Division of the Arts Invites Public Comment on Design Delaware 2.0: A Strategic Plan for the Arts

The Delaware Division of the Arts is inviting public comment on the final draft of its new strategic plan, Design Delaware 2.0. Comments may be submitted by email to delarts@delaware.gov from February 12-22, 2015.

Over the past several months, the Delaware Division of the Arts, the Delaware State Arts Council, and planning consultants Maren Brown Associates, have conducted focus groups, regional meetings, individual interviews, and online surveys. More than 900 people, representing a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, have provided input about how the arts can help to enrich our communities and our state.

“We are grateful to everyone who participated in focus group meetings, interviews, and responded to our online surveys,” said Division of the Arts Director Paul Weagraff. “Their input was essential to the process of creating this plan. The result is a strategic plan designed to help us target our resources in effective and productive ways over the next five years.”

The final draft of Design Delaware 2.0 is available here: www.artsdel.org/DesignDelaware/DE-DraftPlan.pdf.

After the public review period ends on February 22, 2015, the final plan will be submitted to the Delaware State Arts Council for approval.

Seventeen High School Students Compete in 2015 Delaware Poetry Out Loud State Finals

POL10 Students from seventeen Delaware high schools will participate in the Poetry Out Loud state finals at the Smyrna Opera House on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 7 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock will greet contestants and give opening remarks.

The winner will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete in the national championship April 27-29, 2015, where $50,000 in cash prizes and school stipends are awarded.

Each of the seventeen participants will recite poetry that they have selected, studied, and practiced, representing more than 40 different poets including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Lewis Carroll, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. The recitations are inspiring, moving, animated, sometimes humorous, and always engaging.

The 2015 participants are:

Andrew S.K. Dingwall, Wilmington Christian School
Hannah Duffy, Sanford School
Kate Goorland, Ursuline Academy
Brianne Gray, Seaford Senior High School
Genevieve Hahn, Mount Sophia Academy
Caitlin Mannering, St. Mark’s High School
Ayanna Matunda, Concord High School
Shannon Murray, Padua Academy
Eden Negusse, Glasgow High School
Jessica Pigeon, Caravel Academy
Jake Scheir, Dover High School
Gustavo Silveira, Wilmington Friends School
Reanna Virginia Skinner, First State School
Jarinat Sola-Rufai, Red Lion Christian Academy
Hannah Sturgis, Polytech High School
Frank Thomson, Brandywine High School
Kana Turley, Tall Oaks Classical School

To learn more about the individual students and insights into their reasons for participating in the program, read their biographies.

Director/Actor/Producer Jeffrey Santoro, artistic director and producer of Delaware All State Theatre will be the Master of Ceremonies. Adjudicators include Russell Endo, Dr. Carol Henderson, Ginny Jewell, Mary Margaret Pauer and the Twin Poets, Al Mills and the Honorable Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha. They bring their personal and professional experience as poets, educators, and performing artists to judge the participants on physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy. The 2014 Delaware Poetry Out Loud champion, Kathleen Becker, will serve as the accuracy judge, ensuring that competitors recite the poems correctly.

The Delaware Division of the Arts sponsors the Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest program in Delaware schools and the state finals. Competition begins at the classroom level in the fall and culminates with the state finals each spring. Twenty-three schools and over 2,000 Delaware students participated in the Poetry Out Loud program in the current academic year.

The Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest competition is presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. For more details about the partnership and program, click here.

Artist Fellow B. Proud to show work in the Mezzanine Gallery in February

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of original work by B. Proud from February 6 – 27, 2015. The Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. A reception will be held for the exhibition where the public can meet the artist on Friday, February 6, 2015 from 5:00-8:00 p.m.

The exhibition, titled First Comes Love, presents a series of portraits of LGBTQ couples and is accompanied by their personal stories. The exhibition has traveled widely and has received numerous awards and grants. The First Comes Love project has also been collected in a hardbound book.

Proud is the recipient of a 2014 Delaware Division of the Arts Established Artist Professional Fellowship in Photography. She has traveled and exhibited her work widely. Proud works as both a fine art and commercial photographer and also instructs at The University of The Arts in Philadelphia. Proud lives and works in Wilmington, Delaware.

Delaware Division of the Arts Awards 16 Individual Artist Fellowships

Sixteen Delaware artists are being recognized by the Delaware Division of the Arts for the high quality of their artwork. Work samples from 91 Delaware choreographers, composers, musicians, writers, and visual artists were reviewed by out-of-state arts professionals, considering demonstrated creativity and skill in their art form. The 16 selected fellows reside throughout Delaware, including in Bethel, Dover, Lewes, New Castle, Newark, Rehoboth Beach, and Wilmington.

Awards are given in three categories—$3,000 for the Emerging Professional Award, $6,000 for the Established Professional Award, and $10,000 for the Masters Award. Artist fellows are required to offer at least one exhibit or performance during the upcoming year, providing an opportunity for the public to experience their work.

“Individual Artist Fellowship grants provide the recognition and exposure that artists need to successfully promote their work,” said Delaware Division of the Arts Director Paul Weagraff. “The financial award allows them to pursue advanced training, purchase equipment and materials, or fulfill other needs to advance their careers.”

