Past
Grantees

MITCHELL ARENS received $17,500 for Muzhik, a feature-length Super 16-mm documentary about Sergei Anatolievich Leonov, a recovering alcoholic living in rural Siberia, who fights to maintain the wellbeing of his family in the face of nearly immeasurable odds.  Sergei lives in Ust-Barguzin, a small town on the eastern coast of Lake Baikal in the Russian province of Buryatia. He lives with his wife, mother, sister, nephew, and brother-in-law, all of whom, with the exception of his mother and nephew, are self-abusive alcoholics. They share a single room home and are supported solely by Sergei and his work as a logger.  In Russia it’s important to note whether or not an individual has depth in his/her soul. This is true of Sergei. He is patient and firm, suppressed but energized, gentle but calloused, and foulmouthed but honest. He exists at the center of his family serving as its life support. In doing so, he displays a capacity for sacrifice that demands faithful documentation.  The goal of the filmmaker is to see Sergei’s will, his strengths and weaknesses, his hardships, and his love and affection for his family exposed plainly and honestly.

 Art International Radio/The Clocktower, New York City, received $25,000 to support the Emerging Artists’ Residency Program. The Clocktower Gallery and ARTonAIR.org function as a laboratory for experimentation, working closely and collaboratively with artists, musicians, curators, writers, and producers to develop, realize, and present innovative and challenging work in media ranging from installation to performance, experimental music to radio theatre. Jerome’s grant will support residencies for eight emerging artists who will create experimental, interdisciplinary, intergenerational projects in the visual and audio arts, music, performance, and radio. The residency program provides studio space, staff support, honoraria, and materials. Residencies culminate in installations, exhibitions, and workshop performances.

Atkins, Christopher, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to Dublin, Ireland to learn more about the Artist Residency Programme at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.  It is similar to the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP), which Atkins directs at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, in that it is housed and mentored onsite at the Irish Museum as well as submerged in Dublin’s contemporary art community. Atkins will meet with fellow curators and colleagues as well as current and past participants to hear how the residency program made an impact on their artistic careers. The knowledge and partnerships he expects to gain from the trip will be folded into his plans for developing an exchange program for Minnesota artists, and bringing those artists into closer dialogue with new international colleagues and issues of global relevance.

AUDAIN, CARVER, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Kaffe Matthews' AuDRey Studio and Research Center, London, England, to study techniques and approaches to multichannel production and presentation. Audain is a self-taught pianist and composer, whose works are explorations in harmonics utilizing the piano, electronic organ, guitar and cymbals. Through digital signal processing and editing techniques, his recent works explore harmonic structures to create an array of slowly shifting sound fields that merge and transform within their physical surroundings. The study with Matthews, a pioneer in the field of electronic improvisation and live composition, will provide Audain an opportunity to further Audain his development as a composer.

Bangsted, Thomas, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to London, Greenwich, and Portsmouth, United Kingdom; and Kaafjord, Tromsoe, Narvik, Bogen fjord, and Langfjord, Norway to visit maritime institutions in Great Britain and specific locations in Norway to conduct research into the specific use and character of disruptive dazzle camouflage during WWII. The camouflage, called Razzle Dazzle, was first put to use in World War I when the Allied navies enlisted artists to paint abstract patterns on the sides of ships, not as concealment but instead to stir confusion with regard to the course, size, speed and direction of the ship. Bangsted plans to study specific historical conditions, geographical locations, and exact patterns to use in his photographic work.

Barlow, Richard, Minneapolis, Minnesota, will travel to London, Harlow, and Lacock, United Kingdom, to visit the site of a 19th Century photograph titled Reflected Trees by Fox Talbot and spend time on the grounds of Lacock Abbey, the Fox Talbot Museum, and key landscape sites from Barlow’s childhood.  Much of his work is landscape-based and derived from secondary sources. He wants to investigate Talbot’s process and the birth of silver-based photography, timing his visit to coincide with a wet collodion process workshop at the Museum to learn more about how the original image was made.

BEALLOR, ANGELA, Brooklyn, New York, will travel to various locations in Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia guided by a search for (and the story behind) hot pink Vladimir Ilyich Lenin lapel pins in the countries of her ancestors.  Beallor will visit monuments and museums while interviewing current residents of USSR states about their history, present, and future (culturally, politically, and personally).  The core purpose is to study and explore through conversations and interviews the present tense relationship to the not-so-distant past of the former Soviet Union.  Traveling throughout these areas will be organized around a search for pink Lenin lapel pins.  She’ll spend her time in street markets, flea markets, and bazaars, searching for the pins, using the search as an entry point for talking with people, and conducting interviews.  She’ll also visit monuments, Communist-era architecture, museums, and photo/film archives. This will inform a current project on which she’s working, which centers on audio interviews of her father about politics, his political radicalization, her Socialist grandparents, and their family life. 

