State budget cuts force LEH to cancel Grant deadline
New Orleans– The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, or LEH, facing a mid-year budget cut in its appropriation from the deficit-strapped state of Louisiana, has cancelled its March 15 Outreach grants deadline. The LEH also has had to absorb and cut more than $175,000 in other grants and programs.

LEH officials expect to resume its normal grants deadline schedule for projects funded in fiscal year 2009-2010, contingent upon next year’s state budget, which begins July 1. Grant deadlines for projects beginning after July 1 include:

• Documentary Film and Radio Grants: April 27
• Public Humanities Grants: May 1
• Outreach Grants: May 15

The Feb. 15, 2009, deadline for Louisiana Publishing Initiative Grants remains the same.

The LEH, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, or NEH, is a non-profit organization with the mission to provide Louisianians with access to and an appreciation of their rich, shared and diverse historical, literary and cultural heritage. LEH programs are funded by the NEH and state of Louisiana.

To learn more about LEH grants program, visit www.leh.org or contact Director of Grants Walker Lasiter at 800-909-7990 x132 or lasiter@leh.org.

LEH Annual Awards Banquet
Mark this date – March 21, 2009! The annual LEH will hold its 2009 Annual Awards Banquet at 12:30 p.m. March 21 at the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens in Darrow, Louisiana.  

During the ceremony, the LEH will present awards in the following categories: Louisiana Humanist of the Year, Award for Lifetime Contribution, Chair's Award for Institutional Support, Humanities Documentary Film of the Year Award, Individual Achievement in the Humanities Award, Public Humanities Programming Award, Special Humanities Awards, Humanities Book of the Year, Teacher of the Year Awards, and the Michael P. Smith Award for Documentary Photography.

The LEH will announce the 2009 award winners in the February LEH e-newsletter. Admission to the event is $50.  Checks can be sent to 938 Lafayette St., Ste. 300, New Orleans, LA 70113, or contact Brian Boyles at 504-620-2632 or boyles@leh.org.

New Piano Night Series Starts with David Torkanowsky on Jan. 21st, 7pm
In the vibrant musical history of New Orleans, there is no more vital strand than the piano player tradition.  From Gottschalk to Jelly Roll, Fess to Harry Connick, Jr.,the city's great pianists have shaped the sound and image of the city, defining its style while carrying on its collective memory.  The "Professors" Series is dedicated to the celebration and exploration of the tradition in its present forms and personalities.
 
The piano nights at the LHC will consist of two sets by local piano players.  Between sets, renowned documentarian and WWOZ DJ David Kunian will interview these modern day professors in a conversation about their backgrounds, influences, and insights into the New Orleans piano style.  A short reception will follow the second set.
 
The series kicks off on Wednesday, January 21st, at 7pm with David Torkanowsky.  A beloved artist on the local scene, David has appeared on recordings with Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, Red Tyler, Johnny Adams, Solomon Burke, and Boney James, as well as his own albums, and can be heard in venues across the city.  The "Professors" series will give audience members a chance to hear from him about his life as a piano player in New Orleans. 
 
After a break for Mardi Gras, the series will continue on March 11th with Ronald Markham, CEO of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. 
 
Admission is $5 and doors open at 7pm.  To make reservations or for press inquiries, contact Brian Boyles at 504.620.2632 or boyles@leh.org.

LEH receives grants
The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is pleased to announce that it has received three important grants in support of its statewide humanities programming:

• The Helis Foundation has presented the LEH a generous grant for $84,000 to purchase six John Scott artworks to add to the LEH’s growing collection. Thanks to this grant, the LEH now has 23 John Scott works in its collection. Last year, the Helis Foundation assisted the LEH in acquiring four Scott art works.
• The Zemurray Foundation has contributed an extraordinary gift of $50,000 toward the LEH capital campaign. In addition, the Zemurray Foundation has renewed its support for the LEH with a $25,000 grant for the continuation of PRIME TIME bi-lingual family reading programs.
• Capital One Bank has awarded the LEH a $10,000 grant in support of the LEH’s annual awards program that recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the humanities in Louisiana.

