A note from Eleanor Savage: June 2026Celebrating LGBTQ PRIDE and Juneteenth |
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| | In early June, Minneapolis joined 21 other cities in installing Beyond Walls by French-Swiss artist Saype. This global project’s image of arms linked is intended to remind us that what we share as human beings is greater than what divides us, a message that strongly resonates with the bold work of artists and culture bearers in Minnesota and across the five boroughs of New York City. Against all odds, they are showing up and creating space and experiences for us to come together and kindle something older and more resilient than despair. An emergence into the possibility of life lived in relationship across differences, trust, and the “blessings of liberty” (as called for in the preamble to the United States Constitution). As we navigate the defunding of cultural institutions and the steady barrage of dehumanizing rhetoric and political, economic, and climate upheaval, many people acknowledge that change is necessary but have stopped believing that change is possible. The BLIS Collective, a Black and Indigenous solidarity and action hub, names what many of us feel as the hope gap: the measurable distance between what people support and what they believe can actually happen. What bridges that gap is not argument but relationship and experience: the felt reality of community and shared life that artists and culture bearers tend with care and make possible every day. In community centers and theaters, on street corners and riverbanks, in living rooms, libraries, and virtual spaces, artists and culture bearers are putting their hands and hearts into naming what is happening to us, and imagining, together, what might yet be possible.
I find my own hope gap shrinking in learning about and experiencing this work: A.P. Looze and Heather MacKenzie’s 25x42-foot trans flag with the words HERE FOREVER, a powerful counter to federal exclusion; and Sofia Padilla and Orren Fen’s co-direction of the Mayday Tree of Life Ceremony acknowledging the trauma and grief resulting from the immigration enforcement surge over the winter. The upcoming Brooklyn-based BLIS Collective’s Reclamation Day event on Juneteenth, featuring over 40 artists and organizations, extends the invitation for a reunion, a “new national ritual where we tell the truth about our history, repair our relationships, and reimagine our future together.” |
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| | A.P. Looze and Heather MacKenzie’s HERE FOREVER; Mayday Tree of Life Ceremony; BLIS Collective’s Reclamation Day. |
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| What is vital about these cultural offerings is that they do not ask us merely to resist what is wrong; they invite us to remember and acknowledge the complex experiences and values of communities that have survived. This is the work of awakening and activating what is to come: a reclamation and celebration of the world as it can be, grounded in reciprocity, reverence, and the radical insistence that people matter more than profit. Jerome Foundation is honored to stand alongside the artists and culture bearers who make the world visible and who, in doing so, make it believable. In what follows, we are excited to share more about opportunities and offerings from Jerome grantees. —Eleanor Savage |
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| | | This program offers emerging interdisciplinary artists with 3+ years of professional experience specializing in dance and movement-based practices, performance art, storytelling, and video art support in knowledge sharing and public presentation opportunities based on each artist’s needs Application deadline June 22, 2026. |
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| | This opportunity supports emerging and midcareer artists in creating outdoor sculpture during a summer residency at Franconia’s 50-acre park in the St. Croix River Valley, built around this year’s curatorial theme of Freedom and Revolution. Application deadline June 28, 2026. |
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| | Go Back and Fetch It is a ten-month mentoring program for a cohort of twelve early career Black writers. Deepen your skills, build connections with experienced writers, and connect with other writers to create a community of support and encouragement. Application deadline June 30, 2026. |
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| | This playwriting fellowship offers two early career playwrights an artistic home at La MaMa September 2026 to June 2027, aligning with La MaMa's ’26-’27 theatrical season. Playwrights will present an open reading through the La MaMa Experiments Play Reading Series. Applications open on June 15 and close on July 1, 2026, or when 150 applicants have submitted—whichever comes first. |
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| | This year-long residency is awarded to three artists each year. The residency begins in September and concludes in August with an exhibition. Application deadline July 3, 2026. |
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| | NEW INC, the New Museum’s art and innovation incubator, is seeking Dedicated Mentors and Office Hours Mentors to guide its community of artists, creative technologists, and entrepreneurs. Mentors help shape new work in art, technology, and design by supporting members’ projects and helping emerging artists find their voice. Interest form is open through July 8, 2026. |
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| | The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) FY2027 application period for Support for Organizations, Support for Sponsored Organizations, Support for Artists, Support for Targeted Opportunities, and Support for Regrants and Services is now open. Application deadline July 8, 2026. |
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| | This 10-month program is designed to provide hands-on experience in the administrative requirements of producing a theatrical season in New York City. The resident is given the opportunity to take the lead in producing a project within that season to widen their professional training, skill sets, and confidence. Application deadline July 10, 2026. |
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| | This 1–2 year fellowship is designed to support emerging Minnesota choreographers practicing in non-Western aesthetics. 2 Junior Fellows will spend 1 year in residency, followed by a year of independent choreographic research and development that will result in a choreographed work for the stage. 2 Senior Fellows will join the cohort in its 2nd year. Both cohorts will be guided by a group of nationally renowned mentors as they develop their work. Application deadline July 12, 2026. |
