Guidelines and applications are now available for the ArtsCONNECT and Special Presenter Initiatives programs. Presenters from across the mid-Atlantic region are eligible for support through ArtsCONNECT while the Special Presenter Initiatives provide support for organizations in DC, DE, USVI, and WV.

ArtsCONNECT supports touring projects collaboratively developed by presenters working together in the mid-Atlantic region. The tours include performances as well as complementary engagement activities designed to create greater understanding or connections between artists, audiences, and communities. Each consortium must include at least two presenters from two or more mid-Atlantic states or jurisdictions. Deadline: Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

The Special Presenter Initiatives provide additional opportunities for the support of small to mid-sized performing arts presenters in Delaware, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia. Fee support is available for engagements of performing artists based anywhere worldwide. Engagements include performances as well as community activities that enhance the performance experience and offer meaningful exchanges between touring artists and a presenter’s community.

Deadline: Tuesday, May 24, 2022.

Photo: ArtsCONNECT 2022 touring artist Ballet Hispanico in "Tiburones." Credit: Paula Lobo.

Mid Atlantic Arts is looking for a Director of Development to lead and implement all fundraising and development activities to advance our strategic goals and mission! Come join us in Baltimore as we work to support artists, presenters, and organizations through unique programming, grant support, partnerships, and information sharing. This position offers remote work up tp three days per week. Learn more at: https://www.midatlanticarts.org/about/employmentinternships/

It's not too late! Bring international artists to your community with the help of a grant from the Performing Arts Global Exchange (PAGE) program. Funding remains available to bring select dance, music, and theater artists from Australia and New Zealand to your community for the 2022-23 season. No application necessary and presenters nation wide are eligible!

To participate in PAGE, presenters should:

1. Review the PAGE Program Guidelines and 2022-23 artist roster
2. Contact the tour agents for the artists you are most interested in and negotiate the engagement(s) ASAP!
3. Discuss artist-involved community engagement activities with tour agents
4. Send an offer letter to the agent by April 25, 2022
5. Be tentatively recommended for a grant (up to 50% of negotiated fee)
6. Mid Atlantic will contact you in May to verify details and confirm your grant

It's that simple!

Photo: PAGE touring artist Bangarra Dance Theatre presents "WARU-journey of the small turtle." Credit: Daniel Boud.

In March, Mid Atlantic Arts announced grants totaling $381,510 to 29 solo performing artists and ensembles in support of the second round of USArtists International (USAI). The artists represent 10 states and will travel to 35 different festivals and arts markets around the globe. The grantee pool includes the first engagement in Cabo Verde and the first USAI artist from Puerto Rico.

USAI supports in-person and virtual performances by American artists at engagements at international festivals and global presenting arts marketplaces outside of the United States. The program funds individuals and ensembles across all performing arts practices and disciplines.

USAI grantees are selected through a panel process. For a complete list of Round Two USAI grantees and their festival engagements, please click here. The next USAI deadline will be in September 2022.

USAI is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. It is the only program of its kind in the United States, and since its inception in 2006, has awarded over $9 million in support.

Photo: USAI grantee Ragamala Dance Company's "Fires of Varanasi." Credit: Arun Kumar.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest that encourages high school students to memorize and recite great poems. After participating in local and state competitions, one student from each of the 50 states, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—55 total—are advancing to the Poetry Out Loud National Semifinals.

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Foundation, and the state and jurisdictional arts agencies. Mid Atlantic Arts administers the National Finals.

On Sunday, May 1, 2022, the Poetry Out Loud national Semifinals will be broadcast through a one-time-only webcast at Arts.gov/Poetry-Out-Loud. Cheer on your state champion during one of the three Semifinals webcasts:

• 12:00pm ET / 11:00am CT / 9:00am PT—Champions from CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, USVI , VT, VA, and WV.

• 3:00pm ET / 2:00pm CT / 12:00pm PT—Champions from AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, NE, OK, PR, TN, and WI.

• 6:00pm ET / 5:00pm CT / 3:00pm PT—Champions from AK, AS, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, MN, MT, ND, NM, NV, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, and WY.

Opportunity Quick Links

• The Chicago-based Harpo Foundation invites applications for its New Work Project Grants program, which will award grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofit organizations in support of new work by under-recognized artists. Letters of inquiry Deadline: April 22, 2022.

• In partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rochester Area Community Foundation invites applications for arts projects by nonprofit and public organizations in the foundation’s eight-county Rochester-Finger Lakes region. Grants of $5,000 will be awarded to increase audience reach, organizational capacity, and equitable access to program support.
Deadline: April 29, 2022.

• Contemporary Craft invites applications for its artist-in-residence program. The program will allow artists at any stage of their career free access to fully-equipped studios, CC staff support, and the opportunity to interface with the public while creating a body of work. The residency will last between three and six months. Deadline: May 3, 2022.

• The Sasaki Foundation is inviting proposals for its Design Grants program, which seeks interdisciplinary, creative approaches to test new design concepts that address complex challenges in communities. Applicants must be a team of two to four individuals, with at least one of the individuals from the project’s focus community. Deadline: May 4, 2022.

• The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region invites applications for its Barry Alan Gold Memorial Fund. Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded in support of proposals from organizations within the 10-county Capital Region of NY State that are working to improve access to legal services, healthcare services, childcare/family services, and the arts. Deadline: May 5, 2022.

• The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is inviting applications for its Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant that supports emerging and established writers who write about contemporary visual art. Published authors who identify as art historians, artists, critics, curators, journalists, or writers in an outside field engaged in contemporary visual arts are invited to apply for grants ranging between $15,000 and $50,000. Deadline: May 18, 2022.

• A partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts and the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Grant Program invites applications for grants, which will provide support for treatment procedures to aid in stabilizing and preserving objects held in collections of museums, historical, and cultural organizations in New York State. Support is available for conservation treatment of paintings, works on paper, textiles, furniture, frames, indoor and outside sculptures, historical, ethnographic, and decorative objects. Deadline: June 1, 2022.

Photo: Trick of Light's Stevie Hancox-Monk in "The Griegol" - one of the artists touring with support of the Performing Arts Global Exchange program.

Credit: Philip Merry / axylotl photography.