Past
Grantees

TOM DUNN, a playwright from St. Cloud, will travel to New York, Massachusetts, Maine and Quebec over a 23-day period. Dunn will follow the trail of Winslow Homer for the purpose of writing a play about his life and work.

A grant of $12,000 was authorized for EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO, New York City, in support of 1998 Contempornea exhibitions. The mission of El Museo del Barrio is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret works of art that reflect the cultural heritage of Latin Americans in the United States. Amidst a large and diverse program, El Museo mounts Contempornea, an innovative series designed to provide emerging and under-recognized artists with significant opportunities to create and exhibit new works which advance their artistic development and professional careers through large-scale installations in a high-visibility gallery. Artists to be featured in 1998 are Valeska Soares, and Gonzalo Diaz and Sergio Vega.

ENSEMBLE STUDIO THEATRE, New York City, a long-term grantee of the Jerome Foundation, received a two-year grant of $35,000 in support of playwright development programming in the current and 1998-99 seasons. Ensemble Studio Theatre was founded in 1971 with two primary goals: to nurture individual theater artists and to develop new American plays. Under the guidance of founder and Artistic Director Curt Dempster, the membership has grown from a core of 20 artists to a flourishing community of close to 500 theater artists. EST has a multi-faceted developmental program which includes Youngblood, a series of works by artists in their early to late 20s; Internfest which is a presentation of new work developed by an intern company; a summer conference; Octoberfest which is a month-long festival of member initiated projects; First Look, a series of staged readings; the Spring Marathon of One-Act Plays; and a cabaret series titled Hells Kitchen Sink. The Literary Department reads and evaluates approximately 2,000 scripts each year and undertakes a variety of initiatives designed to assist writers.

The Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a $15,000 18-month grant in support of EVERGREEN CHRONICLES and its Novella project. Evergreen is a gay and lesbian literary and cultural publication which features poetry, fiction, cultural commentary and visual art. The publication responds to changing notions of literature, arts, cultures, and of gay and lesbian peoples. For the Novella contest, submissions are reviewed by Evergreen editors and finalists reviewed by independent jurors. Subsidy will assist in paying writers and artists whose works are published as well as supporting technical assistance and services offered by Evergreen Chronicles staff and Board.

The Jerome Foundation Directors offered continued support in the form of a two-year grant of $25,000 to EYE OF THE STORM, a theater which has contracted with THE LORING PLAYHOUSE THEATRE COMPANY of Minneapolis, Minnesota, as its fiscal agent. Founded in 1991, Eye of the Storm produces new and contemporary plays. The works reveal vision, clarity, exhilaration and risk. Funding will support a two to three-play annual season schedule, with a commitment to emerging playwrights, actors and designers. This includes works by playwrights Bridget Carpenter and David Sadaris, a yet-to-be identified playwright who will create a play for the 1998-99 season and a fourth work for which negotiations are not yet completed.

Composer ERIC FAWCETT received funding to study with two excolas de samba in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He will also attend Terrerio services of the Candomble religion to experience and investigate its various rhythms which he hopes to incorporate into his compositions for dance.

A grant of $5,000 in support of services to film and video artists was authorized for FilmNorth (formerly Independent Feature Project/North), Minneapolis. IFP/North is a nonprofit service organization for independent film and video makers, founded in 1987 to promote and encourage quality independent video and film making, and to develop public appreciation for media. Services and programs range from small and informal gatherings to screenings of members works and intensive seminars which deal with topics such as film financing, production and distribution.

FLYING FOOT FORUM, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $20,000 in support of the 1997-98 and 1998-99 program years. Flying Foot Forum was founded in 1991 by choreographer Joe Chvala, with the mission of reawakening the dormant potential of percussive dance by fleshing out the full scope of its dramatic possibilities and bringing that work to audiences. The company stretches existing percussive dance forms (such as tap, clogging, ancient hula, and stepdance) into unusual and varied theatrical contexts to create a living, expanding tradition of percussive dance. Funds from Jerome Foundation will be allocated to new work development over the next two years, during which time Chvala expects to finish four pieces and present two local concerts each season.

The Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a grant of $18,000 to FORECAST Public Art Works, St. Paul, Minnesota, to support the development phase of an AIDS Memorial project. This grant allows FORECAST and co-sponsoring agencies to undertake community discussions to receive counsel from and form partnerships with the parks department, neighborhood groups, HIV/AIDS support groups, youth groups, corporations, sponsors, artists and the broader cultural community. A detailed request for proposals for demonstration projects will be distributed broadly to emerging artists and interdisciplinary teams throughout Minnesota. Four demonstration projects, designed to provide a range of ideas on a memorial, will be selected.

FORECAST PUBLIC ART WORKS, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $45,000 for the Public Art Affairs Program. FORECAST supports the development and appreciation of public art by creating opportunities for artists and communities to explore the public realm, and by producing educational materials to enhance the understanding and growth of public art. The Public Art Affairs program awards grants to emerging Minnesota artists for the development and production of public art projects throughout the state. Funding is available in the form of research and development stipends and production grants. Since 1988, this program has supported 63 public art projects.

