Past
Grantees

Minneapolis-based choreographer DEBORAH JINZA THAYER will spend three weeks at The Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, in a working residency. Thayer, along with other choreographers, will investigate current pieces they are developing. Interactions will center around critical response to the works and shared investigations.

THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (TCG), New York City, received a two-year grant of $38,000 in support of the National Theatre Criticism/Affiliated Writers Program for American Theatre magazine. TCG's mission is to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional nonprofit American theater. This vital network for professionals pursuing theater as an art form has a membership of more than 430 nonprofit theaters and over 17,000 individuals. American Theatre, published ten times a year with a readership of more than 75,000, serves the field as a critical source of news, information and analysis. The Affiliated Writers Program is a means to expand coverage of the national theater scene while simultaneously encouraging a new generation of cultural reporters and critics. Emerging critics from New York City and Minnesota apply for Affiliated Writers fellowships. Three are selected. They receive stipends in exchange for the submission of three to four articles; attend meetings, roundtables and symposia; and receive travel support that enables them to cover national stories.

THIRTEEN/WNET, New York City, a PBS station dedicated to providing a public forum for the many and varied voices in its community, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of Reel New York, a film and video series for television. It features a curated selection of independent work by emerging media artists based in New York City over an eight-week prime time schedule between June and August. The series features new and experimental films and videos made by a diverse selection of New York City artists. The series has broadcast over 239 independent productions. There is a companion web site that provides interviews and taped introductions to the works by the film and video artists as well as a festival calendar, photos and list of resources for artists.

MATTHEW FRANK THOMAS was awarded a grant for The Kindness of Strangers, a 30-minute narrative about Lenny Barnes, a young stubborn locksmith who copes with feelings of depression, loneliness and love by stalking an older ex-lover named Brenda. After paying her an unannounced visit, Lenny must face the terrible consequences of his obsession when he discovers just how little he knows about his femme fatale. Lenny finds himself entangled in a web of deceit, murder, and a serious case of wrong place, wrong time. This work explores the emotional complexity and internal experiences of African-American men through a modern day film noir.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, acting as fiscal sponsor for MORGAN THORSON & COMPANY, received $10,000 in support of the production of new work in New York City. The mission of The Southern Theater is to build and sustain a vibrant artistic community by supporting the Twin Cities' most creative independent performing artists and presenting them to audiences in an intimate environment that encourages artistic exploration. It frequently acts as fiscal sponsor for independent artists' requests. Choreographer Morgan Thorson has created dance and movement-based works since 1996. Her choreography is based on rigorous physical methodology. She's interested in the tension between the physical limitations of the body and the expansive nature of the imagination. Thorson and her company will produce the evening-length Faker in January 2007 at P.S. 122, and No Feeling for Harmony in March at the Joyce Soho. Her objectives are to gain visibility in New York and initiate a touring program for the company.

TROIKA RANCH, New York City, began in 1993 as a collaborative project between choreographer Dawn Stoppiello and composer Mark Coniglio. The mission of this digital dance theater company is to create live performances that hybridize dance, theater and interactive digital media and to share information about their techniques with others. A grant of $10,000 was authorized to assist Troika Ranch in creating and producing new work.

Founded in 1988, THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, presents alternative performances by artists working at the grassroots of the Twin Cities' varied cultural, political and economic communities. In 2003, Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands created TU DANCE, which presents original choreography, expands audiences for dance by interweaving dance genres, and employs trained dancers from diverse backgrounds. A grant of $12,000 was authorized as the fourth year of subsidy for the company. An upcoming June 2006 concert will include the Minnesota premiere of Tearing by Uri Sands and a new work for Toni Pierce-Sands choreographed by Ron K. Brown of Evidence Dance Company. Jerome support will also seed the development of three new works by Uri Sands, the first of which will draw inspiration from the nomadic Bedouin people, and the second from urban hymns and personal experience. Sands will develop a third work for a future season, a series of male solo dances accompanied by live solo cello, set to the preludes for each of Bach's cello suites.

KA VANG, a writer in St. Paul, Minnesota, will travel to Australia to study the lives, language and folklores of Hmong communities so that she can write creatively and accurately about the Hmong Diaspora. Vang will visit the cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra where there are about 2,000 Hmong people. She will meet with Hmong writers and elders in those cities. Vang plans to use her research in Australia to develop complex and real characters, and to write authentically about identity and heritage interwoven with the magic realism of her own writing style.

VSA ARTS OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $35,000 in support of the Artist Recognition Grant Program and services for emerging professional artists with disabilities. Minnesota artists apply for $1,000 Recognition Grants to create new work in the literary, visual and performing arts. An independent jury reviews proposals and awards grants. VSA arts of Minnesota presents culminating exhibitions, readings and performances to showcase the results of the artists' work. Services and smaller subsidies, including a new Art Professional Opportunity Grant Program, will be available to artists with disabilities.

RANDALL WEDIN, a creative nonfiction writer based in Wayzata, Minnesota, received funding to travel to Banff, Alberta, Canada, to participate in an international workshop, Creative Writing in Mathematics and Science, held at the Banff Centre. Wedin will also conduct extended research in Banff National Park focusing on organisms that grow and thrive in apparently hostile environments. He will use this information as a source for a metaphor or central image that illuminates connections between subjects in creative nonfiction essays.

