The Middle Atlantic Folklife Association (MAFA) and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology (MAC SEM) will host a joint conference, March 30 through April 1, 2007 at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. MAFA sessions will begin on Friday morning with an audio workshop followed by a site visit to the African American cultural presentation at Colonial Williamsburg in the afternoon. Saturday sessions will include discussions on "Engaged Scholarship I: Working Across Disciplines," "Engaged Scholarship II: Applied Ethnomusicology and Public Folklore," and "Music in Immigrant Communities."

The Friday evening welcoming reception, the keynote presentation on Saturday afternoon, the Saturday evening gala performance of creative writers/storytellers/music ensembles, and the Sunday morning discussion on "Scholarship and Performance" will all be joint sessions.

MAFA planning committee members include Robert Baron, Chair (NY), Betty Belanus (DC), Doris Dyen (PA), Darcy Fair (PA), Divya Kumar (MD), Elinor Levy (NJ), Jon Lohman (VA), Douglas Manger (MD), Ellen McHale (NY), Iveta Pirgova (NJ), Rory Turner (MD), Sally Van de Water (NJ), and Peggy Yocom (VA).

Guidelines are now available for the 2007/2008 cycle of ArtsCONNECT, a program that supports performing arts tours through presenter consortia and partnerships in the mid-Atlantic region.

ArtsCONNECT provides access to high quality live performing arts engagements to audiences across the mid-Atlantic region. The program also encourages a deeper understanding of artists’ work through support of activities that enhance the concert experience. Participating presenting organizations must be located in the Foundation’s service area of Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In 2007, ArtsCONNECT provided $306,020 in support of 11 touring artists visiting 55 communities in the mid-Atlantic region. Tours included: Big Dance Theater, Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, Dayton Contemporary Dance, 4D Art, L.A. Theatre Works, Ragamala Music and Dance Theatre, River North Chicago Dance, 10Foot5, The Capitol Quartet, Urban Bush Women, and Vincent Mantsoe.

For guidelines, click here or call the Foundation at 410.539.6656 x100. The deadline for the program is March 23, 2007 for projects taking place between
July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008.

Big Dance Theater in Plan B, Performer: Tymberly Canale, Photo credit: Julieta Cervantes

New Website!
PennPAT has just launched its new website, www.pennpat.org, which includes information about 154 professional Pennsylvania performing artists and groups featured on the 2007 PennPAT Roster. The site also offers grant guidelines, applications, report forms, and links to artist websites and to resources for artists and performing arts presenters.

New Features include:

• Keyword Search - don’t know an artist’s name? Find him/her using other words likely to be found in a description of the artist.
• A “Favorites” section - allows you to bookmark artists
• A new “Featured Artist” every time the website is loaded
• eGRANT - apply for presenter Fee-Support and New Directions grants online
• See Roster Artist Performances - a list of upcoming funded engagements by PennPAT Roster Artists
• Research and articles
• Sign up for email news

The 2007 PennPAT Artist Roster Book has also just been published and has been mailed presenters on our mailing list. If you would like a book sent to you, please contact Jenny Filer at jenny@pennpat.org .

Grant Application Deadlines
for PennPAT Fee-Support and New Directions grant applications:
February 15, 2007: For projects scheduled between June 1, 2007 and May 31, 2009.
June 15, 2007: For projects requesting $1,500 or less, scheduled between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2008.

Showcases!
Arts Presenters 50th Annual Members Conference
January 19-23, 2007 in New York City
During the five busy days of the Arts Presenters Annual Members Conference, there will be many opportunities to see showcases by PennPAT Roster Artists. Twelve (12) roster artists are currently scheduled for showcases and more may be added. For an up-to date schedule of Roster Artist showcases click here.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is approaching the midpoint of the FY07 Annual Fund Campaign!

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s fiscal year (FY07) runs July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007. There is still time for you to make a gift to the annual fund before December 31, 2006 – so that you will receive the tax advantage now and give us the mid-campaign boost we need.

Your gift to the Annual Fund helps us to leverage additional government and private foundation support, as many of these grants require us to raise matching funds. Annual Fund gifts also help us close the gap between those grants and the true costs of creating new artworks and staging public performances—including access to those exhibits and shows by people of differing income levels.

Thank you for making the 2006 Annual Fund a success! Six (6) foundations and over 120 individuals made over 165 gifts of cash and in-kind support to the foundation. We truly appreciate all of your support.

Please help us make the FY07 Annual Fund Campaign equally successful. Use this link to download a form to mail in with you gift today. And, if you have questions or need assistance with making a gift of stock or securities, please contact Cheryl P. Derricotte, Development Officer, 410-539-6656 ext. 105 or via email at cheryld@midatlanticarts.org.

USArtists International provides support for music and dance ensembles invited to perform at festivals throughout the EU - and now that includes Bulgaria and Romania! Staff will be working to include festivals in Bulgaria and Romania to the festival database - if you have any suggestions, please feel free to email karen@midatlanticarts.org. As always, feel free to contact the Foundation with questions about your application...and remember, the first deadline is January 15, 2007!

email: karen@midatlanticarts.org

web: http://www.midatlanticarts.org