Bell, AnonDa, New York, New York, will travel to Melbourne, Darwin, Tiwi Islands, Maningrida, Kakadu National Park, and Uluru, Australia to explore, study, and document the work of the indigenous people in order to broaden her understanding of the natural world and how it has been represented in various cultures. Her recent artwork considers the tense relationship between humans and the natural world.  She will conduct research of ancient art sites, mine archives relating to indigenous culture, and meet indigenous Australian artists in their own communities.  She will discuss ideas about the natural world, and through her art work, juxtapose this with a Western perspective. Bell is intrigued and curious to learn more about cultures that embrace a harmonious and respectful approach to the natural world versus the desire to claim, occupy, conquer and control.

BLAISDELL, LYDIA, New York, will travel to Vienna, Austria and Berlin, Germany, to do research for a play based on the Austrian Expressionist painter, Oskar Kokoschka's life, specifically his documented affair with an inanimate doll created to mimic his former lover, Alma Mahler. When Kokoschka returned from World War 1 to find that Mahler had married another man, he commissioned a life-sized doll,complete with of Mahler’s spring wardrobe from Paris. He escorted the doll to various Wagner operas and his catalogues show over twenty portraits of the doll in various poses. For nearly a year, his maid and his butler were required to wait on the doll until finally, after a night of drunken revelry, Kokoschka beheaded the doll and tossed it out a window.  Blaisdell’s travel will allow her to fully explore Kokoschka’s life and his paintings in the cities where he is remembered and celebrated. This project is her first full-length play set in a historical time period, drawing on existing figures.

CORINNE BOTZ was awarded funding for Bedside Manner, an experimental documentary that will use the construction/deconstruction of a standardized patient simulation to explore the performative aspect of doctor-patient encounters.  Focusing on a neuropsychology case (delirium), the piece will be shot in a manner that references the history of psychiatric photography and how the camera has been used to represent and construct medical interactions. Bedside Manner will enact a reversal of the traditional medical gaze from the patient onto the doctor.  Ethical and aesthetic issues that result from who is looking, how and in what context will be addressed.  This film examines issues related to empathy and medical relationships. 

THE BRONX MUSEUM OF THE ARTS, Bronx, New York, received $18,000 in support of the 2012-13 Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) program.  The Museum’s mission is to connect diverse audiences to the urban experience through its permanent collection, special exhibitions, and education programs.  The Artist in the Marketplace program, established in 1980, provides networking opportunities for emerging artists residing in the New York metropolitan area and introduces their work to a larger audience.  Each year, 36 artists participate in two semesters of AIM, each containing 13 weekly seminars.  The seminars are led by a faculty of specialists, and address areas of practical concern to artists such as career management, gallery representation, exhibition and public art opportunities, grant writing, copyright law, and marketing.  Participating artists are encouraged to build their networks through the program’s collaborative structure.

The Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Brooklyn, New York, received $10,000 in support of the participation of emerging artists in the 2013-14 Artist in Residence program.  The mission of BAX is to provide a nurturing, year-round, performance, rehearsal, and educational venue in Brooklyn that encourages artistic risk-taking and stimulates dialogue among diverse constituencies.  It provides advocacy and opportunities for emerging and mid-level professional dance and theater artists to develop, grow, explore, and present new work.  The Artist in Residence program provides participating artists with one to two years of uninterrupted artistic, technical, and administrative support, as well as the rehearsal space and guidance necessary to take chances, refine their craft, and expand their horizons.  An open call and competitive application review results in the selection of artists in residence.  The residencies are tailored to an individualized plan that incorporates each artist’s experiences, goals, and questions.

AARON BROOKNER, received a grant in support of Uncle Howard, an intimate character-driven documentary about the life of filmmaker Howard Brookner, who died of AIDS making his breakthrough Hollywood feature at age 34. Howard Brookner was an incendiary unknown artist who, in the space of his short lifetime, managed to make three astonishing feature films. In Uncle Howard, Aaron Brookner – his nephew and the maker of this film – seeks to resurrect the memory of his beloved uncle, and to spark emulation of Howard’s inspirational approach to filmmaking and art. Aaron Brookner’s quest leads us into a labyrinth of old guard artists, unreliable narrators, secrets, and lies in a tale of power, control, and ultimately, love. As he pieces together the story of his uncle’s life journey, the figure of an artist who championed artistic struggle in a hostile world emerges. Aaron Brookner also explores Howard’s dance with death, set in motion by the “devil’s bargain” he entered in the making of his acutely perceptive film portrait of William Burroughs.

