Past
Grantees

A grant of $15,000 was awarded to ETHEL'S FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, New York City, in support of its HomeBaked commissioning program. Ethel, a post-classical string quartet, invigorates contemporary concert music with imaginative programming and exceptional artistry. Founded in 1998, Ethel regularly commissions composers to create new works, trains young musicians through innovative methodologies, and expands audiences through outreach and new technologies. Jerome support will subsidize three commissions of $4,000 each for emerging composers based in New York City. The works will be developed, rehearsed, and presented in Ethel's concert series.

MICHAEL JOSEPH ETOLL, West St. Paul, received a grant for Pilgrimage to the Grave of Tiny Tim, a super-8 experimental narrative color film that will include live action and stop-action animation. Etoll intends to construct a world where delusional behavior is normal. The central characters will fight to express desires that they believe will help them break free from the insane tomb of torment that encases them as they walk to the Lakewood Cemetery to visit the grave of musician Tiny Tim (who was a Lebanese-American). During the journey, they meet a talking camel (a large puppet), and others who join them on the trip to the grave. Upon arriving at their destination, a type of second-rate enlightenment will occur: a false experience that allows them to settle back into their state of delusion with deep satisfaction. Most of the characters in the film will resemble Tiny Tim. Portions of the narration will be in Arabic. The film will be a moving painting with loud noises and shocking music interjected at key points to snap the viewer back into reality. This reality, in turn, is based on the vision of the deranged souls who populate the film.

EXIT ART, New York City, received a grant of $15,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in its exhibition program. Exit Art is an independent vision of contemporary culture, engaging in experimental, historical, and unique presentations of aesthetic, social, political, and environmental issues. It is a center for multiple disciplines, committed to supporting artists whose work reflects the transformations of culture. Jerome Foundation authorized Exit Art is committed to supporting the next generation of artists whose work addresses the critical issues of this time by commissioning new works, providing artists fees along with material and professional services, and offering the opportunity to exhibit in its gallery space.

EYEBEAM, New York City, received a grant of $30,000 for the Artists @ Eyebeam Residency Program in fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12. Eyebeam is a collaborative art and technology center that supports new media artists through residencies and fellowships, and develops public and education programs relevant to their practice. The studio/workspace environment, in which the energies of artistic production, education, and curatorial practice fuse, provides a unique, stimulating, and vital context for creating art. Eyebeam provides artists stipends, fabrication materials, software purchases and upgrades, and equipment upkeep to facilitate the creation and public presentation of new work. Eyebeam offers technical expertise, curatorial and editorial guidance, and equipment training in addition to presentation support in its gallery. Jerome funds are designated for support of emerging artists who reside in New York City and/or Minnesota.

FilmNorth (formerly Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota), St. Paul, Minnesota, also received a two-year grant of $66,000 in support of Seasons 11 and 12 of MNTV. IFP Minnesota is the grant recipient on behalf of a consortium that includes Twin Cities Public Television and the Walker Art Center's Film/Video Department. The mission of MNTV is to provide a television broadcast venue for makers of short film and video works, and to nurture audiences for these works. The program involves three hour-long episodes that highlight new and creative short films made within the previous 18 months by Minnesota film and video artists. The curated programs are augmented by interstitial interviews with the makers. The series is broadcast on Twin Cities Public Television and repeated on TPT MN, the statewide channel. Representatives from IFP Minnesota, Twin Cities Public Television, and the Walker's Film/Video Department curate the series.

FilmNorth (formerly Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota), St. Paul, Minnesota, received $20,000 for Training and Professional Development tuition scholarships, equipment rental subsidies, and free memberships for emerging film and video artists based in Minnesota. IFP Minnesota's mission is to advance a vibrant and diverse community of independent film and video artists through networking, education, funding, and opportunities for showcasing their work. Now in its 22nd year, the organization has over 500 members. The Equipment Rental Program provides low cost access to film and video equipment. The Training and Professional Development Program features an ongoing calendar of activities for emerging filmmakers to further develop their craft as well as professional skills. Jerome support will provide four scholarships per quarter to emerging film and video artists to participate in training and professional development activities.

