Past
Grantees

PILLSBURY HOUSE + THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $36,500 to support the 2013 Naked Stages Program.  The mission of Pillsbury House + Theatre is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change, and connection.  Activities include a mainstage season, a commissioning program, the Late Nite Series, and Naked Stages.  Naked Stages engages emerging artists in a structured seven-month program that features monthly artistic meetings and monthly production meetings.  The teaching of career building skills enables three artists to develop the skills they need to direct comprehensive production experiences of their own works.  

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS, New York City, received a two-year grant of $46,000 in support of American Voice artistic development activities for emerging writers residing in New York City and/or Minnesota and for one production each season written by an emerging playwright.  The mission of Playwrights Horizons is to support and develop the work of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to produce their new plays and musicals.  It has an unwavering dedication to the American Voice and ongoing passion for new work, an experienced literary staff that reads and responds to new play submissions, a nurturing and tailored play development process, and inviting theater spaces coupled with institutional muscle that attract broad critical exposure to new work.  Playwrights Horizons works with writers to develop their works through programs collectively known as the American Voice.  These programs support writers through all stages of developing new work from the writing process through script feedback and evaluation, collaborative development, and full production.  

THE PLAYWRIGHTS’ CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $90,000 in support of an expanded Many Voices Fellowship Program.  The Center champions playwrights and new plays to build upon a living theater that demands new and innovative works.  The Many Voices Program is designed to increase cultural diversity in the contemporary theater, both locally and nationally, to competitively selected playwrights who are given stipends, educational support, peer connection, and opportunities to develop new works with theater professionals.  The Center redesigned the Many Voices Program to address the themes of mentorship, visibility, and impact.  The fellowship component of the program is receiving additional support to raise the stipend level and increase the development funding available for new works.  The fellowship is open to national applicants who are willing to relocate to Minnesota for the duration of the fellowship year.  A mentorship track will serve primarily Twin Cities-based applicants but will be open to any emerging playwright who wishes to relocate to take advantage of the opportunity.  The objective of the mentorship track is to create a safe and supportive community in which Many Voices playwrights can begin to formulate a career trajectory, learn and practice their craft, take artistic risks, and develop new relationships with peers and mentors.

THE POETRY PROJECT, New York City, received $19,320 in support of a Fellowship Program for emerging writers.  Through live programming, workshops, publications, website, and special events, The Poetry Project promotes, fosters, and inspires the reading and writing of contemporary poetry by presenting contemporary poetry to diverse audiences; increases public recognition, awareness, and appreciation of poetry and other arts; provides a community setting in which poets can exchange ideas and information; and encourages the participation and development of new poets with a broad range of styles.  Over the course of nine months, the Fellowship Program pairs established poets with emerging poets to develop their craft and complete self-defined projects.  The nature of the engagement is related to shaping the fellow’s project but it may also be one of sharing resources and knowledge.  The fellows are provided honoraria, access to Poetry Project events, and readings within the Monday Night Reading Series as a culminating event.  

The POETS HOUSE, New York City, received $28,000 in support of Emerging Poets II.  Poets House is a national poetry library and literary center that invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition of poetry.  Poetry resources and literary events document the wealth and diversity of poetry and stimulate public dialogue on issues of poetry and culture.  The Emerging Poets Fellowship Program assists emerging poets by providing excellent poetry writing instruction and mentoring in the special environment of Poet House’s poetry library, with its unique archives.  The program aims to deepen artistic practice by offering a robust professional network of poets and literary professionals, including special visits from editors and publishers, who assist writers with their artistic development and career.  The program includes weekly writing workshops, mentoring sessions, meetings with guest speakers, free access to Poets House events and archive, and culminates in a final group reading.

PRINTED MATTER, New York City, received $24,000 in support of an Emerging Artists’ Publication Series.  Printed Matter is dedicated to the promotion and distribution of artists’ books as low-cost democratic artworks.  Its mission is to foster the appreciation, dissemination, and understanding of artists’ publications, which are defined as books or other editioned publications conceived by artists as artworks.  Its activities include wholesale and retail distribution, a public reading room, consulting services for libraries and arts institutions, exhibitions, and educational programs for the public and artists.  The Emerging Artists’ Publication Series supports four emerging artists who demonstrate excellence and potential in the field.  An exhibition accompanies the production and distribution of their books, which are produced in editions of 1,000, printed off-set, sold inexpensively, and distributed worldwide through Printed Matter’s network. 

