Walking Together Initiative Announced | |
|
We are excited to announce the launch of Walking Together: Investing in Folklife in Communities of Color. This new program will award significant, nonmatching grants to traditional artists, practitioners, and keepers of traditional knowledge that show a deep commitment to sustaining folklife rooted in communities of color. It is a national funding program managed by the six U.S. regional arts organizations (RAOs).
The program provides funding of $15,000 each to traditional artists, practitioners, and keepers of traditional knowledge, as well as $50,000 each to community organizations and collectives that support folklife in communities of color. Organizations may include non-profits, local and Tribal governments, businesses, and more—non-profit status or fiscal sponsorship is welcome, but not required. The RAOs will select 36 artists/practitioners and 56 organization grantees from the 56 states and jurisdictions that we serve.
Walking Together has a two-step application process. Traditional artists/practitioners and organizations are now invited to complete a brief Round 1 Self-Nomination form, due March 19, 2025. The RAOs will invite select finalists to complete Round 2 Applications between June 5 and July 21, 2025. Regional Walking Together advisors are available at each RAO to discuss your work and help you complete your Self-Nomination.
We have a series of upcoming webinars:
| |
Mid Atlantic National Leaders of Color Fellows | |
|
Congratulations to all 56 National Leaders of Color Fellows! The cohort will participate in a strategic leadership development program for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) leaders committed to the advancement of cultural equity in the arts that emphasizes policy and data in the arts, leadership, culture of care, and strategic foresight through an advocacy lens.
The Fellowship takes place completely online from late fall through early summer. During this no-cost eight-month fellowship, fellows receive access to specialists in the field, strategic learning objectives determined to deepen thought on anti-racist and culturally-oriented leadership practices, and national-level network and cohort building. Upon completion of the program, participants transition to alumni and have opportunities to collaborate with the USRAO in their region as advisors, funding panelists, and/or other professional capacities.
Meet the Mid Atlantic Arts region's Fellows:
- Celestina Billington, New York
- Zach Blackwood, Pennsylvania
- Lisa Brown, Maryland
- Anne Choi, New Jersey
- Maria Roberta Duarte Miranda, Puerto Rico
- Shawné Michaelain Holloway, Virginia
- Jamila Jones
- Maglyn Bertrand, Washington, DC
- AliShah Watson, Delaware
| |
National Funding Opportunities for U.S. Artists and Performing Arts Presenters Webinar | |
In case you missed it: we hosted a webinar on National Funding Opportunities Webinar for U.S. Artists and Performing Arts Presenters. This webinar covers programs including USArtists International, Performing Arts Global Exchange, ArtsCONNECT, Folk & Traditional Arts Community Projects, Jazz Touring Network, Mid Atlantic Tours, and Special Presenter Initiatives. | |
Join us in welcoming our newest Mid Atlantic Arts staff, Ana Chapman and Namra Inam! | |
|
Ana Chapman (she/her/ella) joins us as the Interim Director of Programs. Ana has over 20 years of experience in program leadership roles across the private, non-profit, public, and higher education sectors. Prior to joining Mid Atlantic, she was the Chief Program Officer at The HOPE Program in NYC. She has also served as Director of Adult Learning at Queens Public Library, Associate Director at Worker Education and Resource Center, Inc. in Los Angeles, and Dean of Non-Traditional Programs at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, NJ. Ana received a combined MA in Individualized Studies (Educational Theater/Drama Therapy) from NYU. She is currently training to become a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator. A Native New Yorker, she is proud of her Dominican/Afro-Latina roots.
| |
|
Namra Inam (she/her/hers) is our Junior Staff Accountant. She originally hails from Pakistan, where she obtained her Association of Chartered Certified Accountants qualification in 2012. She then relocated to the United States, residing in Rhode Island before moving to Maryland. She has spent over three and a half years honing her accounting and finance expertise at a prestigious tax firm in Massachusetts. In 2024, she completed her associate's degree with honors and is now pursuing Bachelors Degrees in Information Technology and Accounting. Beyond her professional pursuits, she is a devoted mother of two boys and enjoys cooking wholesome meals, traveling, playing badminton, attending concerts, and nurturing a strong family bond.
| |
Open Program Applications | |
|
Other program applications are still open. Apply today for the following:
-
ArtsCONNECT supports performing arts touring projects collaboratively developed by presenters working together in the mid-Atlantic region. Three or more located in the mid-Atlantic region who partner to present the same artist/company during the project period can each receive up to 50% subsidy for that artist/company’s compensation, plus support for other eligible project expenses. Deadline: Tuesday, February 25, 2025.