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| | The Cedar Commissions is a cohort-based program that supports six early-career/emerging Minnesota-based composers and musicians in creating and debuting 30 minutes of new original music. Application deadline July 17, 2026. |
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| | Each year AXS Film Fund awards up to five creators to assist them in completing their projects in any stage of production. While this program is intended for creators in documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media who identify as living with a disability, particularly those from underserved communities, AXS welcomes applications from all creators regardless of background. Application deadline July 31, 2026. |
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| | The Literary Arts Fund will award a total of $1 million in grants in 2026 to literary arts nonprofits for new, one-time, and forward-thinking projects that aim to address critical structural challenges that, if improved or solved, would ultimately strengthen literary arts nonprofits’ abilities to serve creative writers. Application deadline August 17, 2026. |
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| | In this eighth round of the Fellowships program for artists in New York City, two visual artists will receive funding, professional development, and mentorship from QM staff members working on an artist’s project. Application deadline September 28, 2026. |
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| | Artists considered for these fellowships may work in a variety of visual art media, including traditional and new media. The program is aimed at visual artists who can present their work in a gallery context. During the fellowship year, each artist receives three studio visits from professional critics, access to technical assistance, a culminating exhibition at the MCAD Gallery, a catalog with a critical essay on each artist's work, and the opportunity to partake in a public panel discussion. Application cycle opens mid-July 2026. |
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| | This program offers artists a supportive environment to think, work, and develop their creative practices. The program aims to amplify artists’ voices and foster equitable experiences for Somali-American artists within the broader art community and is open to Minnesota-based artists. Application opens in Summer 2026. |
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| | Cancellation funds are available to experimental artists with previously confirmed public presentations, including exhibitions, readings, and performances. Recognizing that artists and venues need to rethink budgets, redirect resources, and limit or eliminate programming, cancellation funds aim to mitigate the loss of financial commitments and outlays made prior to the cancellation. Grants are accepted on a rolling basis and distributed monthly in amounts up to $3,000. |
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| | Providing short-term, rapid relief to artists facing unexpected expenses or loss of income due to personal/professional emergencies or natural disasters. The ERF application is designed to be straightforward, so that artists can access funds when they need them most. Minnesota’s Regional Arts Councils administer these funds and have varying guidelines and deadlines. |
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| | New: Online journals, publications, and podcasts from the Jerome Foundation Grantee Ecosystem |
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| | We are thrilled to add a new section to GOOD NEWS! highlighting the online publications and podcasts brought to you by Jerome grantees who are telling the stories and documenting the artistic and cultural work of our time with integrity, creativity, and care.
Image by Lizania Cruz (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Visual Arts) for Hammer & Hope’s Fall 2025 issue. |
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| Journals, Magazines, and MoreHammer & Hope
A magazine of Black politics and culture rooted in solidarity, struggle, and debate, on the premise that hope is a discipline. Its Spring 2026 issue featured ICE raids and community resistance in Minnesota and Ohio, dream hampton and Jason Moran on D’Angelo, and the golden age of Black film. Critical Correspondence (from Movement Research)
Text-based engagements with the practice and contexts of dance, movement, and performance, edited by a rotating team of artists. Recent issues featured Jasmine Hearn (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Dance) with Wanjiru Kamuyu, and “A Conversation on Palestine, Lebanon and the ground between us,” edited by Leila Awadallah (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Dance, and 2021 Jerome@Camargo). Danspace Project’s Journal
Writing on dance, performance, and experimentation, each issue tied to Danspace’s programming, themes, or archives. I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (from American Composers Forum)
Music criticism and artist-forward storytelling advocating for communities historically marginalized by Western classical music. The Margins (from Asian American Writers’ Workshop)
An award-winning digital magazine of literature, arts, and ideas, publishing poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, translation, and hybrid-genre work toward a nuanced, transnational Asian America. Studio Magazine (from the Studio Museum in Harlem)
Essays and conversations on contemporary artists of African descent. PUSH/PULL (from Culture Push)
An online journal of socially engaged practice, each issue shaped by a Culture Push Fellow and drawn from the communities at the heart of their work. FORWARD (from Forecast Public Art)
A publication and conversation series on how artists partner with cities, institutions, and communities to tackle pressing issues, from public health to climate. Spin Cycle (from The Laundromat Project)
A community collaboration inviting people to write their own histories through editorials, essays, and interviews. Franklin Furnace Archives
Archives maintained since 1976, documenting Franklin Furnace’s role in developing new art forms including artists’ books, performance art, and installation art. Write Your Future, Volumes I & II (from Pepatian and BAAD!)