BUSHRA REHMAN, writer, New York City, will travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to conduct creative research at historic sties, write fairy tales inspired by Turkish history, and include these stories in her modern version of the Arabian Nights in which a Muslim woman saves her skin by telling fairy tales during her FBI interrogation. Rehman is exploring, in a fantastical way, the state of United States relations with the Muslim world and the experience of what it means to be Muslim in the year 2012, as an American citizen.

JEFF REICHERT received a grant in support of a feature-length documentary, Remote Area Medical. A debate over healthcare has been raging nationwide, but whats been lost in the discussion of mandates, payers, pre-existing conditions, and deficits are the American citizens who live every day without proper access to healthcare, afraid of injury and suffering through minor illnesses in the hopes that they will just get better on their own. Remote Area Medical will document the annual three-day pop-up medical clinic put on by the non-profit Remote Area Medical (RAM) in the NASCAR speedway of Bristol, Tennessee. Even though the small town is only a few hundred miles from the nations capitol, access to proper medical care for many in the region might as well be worlds away. Instead of a film about policy, or which system is better, will cover more, or cost less, Remote Area Medical will be a film about people, about a one-of-a-kind experience and an unlikely community that arises in the same place every year. Remote Area Medical will use the RAM experience as a window through which a vast, unseen swath of American society can be viewed.

The ROCHESTER ART CENTER, Rochester, Minnesota, received $15,000 in support of three exhibitions of works by Minnesota artists in the 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Series. The Center fosters an appreciation and understanding of contemporary art through the organization and presentation of exhibitions, and the creation of innovative educational programs and interpretive materials that effectively engage regional audiences. The 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Series is a series of solo exhibitions based on the principle of critical engagement with new practices in contemporary art.

ROLLO ROMIG, writer, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Istanbul, Turkey, to study the history of progressive Muslim movements for a memoir about growing up Roman Catholic and converting to Islam, with a focus on the liberal traditions of both faiths. Drawing on library research and interviews, Romig is interested in telling the story of progressive currents in Islam and exploring the complementary connections between Islam and Western values.

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, Brooklyn, New York, received $60,000 to support two programs for emerging composers based in New York City. Roulette provides opportunities for innovative composers, musicians, sound artists, and interdisciplinary collaborators to present their work in accessible, appropriate, and professional productions. The Jerome Commissioning Program awards four commissions to emerging composers, culminating in performances of the new works. A new residency program supports composers and sound artists as they develop works while in residence in Roulettes theater and then present completed works to the public for a three-night run as part of Roulettes Innovative and Adventurous Music Series.

PATRICKS CABARET, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for choreographer CHRIS SCHLICHTING, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $8,000 to support the creation and production of a new work, Matching Drapes. Matching Drapes aims to spark dialogue between elements of attraction and repulsion. The movement generated carries layers of information and complex questions and messages that may not delineate a clear narrative logic but do evoke strong ideas. Gender, identity, and vulnerability of the human experience are some of the topics in the dialogue. Funding will allow Schlichting to work with a dynamic group of performers in a rigorous generative process to develop this new work.

The James Sewell Ballet, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $31,000 in support of the Ballet Works Project. The Ballets mission is to create and perform works that connect artists with audiences and to advance contemporary ballet. The Ballet Works Project supports the companys desire to inspire and assist in the creation of innovative choreographic works from emerging and established choreographers by providing resources for exploration and discovery. In each of the years covered by this grant, the James Sewell Ballet will commission and present at least three new works by emerging choreographers based in Minnesota and/or New York City.

"KAREN SHERMAN, choreographer, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Deer Isle, Maine, to participate in a mixed media craft workshop to research ideas and acquire skills in support of her current dance project, One with Others. Sherman is experimenting with wearable wood and hardware appendages as body enhancers or inhibitors in a work that draws upon ideas of biography, self-determination, communication, and desire. She will attend the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts to study with mixed media artist Mark Hartung, whose workshop will focus on imaginative representation of experience through the repurposing of simple objects, and with writer Elisabeth Tova Bailey."