The Masters Fellowship is open to differing artistic disciplines each year. In Fiscal Year 2015, Masters Fellowship applications were accepted in Dance, Jazz, and Music, from artists who had previously received an Established Professional Fellowship. In addition to exemplifying high artistic quality, Masters Fellowship applicants must also demonstrate their involvement and commitment to the arts in Delaware.

Kimberly Reighley (Wilmington) has been awarded this year’s Masters Fellowship. Reighley plays baroque and modern flute, is co-artistic director of Mélomanie, plays principal flute with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and OperaDelaware, and has performed with Brandywine Baroque as well as numerous ensembles in Pennsylvania and California.

Listed below are the 16 Delaware Division of the Arts 2015 Individual Artist Fellows and three Honorable Mentions. Contact information for the artists may be obtained from Roxanne Stanulis, the Division’s Artist Services Coordinator, at (302) 577-8283 or Roxanne.Stanulis@delaware.gov.

2015 INDIVIDUAL ARTIST FELLOWS

Masters Award ($10,000)

Kimberly Reighley, Wilmington, Music: Solo Recital

Established Professional Award ($6,000)

Robert M. Bickey, Wilmington, Visual Arts: Sculpture
Gail Braune Comorat, Lewes, Literature: Poetry
Kevin Cope, Newark, Music: Composition
Christopher Nichols, Newark, Music: Solo Recital
Russell Reece, Bethel, Literature: Fiction
Jeffrey Rubin, Wilmington, Visual Arts: Photography
Billie Travalini, Wilmington, Literature: Creative Nonfiction
Lance Winn, Wilmington, Visual Arts: Painting

Emerging Professional Award ($3,000)

Judy Catterton, Rehoboth Beach, Literature: Creative Nonfiction
Barbara Gray, Wilmington, Literature: Fiction
Tom Newby, Wilmington, Visual Arts: Painting
Britania Redington, Dover, Music: Solo Recital
James Ulry, Dover, Visual Arts: Crafts
Lindsey Warren, Newark, Literature: Poetry
Karoline Wileczek, Newark, Visual Arts: Works on Paper

Honorable Mention

Kevin Bielicki, Wilmington, Visual Arts: Sculpture
Yaprak Soysal, Bear, Visual Arts: Photography
Shannon Connor Winward, Newark, Literature: Fiction

The next deadline for Individual Artist Fellowship applications is August 3, 2015.

Delaware Division of the Arts Grant Applications for FY2016 are Now Available at www.artsdel.org/grants

The Delaware Division of the Arts has opened its online application process for Delaware-based arts organizations, community organizations, and schools to apply for funding of arts programming and projects taking place during Fiscal Year 2016.

While some organizational grants are available throughout the year on a rolling deadline basis, others have an annual application deadline of March 1 (March 2 in 2015, due to March 1 falling on a Sunday).

“We always advise prospective applicants to contact the Division staff before submitting an application, especially for the first time,” said Paul Weagraff, Division Director. “Staff members can help an applicant determine which grant program is the best fit for their planned project, and can also answer questions about the application and review process.” A list of Division staff members, including their responsibilities and contact information, is available at www.artsdel.org/contact.

Below is a list of the Division’s grants programs. Please visit www.artsdel.org/grants to access the full guidelines for each program and a description of the grant review process.

Grants Open to Delaware Arts Organizations:
• General Operating Support – supports annual operating expenses to ensure that year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Delaware. Applications are reviewed on a three-year cycle for eligible applicants. Due March 2, 2015.
• Arts Stabilization – supports improvements to facilities owned and operated (or under long-term lease) by arts organizations. Up to $20,000. Due March 2, 2015.
• Education Resource – supports proposals that strengthen public school-based arts education projects, programs, and activities that utilize the arts education resources of the Delaware arts community. Up to $20,000. Due March 2, 2015.
• StartUp – supports programming, and develops and strengthens the management capacity of emerging arts organizations. Up to $2,500 plus training. Due March 2, 2015.

Grants Open to Delaware Community-Based Organizations:
(Delaware non-profit organizations and government entities that present arts programming or activities but do not have the arts as their primary mission)
• Project Support – supports arts programs that assist in the growth of a vibrant cultural environment by encouraging the continued development of arts activities in communities throughout the state. Due March 2, 2015.
• Opportunity Grants – supports the presentation of performing, visual, literary, media, or folk arts in communities throughout the state. Up to $1,000. Rolling deadline.

Grants Open to Delaware Schools and School Districts:
• Education Resource – supports proposals that strengthen public school-based arts education projects, programs, and activities that utilize the arts education resources of the Delaware arts community. Up to $20,000. Due March 2, 2015.
• Artist Residency – supports in-school residencies with visual, literary, performing or media artists working with students in the classroom or in professional development workshops with teachers. Rolling deadline.

Grants Open to Delaware Individual Artists:
• Individual Artist Fellowships – support Delaware creative artists working in the visual, performing, media, folk, and literary arts. Fellowships are designed to enable recipients to purchase equipment and materials, allocate working time, or fulfill other needs that will allow them to advance in their careers. Application will open in late spring 2015. Due August 3, 2015.
• Opportunity Grants – support individual artists with unique professional and artistic development or presentation opportunities. Up to $750. Rolling deadline.

The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support artists and arts organizations, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware State Legislature, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.