Two print publications spotlighting The Bronx as a creative incubator, with writers accompanying emerging dance artists through Pepatian’s Dancing Futures Residency. The Poetry Project Newsletter
A quarterly of reviews, essays, interviews, poems, and arts criticism published continuously since 1972, where poets think together about poetry and everything else.
NewslettersDanceMN
A website and weekly e-newsletter for the Minnesota dance community, with user-submitted performances, classes, opportunities, and news. The Line Between
Coleen Baik’s (2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Film) visual newsletter offers a twice-monthly look behind the scenes of her animation work, paired with short essays on craft and life in NYC. The Wave ™ (For Humans)
Maya Washington (2012 MN Film Production) hosts craft conversations, resources, and projects where art, media, and culture meet, exploring what it means to be human in the age of AI. The Working Performance Artist
Ayana Evans (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Visual Arts) shares career lessons from her 14 years as a performance artist in this new newsletter, with upcoming topics including “The Art of Not Giving Up,” making art while grieving, and choosing residencies.
PodcastsArt of the Rural Podcast
Conversations on art, culture, and community across rural America and Indian Country. Fast Forward (from Musical Theatre Factory)
Artists and invited experts dig into the urgent themes shaping musical storytelling. Into a Darker Wilderness
Hosted by Michael Kleber-Diggs (2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in Literature and 2022 Jerome@Camargo) and Erin Sharkey, this new podcast explores Black nature writing. Its first season features conversations with writers about the complicated history and relationships between Black people and the natural world, drawing on A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars, edited by Sharkey. Joy of Being (from In Progress)
LGBTQIA+ first-hand narratives centering family, community, and everyday joy as resilience. |
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| | | We are grateful to the many organizations and initiatives that compile opportunities for artists in Minnesota, New York City, and beyond! We recommend you visit these sites often (and bookmark them!) to learn about opportunities both near and far, across artistic fields. Additional Resources |
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Leslie Barlow (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Visual Arts and 2026 Jerome@Camargo) was selected to create the inaugural mural for McKnight Foundation’s rotating mural series on the exterior of its Minneapolis headquarters. The mural, Belonging to the Entire Universe (pictured above), was unveiled just last week. The Guggenheim Foundation’s 101st Class of Fellows recognized 223 artists, scientists, and scholars across 55 fields. The awardees included a number of former Jerome grantees, including: Madeleine Hunt – Ehrlich (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Film and 2021 NYC Film Production) Anna Samo (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Film and 2026 Jerome@Camargo) Fern Silva (2016 NYC Film Production)
The Guggenheim Foundation’s 100th Class of Fellows included Caroline Davis (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Music), Ira Eduardovna (2018 Travel and Study, Film), and Charisse Weston (2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Visual Arts). Miatta Kawinzi (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Visual Arts) has a solo exhibition on view at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE) June 5–Sep 13, 2026, titled Miatta Kawinzi: An Alphabet of Unfolding. Yasmin Yassin (2025 MN Film Production) won a Special Jury Award for Fiction Short for WOMAN LAND at the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival. Dickie Drew Hearts (2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Film) received three Telly Awards for his online series Passengers. The film was recognized as a Gold Winner for Directing, Editing, and DEI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. M³ announced Jessica Jones (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Music) as the 2026 M³ Luminary Award recipient. This award honors members of the M³ community whose decades of fearless creativity and vision have helped transform the musical landscape. Pillsbury House + Theatre announced Junauda Petrus (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Literature and 2026 Jerome@Camargo) as a McKnight Community-Engaged Artist Fellow. The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) announced 129 recipients of the 2026 Queens Arts Fund (QAF), including Migiwa Miyajima (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Music and 2022 Jerome@Camargo) for Tomodachi! (Let’s Be Friends!) Project and Harley Spiller (Executive Director of Franklin Furnace) for Curly, Wavy & Straight: Hair Salons and Barber Shops of Woodside Heights. Raja Feather Kelly (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Dance) was named the 2027 Live Artery Festival guest curator by New York Live Arts. Janani Balasubramanian’s (2019 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Theater and 2024 Jerome@Camargo) co-authored book Art-Science Undisciplined was recently reviewed in Nature Physics by Florian Carle of the Yale Quantum Institute, with Carle stating, “This book seeks (and succeeds) in being the garden stake that helps you grow your undisciplined tree in any direction it might choose.” Balasubramanian and co-author Natalie Gosnell were also recent guests on the New Books Network podcast. Nicholas Boggs’ Baldwin: A Love Story won the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize for the best first book in any genre. Boggs used a 2012 Travel and Study grant to do research on this book and has been a resident at Camargo Foundation. |
