Past
Grantees

PANGEA WORLD THEATER, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of the participation of emerging theater creators in the Alternate Visions Program. Pangea World Theater illuminates the human condition, celebrates cultural differences, and promotes human rights by creating and presenting international interdisciplinary theater. Alternate Visions supports emerging playwrights of color through dramaturgy, readings, workshops, and productions. This core program also infuses Pangea's season with bold and energetic new works.

PERFORMANCE SPACE 122, New York City, received $43,000 in support of 2014-15 Performance Commissions for emerging New York City-based artists. PS 122 provides incomparable experiences for audiences by presenting and commissioning artists whose work challenges boundaries of live performance. It is dedicated to supporting creative risks taken by artists from diverse genres, cultures, and perspectives. Jerome-supported commissions will be given to emerging artists to develop new work, enabling them to take risks, hone their skills, create thoughtful work, and develop audiences for their work. Commissioning new works by artists who have not yet received wide recognition supports the development of their practices and enriches the cultural petri dish that is New York City. Some of these works will be presented during the COIL Festival and some in the RAMP series.

PETRUS, JUNAUDA, Minnesota, will travel to New York City to study West African and Afro-Cuban dance at Cumbe, the Center for African and African Diasporic dance, and also to study aerial silks and corde lisse (smooth hanging rope) with Kiebpoli Calnek and Sego Marchand. Petrus’ work integrates aerial dance with contemporary movement and social-political themes regarding the black female body in a domestic space. The opportunity will help her deepen her technical skills and hone her choreographic craft.

PHILANTHROPY NEW YORK, New York City, received $1,200 as Jerome Foundation’s Associate Membership and in general support of its program. Philanthropy New York is a regional association of grantmakers based in the State of New York. Its mission is to enhance and increase the ability of organizational and individual philanthropists whose missions focus on New York, the United States, and around the globe to serve the public good. Its goals are to support meaningful collaboration and knowledge-sharing among granters and their grantees, promote effective and strategic philanthropy, inform in advance public policies that support effective philanthropy and a productive nonprofit sector, and foster effective communications about the value of philanthropy and the philanthropic sector.

PILLSBURY UNITED COMMUNITIES, on behalf of PILLSBURY HOUSE + THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $12,000 in support of the development and production of new works by emerging playwrights for Pillsbury House Theatre’s mainstage programming. The Theatre is a diverse company of artists working in partnership with diverse audiences to create transformational arts experiences. Its mission is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change, and connection. Jerome support will contribute to the production of Death Tax by Lucas Hnath; underwrite the 2015 Three Mondays Reading Series, which showcases the work of emerging playwrights; and continue the Theatre’s new play development activities including commissioning, workshops, and dramaturgical support.

PILLSBURY UNITED COMMUNITIES, on behalf of PILLSBURY HOUSE + THEATRE, Minneapolis, Minnesota, received $36,500 in support of the participation of emerging artists based in Minnesota and New York City in the 2014 Late Nite Series. Pillsbury House Theatre was launched in 1992 as a professional arts institution committed to the Settlement House tradition of creating art in collaboration with community. Its mission is to create challenging theatre to inspire choice, change, and connection. Non-English Speaking Spoken Here: The Late Nite Series is a transformation of culture where text, music, spoken word, sounds, and images weave together in a fearless celebration of new voices and new art. The program provides support for artistic exploration by emerging artists. The works are presented in development. Emerging artists from the disciplines of dance, music, poetry, film/video, and theater push the boundaries of their art forms.

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS, New York City, received a two-year grant of $50,000 in support of the participation of emerging playwrights in the New Works Lab, and full production of new scripts by emerging playwrights. Playwrights Horizons is a writer’s theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new works. The theater distinguished by the caliber of its work and steadfast commitment to the voices of American writers. The primary purpose of the New Works Lab is to provide writers with developmental opportunities, affording them the time and space to collaborate and hear their work read aloud. In permutations ranging from one-day readings to extensive weeklong workshops, each developmental process is structured to meet the needs of the individual playwright and her/his project.

