experimentation in the public realm. It commissions and presents adventurous art that challenges notions of what art is and can be. The work is always site-responsive and temporary. Creative Time works in diverse sites and considers the public in the realization of every work. Jerome Foundation support of $12,000 will be restricted to emerging artists and dedicated toward development and presentation expenses.

Video producer RANDY CROCE received funding to spend one week in Vermont and three weeks in northern Italy. Croce will scout locations, join collaborators, conduct interviews, and research other background information about the immigration of Italian stonecutters to Barre, Vermont, the "Granite Capital" of the United States, for a video documentary.

Artist and teacher LOURDES CU received funding to spend one month in Oaxaca, Mexico, to learn about textiles, natural fibers, and indigenous weaving techniques. Cu is interested in integrating textiles made from natural fibers within her installations. She will study with weavers who create narrative canvases encapsulating beliefs, celebrations, and ways of life.

DANCE COUNCIL, Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1997 by choreographer Alyce Finwall as a vehicle for theatrical expression. Finwall works upon the premise that dance is the physical language of the human condition. Shes drawn to the idea that choreography and theater should work together. Finwall received a grant of $12,500 to create a 40-minute piece based on the story of Persephone. Shell work with sound designer John Jindra and puppeteer Michael Sommers. The work encompasses several different ideas and theories ranging from the changing of seasons to the metamorphosis of an adolescent girl into an adult woman.

DANCE COUNCIL, Minneapolis/New York City, received $12,500 in support of the creation and development of new work by choreographer Alyce Finwall. She bases her work on the belief that dance is the physical language of the human condition. Finwall merges dance and theater to create emotional and lyrically intense pieces. Jerome support will enable her to create three new works: two quartets and a trio.

DANCE SPACE CENTER, New York City, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of commissioning and performance expenses for In the Company of Men, an annual concert that celebrates the work of male choreographers. In the next two years, the concerts will feature thematically unified programs exploring relationships between men and ideas about maleness that speak to a broad audience. Dance Space Center is a presenting and artist services organization dedicated to the development of dance artists.

JOHN DAVIS, Executive Director of the Cornucopia Arts Center in Lanesboro, received a grant to investigate models of Utopian communities and visit sculpture parks that have a strong vision and sense of community connection. Davis will visit Arco Santi, Arizona; Celebration, Florida; Convergence in Providence, Rhode Island; Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, Minnesota; and Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, New York.

LIZA DAVITCH, Minnetonka, MN, received support for Victory Square, a contemporary, nonfiction story of Tania and Nastia a close knit mother and daughter living in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus. This documentary explores the mutual dependency and parent/child role switching that occurs within their intense, primal relationship. It also looks into the bond between them through the travails of romantic love, despotism, and other upheavals of life.

Media artist LIZA DAVITCH, Minnetonka, Minnesota, received funding to attend the RealScreen Summit in Washington, D.C., where she will learn how to market and distribute her documentary films. Davitch is particularly interested in identifying her core audience and learning how to reach that audience. At the conference, she will network with established film professionals and attend classes that will teach her how to develop a comprehensive and strategic communications, marketing, and distribution plan for her work.