NATHAN FISHER, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, will travel to Reno, Nevada, and the San Francisco Bay Area for a self-designed research program to study and reflect on contemporary artistic and design explorations of suburban themes, such as New Urbanism, anarchic sprawl, and smart growth. He plans to spend time with the Altered Landscape Photography Collection housed at the Center for Art and Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art. In San Francisco, he will meet with editors at Dwell magazine, do a self-designed study in the College of Environmental Design Archives at the University of California-Berkeley and at the Greenbelt Alliance, and interview renowned photographer Bill Owens. Fisher plans to use this research to inform a new film on suburban life.

LISETTE MARIE FLANARY, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Tokyo, Japan, to follow several Japanese Hula groups as they prepare to compete in the King Kamehameha Hula Competition. Flanary is interested in making a film that explores the complicated issues surrounding cultural exchange between Hawaii and Japan. Hula is a native dance form of Hawaii, once outlawed by Christian missionaries, which came to symbolize cultural survival. The form has become a cultural commodity in Japan with over 2,000 recognized hula schools. Flanary, a hula dancer and filmmaker with family connections to Hawaii, will compare and contrast the Japanese hula events with the original Hawaiian competitions as the basis for a new film work.

FORECAST PUBLIC ART, St. Paul, Minnesota, received $65,000 over two years for the Artist Grant Program. Forecast strengthens and advances the field of public art locally, nationally, and internationally by assisting communities, supporting artists, and providing resources that inform audiences and expand participation. Forecast will provide grants to emerging Minnesota artists in two categories: research & development ($2,000) and public projects ($7,000). The research & development grants support the first and necessary step in the process of creating successful public art projects. The recipient artists develop concepts, research and negotiate sites, connect with community stakeholders, and create renderings and models. The public project grants support the creation of temporary or permanent public art works. Artists are encouraged to propose projects that are feasible, original, engage and are appropriate to the community in which they will be located, reach diverse audiences, and have the potential for excellence. Artists are also encouraged to take risks and explore new ideas and new forms of expression. This is a competitive application program in which proposals are reviewed by an independent selection panel.

The FOUNDATION CENTER, New York City, received a grant of $2,000 in general support of its program. The Center is a national nonprofit service organization recognized as the nations leading authority on organized philanthropy, connecting nonprofits and the grantmakers supporting them to tools they can use and information they can trust. The Center serves grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policy makers, the media, and the general public. It maintains a comprehensive database on US grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers free and affordable educational programs

THE FOUNDRY THEATRE, New York City, received $24,000 in support of the commissioning, development, and production of new works by emerging artists based in New York City and/or Minnesota in its 2010-11 season. Established in 1994, The Foundry Theatre aspires to assemble a community of artists with revolutionary ideas for the theatre and the world in which it is situated. The Foundry commissions, develops, premieres, and tours theatrical works that explore the (im)possibilities of theatre and believes its body of work constitutes a passionate argument for its limitless potential. Productions grow from commissions made to generative artists. The Foundry is interested in the process that comes of making works from scratchfollowing a project from its first idea to premiere. The majority of The Foundrys commissions are made to emerging artists. Jerome grant dollars support the mission and the focus of the Theatre.

FRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK, Franconia, Minnesota, received $35,000 in support of its Emerging Artist Fellowship Program, which encompasses residencies, new work creation, and exhibition. The Park presents sculpture in a charged, inviting, and nontraditional environment. Jerome Foundation support will underwrite opportunities for emerging artists based in New York City and Minnesota. Fellowships assist artists with the purchase of materials and provide honoraria for the creation of new works. The Park encourages artists to work on a large scale. Artists are selected by a review panel that examines applications submitted in response to an open call.

FRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK, Franconia, Minnesota, received $35,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the Emerging Artist Fellowship Program. The Parks mission is to foster an inspiring environment for artists to expand their skills and promote the public education of three-dimensional art. Franconia Sculpture Park offers a combination of residence, work, and exhibition space for artists. It provides an accessible year-round exhibition of contemporary sculpture. Each year, Franconia awards five to six fellowships to emerging artists based in New York City and/or Minnesota. The fellowships assist with the purchase of materials and provide an honorarium for the creation of new work on site. Sculpture, site-specific, multimedia, and installation work are considered. There is an open call for applications, which are reviewed by jurors who make the selections.

