Past
Grantees

The MANHATTAN NEW MUSIC PROJECT received $7,500 to support the development of Still Sounds Run Deep. The Project presents programs in jazz and contemporary music in concert and club settings, which, over the past nine years, have featured premieres by 25 composers. The funded project is a series of site-specific musical/sonic events in public park spaces. There will be ten events spaced weekly between May 19 and July 2 at sites in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan, all featuring the music of Paul Nash. The significant scale of this public art project attracted Jerome Foundation attention to this opportunity for Nash.

The MARGOLIS BROWN THEATER COMPANY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, has received Jerome funding for the development and production of new work since 1994. A terminal two-year grant of $35,000 was authorized for the same purpose in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Margolis Brown is a multimedia movement theater company that creates large-scale productions and performance events. New works include American Safari, a solo evening-length production; Sleepwalkers, an ensemble evening-length production; and other works yet to be determined. An additional sum of $7,500 was authorized to launch the Artist-in-Residence Program, a natural outgrowth of the companys mission to support the work of emerging artists. The artist in residence will receive comprehensive support for one season, allowing for research, development and production of a new work.

The MARGOLIS BROWN THEATER COMPANY, Minneapolis, Minnesota, has received Jerome funding for the development and production of new work since 1994. A terminal two-year grant of $35,000 was authorized for the same purpose in fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Margolis Brown is a multimedia movement theater company that creates large-scale productions and performance events. New works include American Safari, a solo evening-length production; Sleepwalkers, an ensemble evening-length production; and other works yet to be determined. An additional sum of $7,500 was authorized to launch the Artist-in-Residence Program, a natural outgrowth of the companys mission to support the work of emerging artists. The artist in residence will receive comprehensive support for one season, allowing for research, development and production of a new work.

Funding was awarded to WILLIAM MATHIS the musical director for the Bells of the Lakes Handbell Ringers. Mathis will travel in England and Wales attending the ninth international symposium on handbell ringing and conducting research on this musical form.

KENNETH D. MCCULLOUGH, of Winona, is a teacher and writer and translator who received funding to spend one month in Cambodia. McCullough will gather background information for Crossing Three Wildernesses, the autobiography of U Sam Oeur, Cambodian poet, living in exile in the United States. Since 1992, McCullough has been working with Oeur in translating his work.

MILKWEED EDITIONS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, publishes with the intention of making a humane impact on society, in the belief that literature is a transformative art uniquely able to convey the essential experiences of the human heart and spirit. Jerome Foundation support of $55,000 over two years will enable Milkweed to initiate Sprawl. While hundreds of scientific, sociological and urban design studies, and thousands of popular media reports, have been written and broadcast about the phenomenon of urban sprawl, artists and writers have not had the same public opportunities to make their experiences and points of view known. Believing that literature plays a key role in awakening and motivating readers to action on various environmental fronts, Milkweed, through Sprawl, will challenge emerging writers to bring their creative energy and intellectual acumen to bear on this crucial topic.

The MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN has received support from the Jerome Foundation since 1981 to support a fellowship program for emerging artists. The College is an independent, accredited institution offering a four-year curriculum and a one-year post-baccalaureate certificate program. The Jerome Fellowship Program provides to emerging visual artists in the Twin Cities area sufficient funds to explore and produce a focused body of work. Each year, the program serves five emerging visual artists in the early stages of their careers, who've completed their formal education but have not yet attained professional recognition commensurate with the quality of their work. The program provides financial assistance, critical assessment from three visiting critics and exhibition exposure. A two-year grant of $160,000 was authorized, setting the individual fellowship grant at $9,000.

The MINNEAPOLIS GUITAR QUARTET ASSOCIATION, St. Paul, Minnesota, is a widely traveled and well recognized guitar ensemble. A Jerome Foundation grant of $20,000 will allow the Quartet to commission three substantial new works from emerging composers during the pilot program. A public call for interested composers will be made in Minnesota and New York City. The Quartet will work as closely as possible with the three composers to ensure that the compositions are successful. The Quartet hopes to achieve its goal of augmenting its repertoire as well as advancing the professional development of the composers.

The MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program. The Jerome Foundation has supported this program since 1976. Exhibitions are selected by a panel of artists who are elected by and from their peers, at an annual meeting of the artists' community. Artists are involved with all aspects of exhibition planning, including budget allocations, bringing their voices into the Museums daily process. Any artist who lives and works in Minnesota may submit an exhibition proposal. Since inception, the MAEP has presented 134 exhibitions.

