Past
Grantees

Funding was awarded to arts administrator GARY PETERSON to travel to various cities in Kansas combining personal investigation and reflection with an investigation into the long-term touring interests of James Sewell Ballet, for which he is Executive Director.

TIM PETERSON, a curator and Director of New Franklin Artworks, received a grant to spend eight days in New York City and Los Angeles to meet with arts administrators, curators and gallery directors in order to gain insight into the workings of established alternative spaces and open a dialogue that will enrich his work.

PILLSBURY NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a multipurpose social service agency, houses the PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE, an accredited Equity house. Pillsbury House Theatre's mission is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change and community. the theatre produces daring, high quality work that deals forthrightly with difficult societal issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia and alienation. Jerome Foundation funding of $7,500 was awarded to support the production of Djola Branner's play The House That Crack Built, scheduled to open this fall; and to underwrite the participation of emerging New York City and Minnesota playwrights in the Summer 2000 Play Reading Series.

A grant was awarded to THOMAS PIPER for Can You Get to That: The Welfare to Work Trip, a documentary that tells the uncelebrated stories of lives in transition - stories that can fundamentally change the discussions about poverty and welfare in America, and, in a time of unprecedented wealth, wake people up to the need for a little more compassion.

MARK PITSCH, Minneapolis, MN. Pitsch received support for Uneasy Peace: Ten Years After the Contra War, a 55-minute documentary that asks the question, "Are the lives of ethnic minorities of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua better off now than they were ten years ago?" The lives of the Nicaraguan people, particularly the multiethnic, multilingual residents of the Atlantic Coast region suggests a much bleaker portrait of living conditions than most Nicaraguan or American officials will admit. This film looks at the plight of the Nicaraguans.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $70,000 to support the Many Voices Program and services to playwrights. The Center is a nonprofit resource for script development. It provides a range of services for playwrights at all stages of their careers, including readings, workshops, classes, conferences, roundtables, residencies and fellowships. Many Voices increases awareness of and access to Center programs among Minnesota playwrights of color, who receive residencies and collaboration grants. The residencies provide stipends, play development support, opportunities for study, mentors and participation in the Many Voices Roundtable. Cultural collaboration grants are seed monies that support playwrights of color as they collaborate with producing organizations to premiere new plays.

THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is in the midst of a capital campaign to renovate its building, including a 120-seat theater, lobby area, rehearsal hall, playwright work areas and improved office space. The Jerome Foundation does not make grants to capital campaigns, but it has developed an interest in projects that provide opportunities for individual artists to create and install their works as part of the renovation, construction and enhancement of a nonprofit arts facility. The Playwrights' Center identified three areas within the capital campaign for artists' projects: an exterior sign and rail, a lobby mural and the entrance tower. FORECAST will manage the application and selection process. Jerome Foundation made a commitment of $35,000 to the Center for one or more projects.

PRIMARY STAGES, New York City, was founded by Artistic Director Casey Childs in 1983 to present the best new plays by new American playwrights. It is celebrating its 15th anniversary season. In 1997, six playwrights and three directors began to meet to encourage the writing of new plays. Each participating writer brings in 10 new pages of script to be read aloud at each session. The program consists of regular meetings, two annual reading series, and an annual workshop series. Funding of $15,000 was authorized for the New American Writers Group.

The PUBLIC ART FUND, New York, presents the work of contemporary artists in the City's public spaces, providing alternative venues in which to create and view art. Jerome Foundation funding of $12,000 was authorized for In the Public Realm, an initiative designed to encourage innovative, experimental public projects by emerging artists. An open call produces an initial group of applications, from which seven finalists are selected and invited to develop formal proposals. From these seven, three artists are selected to create and install their pieces. Jerome Foundation funding was authorized for the participation of emerging New York City-based artists in the fiscal 2001 In the Public Realm program.