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| | | The New Museum reopened on March 21 with a new seven-story building (see photo), giving NEW INC its first purpose-built permanent home within the museum’s space. It opened alongside New Humans, a survey exhibition exploring the definition of humanity. |
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The YES! House, a project of Department of Public Transformation, opened its creative community gathering space in Granite Falls, MN with a celebration on April 25. Carolyn Holbrook, founder and director of More Than a Single Story, was honored as the 2025 McKnight Foundation Distinguished Artist at a reception in May. After 21 years of leading Springboard for the Arts, Laura Zabel announced plans to pass the baton to a new Executive Director in July 2026. Zabel’s new role will be Executive Director of Creative Change Coalition, a national coalition of place-based organizations that center people, creativity, and equity, working together to create a stronger ecosystem for communities and artists. Eyebeam announced its new Executive Director, Julia Kaganskiy. Kaginskiy has been recognized as a leading voice in art and technology and helped launch several groundbreaking programs in the field, including The Creators Project (VICE/Intel) and NEW INC (New Museum) in addition to her curatorial practice. Eyebeam also announced its 2026 Artists in Residence: Aurora Mititelu, Avery Alex Beige, Chloe Alexandra Thompson, dre r. jácome, Kira Xonorika, and Umber Majeed. Harlem Stage named Divinity Roxx and Calvin Royal III as its new Associate Artistic Directors. Divinity is a 2x Grammy-nominated bassist, composer, and educator who serves on the Board of Trustees for the Recording Academy. Calvin will continue his landmark tenure as a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Dr. Ayoka Wiles was named the Mosaic Network and Fund’s Inaugural Executive Director. Dr. Wiles previously led the Culture and Art Division at the Open Society Foundations. The Mosaic Network and Fund, a first-of-its-kind collaborative that aims to provide more equitable funding for African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA+) arts groups in New York City. Organized for the first time by MoMA PS1’s full curatorial team, Greater New York 2026 (on view through August 17) emphasizes the forces that shape daily life in the city today, as well as strategies of resistance and adaptation in the face of increased surveillance, economic precarity, and shifting technologies. Abrons Arts Center announced its 2026-28 Performance AIRspace residents: Erica Enriquez and ms. z tye. The Literary Arts Fund announced $7.7 million in inaugural unrestricted general operating grants to 40 literary arts organizations and publishers spanning 19 states. Grantees included Cave Canem, The Loft Literary Center, and Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. Learn more about the Minnesota-based grantees in this Minnesota Public radio story. Theater Mu announced Mu Tang Clan Vol 3. Playwrights Pauline Moll, Keng Xiong, Dexieng Yang, and Elena Yazzie will work with Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay (2021 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Theater and 2024 Jerome@Camargo) and New Native Theatre artistic director Rhiana Yazzie (2021 MN Film Production) to each develop a new, full-length script. Theater Mu also announced its 2026–27 season, which includes Vongsay’s Kung Fu Zombies vs. Southeast Asian Girl Scouts.
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| | | Ananya Dance Theatre’s NextGen ChoreoLab performance is at Tekbox Theater in Minneapolis on June 21 at 7:30 pm. Cave Canem is celebrating its 30th anniversary with Black In Time: 30 Years of Cave Canem from June 18, 2026 to June 30, 2027 at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh, and "the total black, being spoken": 30 Years of Cave Canem from February 12 to June 20, 2027 at the Schomburg Center for Research in African American Culture in Harlem. Public Functionary and Grainline celebrate Sudanese bag artisan and sculptor Mohamed Abdalla, whose work developed through PF’s Incubator Residency and Grainline’s Emerging Artist Platform with an exhibition at 1621 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis from June 27–28 from 12–5 pm. |
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| | | | Jerome Director Janet Wong was presented with Pioneers Go East Collective’s inaugural Luminary Award as part of the La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival. Charmaine Warren presented the award to Janet on May 10.
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| | Jerome President and CEO Eleanor Savage was honored at Movement Research’s Gala on May 19. The event was emceed by Ogemdi Ude (2025 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, Dance) and Paul Hamilton. Watch the video tribute. |
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| | Jerome Program Officer Melissa Levin was interviewed for the Black Market Reads podcast by host Lissa Jones alongside curator Esther Callahan and collaborator Alex Fialho to explore Are You Down?, Michael Richards’ monumental sculpture created during his 2000 residency at Franconia. The podcast was recorded live at an event at Franconia Sculpture Park on April 18. |
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