THE POETRY PROJECT, New York City, received $21,000 in support of Emerge-Surface-Be. The Poetry Project presents contemporary poetry to diverse audiences; increases public awareness, recognition, and appreciation for poetry and other arts; provides a community setting in which poets and artists exchange ideas and information; and encourages the participation and development of new poets from a broad range of styles. Initiated in 2013, Emerge-Surface-Be serves three emerging poets, selected by and paired with mentors. Over the course of nine months, the emerging poets are given opportunities to develop their craft and complete writing projects. Emerge-Surface-Be fellows have access to all Poetry Project events, including a reading within the Monday Night Reading Series, posting work on The Poetry Project website, and attending fellows-only gatherings.

POETS HOUSE, New York City, received $34,000 in support of its Emerging Poets Fellowship Program. Poets House is a comfortable, accessible place for poetry—a library and meeting place that invites poets and the public to step into the living tradition of poetry. It seeks to document the wealth and diversity of modern poetry, to stimulate dialogue on issues of poetry in culture, and to cultivate a wider audience for poetry. The Emerging Poets Fellowship Program is an opportunity for poets to receive guidance and instruction from a distinguished and diverse faculty and enter the next stage of their professional and artistic practice. The twelve-week program consists of weekly writing workshops, mentoring sessions, meetings with guest speakers, free access to Poet House events and archival resources, an honorarium and travel subsidy, and a final group reading. Poets are selected through an open call and panel review process.

POETS HOUSE, New York City, received $28,000 in support of the Emerging Poets Fellowship 3 Program. Poets House, a national poetry library and literary center, seeks to document the wealth and diversity of modern poetry, to stimulate dialogue on issues of poetry in culture, and to cultivate a wider audience for poetry. The Emerging Poets Fellowship Program selects emerging poets with demonstrable talent, accomplishment, and need, to receive writing instruction, one-on-one consultations, mentoring, networking opportunities, career counseling, literary field trips, opportunities to present their work to the public; and more. Twelve workshop sessions constitute the core of the program, supplemented by one-on-one tutorials, guest lectures, field trips, the publication of a chapbook, and a public reading. The program is open to emerging poets living in the five boroughs of New York City.

POMEROY, CARRIE, Minnesota, will travel to Bologna, Italy, to do research for a narrative nonfiction book about Charlie Chaplin at the Chaplin Archive in Bologna. Pomeroy is currently working on the fourth draft of a book for young adult readers about the making of Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 silent comedy The Kid. The Chaplin Archive at the Cineteca di Bologna holds the largest collection of Chaplin materials in the world, and, in many cases, is the only place to access key primary sources.

THE QUEENS MUSEUM, Queens, New York, received a two-year grant of $228,000 to launch a new Queens Museum/Jerome Foundation Fellowship Program for emerging artists based in New York City. The Queens Museum is dedicated to presenting the highest quality visual arts and educational programming for people in the New York Metropolitan area and particularly for the residents of Queens. It fulfills its mission by designing and providing art exhibitions, public programs, and educational experiences that promote the appreciation and enjoyment of art, support the creative efforts of artists, and enhance the quality of life through interpreting, collecting, and exhibiting art, architecture, and design. Building upon the Museum’s long and vital history of nurturing emerging artists, this new fellowship program will be part of the Museum’s Artist Services Program, awarding annually to three promising New York City-based emerging artists fellowships of $20,000, and the opportunity to concentrate on the development of their art, participate in professional development opportunities, host studio visits with curators and guest critics, and develop and present their work in an exhibition at the Museum.

RAMASWAMY, ASHWINI, Minnesota, will travel to Chennai, India, to observe the choreographic process of Alarmél Valli, world-renowned practitioner and teacher of the Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam. Ramaswamy has been studying Bharatanatyam since the age of six and dancing in the Twin Cities for twenty-five years with Ragamala Dance. As an emerging choreographer, she is excited to study with Valli as she strives to form a clear aesthetic that is distinctly her own.

RHIZOME, New York City, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of Rhizome Commissions to New York City-based emerging artists for the creation of new works. Rhizome supports contemporary art that creates richer and more critical digital cultures. Each emerging artist will create works that take various forms tied together by their considered illumination of contemporary digital culture. Awards generally range from $1,000 to $5,000. An independent jury reviews submissions filed in response to an open call. As an arts organization based on the Internet, Rhizome re-thinks artistic creation, distribution, and reception in relation to changing conditions associated with network technologies. It functions as an affiliate in residence at the New Museum.