-
USArtists International supports in-person performances by artists from any state or territory in the U.S. at engagements at international festivals, global presenting arts markets, and other eligible engagements outside of the United States. Deadline: Wednesday, February 26, 2025.
-
Central Appalachia Living Traditions (CALT) Experiences grants fund public-facing projects and events in Appalachian counties of Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia that bring community members together around traditional arts and cultural knowledge. Deadline: Monday, March 10, 2025.
-
Folk & Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants fund projects that support the vitality of traditional arts and cultures in the mid-Atlantic region. Non-profit organizations in DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA, VA, USVI, PR, or WV may apply for $1,000 to $7,000 grants. A 1:1 match is required. Deadline: Monday, March 10, 2025.
-
Special Presenter Initiatives provide additional opportunities for the support of small to mid-sized performing arts presenters in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Native nations that share this geography. Deadline: Thursday, March 13, 2025.
-
Mid Atlantic Tours supports presenters located in the mid-Atlantic region who engage a Mid Atlantic Tours Roster Artist during the project period. Presenters receive up to 50% subsidy for the Roster Artist’s compensation as well as presenter capacity support. Deadline: Thursday, March 27, 2025.
-
Performing Arts Global Exchange provides fee support directly to nonprofit presenters programming artists from an annually curated roster. Presenters host both public performances and community engagements in achieving the program’s goals of cultural exchange and understanding. PAGE will support tours of performing artists from Morocco and South Africa in the 2025-26 performance season. Deadline: Thursday, March 27, 2025.
| |
Image: Standing ovation for "Small Island, Big Song" at an ArtsCONNECT engagement on April 17, 2024 at the Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech. Credit: Ashish Aggarwal. | |
-
The William Penn Foundation invites proposals for teaching artist training programs. The foundation seeks to support programs for teaching artists in the Philadelphia region to professional development, network-building, and learning opportunities. Arts and culture 501(c)(3) organizations, arts education organizations, community-based organizations, schools and educational institutions, and other types of public-serving groups are eligible to apply. Philadelphia-area projects will be prioritized, but projects in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, and the City of Camden, NJ will also be considered.
Deadline: Friday, January 31, 2025. Learn more here.
-
Wave Farm invites applications for transmission artist residences. Wave Farm welcomes submissions from artists, researchers, tinkerers, and writers, from a variety of disciplines who will embrace this opportunity to create work for a terrestrial radio station that celebrates risk-taking work and prioritizes the uniquely urgent and intimate nature of the radio medium. Opportunities include an Artists-in-Residence program and a Radio Art Fellowship.
Deadline: Saturday, February 1, 2025. Learn more here.
-
The Fine Arts Work Center invites applications for visual arts fellowships. Fellows are provided with a private furnished apartment and a separate work studio, and are awarded a $1,250 monthly stipend plus a $1,000 exit stipend to support relocation at the end of the fellowship. Fellows have the opportunity to pursue their work independently in a diverse and supportive community of peers.
Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025. Learn more here.
-
Anderson Ranch Arts Center invites applications for artists-in-residence. Residencies are offered in ceramics, new media, photography, furniture design, woodworking, painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. A select group of residencies are fully funded fellowships awarded by a jury panel; the remaining fall residents pay a fee of $750 for the five weeks at the ranch.
Deadline: Monday, February 17, 2025. Learn more here.
-
The Simons Foundation invites applications from collaborative teams of artists, scientists, and arts organization representatives for its Triangle Program's new phase, Open Interval. Open Interval is designed to support a dedicated period of thought partnership and exploration between artists and scientists, facilitated by curators and arts producers who are passionate about the intersection of art and science. The foundation seeks applications from trios—an artist, a scientist and a representative from an arts organization.
Deadline: Thursday, February 20, 2025. Learn more here.
| |
Image: Plena Libre's concert audience at Cityfest's Mid Atlantic Tours engagement. Credit: Lattisha Williams. | | | | |
