Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and ASU Gammage at Arizona State University seek four artists from the Southwest region with field experience, interested in exploring issues of racial equity in the arts, desiring to engage with an educational institution and Arizona’s communities. The deadline to apply is March 15.

Projecting All Voices (PAV), an initiative of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts supported by ASU Gammage, aims to support racial equity and inclusion in arts and design so that our nation’s cultural life honors and represents the full creative diversity of our country’s population. PAV provides opportunities for artists and designers to advance ideas and projects that investigate identity, cultural heritage, power, race, policy, ability and/or place and community. PAV also focuses on curricular change in arts and design colleges as well as civic and social practices in arts and design that create equitable communities. PAV seeks transformation in educational and cultural institutions to enable the full expression of all creative voices.

A program of PAV, the Mellon Fellowship supports underrepresented artists from the Southwest region who are interested in exploring issues of racial equity in the arts, engaging with an educational institution, and participating in an intergenerational mentorship cohort. Fellows will work with communities underrepresented in higher education and art institutions as that work relates to their own interests and creative practices. Fellows will also inform conversations about how educational and cultural institutions must adapt to prepare, support and advance the creative voices of a changing America through an equitable lens and framework of practice.

Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellows will receive: a $38,000 honorarium, travel funding and support, mentorship options, opportunities to co-develop a visiting artist series, coaching to develop their documentation skills, access to ASU resources and opportunities to develop and present their work.

 

Learn more and apply >>

DATE: January 15, 2020

CONTACT: Jenina Podulka, jeninapodulka@nationalguild.org

 

Creative Youth Development National Partnership to receive $50,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

New York, NY—The National Guild for Community Arts Education has been approved for a $50,000 Arts Works grant to support the Creative Youth Development National Partnership. This project will support the continued implementation of the National Action Blueprint for Creative Youth Development, a collective impact project. Overall, the National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.  

The Art Works funding category supports projects that focus on public engagement with, and access to, various forms of excellent art across the nation; the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence; learning in the arts at all stages of life; and the integration of the arts into the fabric of community life.

“The arts are at the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment chairman Mary Anne Carter. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like the Creative Youth Development National Partnership.”

About the Creative Youth Development National Partnership:

The CYD National Partnership aims to ensure that creative youth development is a broadly-implemented, well-researched, and equitably-funded practice and available to all youth. In 2018, the Partnership created the CYD National Action Blueprint in concert with 650+ cross-sector stakeholders, calling for all young people to have equitable access to opportunities to: realize their creative potential; live richer, fuller lives; and develop the critical learning and life skills they need to become active contributors to their communities. The Partnership's work is guided by the core values of CYD: youth voice, racial equity and social justice, and collective action. Activities are focused on three strategic priorities for advancing CYD: Building pathways to funding; Documenting and communicating impact; and Field Building. 

In 2020, key activities of the partnership will include providing joint professional development for three regional networks, online learning opportunities, dissemination of news from the field, and a National Young Artists Summit for teens.

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The 2020 Lewis Prize Awardees have been announced and include multiple National Guild members! These 10 inspiring leaders are doing extraordinary work to build community, foster engaged citizens and support the holistic growth of young people through the catalytic force of music.

The Lewis Prize Board of Directors were so impressed by the 2020 Lewis Prize for Music finalists' commitment that they chose to invest in all of the finalists by giving three award levels. 

Meet the awardees and learn more: https://www.thelewisprize.org/finalists-2020

 

 

Learn more about the arts in your community at arts.gov

 

DATE: January 13, 2020
CONTACT: Victoria Hutter, hutterv@arts.gov, 202-682-5692

 

2020 MUSICAL THEATER SONGWRITING CHALLENGE OPENS FOR SUBMISSIONS

 

Washington, DC—Calling all high school songwriters! Beginning today, January 13, the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Theatre Wing are accepting submissions to the 2020 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. This national contest is for high school students with a passion for writing songs that could be part of a musical theater production and the wide range of musical styles represented in contemporary musicals. The goal of the program is to engage the musical theater field in nurturing the next generation of songwriters.

