FY 2005 Grant Awards: Arts on Radio and Television

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

American Documentary, Inc.
New York, NY
$250,000
To support the selection, acquisition, packaging, and promotion of films for broadcast on the public television series P.O.V. ("point of view"). As the longest running PBS series devoted exclusively to the art of independent, non-fiction film, P.O.V. brings documentary artworks -- rarely found in the mainstream media -- to national audiences.

Art 21, Inc.
New York, NY
$150,000
To support the third year of Art:21 -- Art in the Twenty-First Century. A public television series about contemporary visual art and artists in the United States, the project will yield four one-hour programs as well as ancillary outreach activities.

Arts and Visually Impaired Audiences
Seattle, WA
$7,000
To support the production of radio features by Harriet Baskas. Gone -- But Not Quite Forgotten will be a series of short programs introducing national audiences to a variety of traditions and art forms still practiced in small towns.

Atlantic Public Media
Woods Hole, MA
$50,000
To support the production of a radio series showcasing the creative work of new and established radio producers. The Transom Radio Hour will offer national audiences a series of programs based on material from the Peabody Award-winning Web site Transom.org.

Beale Street Caravan, Inc.
Memphis, TN
$10,000
To support the production and national broadcast of the public radio series Beale Street Caravan. Weekly, one-hour programs featuring performances by blues artists will be broadcast on more than 280 public, community, and college radio stations nationwide.

Bowery Arts and Science
New York, NY
$50,000
To support post-production costs of a music performance film by Robert Levi. Hidden Music: Billy Strayhorn's Secret Songs will be a one-hour public television program and will feature newly discovered jazz and vocal compositions written by the co-composer and arranger for the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Capital Concerts, Inc.
Washington, DC
$35,000
The National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth are two patriotic concerts at the United States Capitol that will be nationally broadcast live on PBS in 2005. A national television audience of 13 to 15 million watches each of these 90-minute programs every year.

Center for Independent Documentary, Inc.
Sharon, MA
$50,000
To support completion costs for a documentary film on the American folk singer Woody Guthrie. Intended for national broadcast on PBS, the 90-minute film will examine the life, work, and legacy of the man whose compositions include folk standards such as "This Land is Your Land" and "Roll on Columbia."

Center for Independent Documentary, Inc.
Sharon, MA
$50,000
To support the production and distribution of a film on John James Audubon (1785-1851). Audubon: Drawn from Nature will be a one-hour documentary for PBS about the first great American painter of wildlife.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Inc.
New York, NY
$25,000
To support the production and distribution of a radio series of chamber music performances The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is a 26-part series of one-hour segments distributed by the WFMT Radio Network.

Craft in America, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
$100,000
To support the production of a television series about craft artists in the United States. Presented in three one-hour programs intended for national PBS broadcast, Craft in America will feature contemporary artists and artisans working in glass, metal, clay, wood, and fiber.

Duquesne University (on behalf of WDUQ-FM)
Pittsburgh, PA
$10,000
To support the production and national distribution of a series of radio programs featuring traditional music. Folk Tours will be a series of one-hour programs created from recordings of live performances presented by the National Council for the Traditional Arts.

Educational Broadcasting Corporation
New York, NY
$575,000
To support the development and production of the television series Great Performances and Dance in America for broadcast on PBS. Regardless of geographic or economic limitations, American television audiences in all 50 states will be provided free access to a diverse range of cultural programming in 2006-2007.

Educational Broadcasting Corporation
New York, NY
$575,000
To support the development and production of the television series American Masters for PBS broadcast. Definitive documentary profiles of major cultural figures will be made available in 2006-2007 to millions of viewers, in all 50 states, over 345 public television stations.

ETV Endowment of South Carolina, Inc.
Spartanburg, SC
$65,000
To support the production of new programs for the weekly radio series Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz. National Public Radio will distribute the programs to American audiences on 246 stations in the United States, and to international audiences via NPR's Worldwide Service.

