Past
Grantees

In 1999, the Foundation made its first grant to nicholasleichterdance, New York City. A second commitment was authorized, $25,000 over two years, in support of the development of new work. The grant was channeled through the fiscal agent services of the Foundation for Independent Artists. nicholasleichterdance is committed to the development of innovative and exciting dance performance, work that breaks down the barriers between the audience and the performer, which creates a kinetic journey in which emotion is the story. Two projects are planned for the next two seasons, Free the Angels, which is a work that examines the relationship between spirituality and the street; and Black American Psycho, a piece about a man who is both suicidal and homicidal, who would rather kill and be killed than be left alone. The piece will support and celebrate the complexity of individual personalities.

Scenic artist MARY NOVODVORSKY was awarded funding to enroll in a two-week Cobalt Studio Advanced Studies in Scenic Art program in White Lake, New York, where she will study translucent theatrical drops. She will spend an additional week investigating theaters and professional paint shops in the New York area.

KRISTEN NUTILE was awarded a grant in support of Secret Mechanisms, an experimental documentary that explores issues of control, anxiety and fear intertwined with obsessive-compulsive disorder. It examines the line between "normal" and "abnormal" behavior through a cinematic poem.

The EUGENE ONEILL THEATER CENTER, New York City, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of the participation of emerging New York City and Minnesota playwrights in the 2001 and 2002 Playwrights Conferences. The mission of the Conference is to create a supportive environment that empowers the playwright to discover his or her work, off the page, through the engagement of respectful and exceptional directors and actors. Playwrights are chosen via an open application process, highly competitive, which uses a diverse array of professional readers, and a selection committee of experienced theater people. Thirteen playwrights are selected each year for month-long residencies that include four-day rehearsal periods culminating in two public staged readings of their plays.

A two-year grant of $24,000 was made to OPEN EYE FIGURE THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in support of the creation and production of new works by co-founder Michael Sommers. Open Eye creates original work that is modern in scope and content and inspired by puppet arts traditions. Funding will be used to develop and produce The Holiday Pageant and Elijahs Wake. The Holiday Pageant will blend the sacred spirit of a Middle Ages Miracle Play with the bawdy and raucous entertainment found in music halls. Elijahs Wake is a visual meditation on the themes of memory, what one leaves behind in lifes journey, what is passed on to the next generation, and the profound ability for change.

Potter and kiln builder DONOVAN PALMQUIST was awarded a grant to spend a month at the Don Reitz Studio in Clarkdale, Arizona. Palmquist will collaborate on the design and construction of an anagama kiln. Hell also make work in a challenging and stimulating community of artists.

The ARCHIE GIVENS FOUNDATION FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, acting as fiscal agent for writer ALEXS PATE, received a grant of $10,000 in support of Pates creative development and mid-career advancement. Each year the Foundation offers a very limited number of grants to established, mid-career artists who are facing significant opportunities to advance their work on national and international levels. Pate will significantly expand the marketing strategy for his novel West of Rehoboth. Pate will also develop a libretto for a new opera based on his debut novel Losing Absalom.

Photographer, filmmaker, and writer SARAH PENMAN received a grant to spend one month in Scotland to research the interrelationships of Scots and North American Indians, which began during the fur trade and continued with cultural exchanges such as the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Shell visit photography archives and attend the opening of her exhibition Mending the Sacred HoopImages of Native America at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.

PENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a grant of $50,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the Cornerstone Project and Late Nite Series. Penumbra presents productions that depict emotional, relevant, and valuable experiences from an African-American perspective. The Cornerstone dramaturgy and development program commissions, develops, and supports new works by African-American playwrights. The Late Nite Series opens the possibilities of what theatrical performances can be. Late Nite commissions and presents works-in-progress by emerging artists and functions as a testing ground for new material.

The PICK UP PERFORMANCE COMPANY, New York City, was founded in 1978 to support the work of choreographer and director David Gordon. In 1993, the company expanded its mission to include the development and sponsorship of work by Ain Gordon. A Jerome Foundation grant of $12,000 was authorized to support the development of 93 Acres of Barley, by Ain Gordon. The title refers to a relatively small piece of land once part of a terrain without borders, peopled by the Tongva Indians, eventually colonized by the Spanish, then by the Mexicans as part of the vast Rancho La Ballona, and finally acquired by the U.S. annexation of Southern California in the 1850s. 93 Acres of Barley is a continuation of Gordons interest in using the history of a place as the inspiration for a play, tracing in this case the early history of Culver City, the interaction between Native and Hispanic cultures and the principally Caucasian founding families.