DEB SHOVAL received a grant in support of a feature-length narrative called AWOL. Joey, 19, is a recent high school graduate who is working her way slowly toward nothing in rural Northeast Pennsylvania. Physically strong and honest, she lives up to the low expectations of others until she meets Rayna, 28, a sexy, married mother of two who is vivacious, bold, and lonely. Despite the realities of her Appalachian poverty, Rayna exudes a joie de vivre that is addictive. Rayna seduces Joey, and Joey is smitten. But when Joeys Catholic mother announces that its time for Joey to move out, and Rayna makes it clear that their trysts will never become anything more, Joey must make some choices about her future in a post-industrial area with little to offer. With Raynas encouragement and without any other viable options for housing or employment, Joey joins the Army. As summer becomes fall and fall becomes winter, Joey and Rayna exchange letters and fuel their passion once again. Preoccupied by her infatuation with Rayna, Joey concocts big plans to run away to Canada from her home, her family, and the Army with Rayna and Raynas kids. Moments before crossing the Canadian border, Joey finds Rayna with her husband, and realizes shes traveled hundreds of miles northward under a lie. As the reality of Raynas deception becomes clear, Joey decides to continue the journey alone, crossing the border into her new future and new self.

SMACK MELLON, New York City, received $10,000 in support of the Artist Studio Program.  The mission of Smack Mellon 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 workspace, 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 workspace, and a $5,000 fellowship for 11 months.  From a competitive pool of applications, the six artists chosen are given the opportunity to create new work, develop existing work, establish relationships with arts professionals, and connect with peers in the arts community.  Studio artists work in a wide range of disciplines including photography, video, film, performance, painting, collage, public art, sculpture, printmaking, and mixed media installation.

THE SOAP FACTORY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $22,000 in support of the participation of emerging Minnesota artists in the 2012 Exhibition and Residency Programs. The Soap Factory is a laboratory for artistic experimentation and innovation, dedicated to supporting artists and engaging audiences through the production and presentation of contemporary art in a unique and historic environment. The Soap Factory provides a supportive environment for emerging artists, and remains unabashedly artist-centered. It offers artists a vibrant, active place for creative experiment and innovation.

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK, Long Island City, New York, received a two-year grant of $46,000 in support of the Emerging Artist Fellowship Program. Socrates is an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. The Parks existence is based on they believe that reclamation, revitalization, and creative expression are essential to the survival, humanity, and improvement of the urban environment. The Emerging Artist Fellowship Program gives emerging artists a chance to work outside the confines of a traditional studio environment in a community that is supportive and encouraging. Artists experiment and take risks with their work, realize innovative and ambitious projects, and exhibit in an open, professional forum. For many artists, Socrates offers a first opportunity to create work on a large scale in a public, outdoor space.

SOHO REPERTORY THEATRE, New York City, received a two-year grant of $30,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of new works by emerging playwrights or performance ensembles based in New York City.  Soho Rep, a hub for innovative contemporary theater, is dedicated to artistic excellence by supporting distinctive, diverse, and pioneering theater.  Jerome dollars support new play development programming, which includes a Writer/Director Lab that fosters ongoing relationships between early career writers and directors in the creation of new plays.  The Studio is a commissioning and development program that is project specific, and strengthens theatrical works in development, constituting the engine behind the mainstage.  Soho Rep produces annual seasons that include works by emerging playwrights.

STEFANIE SPARKS was awarded a grant for Cathy Coppola, a neo-realistic, comedic, character-driven narrative feature. The film will present a satirical look at class, ambition and the female experience as seen from the fringes of the contemporary American independent film world. Cathy Coppola will focus on primary character Cathy Klinkmans struggle to get her feature film made while suffering from a loss of confidence. After winning a film competition at North Seattle Community College, Cathy quickly makes her way to Los Angeles. She lands a job on a successful LA television show. She gets caught up in the fast-paced lifestyle of LA and gets fired from her job after just a few months, so she heads to New York and Film School. Five years later she receives her Masters degree from Columbia and is again on her way to the top. She eventually lands an interview with a renowned film producer. The interview goes well, but Cathy is surprised to discover that her job will be taking the producers dogs on the weekends, not assisting on a film as she had hoped. And so begins a long series of mishaps, until Cathy resorts to anything to get ahead, including posing as the illegitimate daughter of Francis Ford Coppola. Suddenly her world is occupied by industry people who cant get enough of her. But where will all this lead? Will Cathy make it in the world of independent film, or will her deception be her final undoing?