Past
Grantees

MUSA SYEED received support for a 90-minute narrative feature called A STRAY. In Minneapolis' "Little Mogadishu", home to one of the largest Somali refugee communities in the world, a troubled young Somali man takes refuge in a mosque, hoping to leave the street life behind him. Alienated from his family and friends, he has a lonely journey ahead of him, until he makes an unlikely—and ungodly—new friend: a stray dog. Nineteen-year-old ADAN knows he deserves better.  Since his mom kicked him out, he took up with the wrong crowd and got wrapped up in the streets of “Little Mogadishu”. But now, in a sincere attempt to reform, he finds solace in the mosque. Working and living as a janitor, Adan hopes to atone and stay out of trouble. When LIBAN, a zealous brother at the mosque, offers Adan a shift driving a taxi, Adan thinks God has answered his prayers: he can finally earn a pure income and stay on the straight and narrow. But his first day on the job, Adan accidentally swipes a stray dog. With shelters closed for the day and guilt weighing him down, he has no choice but to take the mutt in for a night. Adan has nowhere else to go, so he tries to hide the dog on the mosque’s grounds. But Liban discovers the dog, traditionally considered impure in Muslim communities, and he quickly throws Adan and the dog out. The one person that actually wants to hear from Adan is FBI agent Knudsen. Adan has been feeding her basic info on the community’s troubled youth, working as a freelancer for a quick buck. Now Knudsen wants him to become a full-fledged informant. Although he knows the job will mean setting up his friends for a terror sting, he gives in to her promises of a steady paycheck and housing. With the deal struck, Adan can look forward to a warm bed the next day--but for now, he still has to get through the night with this dumb dog. Adan takes the dog to a shelter. As he waits to be called up, he ventures a hand over the dog’s back, petting her for the first time. After last night, he feels they are more alike than different. Could they continue to look for a home—together? A contemporary, vital yet untold story, A STRAY explores what it means to be at home—and what it means to be a stray—in a constantly changing world.

TESAURO, MARISA, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Southern Italy to conduct archeological research through observing and participating at an excavation site and laboratory, visiting archeological sites, and meeting with archeology scholars and researchers in the Magna Graecia area, specifically in the Basilicata, Calabria, and Puglia regions. This will further her work looking at contemporary societies and built environments through an archeological lens.

The TEXTILE CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $37,000 in support of the 2015-16 Jerome Fiber Artists Project Grants Program, which expands opportunities for emerging Minnesota fiber artists by supporting them as they undertake specific projects that advance their artistic careers. A culminating exhibition caps the nine months of work that each of the artists outlines in an individualized proposal. Four $5,000 awards will be given to emerging fiber artists selected through an open call and competitive review process. The grant commitment included a contribution to other programs serving emerging fiber artists. Textile Center’s mission is to honor textile traditions and promote excellence and innovation in fiber art. Its goals are to advance the fiber arts by bringing credibility and attention to the field, develop current and potential fiber arts practitioners and artists, maintain a vibrant textile arts community connected to the Center, and ensure the Center’s sustainability for the next generation.

THAO, FRES, Saint Paul, Minnesota, will travel to Chiang Mai, Mae Rim, Doi Pui, Mae Sa Ma, and Kad Luang, Thailand. Thao plans to visit cities and villages to conduct interviews with artists and cultural organizers to collect narratives around technique and aesthetics, as well as ideologies around creating art, the importance of art in the Hmong Thai culture, and the inclusion of art in everyday life. This experience will inform his work as Executive Director for the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent (CHAT), the first multidisciplinary Hmong arts organization, and his work as a hip hop/spoken word artist and founder of hip hop groups, Illegoaliens and Figure 8 Loops. 

NEW YORK LIVE ARTS, New York City, as fiscal sponsor for choreographer David Thomson, Brooklyn, New York, received $12,000 in support of the creation and production of a new work, he his own mythical beast. New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry that offers audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation, and active engagement with the social, political, and cultural currents of these times. Thomson’s work exists among the intersections of movement, text, and sound/song, mining the unconscious narratives and underlying structures that drive the experience of both performers and the audience/witnesses. he his own mythical beast (working title) is a multimedia performance work composed of three separate sections that come together in an integrated meditation on race, gender, and sexual identity in American society through the lens of voyeurism. The project incorporates an examination of the artifice and performance of “identity” and the contradictions embedded in these ideas and actions.

The Karen L. Charles Threads Dance Project, Golden Valley, Minnesota, received $10,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of a new work, Warriors of Light. Threads Dance Project is a contemporary dance company that seeks to examine, expose, and celebrate the threads that bind humans together. Warriors of Light is an evening-length work that strives to reinterpret the literary work Warrior of the Light: A Manual by Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paulo Coelho. The metaphor of training a warrior conveys the idea of appreciating the miracles of life as a guiding force for light and good in the world. The intersection of the book's two main characters, the young man and the veiled woman, will drive the dance.