The Minnesota Alliance for Art in Education strives as a grassroots advocacy organization to ensure high quality learning in music, visual arts, dance, theater, literary arts and media arts as an essential part of the K-12 education of every Minnesota child. A miscellaneous two-year grant of $10,000 was made to the MINNESOTA ALLIANCE FOR ART IN EDUCATION, St. Paul, Minnesota, in support of fiscal 2000 and 2001 programs and services. The mission of the Alliance is to advance arts education for all Minnesota students. The Jerome Foundation's general program does not permit funding for arts education; however, in its miscellaneous category of memberships and small grants, this annual commitment is authorized.

pARTs PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of programs and services for emerging Minnesota and New York City photographers. The mission of pARTs is to promote the creation and presentation of compelling photographic work by a diverse group of artists, while stimulating dialogue on social, aesthetic and technological issues. Its goals are to support photographers, encourage the production of new work, make excellent fine art photography accessible to its community and build a growing and knowledgeable audience for the art form. pARTs has modified its focus to project-based, integrated programming that explores the full range of possibilities for each project. Jerome funding was authorized for the participation of emerging New York City and Minnesota photographers.

The Foundation approved a $1,000 grant to the MINNESOTA COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a contribution toward the Leadership Transition Fund. The Council is a regional membership association of grantmakers including family and private foundations, community and public foundations, and corporate foundations and giving programs. Its mission is to strengthen and increase participation in organized philanthropy. In February 2001, President Jacqueline Reis will retire from her position after 21 years of service. Members of the Council were asked to make contributions toward a search process that will result in the naming of a new President.

The Jerome Foundation renewed its general support of and membership in the MINNESOTA COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The MINNESOTA FILM BOARD, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a public/private partnership created to develop the Minnesota film/video industry as a force for economic and creative growth. The Board operates the Minnesota Independent Film Fund, which has provided 19 talented filmmakers from Minnesota with seed money critical to the development of independent feature film projects. The program is a catalyst for the creation of new independent feature films. In conjunction with that effort, Jerome funding of $50,000 over two years will address the need for screenplay development. Nationally known screenwriters are matched with three Independent Film Fund projects by Minnesota feature film artists for one year of mentorship. The mentoring process includes rewrites of the scripts, workshopping with actors, soliciting feedback on the scripts from experienced film industry experts, and polishing the projects before they move into production.

No Press Release Information on this Grant

MIXED BLOOD THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, acting as fiscal agent for theater artist Zaraawar Mistry, received funding of $10,000 for the production of Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Mistry is creating the stage adaptation of this novel, and will also direct and produce it at Mixed Blood in October of 2000. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is described as an exuberant and joyous homage to the power of stories, drawing upon sources as disparate as Hindu mythology, the Arabian Nights, Grimm Fairy Tales and contemporary popular culture. His adaptation stresses the sea of stories as a larger metaphor for the diversity of peoples and their stories in this country. It is a collaboration of many distinct voices, and will be performed by a multi-ethnic cast.

A grant was awarded to ZARAAWAR MISTRY, independent theater artist to spend two weeks in Los Angeles, California, to research the life and career of Indian-born Hollywood star Sabu and to apply his research and experience to the creation of an original theatrical work based on Sabus life. Mistry will meet with Sabus wife and daughter.

MOMENTA ART, Brooklyn, New York, is a nonprofit alternative space that promotes the work of emerging artists. The standard exhibition format is two, one-person shows in separate project rooms. Momenta mounts seven to nine shows each year, exhibiting 14-18 emerging and under-represented visual artists to an approximate audience of 3,000. The Jerome Foundation made a two-year grant of $24,000 to support the participation of emerging artists in the exhibition program. Co-directors Eric Heist and Laura Parnes work with Board members to select artists for exhibitions, based on an open call system that welcomes slide submissions throughout the year.

MOVEMENT RESEARCH, New York City, received a two-year commitment of $24,000 in support of the publication of four issues of Performance Journal. Movement Research was founded in 1978 to explore issues relating to postmodern dance and performance, and the challenges of expanding those categories to affect the cultural, political and economic diversity of the community. Performance Journal is published at least twice a year in a 24 to 32-page tabloid format. It includes the written voices of over 45 dance and performance artists and writers, and the visual contributions of ten to 15 artists annually. The Journal serves as a voice to express the sometimes clear, sometimes contradictory, ideas and issues behind postmodern work.

MOVIN' SPIRITS DANCE THEATER, Brooklyn, New York, received a grant of $15,000 in support of the development and production of new work in 2000. Movin' Spirits expands the boundaries of dance through sustained educational programming and major performance projects undertaken in collaboration with writers, composers, photographers and video artists. The strength of its interdisciplinary work lies in its combined use of the diverse traditions, styles and cultures of the artists engaged. The organization was established in 1989 by choreographer Marlies Yearby. Jerome support covers the development of America the Beautiful, Yearby's collaboration with poet Carl Hancock Rux, and continued work on Feathers at the Flame. Yearby is also developing a new music driven dance work titled Brown Butterfly, exploring the cultural shift sparked by Muhammad Ali, and composed by Craig Harris with visual design by artificial intelligence technician Jonas Goldstein.