From the Top, Inc.
Boston, MA
$65,000
To support the production of new programs for the public radio series From the Top. The weekly, hour-long radio program features performances by exceptional young classical musicians (ages 9 to 18), interviews, guest artists, and a teenage "roving reporter" who profiles the young musicians.

Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association, Inc.
Arlington, VA
$25,000
To support the production and distribution of the radio series Center Stage from the Library of Congress. A series of 13 one-hour programs will present recent performances, archival audio recordings, and descriptions of artifacts and other classical music resources at the Library.

Independent Television Service, Inc.
San Francisco, CA
$175,000
To support the selection, acquisition, and packaging of films for the public television series Independent Lens. This anthology series provides the public with access to innovative dramatic, animated, and documentary works by independent filmmakers.

Koahnic Broadcast Corporation
Anchorage, AK
$25,000
To support the production of the weekly radio series Earthsongs. The one-hour program features recordings and live performances of contemporary Native American music and reaches an estimated audience of more than 60,000 people each week.

L A Theatre Works
Venice, CA
$40,000
To support the production and distribution of The Play's The Thing, a radio theater series intended for broadcast on satellite and public radio stations nationwide. The 52-week series will include up to 16 new radio plays, recorded live before audiences in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles as well as selections from L.A. Theatre Works' extensive audio theater collection.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
New York, NY
$200,000
To support the production and broadcast of the television series Live From Lincoln Center. In 2006, the series will be aired on approximately 300 PBS stations across all 50 states and territories, reaching five million viewers per program.

MediaRites
Portland, OR
$13,000
To support the production of a radio documentary by Dmae Roberts. The Crossing East Music Project, will be a series of short public radio features focusing on Asian American traditional music performed by folk and contemporary artists.

Metropolitan Opera Association, Inc.
New York, NY
$75,000
To support post-production costs for a national PBS telecast of Richard Strauss's Salome. Distributed to PBS stations nationwide, Metropolitan Opera Presents is seen by two to three million viewers per program.

Minnesota Public Radio, Inc.
St. Paul, MN
$50,000
To support the development of arts segments for the new radio magazine program Weekend America. Produced and distributed by American Public Media, the two-hour program features segments on news, issues of the week, and the diversity of American arts and culture.

Minnesota Public Radio, Inc.
St. Paul, MN
$150,000
To support the production and national broadcast of classical music programming. In 2005-06 programs such as St. Paul Sunday and Pipedreams, broadcasts of the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra series, and occasional music specials will reach millions of listeners each week.

National Public Radio
Washington, DC
$150,000
To support the Classical Music Initiative. The project will include the recording, acquisition, and national radio broadcast of selected American orchestral performances on Performance Today, SymphonyCast, and Creators @ Carnegie; the presentation of American operatic productions for the World of Opera radio series; and the coverage of classical music throughout NPR's news programs.

Newark Public Radio, Inc.
Newark, NJ
$65,000
To support the production of JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater, a weekly radio series of jazz concerts. The series is produced by WBGO/Newark and distributed by NPR, reaching nearly 200,000 listeners each week throughout the United States.

North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc.
Dallas, TX
$15,000
To support the cost of public television broadcast and educational/DVD distribution rights for a documentary film profile of theater producer/director Margo Jones (1911-55). Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater tells the story of Jones's rise to prominence as the founder and director of Fair Park in Dallas, the first professional resident theater outside New York.

Paradigm Productions, Inc.
Emeryville, CA
$25,000
To support completion costs for a documentary film on Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949). Orozco rivaled Diego Rivera in technique, authenticity, and talent, but never achieved the same recognition.

Pennsylvania Public Radio Associates, Inc.
Chester Springs, PA
$40,000
To support the production of concerts and sound portraits for Echoes, a daily radio series of contemporary music. The series will serve a weekly audience of more than 300,000 listeners on 150 stations in 35 states and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Public Radio International, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
$65,000
To support the production, distribution, and marketing of Studio 360. The series of weekly arts and culture radio programs, designed to illuminate the role of the arts in our society, is a co-production of PRI and WNYC/FM.