Tofte Lake Center, Ely, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $62,000 to support six weeklong residencies for emerging artists based in Minnesota and New York City in the summers of 2015 and 2016. Tofte Lake Center is a retreat for artists, scholars, and leaders wishing to expand and deepen their creative potential through collaborations with artists and thinkers in other fields. All work and play takes place within a supportive community offering daily opportunities for interaction, stimulation, and reflection. The facilities feature both individual and community workspaces. All activities stem from the inherent belief that individual creativity is the essential tool in our evolution as a culture. The Emerging Artists Program supported by Jerome Foundation enables both individual creative artists and collaborative teams of artists working in any discipline to take time to focus on current work. The residencies are designed to provide space and means of support for artists wishing to further their creative endeavors in the visual, literary, or performing arts.

ELIANA UJUETA received support for The Airport Run, a 38-minute narrative short.  Two young inmates – African American Elijah and Caucasian Jake -- became friends in prison. Jake is released early and has set up a job for Elijah, which involves driving for a car service. Elijah has learned his lesson and never wants to be incarcerated again. He plans to work temporarily as a driver so he can help his ailing grandmother and slowly finish college. Jake’s true intention, however, is to get Elijah involved in a criminal heist. Will Elijah become involved in a sinister burglary scheme, or will his instincts be his salvation?

WINGARD, MICHELLE WESTMARK, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Amsterdam and Ronse, Belgium, to interview the son of the farmer who saved her grandfather's life, to photograph the remains of her grandfather’s plane wreckage from World War II, and to visit the monument erected in honor of her grandfather and his crew. She will also meet with local and regional historians. She is interested in the ways stories are told from different perspectives. She hopes that this will be a starting point for a new work that will be a hybrid of previous projects with more personal content.

WIRTH-DAVIS, SPENCER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Kielder Forest, England, home to the Kielder Observatory, and some of the darkest night skies on Earth. Wirth-Davis is exploring the relationship between natural, dark night skies and the potential effects of extremely rural, natural settings on his genres of music born of urban environments and technology as inspiration for new work.

SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS, St. Paul, Minnesota, as fiscal sponsor for WORKHAUS PLAYWRIGHTS COLLECTIVE, received $15,000 in support of the creation, development and production of new works by emerging playwrights Trista Baldwin and Alan Berks in its 2015-16 season.  They Want by Alan Berks, a modernization of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, is set in modern times in the home of the Secretary of Defense, amidst a war in Asia many miles away. al-Khatun: Queen of Iraq by Trista Baldwin centers on the extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell, a Victorian-era explorer, archaeologist, writer, and politician, fluent in Arabic and Farsi, and the impact she had on Iraq and the entire Middle East. Workhaus is a collective of Twin Cities playwrights who create a direct relationship with audiences by fully producing original plays under the artistic leadership of the playwright. Since its founding in 2006, it has produced 22 world premieres. Springboard for the Arts is an economic and community development organization for artists and by artists. Its work is about building stronger communities, neighborhoods, and economies.

WONG, KIT YI, New York, New York, will participate in the Arctic Circle Expeditionary Residency Program that sails the archipelago of Svalbard. Wong will explore and create new work in collaboration with scientists and artists aboard. She wants to use the disorientation induced by the stark Arctic environs and interpret that physical experience and the unique aura of the immense white spaces through video, field recordings, photography, live performance, and writing. She expects that being immersed in an extreme environment will push the boundaries of her current artistic practice and provide her with a novel perspective on innovation.

CHRISTOPHER MAKOTO YOGI received support for a 120-minute narrative called I Was a Simple Man. Part ghost story, part historical memory, I Was Simple Man looks at the life of one man and fractures it into four stories. The film employs a non-traditional film structure to create a unique cinematic experience of a locale many think they know, but actually know very little about: Hawai‘i. Through its four sections, the film covers a wide swath of Hawaiian history: from the verdant sugarcane fields of Pre-WWII O‘ahu to the modern gastropubs of Honolulu, to the coastline countryside, dying and haunted by the supernatural. Masao Matsuyoshi, the central character of the film, has an 85-year-old face that is dark and weathered like damp leather. The creases on his face are deep—valleys detailing decades in the hot Hawai‘i sun. Masao has lived a long life in Hawai‘i Nei, and he is now facing the end of it. He is ready to die. As the regrets of his life weigh down upon him, he must face both the family he’s failed and the ghosts of his past. One by one, Masao’s family members make a pilgrimage to the countryside to care for him in his old plantation home. Through their eyes, we get a full portrait of Masao himself.

