Twelve High School Students will Compete to be Named Delaware’s Poetry Out Loud State Finalist

Students from twelve Delaware high schools will participate in the Poetry Out Loud state finals at the Smyrna Opera House on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. The winner will receive $200 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete in the national championship April 28-30, 2013 where $50,000 in cash prizes and school stipends are awarded.

Each of the twelve participants will recite poetry that they have selected, studied, and practiced, representing poets including Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Maya Angelou. The recitations are inspiring, moving, animated, sometimes humorous, and always engaging. The 2013 participants are:

Tina Abah, Christiana High School
Kathleen Becker, Red Lion Christian Academy
Daria Chicosky, Padua Academy
Chelsea Finch, St. Elizabeth High School
Hannah Glavin, Wilmington Christian School
Kate Goorland, Ursuline Academy
Joylynn Mbua, Pencader Charter High School
Jordan McMillan, Sanford School
Pratigya Paudel, Dover High School
Idalis Stamas, Polytech High School
Zipporah Ushery, Brandywine High School
Ryan Youngdale, Mount Sophia Academy

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

Liane Hansen, prominent American journalist and Emmy Award-winning radio personality of National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Weekend Edition Sunday,” will be the Mistress of Ceremonies. Adjudicators include The Honorable Donald A. Blakey, Linda Blaskey, Theresa Bennett, Kim Graham, and David Stradley. They bring their personal and professional experience as poets, educators, artists, actors, and directors to judge the participants on physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization, level of difficulty, evidence of understanding, overall performance, and accuracy.

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-seven schools, 102 teachers and 3,035 Delaware students participated in the Poetry Out Loud program in the current academic year.

In February, a semi-final round narrowed the field to our twelve finalists. Students from AI DuPont High School, Appoquinimink High School, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Caravel Academy, Concord High School, Delmar High School, Glasgow High School, Seaford High School, St. Mark’s High School, St. Thomas More Academy, Tall Oaks Classical School, and Urban Promise High School participated in the semi-finals.

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.

Contact:
Roxanne Stanulis
Commications Coordinator
Delaware Division of the Arts
302-736-7435


Grants for Arts Programming Available to Delaware Community Organizations (Deadline to apply: March 1)

Does your nonprofit use the arts to help accomplish its mission? Does your town put on concerts, festivals or artistic events? If so, you may be eligible for a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts.

In addition to grants offered to arts organizations and individual artists, the Division offers grants to community organizations that sponsor arts programs. If you are a 501 (c)(3) organization whose main mission is not the arts, or a municipality that provides arts programs, you may be eligible to apply to the Division of the Arts for support for your project.

The Division of the Arts, a division of the Department of State, is dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts to enhance the quality of life for all Delawareans. With that in mind, the Division offers both Opportunity Grants and Project Support grants to nonprofit community-based organizations and municipalities.

Organizations applying for the first time may wish to apply for a smaller, simpler Opportunity Grant designed for first-time grantees, smaller projects, or new opportunities.

Project Support grants are intended for larger, or more established, projects. Applications are competitive and judged by a panel of evaluators. They are evaluated for artistic quality, accessibility to the community, and management of the project.

Some examples include:
• In Harmony, a year-long concert series sponsored by the Dover Public Library
• The Pegasus Art Program run by the Boys & Girls Club of Delaware
• An artist residency in dance for Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution run by Delaware Pacem in Terris
• The Nanticoke Riverfest put on by the City of Seaford
• A writing and journaling program offered by the Cancer Support Community

Community organizations wishing to request Project Support for an arts program in FY2014 must apply by March 1, 2013 at https://artsdel.egrant.net Find the guidelines for all grants the Division offers at http://www.artsdel.org/grants/default.shtml. A complete list of Project Support grants awarded in FY2013 is available on the grants page as well.

“We always advise prospective applicants to contact Division staff before submitting an application, especially the first time,” says Paul Weagraff, Division Director. “Terry Plummer, our Community Arts Development Coordinator, is always available to answers questions from community organizations about their ideas for arts programming.”

Those interested in applying may contact Ms. Plummer at the Delaware Division of the Arts at 302.577.8280 or at terry.plummer@delaware.gov.


Pastel artist Nicholas Serratore to display landscape paintings in Mezzanine Gallery in December

Nicholas Serratore will present an exhibition titled Walk with Me in the Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery from December 7 – January 4, 2013. Serratore is a recipient of a 2012 Delaware Individual Artist Fellowship in Painting. The Gallery, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. There will be a reception to meet the artist on Friday, December 7 from 5-8 p.m. as part of Wilmington’s Art Loop.

This solo exhibition of Nicholas Serratore’s work will feature landscapes in which he uses pastels to render seemingly commonplace views with dramatic color and energy. The artist wants to evoke moods, thoughts, and memories in the viewer’s own experience of the pieces.

Serratore graduated from the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia and from Wilmington University. He is a member of the Pastel Society of America based in NY, has exhibited in solo exhibitions throughout the state, and has won numerous awards for his pastel landscapes.

To read an article about Serratore, visit the Division’s Individual Artist Fellowship web publication.


Fiber artist Virginia Abrams to display art quilts in the Mezzanine Gallery in November

Picture of Virgina Abram's quilt titled Reflections 10, Sailboat DockingVirginia Abrams will present an exhibition titled Reflections and Transitions in the Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery from November 2-30, 2012. The Gallery, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. There will be a reception to meet the artist on Friday, November 2 from 5-8 p.m. as part of Wilmington’s Art Loop.

This solo exhibition of Virginia Abrams’ work will feature art quilts with abstract designs inspired by observations of the natural world. The natural abstract forms of reflections and structures along the edge of Seneca Lake, NY provide inspiration for the artist’s “Reflections” pieces. Her “Transitions” pieces are created from canvas painted with acrylics, cut, woven, sewn and mounted on stretched canvas.

The Hockessin-based fiber artist has a formal education in chemistry, which aids in the dyeing of fabrics. Abrams has exhibited her work internationally, nationally, regionally, and locally.


William Bretzger to display photographs from Friday Night Football and Gettysburg Series in Mezzanine Gallery

William Bretzger, Individual Artist Fellow in Photography, will present an exhibition titled Depth of Fields in the Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery from October 5-26, 2012. The Gallery, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. There will be a reception to meet the artist on Friday, October 5 from 5-8 p.m. as part of Wilmington’s Art Loop.

This solo exhibition of William Bretzger’s work will feature photographs which range from landscapes of battlefields to the off-the-field action at a football game to scenic fields local to his home of Wilmington. Bretzger works with traditional black-and-white materials and considers the craft of image making an important factor in the presence of his final prints.

Bretzger received his MA in photojournalism from Ohio University School of Visual Communication and is currently a newspaper photographer. This is his first solo exhibition in Wilmington.

To read an article about Bretzger, visit the Division’s Individual Artist Fellowship web publication.