WOMEN'S PROJECT, New York City, received $23,000 in support of the participation of emerging playwrights in its Artist Cultivation Programs. Women's Project produces rich and imaginative work for the American stage while cultivating the next generation of exceptional women theater artists and redefining their position and influence in the 21st century. Artist Cultivation Programs include the Playwrights Lab, new play development initiatives, readings, festivals of new works and a Directors' Forum. Lab playwrights meet twice a month in sessions that include readings of plays in progress; visits from prominent artistic directors, agents, and playwrights; workshops and collaborations with members of the Directors' Forum; career counseling; and information about opportunities to advance their work. The Pink Room Reading Series and the Women's Work Festival feature readings and productions of new plays.

KIM WOOD, a filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Paris, France, to conduct research at the Bibliotheque Charcot, which houses the unpublished writings and photographs of the subject of her next film, a psychiatric phenomenon known as hysteria. Hysteria's birthplace is a still-functioning hospital in Paris. Its founders were Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot and his star patient Augustine. The films made of Augustine's behavior and Dr. Charot's papers will be examined by Wood in preparation for her film Into the Ether.

A two-year grant of $30,000 was authorized for THE WRITERS ROOM, New York City, an organization dedicated to providing emerging and established writers with clean, quiet and affordable workspace, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Writers Room serves 400 members, of whom three-quarters are emerging writers. Jerome dollars are used to reduce membership rates for emerging writers and enable them to produce work in a setting that's conducive to writing.

SUZI YOONESSI received support for Dear Lemon Lima, a narrative film that looks at a spell of misguided parenting that pulls together a 13-year-old Yu'pik (Western Eskimo) girl with a vivid imagination, an underdeveloped military enthusiast and a girl who has legally changed her name to the pronoun Nothing. The film thrives off the notion that life is a time to come together and celebrate common traits and differences, inspiring kindness, individuality and equality.

THE SOUTHERN THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, acting as fiscal sponsor for multidisciplinary artist MARCUS YOUNG, received $9,000 in support of the development and production of the new work Ground. The Southern's mission is to help build and sustain a vibrant artistic community by supporting the Twin Cities' most creative independent performing artists and presenting them to audiences in an intimate environment that encourages artistic exploration. Ground is a public art project and ceremonial performance based on flying kites, meditation, hope and good wishes. It will be presented on Harriet Island in St. Paul in April 2007. Kites will carry texts focusing on peace, the environment and mindfulness. The piece is under the creative direction of Marcus Young, an actor, singer, director, dramaturg, performance artist, video producer and installation artist.

ZENON DANCE COMPANY AND SCHOOL, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of the commissioning and performance of new dance works by emerging choreographers. The mission of the company is to sustain an artistically excellent, professional dance company by presenting the commissioned works of emerging and recognized modern and jazz choreographers to the broadest and most diverse audiences and communities possible. It accomplishes this through performance, education and outreach. Nearly 70% of the company's yearly contracted time is devoted to the development of new work by emerging choreographers. Zenon chooses to work in this way because it brings excitement and risk to the aesthetic of the company. The process of creation is inspiring to the dancers, who are intelligent improvisers. Over two years, six emerging choreographers will be given opportunities to create new works for Zenon.

RANDOLYN ZINN, a poet based in Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Spain to encounter flamenco firsthand in order to work in a more informed way toward the completion of a book of prose poems titled Meson Flamenco. Zinn seeks to understand, in a deeper way, the origins of the songs and dances that serve as models for her writing. Zinn will spend time in Madrid, Andalucia, Seville, Jerez La Frontera, Granada, Cordoba and Montserrat National Park.

ADAM ZUCKER was awarded a grant for a feature-length documentary called Greensboro-Closer to the Truth, which has its roots in the Greensboro Massacre of 1979. This killing of five civil rights and labor activists by Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis occurred with foreknowledge of local police and the FBI. Despite extensive television footage of the murders, no one was ever convicted. For nearly a quarter century, the city of Greensboro has lived in the shadow of these events. Its long history at the forefront of the civil rights movement-the Woolworth's sit-ins of 1961-had been cut short. Mistrust and finger pointing has continued to this day, leaving a polarized community still grappling with the ripple effects of the killings. Now the survivors have convinced the North Carolina community to finally get to the bottom of the alleged conspiracy. To accomplish this, they have amassed a coalition of support, and will stage a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. This film provides background on the killings and the progression of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

PAVEL ZUSTIAK, a choreographer in Brooklyn, New York, will travel to Vienna, Austria, and Brussels, Belgium. In Austria, Zustiak will attend the three-week ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival and then will spend time in Brussels researching new approaches to video and dance integration with visual artist Khosro Adibi. While at ImPulsTanz, Zustiak will devote time to the Pro Series, which focuses on the work of extraordinary artists with international influence on the direction and perspective of dance in our times. Zustiak expects the investigation with Adibi to inform his highly visual work.

A grant of $10,000 was authorized to 1+1+1=ONE, Brooklyn, New York, in support of the creation and development of Low's Journey by Rha Goddess. Low's Journey is the first section of Meditations With The Goddess, part manifesto, part family history, and part spiritual evocation. The work explores issues of power, identity, class, and wellness. Three iconic goddesses emerge from the underworld to aid in an autobiographical, interactive search for universal and personal truth. Low's Journey features the character of a psychotic rapper and asks, What is insanity? Rha Goddess works in the convergence of hip-hop and contemporary performance, incorporating a continuum of African-American cultural expressions through music, dance, and theater.