Philly Jazz Month Launches With New Partnership

April is Philly Jazz Month!

Philly Jazz Month is the City of Philadelphia’s annual celebration of jazz, presented in partnership by Creative Philadelphia (Creative PHL) and Mid Atlantic Arts. Throughout the month, educational activities and diverse programming, including school visits, concerts, and special events will allow attendees to deepen their appreciation and knowledge of jazz. Philly Jazz Month aims to highlight the city’s vibrant jazz community and cultural heritage, while fostering collaboration and raising the community’s local, national, and international profile. 

Education is one of the main pillars of Philly Jazz Month. Through partnerships between local musicians, music venues, public schools, and performing arts organizations, Philly Jazz Month will inspire a new generation of jazz musicians and enthusiasts.

Keep up with the events at the Philly Jazz Month site below and stay tuned for a full schedule of Philly Jazz Month happenings!

NEA Jazz Master Concert and Events in April!

Last summer, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the 2025 Jazz Masters. They are: Marshall Allen, Marilyn Crispell, and Chucho Valdés, with 2025 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy recipient Gary Giddins.

In April, the Jazz Masters will be honored at a series of events. Mark your calendars!

Thursday, April 24 from 12:30-2pm: Chucho Valdés' masterclass with Howard University music students at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts Recital Recital Hall, Room 3001, Howard University Main Campus, 2455 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20059. (open to the public to observe, seating is first-come, first-served)

Saturday, April 25 from 10:30am-12pm: Listening Party with the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters at NPR’s Headquarters (free but reservations are required). Reserve your tickets here.

Saturday, April 26 at 8:00pm: NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater (free but tickets are required). Reserve your tickets here. You can also view a live webcast at the NEA's website or Kennedy Center website.

The concert will also be broadcast on select radio stations. Find a list of stations here.

Congratulations New Jersey State Council

on the Arts Individual Artist Fellows

Earlier this year, we announced the 2025 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship awards! These annual awards support New Jersey artists and rotate bi-annually by discipline. Each year, Mid Atlantic Arts provides administrative support to New Jersey State Council on the Arts in an ongoing partnership.

The 2025 awards are in the categories of:

• Choreography
• Crafts
• Music Composition
• Photography
• Playwriting/Screenwriting
• Poetry
• Sculpture

For a full list of 2025 Fellows and Finalists, visit New Jersey State Council on the Arts' webpage.

Mid Atlantic is Looking for Panelists!

Want to get involved with Mid Atlantic Arts? Fill out our panelist interest form!

Panelists play a very important role in helping to determine which applicants or organizations receive funding in the next year for our programs. Panel processes vary slightly across programs, but are offered across a wide range of disciplines. Being a panelist is also a paid opportunity.

Open Program Applications

Other program applications are still open. Apply today for the following:

• 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: A member of Cirque Kalabante leads an African Drumming workshop at the Moss Arts Center for community members and students at an ArtsCONNECT engagement. Credit: Virginia Tech.

Opportunity Quick Links

• The Classics for Kids Foundation invites applications from K-12 music programs for its matching program. This program will award grants to schools or nonprofit organizations in support of incorporating string instruments in K-12 music education programs. All instruments in the string family are supported (including guitars and ukuleles). United States-based organizations with nonprofit status are eligible to apply. Deadline: Monday, March 31, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Decorative Arts Trust invites applications for its publishing grant program. This program will support publications tackling the broad context of the Americas and to encourage projects that advance diversity in the study of American decorative arts and material culture. Applications are open in two categories: Publishing Grants for First-Time Authors of Book-Length Publications; and Publishing Grants fort Collections, Exhibitions, and Conferences. Deadline: Monday, March 31, 2025. Learn more here.

• Franklin Furnace invites applications for avant-garde art performances. The Franklin Furnace FUND for Performance Art, awards grants annually to early-career artists of all backgrounds to assist the production of new major performance art works. Through the program, grants ranging between $2,000 and $10,000 will be awarded. Artists from all areas of the world are encouraged to apply, though selected artists must present their work in New York City. Artists may apply once per year as an individual, and once per year as part of a collaboration. Deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Roanoke Women’s Foundation invites applications from community organizations in the areas of arts and culture, education, environment, and health and human services. Organizations must be located in or provide services in Virginia cities of Roanoke, Salem, or in Roanoke, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, and Franklin counties. Phase I Deadline: Monday, March 31, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) invites applications for Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant. This annual grant is awarded to under-recognized American painters over the age of 45 who demonstrate financial need. Awards include a cash grant, ranging between $5,000 and $36,000, and an exhibition at PAAM. Applicants must be a citizen of or have permanent residency in the United States. Deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Learn more here.

• Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture is accepting applications for the Naomi Shihab Nye Prize. Arab American and Arab Canadian writers are invited to submit an English-language middle-grade manuscript for readers between the ages of 8 and 12. Manuscripts may be in any genre. Deadline: Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Learn more here.

• Creative Capital is accepting proposals for new artistic works in Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Film, and Literature for the 2026 Award. This Creative Capital Award provides unrestricted project grants of up to $50,000 to individual artists to create new work. The new State of the Art Prize provides unrestricted artist grants of $10,000. Deadline: Thursday, April 3, 2025. Learn more here.

Image: Sweet Honey in the Rock® presents The Legacy of American Protest Music, a workshop for first year Shenandoah University students and community members (Goodson Chapel—Recital Hall, Nov. 18, 2024) at a Folk and Traditional Arts Community Projects Grants activity. Credit: Shenandoah University.