THE CAMERA CLUB OF NEW YORK, New York City, received $14,000 in support of solo exhibitions in the Darkroom Residency Program. The Camera Club supports photographers in the development of their craft, providing a working facility and collegial environment for discussion and the exchange of ideas. It welcomes photographers and devotees of photography, and encourages their participation through memberships, classes, lectures, exhibitions, and residencies. The Darkroom Residency Program offers to emerging photographers three months of free access to darkrooms, digital workstations, and a shooting studio. Jerome grant dollars provide solo shows for Darkroom Resident artists in the year following their residency.

 Cave Canem Foundation, Brooklyn, New York, received $18,400 to support two multiple-session workshops serving New York City-based emerging poets. Cave Canem is home to the many voices of African-American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African-American poets. Emerging poets find sustenance and a safe place to take artistic chances. The workshops supported by Jerome Foundation provide opportunities for emerging writers to work with accomplished poets. Limited to an enrollment of 12 to 15, workshops offer rigorous instruction, careful critique, and an introduction to the work of established poets. The final session is usually a public reading in which participants showcase poems honed in the workshop.

The Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $21,200 in support of its commissioning program for emerging Minnesota composers.  The Cedar is an eclectic music venue known for hosting a wide variety of folk, blues, jazz, indy rock, and world artists, as well as films, spoken word performances, dances, and community events.  Its mission is to promote inter-cultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance.  Jerome support is directed toward the commissioning of new works by seven emerging Minnesota composers and their presentation as part of the 416 Club Series.  Composers of diverse genres are selected through an open call based on their emerging status; aesthetic quality; and evidence of rigor, innovation, and potential.

THE CENTER FOR FICTION, New York City, received $38,500 in support of the New York City Emerging Writers Fellowship program.  The mission of the Center for Fiction is to encourage people to read and value fiction and to support and celebrate its creation and enjoyment.  The Center seeks to serve the reading public, build a larger audience for fiction, and create a place where readers and writers can share their passion for literature.  The New York City Emerging Writers Fellowship program serves nine writers over a one-year period.  They receive stipends, space and time to write in the Center, the option to engage in a mentorship with a freelance editor, the opportunity to meet with agents who represent new writers, a Center membership, free admission to Center events, discounts on tuition for select writing workshops, and two public readings.  

CHEZ BUSHWICK, Brooklyn, New York, received $9,000 in support of the creation, development, and production of the new work OCCUPANT, by Jonah Bokaer. Chez Bushwick is an artist-run organization dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary art and performance, with a strong focus on new choreography. Chez Bushwick supports the work of choreographer and media artist Jonah Bokaer. OCCUPANT will be a 120-minute multidisciplinary performance work for four dancers, examining pattern recognition and perceptual faculties applied to the moving body and the human eye. OCCUPANT explores movement in relationship to built spaces, objects, lighting, and other media, creating illusions in stage space. Its scheduled to premiere in late 2013.

CHOMET, SUN MEE, Minnesota, will travel to North Korea where generations of her birth family resided before the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. Chomet is specifically interested in going to Pyongyang to visit factories, the Women's League offices, the National Reunification Institute, universities, and museums; Baekdu Mountain, the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula, considered sacred as the place of ancestral beginnings; and Cheolsan in Pyeongan-do, the city where her birth family resided before the Korean War broke out. The trip is offered through the New York-based organization Nodutdol for Korean Community Development (NDD), which promotes research by North American Korean artists, activists, and educators to increase their knowledge about reunification efforts and exposure to North Korea from the North Korean perspective. Her goal as a playwright is to create authentic work and address what is not said in the silences that have fracture families.

COFFEE HOUSE PRESS, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $26,000 in support of the publication of four books by emerging Minnesota writers.  The mission of the Press is to publish exciting, vital, and enduring authors of this time; to delight and inspire readers; to contribute to the cultural life of its community; and to enrich literary heritage.  By building on the best traditions of publishing in the book arts, it produces books that celebrate imagination, innovation in the craft of writing, and the many authentic voices of the American experience.  Coffee House brings the work of emerging Minnesota writers to the attention of reviewers, award panels, booksellers, teachers, and, most importantly, readers.