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National Endowment for the Arts Announces Presenters Component of American Masterpieces National Initiative

 

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Sally Gifford
202-682-5606
giffords@arts.gov

NEA Chairman Dana Gioia announces initiative at Arts Presenters Conference

Embargoed until
January 19, 2007 at 8:00 pm EST

Washington, D.C. -- The National Endowment for the Arts announces a new component of the NEA National Initiative American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. The new component will invite the nation's Presenters to participate in American Masterpieces, a program that shares the best of American cultural and artistic legacy through touring, presentation, and arts education. NEA Chairman Dana Gioia will make the announcement at the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in New York City on Saturday, January 20.

"The Arts Endowment recognizes that today Presenters are an integral part of American communities," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "American Masterpieces: Presenting will allow American audiences access to the excellent artistic work that is occurring in communities, large and small, throughout the country."

The NEA has long supported the field of Presenting, which has developed and matured in the past 50 years. The United States has more than 7,000 Presenting organizations – from Lincoln Center in New York City to the National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, Georgia – that reflect the broad spectrum of arts and culture across the nation. Presenters identify the unique needs of their audiences and select local, national and international artists to present in their communities. They are also are a key partner of the NEA and are uniquely positioned to achieve the goals of the American Masterpieces program.

"The greatest strength of American Masterpieces: Presenting is that it will allow presenters to curate by producing and presenting artistically excellent projects that they deem worthy of recognition by the field, the NEA and American Audiences," said Mario Garcia Durham, NEA Director of Presenting.

American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius is an NEA National Initiative that consists of three components – touring, local presentations, and arts education. Through the initiative, the NEA provides support for programs that present acknowledged masterpieces in a variety of art forms to large and small communities across the country. American Masterpieces supports performances, exhibitions, tours, and educational programs across all art forms that will reach all 50 states. Since the program launched in January 2004, 48 grants totaling $3.5 million have been awarded in choral, music, musical theater, and visual arts for touring performances and exhibitions. Highlight projects include:

  • The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC for a touring exhibition of Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series, with accompanying education programs. The exhibition examines the aesthetic, cultural, and historical dimensions of Lawrence's (1917-2000) epic The Migration of the Negro series, the seminal work of one of the most prominent African American artists of the 20th Century.

  • The 2007 official centennial production of Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The production by the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma will honor the state's centennial year and be performed in Oklahoma City's newly renovated Civic Center Music Hall.

  • The Providence Singers in support of a regional choral festival in Providence, RI. Activities include commissions; concerts of American repertoire; workshops; a community sing led by composer, conductor, and educator Alice Parker; and the development of education materials for local music educators.

NEA Chairman Gioia will discuss American Masterpieces: Presenting at the 50th Annual Members Conference of The Association of Performing Arts Presenters (Arts Presenters) in New York City from January 19 - 23, 2007. The Conference, themed "Presenting America: Perspectives and Dialogue," will be attended by 4,200 individuals from all 50 states and more than 25 different countries who work in the performing arts. Arts Presenters is the largest national service and advocacy organization for the performing arts, and is dedicated to bringing artists and audiences together through presenting and touring.

Information on American Masterpieces: Presenting

Grant guidelines for American Masterpieces: Presenting will be available at the NEA website in June 2007, and Presenters will be able to apply in September 2007. Presenting organizations of all sizes, genres, and aesthetics will be encouraged to apply. Panels of experts in the field, as well as representatives from all the regions of the nation, will recommend projects for funding. For more information, visit the NEA website at www.arts.gov.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts – both new and established – bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.


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