Colorado arts, culture groups win more than $500,000 in national grants

Amid stiff competition, Colorado arts groups will receive nearly $300,000 in funding for various nonprofit arts programs from the National Endowment for the Arts, the organization announced this week.

 

Sixteen Colorado organizations have been recommended to receive between $10,000 and $55,000 each to support programs as diverse as music education, community theater, literature, film festivals and rural artist-in-residence programs.

 

The $291,000 for Colorado arts organizations is part of the larger $25.8 million in grants for 1,083 nonprofits and individuals, according to NEA senior deputy chairman Joan Shigekawa. The grants are broken down into three categories: Art Works, Challenge America, and Creative Writing Fellowships.

 

“Whether it is through a focus on education, engagement, or innovation, these projects all contribute to vibrant communities and memorable experiences for the public to engage with the arts,” Shigekawa said in a press release. See the full list of Colorado winners below.

 

The NEA received 1,528 eligible Art Works applications, requesting more than $75 million in funding. Of those applications, 895 were recommended for grants for a total of $23.4 million. Grant amounts range from $10,000 to $100,000 with an average grant amount of $26,154.

 

This comes on the heels of Colorado nabbing $253,343 from the National Endowment for the Humanities last week for fellowships and educational programs at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Longmont Museum and Colorado State University – Pueblo.

 

Here’s the full list of this week’s NEA Colorado grants:

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Media Arts

$15,000 Aspen, CO

To support Aspen Shortsfest, a festival celebrating the art of the short film. Approximately 75 films are selected from a pool of 2,800 from 80 countries and the shorts are programmed thematically.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Dance

$20,000 Aspen, CO

To support a national tour of dance performances. In addition to performances, activities will include master classes with local dance schools and universities, audience question-and-answer sessions, and open rehearsals.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Presenting & Multidisciplinary

Works

$55,000 Aspen, CO

To support the presentation of the 2014 summer festival. Presenting works inspired by the Romantic movement, the festival will feature performances of opera, dance, and classical music, as well as film screenings, and related educational programs.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Arts Education

$10,000 Aurora, CO

To support Job Training in the Arts: Cultural Connections, a visual arts program for middle school youth. Students will engage in classes that combine advanced arts learning and community involvement facilitated by teaching artists. Project activities will culminate in several youth-driven exhibitions in the Downtown Aurora Visual Arts Gallery that explore different media and ideas related to cultural identity as individuals, community members, and world citizens.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Theater & Musical Theater

$10,000 Boulder, CO

To support the premiere of “And the Sun Stood Still”

by Dava Sobel. The play explores the life and work of Nicolas Copernicus and his decision to publish his seminal book, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.” A pivotal moment in scientific history, Copernicus’ book also shook theological foundations as it broke with church doctrine regarding the structure and motion of the universe.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Creative Writing Fellowship

$25,000 Boulder, CO

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Visual Arts

$25,000 Byers, CO

To support Action on the Plains: Contemporary Art in Rural Environments, an artist-in-residence program. Residencies will support the creation of site-specific art works in the High Plains region of Colorado, focusing specifically on the small town of Last Chance, once a thriving “gas, food, lodging” community bypassed by the introduction of the U.S. Interstate Highway system.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Challenge America Fast-Track

$10,000 Crested Butte, CO

To support the Gypsy Jazz in Paradise, a festival of concerts, workshops, and community engagement activities. The festival will celebrate this style of jazz also known as gypsy swing or hot club jazz by giving performances in non-traditional performance spaces and by offering open-session workshops with the guest artists.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Theater & Musical Theater

$25,000 Denver, CO

To support the premiere of “Black Odyssey” by Marcus Gardley. Homer’s Odysseus is re-cast as a black soldier returning home from a harrowing tour in the Gulf War, and Greek archetypes reverberate with new world African-American culture as Gardley fuses modern reality with ancient myth.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Media Arts

$10,000 Denver, CO

To support the Young Filmmakers Workshops. During the summer, young people will be taught filmmaking skills ranging from narrative to documentary to animation.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Challenge America Fast-Track

$10,000 Denver, CO

To support the Indigenous Film & Arts Festival, presenting documentaries, shorts, and feature films by and about indigenous peoples. Film screenings will take place at a variety of locations, including local schools in Denver and Jefferson Counties, the Denver Indian Center, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, among others.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Dance

$20,000 Denver, CO

To support the creation and presentation of “More Perfect,” a new work by choreographer Rennie Harris. More Perfect will delve into stories from the cross-cultural intersections of the Civil Rights Movement through the vernacular of hip-hop. Coinciding and commemorating the 50-year anniversary of a series of defining moments and catalytic events in American history namely the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the dance will be accompanied by both recorded and live performances of spirituals.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Challenge America Fast-Track

$10,000 Denver, CO

To support the production of the play “PLACAS, ” written by Paul S. Flores. Directed by Michael Garces and featuring actor and playwright Ric Salinas, “PLACAS,” a new multimedia play about the impact of gangs on an El Salvadoran family, portrays tattoo removal as a metaphor for healing and transformation. In addition to public performances, Salinas and Flores will lead workshops intended to serve former and current gang members, collaborating with Denver’s Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP).

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Literature

$10,000 Fort Collins, CO

To support the publication and promotion of new titles in the Center for Literary Publishing’s Mountain West Poetry Series, as well as the journal “Colorado Review.” The series features multicultural poets from the Mountain West region of the United States.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Artist Communities

$20,000 Snowmass Village, CO

To support an artist residency program for emerging and established artists. Visual and media artists will receive studio space, equipment, meal s, housing, and travel, as well as interaction with master artists.

 

GRANT CATEGORY: Art Works FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Music

$16,000 Vail, CO

To support Bravo! Vail, an annual music festival.

The summer festival will feature orchestral

concerts by the Dallas Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as chamber music and open rehearsals. The event also will offer public workshops and the Young Professional Ensembles-in-Residence Program. Broadcasts on Colorado Public Radio and educational outreach concerts will extend the reach of the festival.