LEH and Smithsonian's "Museum on Main Street" visits Oil City
It’s your last chance to view a major traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition on the roots of American music before it leaves Louisiana! “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music” is open to the public through Jan. 15 at the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum in Oil City.

“New Harmonies” explores the American story through the diverse musical genres that evolved from our nation’s unique blending of cultures and experiences. Through panel displays and interactive kiosks, the exhibition includes material on sacred songs, blues, country, rock’n’roll and more. Each of the six Louisiana communities hosting the exhibition through 2009 mounts a local exhibition, and presents public humanities programs which showcase our state’s rich and diverse musical heritage. This is the final leg of the 2008-2009 tour, which previously brought the exhibition to Abita Springs, Ruston, Jeanerette, Kaplan and Ferriday.

On display in conjunction with “New Harmonies” are two exhibitions that reflect the unique musical heritage of north Louisiana. The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College has graciously loaned the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum selected photographs from the exhibition, “Elvis: On His Own in Shreveport,” a collection which brings to life Elvis Presley’s heady early performances at the Louisiana Hayride. To further complement “New Harmonies,” the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation has generously loaned the museum “The Life and Legacy of Leadbelly,” an exhibition that showcases the enormous contributions of former Oil City resident Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter to American blues and folk music. Both loaned exhibitions were developed through the support of LEH grant funds. Admission to the exhibition and all supporting events is free. For more information, contact the Louisiana State Oil & Gas Museum at 318-995-6845.

Earlier this month, Margaret Warwick, owner of Louisiana Hayride Inc., lead a discussion on the documentary film, “Louisiana Hayride: Cradle of the Stars,” which examined the history and influence of this iconic radio broadcast. Dr. Ross Smith, associate professor of music at Centenary College, presented an informance on the evolving styles of American piano music. The program featured styles popular in Oil City during the oil boom of the early 20th century. On Jan. 11, Queen “Tiny” Robinson and Alvin R. Singh III, officials with the Tennessee-based Leadbelly Foundation, made a presentation on the life and impact of the renowned blues pioneer who once called Oil City home.

PRIME TIME staff changes
PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME is very pleased to announce staff changes effective in January 2009.  Miranda Restovic, formerly assistant director, will serve as PRIME TIME co-director with Faye Flanagan. Having begun working with PRIME TIME in 2000, Faye has served as Co-Director and Director since 2005. “It is going to be a pleasure to have a Co-Director once more since the project is growing exponentially. Miranda is outstanding in so many ways it is hard to list all that she will bring to this role. Her ability to build collaborations, her fluency in other languages and her deep appreciation of the PRIME TIME goals, methodology and impact make her the ideal candidate for this position.”  PRIME TIME also welcomes Christopher Robert as the new program assistant.

PRIME TIME evaluates national sites
PRIME TIME FAMILY READING:  BILINGUAL NATIONAL OUTREACH, the latest grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, was completed in December. Twenty programs were funded through this grant in five states. Seventeen scholars and 14 storytellers engaged low-literacy Spanish-speaking families in PRIME TIME programs in Florida, Oklahoma, Michigan, New York and New Jersey.

Reports from the 20 programs indicated that an average of 26 families registered at these sites with an average attendance of 55 per session. The complete evaluation study will be available in early spring. Preliminary analysis of 13 sites reporting in November indicated:

• 90% of the groups responded that bilingual learning was challenging, but added to the learning experience.
• 72% of the family participants indicated that they had used the library within the last month.
• 71% of the family participants indicated the program had changed the way they discuss books.
• 81% could name a book title when asked to identify the last book they had read.

PRIME TIME training workshop in New Orleans
PRIME TIME is scheduled to host its first Training Workshop for 2009 on Jan.17 – 18 at the LEH’s Louisiana Humanities Center at Turner’s Hall in New Orleans.  Attending will be team members from approximately 20 sites, representing Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and Nebraska. PRIME TIME Training Workshops offer intense instruction and practice in program philosophy, methodology and implementation for new scholars, storytellers and program coordinators.  As always, this is certain to be an exciting and enlightening event. For more information regarding the workshop, contact Shantrell Adams at adams@leh.org.