The ROCHESTER ART CENTER, Rochester, Minnesota, received a two-year grant of $40,000 in support of the 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Series. The Center, through exhibitions and programs, presents a welcoming, integrated, and diverse experience that encourages questioning, creativity, and critical thinking. The 3rd Floor Emerging Artist Exhibition Series is an ongoing exhibition program dedicated to promising young Minnesota artists. There are four shows each year. The Center selects the emerging artists from applications submitted in response to an open call, utilizing a rotating independent panel. Each exhibition is accompanied by a gallery guide, opening reception, and an artist’s talk on concepts and practices.

JESSE ROESLER, Minneapolis, (previous recipient) received support for The Taste of Place, a feature-length documentary. From Vermont maple syrup to Yukon River salmon, some foods are what they are because of where they’re from. A cinematic odyssey through North America’s most dramatic and diverse landscapes, The Taste of Place explores the symbiotic relationships between humans, plants, animals and the environment as they bring something utterly unique into this world - and why many of these inimitable foods are becoming threatened. Why does honey from the banks of the Apalachicola River have a kick of cinnamon unlike any other? Why is salmon from the Yukon River the richest in the world? Why does one cave in Greensboro, Vermont, produce so many of the world’s most intense cheeses? The answer is terroir, or the taste of place. Originally used by the French to describe the way local conditions such as soil and climate affect the flavor of a wine, terroir has been overlooked (and often mispronounced) by Americans. Not for much longer. For those who have embraced the local and artisan food movement, the concept of this film will showcase the natural landscape and illuminate why place matters to what we eat. It will be a cinematic guide to the "flavor landscapes" of some of our most iconic foods: honey, maple syrup, coffee, oysters, salmon, wild mushrooms, cheese, and chocolate.

DUSTIN M. ROSEMARK, Rochester, (previous recipient) received support for Looking At: Looking Into, a series of six silent, two-minute experimental films on the subject of Mediated Voyeurism, the act of consuming voyeuristic content through means of a third party, most typically through a mass media outlet such as television, radio, newsprint, or the internet. Each of the six films will be a different vignette in the lives of everyday people. None of the stories or characters are related, save for their voyeuristic nature. Each film will be presented inside a Mutoscope, an exhibition device from the earliest days of cinema. Mutoscopes are fundamentally voyeuristic objects and present content differently than a television or movie screen. By presenting stories told in a voyeuristic fashion through Mutoscopes, filmmaker Rosemark hopes to compel the viewer to examine his or her own relationship with Mediated Voyeurism. The overall message of Looking At: Looking Into is a commentary on how the proliferation of voyeurism through contemporary mass media affects our lives.

MARK ELIJAH ROSENBERG received support for Approaching the Unknown, a feature-length drama about Captain William D. Stanaforth, an astronaut on a one-way mission toward the unknown. A month after the first NASA spaceship bound for Mars explodes, Captain Stanaforth is alone aboard a spaceship awaiting his own launch. With the eyes of the world watching, knowing he’ll never again see Earth, but steadfast in his commitment to the mission, Stanaforth launches on a one-way mission to Mars. His only hope for companionship is Captain Emily Maddox, who is on her own Mars-bound solitary journey. Initially, she has no time for camaraderie—but when her ship’s navigation goes haywire and her life hangs in the precarious balance of space, Stanaforth risks his life in a daring remote rescue, saving Maddox and gaining a confidante. He wrestles with isolation and mental anguish, questioning the very purpose of the mission even as he tries to hide the ship’s problems and his own weakening condition. Meanwhile, Maddox loses course without enough fuel to get back to where she needs to be, and drifts off into the abyss. Given this crisis, Stanaforth is faced with what it means to be a hero, or to complete his mission no matter the cost.

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM, New York City, received a two-year grant of $128,000 in support of programs for emerging composers based in New York City. For over three decades, Roulette Intermedium has presented experimental music and intermedia, most recently in a 400-seat theatre in Brooklyn. Its purpose is to support artists through presenting a substantial and diverse program of concerts, commissioning new work, paying artists a deserving fee, and finding artists and audiences interested in learning about developments in experimental art. Jerome support is directed to two programs, the first a commissioning program that annually provides four New York City-based emerging composers with commissions, fees to cover rehearsal and production, and concerts featuring their new works. The second is a residency program that provides fees and stipends to five emerging composers to develop new work while in residence at Roulette. They receive a substantial number of hours in the space and concerts.