PILLSBURY UNITED COMMUNITIES, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a nonprofit social service agency, houses within its south Minneapolis center, the PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE. This professional company has a history of producing stimulating, contemporary plays that speak to issues of marginalization in society. A Jerome Foundation grant of $8,000 was authorized for a readings program, the workshop development of Police Boys by Marion McClinton and the mainstage production of Dael Orlandersmiths The Gimmick.

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS, New York City, was founded as a writers theater dedicated to the support and development of new American playwrights, as well as emerging composers and lyricists. The theater provides writers with skilled and talented collaborators, and the time and freedom to take risks during the development of their works. The New Theater Wing supports work through every stage of its evolution, with assistance specific to the needs of each writer. There is a reading series of 15 to 20 plays a year, a commissioning program, and an open door submission policy managed by a strong literary department. It is toward the developmental efforts of Playwrights Horizons that Jerome funding of $50,000 over two years was authorized, with the restriction that its funds be earmarked for emerging playwrights.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, fuels the theater by providing services that support playwrights and playwriting. It is committed to the following core values: nurturing artistic excellence and new visions of theater, fostering playwright initiative and leadership, practicing cultural pluralism, discovering emerging artists, advocating for playwrights and their work, connecting playwrights with audiences and developing a community for new plays. For over 30 years, the Center has provided a range of services for writers at all stages of their careers including public readings, private workshops, classes, conferences, roundtables, residencies and fellowships. The Foundation provided a two-year grant of $120,000 to The Playwrights Center, to continue the Jerome Fellowship Program. Emerging playwrights from across the country may apply for year-long residencies at The Playwrights Center and receive fellowship funds to support their work. This is a highly competitive program that serves five playwrights each year with fellowship support of $9,000 in addition to subsidy for their developmental activities.

Songwriter JANET PREUS, Fergus Falls, was awarded support to attend advanced workshops at New Tuners Theatre in Chicago. The mission of New Tuners Theatre is to develop and produce new musicals. Preus will be participating in ongoing workshops there under the guidance of Artistic Director, John Sparks. She will also meet with co-writers there to continue development of three shows now in progress, which they intend to submit for performance at New Tuners Theatre.

Funding was awarded to artist JIM PROCTOR to spend two months visiting select deciduous forests in LaGrange County, Indiana; Hazel Green, Alabama; and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to gather plant materials and study their natural environments. Proctor creates small detailed sculptures consisting of rearranged plant matter such as nuts, acorns, leaf stems, and thorns.

RED EYE COLLABORATION, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $57,000 in support of Isolated Acts and the Works-In-Progress Series. Red Eye is an alternative multidisciplinary arts center dedicated to the creation and presentation of new work. Works-In-Progress supports emerging artists engaged in investigating new directions. It emphasizes the developmental process as it ultimately plays out on the stage. There are structured feedback sessions as well as extensive technical assistance offered in production. Isolated Acts is a seven-week, multidisciplinary series of new works, a forum for independent artists exploring alternative performance forms and ideas. They are provided with technical, administrative and promotional resources to mount the work for public presentation and critical exposure.

REPERTORIO ESPAOL, New York City, presents Spanish language theater; creates and maintains a professional company of actors, singers and directors to perform works in the Spanish language; serves as a catalyst for cultural exchange; and attempts to reach a broad audience, including Hispanics of all national backgrounds. In 1993, Repertorio created Voces Nuevas to find works for the theaters repertory by identifying emerging playwrights, with interesting scripts, and providing public readings of the plays in a festival format. Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a two-year grant of $40,000 for the participation of emerging playwrights in Voces Nuevas.

Jerome Foundation Directors approved a grant of $10,000 for RHIZOME.ORG, New York City, in support of alt.interface. Founded in 1996, Rhizome.org presents new media art to the public, fosters communication and critical discussion of new media art, and preserves new media art for the future. Rhizome.orgs Web site is a grassroots community center that unites emerging and established new media artists from varied cultural and aesthetic backgrounds. Grant funds will be used for fees to artists chosen to participate in alt.interface, a program of commissions to create database interfaces that are driven by aesthetic considerations.

A grant was awarded to RAMN RIVERA-MORET in support of On Calloway Street, a one-hour experimental documentary that tells the stories of a group of immigrants from radically different cultures living in an apartment building in Queens.

THE ROSE ENSEMBLE, St. Paul, Minnesota, is a vocal chamber music ensemble that presents historically informed, educational and dramatic performances of ancient music in striking acoustical settings. The group primarily focuses on music composed before 1750 but also regularly commissions new works reminiscent of early music through its Composer-in-Residence Program. A Jerome Foundation concluding grant of $15,000 was authorized for the 2001-02 residency of composer Victor Zupanc.