The Foundation renewed its membership in and general operating support for THE FOUNDATION CENTER, New York City, an organization which provides useful information to grantseekers and grantmakers.

THE FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT VIDEO AND FILM, New York City, received $5,000 in support of artists services in its 1997-98 program year. The Foundation and its affiliated membership entity, the Association of Independent Film and Video Makers, has served and represented the national independent media arts community for two decades. It is one of the largest providers of information resources to the field. Constituents include artists in film and video, cable access and public television producers, media educators, librarians, public interest groups and reporters of independent media.

THE FOUNDRY THEATRE, New York City, received $7,000 to support developmental and production work with three emerging creators in the 1997-98 season. The Foundry is interested in pioneering new ways to develop theatrical material which challenges the traditional boundaries of theater while remaining accessible to audiences. The Theatre works to create an environment where the discourse which surrounds the work is as important as the work itself. With each originating artist, the Foundry designs a unique process which includes dramaturgical consultations, workshops with and without audiences, and extended, fiscally supported rehearsal periods. Originating artists determine the best means to develop their works in consultation with founder and artistic director Melanie Joseph. Funds from the Jerome Foundation will be applied to the development of new works by Carl Hancock Rux, David Hancock and Toshi Reagon.

The FRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK, a 14-acre site located between Shafer and Taylors Falls in Minnesota, was incorporated in 1996 as a work-residence outdoor sculpture park. It shows both works created specifically for its site and pieces created elsewhere and then transported to Franconia. It conducts educational workshops and offers residency opportunities. Artists are given physical space, technical assistance and funding to produce work. Franconia encourages artists to work on a physical scale that might otherwise be unobtainable. Jerome support will subsidize fees, materials and general services to emerging artists.

FRANKLIN FURNACE, New York City, serves artists who work in alternative formats. For many years, its three primary programs were an archive of artists books, a performance art program for emerging artists and exhibitions of time-based arts. Jerome support for the Performance Artists Program and the Fund for Performance Art has been annually authorized since 1982. A grant of $32,000 was approved for the 1997-98 season. It will support a regranting program for individuals (the Fund for Performance Art), and a new initiative, Emerging Artists Live at Thinking Pictures. Each year, in the Fund for Performance Art program, Franklin Furnace solicits applications and convenes a selection panel to award grants to approximately ten artists to develop and produce major work in New York City. Franklin Furnace Live at Thinking Pictures, a media laboratory, is a curated presentation series of works made for electronic transmission. The performance space is a studio at Thinking Pictures. Thinking Pictures staff will work with the artists in animation, pre-recorded and live streamlined videotape and live chat with audience via a computer. These programs stream directly into a Netscape browser. Jerome support will be directed toward emerging performance artists.

FRANKLIN FURNACE, New York City, serves artists who work in alternative formats. For many years, its three primary programs were an archive of artists books, a performance art program for emerging artists and exhibitions of time-based arts. Jerome support for the Performance Artists Program and the Fund for Performance Art has been annually authorized since 1982. A grant of $32,000 was approved for the 1997-98 season. It will support a regranting program for individuals (the Fund for Performance Art), and a new initiative, Emerging Artists Live at Thinking Pictures. Each year, in the Fund for Performance Art program, Franklin Furnace solicits applications and convenes a selection panel to award grants to approximately ten artists to develop and produce major work in New York City. Franklin Furnace Live at Thinking Pictures, a media laboratory, is a curated presentation series of works made for electronic transmission. The performance space is a studio at Thinking Pictures. Thinking Pictures staff will work with the artists in animation, pre-recorded and live streamlined videotape and live chat with audience via a computer. These programs stream directly into a Netscape browser. Jerome support will be directed toward emerging performance artists.

Poet NANCY FREDERIKSEN will spend time in New Orleans, Louisiana and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She will view the final U.S. exhibition of Andrew Wyeths The Helga Pictures in New Orleans and conduct research in Wyeths home town of Chadds Ford. Frederiksen has written 28 poems and 12 sonnets on the Helga theme, and is working toward a full manuscript on this subject.

CLEA GALHANO, recorder player, received subsidy to travel to Boston attend the 1997 Boston Early Music Festival.

Clarinetist FRANK GARCIA, of Duluth, received a grant to attend the 1997 Clarinetfest, the Annual Convention of the International Clarinet Association. The festival will be held in Lubbock, Texas.

Subsidy of $6,000 was awarded to INTERMEDIA ARTS MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, acting as fiscal agent for choreographer and dancer GERRY GIROUARD, in support of a Dance/Music/Light Collaboration. Girouard proposed a dance, computer generated music and lighting project. The dance component stretches boundaries by having dancers perform sequences on the walls and ceiling as well as the floor. As the dancers move through space, they are detected by a computer which analyzes changes in light and generates corresponding sounds. Music will be composed by Todd Winkler.