Past
Grantees

GREG YOLEN, Minneapolis, MN. Yolen received support for Don Ciegna, a 35mm feature-film about former baseball great Sam Maddox and his attempts to escape the consequences of his bi-polar personality. Sam led a rollercoaster life. Good looking and athletic, he breezed through his childhood as the playground enforcer. During his youth he was the designated hitter on the school team, which led to his successful career on the baseball diamond. At the same time, however, dark visions began to creep into his consciousness. He found himself plunged from the heights of being on top to the depths of complete desperation. This film follows his tumultuous journey.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, presents alternative performance by artists working at the grassroots of the Twin Cities varied cultural, political and economic communities. It acted as fiscal agent for a proposal from choreographer Cathy Young, who has received support from the Foundation since 1997 for the development and production of new works. A two-year grant of $30,000 was authorized to support CATHY YOUNG DANCE. Young brings to her work an understanding of diverse kinds of movement including jazz, postmodern, improvisation, social dance and gymnastics. Her work is defined by its musicality, athleticism and classic choreographic structure. Jerome support will allow Young to develop three new projects over the course of the next two years. The first is Cabaret, which will focus on vernacular dance and music of the past four decades. The second will be the reworking of Night of Many Dreams, a piece that explores ideas of connection and isolation, constraint and freedom. A one-time additional grant of $10,000 was authorized for The Gospel Project, the working title of a collaborative piece involving Cathy Young; Robert "Eddie" Robinson, Director of the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir; Mary Easter, writer, poet and Director of the Dance Department at Carleton College; and choreographer, director and performance artist Djola Branner. The seeds of this project are in the collaborators desire to explore racism, mistrust and separatism. Ultimately, The Gospel Project is about salvation, redemption, hope and inclusion.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, presents alternative performance by artists working at the grassroots of the Twin Cities varied cultural, political and economic communities. It acted as fiscal agent for a proposal from choreographer Cathy Young, who has received support from the Foundation since 1997 for the development and production of new works. A two-year grant of $30,000 was authorized to support CATHY YOUNG DANCE. Young brings to her work an understanding of diverse kinds of movement including jazz, postmodern, improvisation, social dance and gymnastics. Her work is defined by its musicality, athleticism and classic choreographic structure. Jerome support will allow Young to develop three new projects over the course of the next two years. The first is Cabaret, which will focus on vernacular dance and music of the past four decades. The second will be the reworking of Night of Many Dreams, a piece that explores ideas of connection and isolation, constraint and freedom. A one-time additional grant of $10,000 was authorized for The Gospel Project, the working title of a collaborative piece involving Cathy Young; Robert "Eddie" Robinson, Director of the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir; Mary Easter, writer, poet and Director of the Dance Department at Carleton College; and choreographer, director and performance artist Djola Branner. The seeds of this project are in the collaborators desire to explore racism, mistrust and separatism. Ultimately, The Gospel Project is about salvation, redemption, hope and inclusion.

MARCUS YOUNG, a performance artist and arts administrator, received a grant to spend up to one year in Beijing, China, studying the Chinese language, reconnecting with his cultural heritage, and laying the groundwork for future creative work. He is exploring new theatrical vocabularies, and seeks further development as the chief administrator for CAAM Chinese Dance Theater.

15 HEAD-a theatre lab, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a grant of $20,000. Funding will underwrite the development and production of two new pieces, Dracula and the Opera Project. 15 HEAD is an experimental theatre lab that presents works marked by collaborative script development utilizing classic and new texts, experimentation and highly creative and stylized staging that often focuses on epic and/or political themes. In Julia Fischers version of the tale about vampires, Dracula will be a woman; the work will explore the dark, hidden side of womens desire. 15-HEAD's artistic associates will stage songs, arias and other vocal ensemble music as theater/movement pieces in the Opera Project.

EMILY ABT and YORUBA RICHEN received support for Take It From Me, a documentary that follows the struggles of six women and their families as they fight to survive in response to drastic changes to the country's welfare system.

A grant of $10,000 was authorized for ADOBE THEATRE COMPANY, New York City, in support of the development and production of the upcoming Orpheus and Eurydice. Adobe cultivates a younger audience, and provides an artistic home where emerging playwrights, actors, designers and directors can develop entertaining, thought-provoking theater. Artistic director Jeremy Dobrish is retelling Orpheus and Eurydice through the eyes of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, combining elements from Dante's Inferno and Nirvana's lyrics, to explore the essence of faith and love.

Media artist AYESHA ADU received funding to travel to the Ivory Coast, Africa, to spend time with the tribe of her mentor for artistic and personal growth while investigating her African roots. She will document her trip with a digital video camera and collect information for a future screenplay.

AYESHA ADU AND E. G. BAILEY, Minneapolis, MN, received a $10,000 grant in support of Cord, a feature-length narrative film based on Adu's relationship with her mother - a relationship in which she is manipulated into taking on the role of her father.

PEGGY AHWESH was awarded a grant for a feature-length narrative titled The Star Eaters, based on The Blue of Noon by Georges Bataille. Written in 1935, it tells the story of a man named Troppmann who seems divested of all emotion and social commitment. His relationships are banal, except with one woman for whom he develops an intense love too explosive to sustain.

A two-year grant of $37,000 was authorized to the SOUTHERN THEATER FOUNDATION, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as fiscal agent for dancer improviser CHRIS AIKEN DANCE, in general operating support and a special collaborative performance and teaching residency. Aiken will work in a September 1999 residency in Minneapolis with dancer Kirstie Simson and musicians Peter Hamilton, Peter Jones and Dean McGraw. The collaborators originally presented work together last year at Dance Theater Workshop in New York City, which received rave reviews. This grant will also support Aiken's next two season of improvisational work.

Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a $10,000 grant to ALL OUT ARTS, New York City, to develop and produce workshops of plays by emerging writers. All Out Arts unites the energies of three member programs: the National Renaissance League, OutMusic and ArtGroup for lesbian and gay artists. It is sponsoring a commissioning program for the development of full-length and one-act gay/lesbian themed plays by New York metropolitan area playwrights. From a pool of entries, eight plays will be chosen for further development. Each will be given a public reading. Subsequently, four production workshop recipients will be announced. Jerome funding will enable the organization to pay the playwrights awards of $2,000 each and support the readings program.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $30,000 in support of commissions to emerging composers within the Sonic Circuits program. The Forum links communities with composers and performers, encouraging the making, playing and enjoyment of new music. Sonic Circuits showcases electroacoustic music through programs of taped and live works selected by a peer panel. Jerome funding was authorized for the commissioning of three works by composers residing in Minnesota and/or New York City.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM, St. Paul, Minnesota, links communities with composers and performers, encouraging the making, playing and enjoyment of new music. It develops programs that educate todays and tomorrows audiences, energize composers careers, stimulate entrepreneurship and collaboration, promote musical creativity and model effective support for the arts. A multiple-year grant of $257,000 will continue the Jerome Foundations support of the Composers Commissioning Program, an initiative it began funding in 1978. Additional portions of the grant will be used for performance outreach subsidies and the provision of services to emerging composers. The Composers Commissioning Program recently completed its 18th year of grants to composers. Its purpose is to foster and support creative relationships among emerging composers, performers and audiences. CCP is unique in that it provides commissioning funds directly to composers who are empowered to take the initiative in developing their creative visions and pursuing the creation of new works for ensembles of their choice or for their own bands, at a significant venue. Jerome subsidy supports a program in Minnesota and one in New York City. The Performance Outreach Grants are a pool of funds that encourage performers to give multiple performances of newly commissioned CCP work, particularly before audiences that may be relatively unfamiliar with new music. The composer is the primary force in arranging these performances, in this way retaining artistic and practical control over the work while gaining valuable community production experience with long-term career benefits.

The ANDERSON CENTER, Red Wing, Minnesota, received a grant of $13,000 in support of emerging Minnesota and New York City artists residencies. The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies is located on 355 acres on the outskirts of Red Wing. Retreats of several weeks in duration are available to artists, scientists and humanists to advance and complete works-in-progress. Funding from the Jerome Foundation is designed to enlarge the scope of the current residency program. Artists are provided sleeping rooms, work spaces and two meals a day. In return, the residents work on their art and serve the community of Red Wing and/

A publication grant of $17,000 was awarded to APERTURE FOUNDATION, New York City, to support the publication of a book of photographs by Minnesota-based artist KERI PICKETT. Aperture publishes an acclaimed quarterly journal of photography and has produced more than 450 award-winning photography books in collaboration with museums, publishers and academic institutions. It also develops traveling exhibitions, mounts exhibitions in its own space, offers workshops and manages archives. Pickett's publication, Fairies: Visions, Voices and Pretty Dresses, A Northwoods Spiritual Gathering, spans five years of summer gatherings in which men come from across the country, young and old, to form a circle of souls seeking to find their place in a society that aspires to celebrate the individual, but frequently fears those who are different. The book will also contain interviews, and poetry by James Broughton. This publication will be a significant career and work advancement for Pickett.

ART IN GENERAL, New York City, received a two-part, two-year grant of $50,000 in support of its exhibition program and Minnesota Artist Residency Program. Art in General's mission is to support and stimulate the creation of contemporary artwork. It is responsive to diverse communities and broadens the context in which contemporary art is viewed and presented. By providing varied exhibitions and public programs, it seeks to involve artists in the presentation of their work as an integral part of their growth. Through a comprehensive nomination and selection process, a Minnesota emerging artist will receive an eight-week long residency at Art in General. This will mark the third residency by a Minnesota artist.

ARTISTS SPACE, New York City, was awarded a grant of $15,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the exhibition and individual granting program. Established in 1973, Artists Space is a nonprofit center for contemporary art and a service organization for artists. It seeks to broaden the visibility of emerging and under-recognized artists, and to increase public awareness of their art through the ten-month exhibition season. Emerging artists' works in architecture, drawing, film, video, painting, performance, photography, sculpture and multimedia are presented.

In a new initiative, a grant of $125,000 over two years was awarded to THE SAINT PAUL FOUNDATION, St. Paul, Minnesota, in support of the development of an arts capacity program, undertaken in collaboration with The Bush Foundation. The purpose is to strengthen small and mid-sized nonprofit arts organizations in the Twin Cities area. The initiative will provide access to current thinking on issues relevant to these organizations and will build upon their internal knowledge and support systems through leadership teams. It will provide opportunities for interaction, networking and support, as well as modest working capital grants. It is expected that the program will serve eight organizations over a three-year period. More information on eligibility and program design will be available within the next three months. This initiative grows out of a study commissioned by The Bush Foundation from the Stevens Group.

ASIAN AMERICAN RENAISSANCE, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a grant of $35,050 in support of the Artist Development Grants Program and services to and support for emerging professional Asian American artists. The mission of the Renaissance is to build community through the arts. Its program explores socio-cultural, historical and contemporary issues important to a Pan Asian community. Two years ago, the Renaissance piloted an Artist Career Development Program in which an independent selection panel competitively reviewed proposals for career and work development projects. Jerome Foundation is dedicating $25,050 in support of emerging artists development grants in the second round of this program. In addition, funds are designated