Mid Atlantic Arts and Americans for the Arts are partnering to develop accessibility training resources for the state, county, and local arts agencies in the mid-Atlantic region. A big thank you to the National Endowment for the Arts for supporting this work.

Artists, administrators, and other arts and culture professionals currently residing in the mid-Atlantic Region with disabilities or who are active members of the disability community are invited to submit an interest form to serve as a Mid-Atlantic Accessibility Resource Committee (MAARC) advisory member. The MAARC will help shape programming by creating connections with new speakers, proposing topic ideas based on their understanding of the needs of the field, sharing resources and stories from the field to highlight, and more. 

Advisory members will receive a $500 honorarium for approximately 10 hours of work and additional (optional) program attendance over the course of a 6-month term.

The deadline to submit an interest form is March 31, 2022.

Sarah Lewitus has joined Mid Atlantic Arts as our new Program Officer, Performing Arts and Accessibility Coordinator. Sarah will be responsible for administering the ArtsCONNECT, Mid Atlantic Tours, and Special Presenter Initiative grants programs and our Accessibility Training initiatives.

Sarah is an arts worker and organizer interested in performance, space and connection. From 2016-2022, Sarah served as the Associate Curator at Dance Place, a 41-year-old theater and school for dance in Washington, DC. In this role she managed the movement-based presentation series as well as an array of community engagement and civic action-related projects. Sarah is a founding member of Area Woman, an interdisciplinary performance collective. She serves the DC community as a board member of Dance Metro DC and as an independent consultant, producer, and advocate for the arts.

You can reach Sarah at slewitus@midatlanticarts.org.

Almost $1 million awarded to 85 New Jersey artists!

Congratulations to the 85 New Jersey artists recently named Fellows through the 2022 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships program. Artists applied for awards in the categories of Digital/Electronic, Film/Video, Painting, Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts, and Prose. Fellows are selected through an anonymous application evaluation process by independent panels of peer reviewers. Artists may use the awards for almost any purpose which enables them to pursue their artistic goals, including to produce new work and advance their careers.

You can see the full list of 2022 Fellowship awardees here. (opens a PDF)

Mid Atlantic Arts partners with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to administer the Individual Artist Fellowship program.

USArtists International Deadline March 30, 2022

The deadline to submit an application for USArtists International is fast approaching. If you have an engagement at a festival between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, you may be eligible to receive funding. Applications are due by 11:59pm Eastern Time on March 30, 2022.

USArtists International® (USAI) supports in-person and virtual performances by American artists at international festivals and global presenting arts marketplaces outside of the United States with grants of up to $18,000. The program funds individuals and ensembles across all performing arts practices and disciplines. Since 2006, USAI has helped fund more than 960 companies’ performances in 94 countries. USAI works to promote the range of United States performing arts abroad and supports America’s aesthetic, geographic, gender, and racial diversity. 

Please read the guidelines to confirm eligibility. Ready to apply? Go to the application portal.

Photo: Island Moving Company (RI) received USAI support to attend the International Dance Festival San Nicola, Italy, in September 2021. Credit: Courtesy of the artist.

Mid Atlantic Arts extends best wishes to Cathy Edwards, departing Executive Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA). Cathy joined NEFA in 2015 and has been a staunch supporter and partner in the work of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations (RAO's) including the recent work around the U.S. Regional Arts Resilience Fund supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Theresa Colvin, Mid Atlantic Arts Executive Director said "Cathy's commitment to the arts and artists - both in New England and nationally - has bolstered the work and connections of all of the RAO's. We are extremely lucky to have had her in leadership for seven years and I wish her all the best moving forward."

Congratulations, Cathy - and thank you from all of us!

Photo: Cathy Edwards. Credit: Judy Sirota Rosenthal.

Opportunity Quick Links

• The We Are All Music Foundation invites applications for its 2022 Power of Music grants program, which will award between 8 and 10 grants ranging between $5,000 and $50,000 to support music nonprofits where music is core to the mission and directly related to health and wellness, education, and/or underserved communities. Deadline: March 31, 2022.

• BET, a subsidiary of Paramount Global, in partnership with the 125th Street Business Improvement District and the Apollo Theater, is inviting applications for the Harlem Entrepreneurial Micro-grant Initiative. The initiative was launched in response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities and will provide $100,000 in support to small Harlem businesses in New York City. Deadline: March 31, 2022.

• The Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development invites applications for its grants program, which aims to cultivate unconventional thinking to adapt to challenges posed by COVID-19 or challenges that hampered organizations before the pandemic (e.g., lack of equity and accessibility for artists of color and artists with disabilities, declining ticket sales). Deadline: March 31, 2022.

• Artadia is inviting applications for the Artadia Awards, which will provide unrestricted financial support, exposure, and recognition to contemporary visual artists in New York, creating artwork for presentation in a modern art context: museum, galleries, arts nonprofit, the public art realm, etc. Awardees will receive unrestricted funds of $10,000. Applicants must be currently living and working within New York and have resided there for at least two years prior to the application deadline. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

• The Provincetown Art Association and Museum, invites applications for its Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant, which awards grants annually to under-recognized American painters over the age of 45 with financial need. For this grant, painting is considered applying various media (oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, tempera, watercolor, egg tempera, casein, enamel) on paper, canvas, fabric, or wood, and includes fresco. The program excludes mixed media, encaustic, collage, dry pastels, chalk, digital paintings, prints, and work in graphite, or drawings. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

• J.M. Kaplan invites nominations of illustrated nonfiction books for Alice Award. An award of $25,000 will be given for a richly illustrated book that makes a valuable contribution to its field. Books focused on the fine arts, the natural and built environments, and related public issues will be considered. Shortlisted books selected by an award jury will receive $5,000. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

• The Terra Foundation for American Art actively supports projects that examine and broaden definitions of American art. To that end, the foundation awards grants for programs that foster exchange and collaboration, such as workshops, symposia, and colloquia through its Convening Grants program. Programs should advance innovative and experimental research and professional practice in American art and address the field's critical issues. Deadline: April 1, 2022.

Photo: Ak Dan Gwang Chil in performance at Frostburg State University (Frostburg, MD) with support from the Mid Atlantic Tours program. Credit: Missy Russell Martz.