Painter DAVID RATHMAN, was awarded funding to spend six months at the Montana Artist Refuge in Basin, Montana, whose purpose is to create residencies for artists by providing studio/living space and promoting arts education and outreach programs in the community.

ARCADIAN ARTS, New York City, is an arts and education service organization dedicated to encouraging and enabling artists of all disciplines to make new works, and to developing socially relevant projects that strengthen the connection between artists and social service organizations. It acted as fiscal agent for jazz composer ROB REDDY who sought funds to support an ambitious new work, a three-movement suite performed by a 19-piece ensemble comprised of five winds, five brass, six strings, two percussionists and a pianist. The work will draw heavily from 20th Century American music including gospel, marches, Appalachian folk music, blues and jazz. A Jerome grant of $10,000 was authorized.

ARNA RENNAN, resident of Duluth, is a traditional Norwegian folk singer who received funding to travel in Telemark, Norway for ten months to study traditional singing, or kveding, with Anne Gravir.

Pianist DANIEL RIEPPEL of Marshall, was awarded a grant to travel to Vienna, Austria and Leeds, England. Rieppel will research and study the original manuscripts of Franz Schuberts early piano sonatas and specifically his Adagio and Rondo Concertante D. 487 for which Rieppel uncovered a lost section in earlier research. He will travel to Leeds to present a lecture/recital on the subject at the International Schubert Conference and Festival.

ANN RINKENBERGER, the Executive Director of Harvest Moon, received a grant to visit six organizations that have successful artist-in-residence and community arts education programs, including the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Oregon; Herb Farm in Falls City, Washington; the Summers Past Farm in California; the Peaceable Kingdom School in Texas; and the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center in Minnesota.

ALEX RIVERA received a grant for Death of a Cybracero, an experimental sci-fi narrative about Mexican farm laborers who live in Tijuana but work in the United States via the internet. They are, in effect, virtual laborers. As the principal character, Jorge, grows closer to achieving his dream of living in the United States in reality, he is forced to choose between continuing to pursue his dream or saving his sister. His sister, Victoria, has been seized by a violent group of vigilantes that patrol futuristic networks looking for illegals, or Netbacks. Will Jorge save his sister from these villains?

DANI ROACH, a painter, received a grant to spend six days in Providence, Rhode Island, to attend the Arts in Universal Environments Pre-Conference Intensive and to see related exhibitions in the area, which are apart of Designing for the 21st Century: An International Conference on Universal Design.

DARREN ROARK, Minneapolis, MN. Roark received support for Tilt!, a feature-length film that follows the adventures of four rough and tumble women. After one of them loses a botched beauty pageant, they hit the road to get rich playing pinball. This film will be a loud and obnoxious blend of action and comedy, with a few thrills thrown in for good measure.

Visual artist NANCY ROBINSON received a grant to spend a week in Chicago during the time that she has a show of her work scheduled at the Artemisia Gallery, a cooperative artist-run space in downtown Chicago. She also has a plan of contacting art dealers, critics, curators and other artists to see her work and to find a gallery to represent her.

THE ROSE ENSEMBLE, St. Paul, Minnesota, is a vocal chamber music ensemble dedicated to strengthening the cultural life of the community through historically informed, educational, dramatic performances of ancient music in striking acoustical settings. The group principally focuses on music composed before 1750, but also regularly commissions new works reminiscent of early music through its Composer-in-Residence Program. A Jerome Foundation grant of $15,000 was authorized for the 2000-01 composer residency of William Beckstrand. He will write two works for Ensemble performances.

Jerome Foundation Directors authorized a two-year grant of $48,000 to ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, New York City, a leader in new music, offering over 50 concerts each year; paying fees to artists; commissioning new work; providing publicity, production and recording facilities; and initiating recording and distribution programs. Its concert series of experimental and adventurous music provides significant opportunities for composers to perform their work for live audiences and for audiences to learn about new directions in music. A large percentage of the Roulette schedule is given to the work of emerging composers; and it is for their participation that Jerome support was authorized.