Public Radio International, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
$25,000
To support the production of "The Global Hit" segments on the weekday news and information program The World. The daily feature showcases world music for American audiences, offering listeners a unique perspective on other cultures through the medium of music.

Radio Foundation, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the production of a public radio series that will examine the role of Jewish Americans in the arts. Only in America: Celebrating 350 Years of the Jewish Experience will consist of nine one-hour programs, with four programs devoted to the contributions of artists.

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival
Santa Fe, NM
$25,000
To support the development and production of a chamber music series for national radio broadcast. The series, created from recordings made at recent Festival concerts, will be produced and distributed by the WFMT Radio Network.

Sound Portraits Productions, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the production of weekly radio segments created from selected StoryCorps interviews. A collaboration between Sound Portraits Productions, the Library of Congress, and public radio stations, StoryCorps is a nationwide project aimed at inspiring Americans to record one another's stories in sound.

Symphony Space, Inc.
New York, NY
$35,000
To support the production of the public radio series Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story, and the distribution of related audiocassettes. The series, which will air on more than 120 National Public Radio stations, will present leading stage and screen actors reading both classic and new short fiction by established and emerging authors of diverse cultures.

Texas Folklife Resources
Austin, TX
$10,000
To support the development of a series of radio programs. Border Radio will explore the history of the megawatt stations set up in Mexico along its border with the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Texas Public Radio
San Antonio, TX
$25,000
To support the weekly public radio jazz series Riverwalk, Live From the Landing. Distributed by Public Radio International to 151 stations nationwide, each hour-long program combines live performance with interviews, oral histories, and historical recordings to celebrate important artists and eras in jazz history.

Tundra Club
Bozeman, MT
$35,000
To support the production and national distribution of (((Hearing Voices))), a series of radio art specials. Twelve hour-long programs will present classic works combined with new stories created by established and emerging radio producers.

University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
$75,000
To support the production and national distribution of American Routes, a weekly radio series devoted to the roots of popular music and popular roots music. Folklorist Nick Spitzer hosts the two-hour, weekend-oriented program, in which he combines recordings of popular, folk, jazz, and classical forms with in-studio performances, field recordings, and interviews.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.
Charleston, WV
$25,000
To support the production and broadcast of the radio series Mountain Stage. Distributed by Public Radio International to 106 stations throughout the United States, the weekly, two-hour program presents contemporary music and traditional roots performers.

WHYY, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
$70,000
To support the production and national broadcast of the radio series Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The award-winning daily journal of contemporary arts, culture, and issues is broadcast on 445 NPR stations and heard by 4.4 million people each week.

Window to the World Communications, Inc.
Chicago, IL
$100,000
To support the production and national distribution of the radio series Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin. The series consists of daily (Monday through Friday) one-hour programs focusing on classical music in an informed, educational, and entertaining manner.

WNYC Radio, Inc.
New York, NY
$25,000
To support a model radio programming project. Through The Integration Project, WNYC will develop programs that bridge classical music and news/talk formats within its own broadcast schedule, encourage local stations around the country to customize the model for their own communities, and make innovative programs available for national broadcast.

WNYC Radio, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the production of The Next Big Thing, a weekly public radio series reflecting the artistic life of a multicultural city. Hosted by Dean Olsher and distributed nationally by PRI, the series commissions radio producers, writers, musicians, artists, and performers to create new works for the radio medium.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Vienna, VA
$25,000
To support the production and distribution of the radio series Center Stage from Wolf Trap near Washington, DC. The series provides national audiences with chamber music performances recorded at the Barns of Wolf Trap.

World Music Productions
Brooklyn, NY
$45,000
To support the production and distribution of the weekly public radio program Afropop Worldwide. The series showcases the contemporary musical cultures of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas, and is distributed by Public Radio International to approximately 100 radio stations in the United States.

Total grants: 47
Total dollars: $3,850,000

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506