The Songwriting Challenge provides six winners with a coaching team consisting of a mentor and music director (both musical theater professionals) to hone an original song into a Broadway-ready composition and then have that song recorded by Broadway musicians and vocalists in New York City. Final songs will be distributed on streaming music platforms and compiled into a songbook created by Concord Theatricals. The final recordings of the songs by the 2019 winners are on the recording sessions landing page.

The application is simple and can be completed online. The deadline is April 6, 2020 at midnight ET.

The Arts Endowment and the Wing welcome back Disney Theatrical Productions, Concord Theatricals, and the National Music Publishers’ Association as Songwriting Challenge partners. 

Key dates and details for the 2020 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge are:

•    After the submission deadline of April 6, 2020, the Arts Endowment and the Wing will convene panels in different regions of the country to review all submissions. Each panel consists of experienced songwriters and musicians who select one winner or a duo from its region in a blind competition. Those winners will be announced at the end of May 2020. 

•    Beginning in June, the winners work with their coaches remotely using video conferencing software followed by a weekend workshop later in the summer when the coaches travel to the winner’s hometown. To see workshops in action, go to the workshop landing page for the 2019 winners. At the end of the workshop, the song is transcribed for an ensemble and the winner has the opportunity to select the instruments and voices that make up their ensemble. 

•    The recording sessions take place in the fall when the artists come together in New York City to make the best recording possible. Go to the recording sessions landing page for audio, photos and other materials from the 2019 sessions. Lead vocalists last year included Derek Klena (Jagged Little Pill), Gizel Jimenez (Wicked), and Jessie Shelton (Hadestown) among others. 

To learn more and to apply, go to arts.gov/songwriting. To join the conversation on Twitter use #IWriteMusicals.

 

About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. Visit arts.gov to learn more about National Endowment for the Arts.

About the American Theatre Wing
The American Theatre Wing champions bravery, with a focus on developing the next generation of brave artists. We envision an American Theatre that is as vital, multi-faceted, and diverse as the American people. The Wing’s programs span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American theatre.

We provide theatre education opportunities for underserved students through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative, develop the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC, Theatre Intern Network, and SwingSeats programs, incubate innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, support emerging musical theatre songwriters through the Jonathan Larson® Grants in addition to the Songwriting Challenge, and illuminate the creative process through the Emmy-nominated “Working in the Theatre” documentary series. In addition to founding the Tony Awards®, which are co-presented with The Broadway League, the American Theatre Wing co-presents the Obie Awards®, Off Broadway’s Highest Honor, with The Village Voice. AmericanTheatreWing.org
 

From Arts Education Partnership:

This year, the Arts Education Partnership announced the addition of juvenile justice as a new focus area to its existing scope of work. Through increased funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education, AEP will report on opportunities for the arts in juvenile justice at the community, state and federal levels. This new work will analyze existing research, policies, practices and programs; identify potential information gaps; and provide policy considerations related to the arts in education within this focus area.

Participating in the arts can have positive academic and personal effects for students. Arts engagement can help support present and future outcomes and success for youths, including increased civic engagement, pursuit of high school graduation and interest in college enrollment. Positive outcomes can occur both in and out of school, with findings showing decreased delinquent behavior and increased impacts for historically underserved students.

Nationally, the landscape for this work has expanded, including the work of the Create Justice initiative,  Creative Youth Development National Partnership and the Shakespeare in American Communities program. Over the next year, AEP will join its partner organizations and other stakeholders in contributing to this conversation by sharing more about the role of the arts in youth justice reforms. To ensure that this work remains comprehensive and topical, AEP looks forward to incorporating input from stakeholders across the arts, juvenile justice and education fields.

Please consider this an invitation to share your ideas, questions, resources and programs related to the arts and system-impacted youth.

Read the full story >>

The Lewis Prize for Music has named ten finalists for it's three inaugural $500,000 awards. The Lewis Prize partners with music leaders in diverse and vibrant communities who create positive change by investing in young people. Congratulations to this impressive group of Creative Youth Development leaders from across the country who are enabling young people to thrive. Each finalist is deeply dedicated to strengthening young people in their communities through rigorous and diverse music programs.

Meet them all: https://www.thelewisprize.org/finalists-2020