ZEITGEIST, St. Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $33,000 in support of the participation of emerging composers from Minnesota and New York City in the Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop, an annual five-day workshop devoted to exploring the artistic work of three emerging composers. Zeitgeist’s mission is to bring newly created music to life with performances that engage and stimulate. A quartet of musicians animated by a spirit of adventure and collaboration, Zeitgeist presents works of substance with passion and integrity, and strives to forge new links between musicians and music lovers through concerts, commissions, collaborations, recordings, and dialogue with audiences. The Zeitgeist/Composer Workshop is designed to give emerging composers the opportunity to develop creative ideas and stretch their artistic boundaries in an environment that celebrates exploration and experimentation.  The focus is not on the completion of a composition but rather on the generation and development of ideas and the exploration of musical possibilities. Each composer brings sketches of materials to develop, using Zeitgeist as a laboratory. The workshop culminates in an informal performance.

ZENON DANCE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $36,705 in support of the development of a new movement work and educational residency at the Camargo Foundation, Cassis, France, as part of the Jerome@Camargo Program. Zenon Dance will develop a new work by choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland in collaboration with a French composer, engage with dance centers in the region, and conduct a one-week residency in the Cassis primary school. Zenon's mission is to sustain an artistically excellent, professional dance company in the Twin Cities by presenting the works of locally, nationally, and internationally recognized modern and Jazz choreographers to the broadest and most diverse audiences and communities possible, including those with disabilities. Zenon accomplishes this through performance, education, and outreach.

SAMEH ZOABI received support for CATCH THE MOON, a feature-length dramatic comedy that tells the story of Halim (25), a young entrepreneur in Gaza who is eager to marry the woman of his dreams, Jasmine (23). Jasmine is by no means an ordinary woman, she is educated and ready to begin a career as a teacher. She is a force in her own right who loves Halim deeply. But the choice to marry Halim is not entirely hers. Her parents have already lost two sons to the conflict with Israel, and are very protective of their only remaining child. They want the best for her, a strong and self-reliant husband, who can also make a good offer. When the time comes to set Jasmine’s dowry, Halim’s father, Issam (55) impulsively promises a new car for his son’s new bride – a Mercedes no less, to be delivered in a couple of weeks. Left to raise his son alone after the death of his wife, Issam’s relationship with Halim lies at the center of the story, and father and son find this relationship tested by the lunacy of trying to find anything, let alone a car, in Gaza during the current Israeli blockade. Halim’s task is a near impossibility. Gaza is sealed from all borders and basic supplies must be smuggled in to meet daily needs. In the end, Halim navigates the many moral and political hazards of life in Gaza and his labor of love leads him into its surreal underbelly—the smugglers’ tunnels connecting Egypt and the Strip. In the terrifying underworld of the tunnels, Halim realizes he is proving himself to his father, his fiancé’s family, and most importantly, to himself.

ADKINS, ROMELLE, Minnesota, will travel to Boston, Massachusetts and Charleston, South Carolina to research personal histories, photographic archives, newspaper articles, and historic sites to inform and complete a draft of her novel. This research will inform the psyche of the characters in her novel about social/racial strife, the hiding of one’s identity, the search for one’s self worth and soul, the loss of family, betrayal and comradeship, the repercussions of slavery and the fight for freedom, and the fabric upon which their story is structured.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM, Saint Paul, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $200,000 in support of the Jerome Fund for New Music and the Minnesota Emerging Composer's Award Program. The Forum enriches lives by nurturing the creative spirit of composers and communities. It provides new opportunities for composers and their music to flourish and engages communities in the creation, performance, and enjoyment of new music. The Jerome Fund for New Music (JFund) supports the creation, presentation, and subsequent life of a new work. Approximately ten grants are made each year by an independent selection panel reviewing submissions in response to an open call. Funding is restricted to emerging artists based in New York City and Minnesota. The Minnesota Emerging Composer Award (MECA) is an annual award given to emerging Minnesota composers of Jazz/Improvisation, Electronic, and World Music. Recipients are nominated by a panel of leaders in the Minnesota new music community.

The AMERICAN COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA, New York City, received $18,000 in support of the commissioning of new works from two emerging composers for the 2014-15 Orchestra Underground Concert. The Orchestra is dedicated to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers. Founded in 1977, ACO pursues its mission through a range of activities including concerts, commissions, recordings, educational programs, and new music reading sessions. Jerome dollars will allow the Orchestra to commission new works from two emerging composers for its Orchestra Underground series, which challenges conventional notions about symphonic music and embraces multidisciplinary and collaborative work, novel instrumental and spatial orientations of musicians, new technologies, and multimedia.

PRISCILLA ANANY, for Children of the Mountain, a feature-length narrative set in Ghana. Essuman (33), a yam seller and a single parent, gives birth to a child with cleft palate and her first instinct is to run away as she’s accused of causing her child’s “imperfection.” She makes the attempt, but her conscience brings her back and she accepts her fate. Three years later, her son is diagnosed with cerebral palsy which makes him unable to talk, sit or walk like his peers. Determined to find cure for her son, Essuman goes from hospital to hospital until she accepts that the condition is incurable. She gives up on Western medicine and seeks the help of a herbalist, a protestant pastor and a spiritualist. They all either dupe her, take advantage of her or mislead her. The stress of taking care of a disabled child and the criticisms she encounters drives Essuman to drastic measures.