Jerome Directors authorized a two-year grant of $80,000 to FRANKLIN FURNACE, Brooklyn, New York, in support of the Franklin Furnace Fund. The mission of Franklin Furnace is to present, preserve, interpret, proselytize, and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content. Franklin Furnace serves artists by providing both physical and virtual venues for the presentation of time-based visual art, including but not limited to artists' books and periodicals, installation arts, performance art, and variable media art. For 25 years, Franklin Furnace Fund awards have been given to emerging performance artists to support the creation of major new works in New York. Events are presented in partnership with venues, or in the case of site-specific collaborations, in the city environment. Artists' applications are reviewed by an independent selection panel. Jerome support is restricted to emerging New York City-based artists.

The GIVENS FOUNDATION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $21,000 in support of the Given Black Writers Collaborative Retreat. The Program focuses on mentoring and peer support for the writing life, the honing of literary craft, and the production of new works. Post-retreat activities include mentoring workshops and meetings and a writers performance. This program engages Minnesota-based African American writers in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, playwriting, and spoken word over a period of eight months. The ten writers chosen will work with one national and one local mentoring writer.

JAMES GRAFSGAARD, Minneapolis, received support for Midas Rat and ME, an experimental narrative animated film written by the filmmakers son, James T. Grafsgaard, in the year 2000 at the age of 20, just as he was facing the choices and challenges of fitting in or fitting out of the system of institutions called the American Way of Life. Several lines of narration in the film best exemplify its theme: Most people thought we were for all out murderous anarchy. What we really wanted was just a peaceful place where there are no laws. Everyone gets along, but there are no PIGS to push you around. So explains the young woman (known only as ME) who narrates this real world tale of Midwestern alienation and love, which brings her and companion Midas Rat to the Twin Cities. She tells a touchingly authentic story of longing and loss in the context of Minnesotas anarchist punk subculture, giving this work a unique aesthetic and emotional impact.

GRANTMAKERS IN THE ARTS, Seattle, Washington, received a two-year grant of $22,000 in general support of its program and as a membership commitment from the Jerome Foundation. Grantmakers in the Arts is the national association of private and public funders making grants to artists and arts organizations in America. Its strength lies in the diversity of its members: private, family, community, and corporate foundations; national, state, and local governmental agencies; and nonprofit national, regional, and local service organizations. Grantmakers in the Arts provides information, research, and communication opportunities to arts funders, enabling them to more efficiently and effectively do their work.

GRAYWOLF PRESS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $20,000 in support of the publication of three books by emerging writers. Graywolf is dedicated to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture. It publishes creative literature of the highest caliber and brings that work to the widest possible audience. Graywolfs commitment to new and emerging writers is a vital aspect of its nonprofit mission and helps fill a significant gap in the American publishing landscape Graywolf consistently takes risks on new writers whose readership is unproven. Since 1995, Graywolf has received Jerome support to publish and promote emerging writers in 57 books and seven anthologies.

HARLEM STAGE, New York City, received a grant of $25,000 to support emerging artists commissions within the Fund for New Work. The Fund, created in 1993, provides commissioning and development support for new works. Harlem Stage is a performing arts center that celebrates and perpetuates the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. It provides opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color; makes performances easily accessible to all audiences; and introduces children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts.

HARVESTWORKS, New York City, received a grant of $17,000 to support the Creative Residencies Program. Harvestworks is a digital media arts center, supports the creation and presentation of artworks achieved through the use of new and evolving technologies. Its goals are to create an environment where artists can make work inspired and achieved by electronic media; create a responsive public context for the appreciation of new work by presenting and disseminating the finished work; and advance the use of technology and art, bringing together innovative practitioners from all branches of the arts collaborating in the use of electronic media. Emerging artists receive stipends and access to equipment and expert artist/engineers to help them accomplish their aesthetic intentions. The program assists artists from the initial creative process to bringing works to the public. Residencies take place in the Harvestworks studios, each equipped for different yet inter-related production activities.