PRIME TIME announces spring 2009 Louisiana Award Recipients!
Across Louisiana libraries, schools, museums and community centers are gearing up for PRIME TIME in the spring!  Of the many applications and inquiries received, 19 sites will receive PRIME TIME grants. Applications are now being accepted for fall 2009 and beyond. For more information about PRIME TIME or to learn how to apply for a PRIME TIME grant, contact Miranda Restovic at 504-620-2486 or restovic@leh.org.

RELIC: Readings in Literature and Culture
For three centuries, Louisiana has been a true crossroads of people and cultures. With this in mind, the long-running RELIC program "Encounter in Louisiana" is undergoing a major content revision to give our state's readers the opportunity to revisit this theme with new writers and literature.

The new books will consist of four great novels by highly acclaimed Louisiana writers. They include The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, and Tim Gautreaux’s recently published The Clearing. Both Grau and Toole were awarded (Toole posthumously) Pulitzer Prizes for their work, and Gaines' won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Tim Gautreaux has enjoyed immense success over the decade with his short stories and his recent novel. These authors give voice to the various ethnic, social and cultural segments in Louisiana.

Two pilot program sites for "Encounter in Louisiana" are going to be available for readers.  One is in Baton Rouge and the other is in Metairie.  See the schedule below for details on these and all other RELIC program offerings.

Click here to view the Winter-Spring RELIC schedule.

KnowLA On-line Encyclopedia of Louisiana
The content of the digital encyclopedia of Louisiana is beginning to take shape. Joyce Miller, associate editor, has been talking with authors and contracting for text entries in the first six categories: architecture, art, folklife, history, literature, and music. Andrea Ferguson, digital media editor, has already amassed a significant database of media files to accompany those entries.

Louisiana State Archivist Florent Hardy, Jr. Ph.D., gave KnowLA staff a tour of the archives in Baton Rouge. LEH/KnowLA is excited about this collaboration and the opportunity to work with archives staff and the treasures that are held there. Lee Hampton, executive director of the Amistad Research Center also offered KnowLA staff an introduction and tour to that collection and its curators and archivists. We are also pleased to be working with Tika Laudun of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, who has directed and produced several award-winning documentaries on Louisiana subjects.

Students in the UNO graduate seminar, “Introduction to Public History,” taught by Michael Mizell-Nelson, assistant professor of history, are completing one of their course assignments: developing entries for the encyclopedia. Their topics include crawfish boils, the Old Parish Prison of New Orleans, the Louisiana Lottery Company, the 1900 New Orleans race riot, and Mr. Bingle, a well-known Christmas/cultural icon. Students did research, wrote entries, and provided recommendations for media files and further readings.

The latest demo video for KnowLA is available on the LEH website www.leh.org/html/knowla.html.  For more information about KnowLA, please contact Cathy Corder at 504-620-2637 or corder@leh.org.

LEH offers grants to historians, writers and documentary photographers
Writers and documentary photographers exploring Louisiana-related cultural topics may be eligible to receive special grants up to $4,000 through the LEH’s annual Louisiana Publishing Initiative grants program. Grants are available for authors writing on nonfiction topics such as literature, history, languages, music, cultural anthropology, folk life or other humanities disciplines. Grants of $4,000 also are available for documentary photographers to document various aspects of Louisiana's diverse culture. All awards must culminate in a completed nonfiction, book-length manuscript. Novels, poetry and other forms of fiction are not eligible. The application deadline is Feb. 15.

Past recipients include John Scott’s Natalie Scott: A Magnificent Life, Bliss Broyard’s One Drop, Philip Gould's Louisiana's Capitol, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's Africans in Colonial Louisiana, Elizabeth Mullener's Eyewitness: Tales of New Orleanians in World War II, and Jay Edwards's Plantations by the River.

For additional information about the publishing grant, click here, or contact John Kemp at the LEH, 504-620-2481 or at kemp@leh.org.

LEH-sponsored events
Arnaudville – Moncton Rock, Acadiana Cri, Steeple Gallery, 149 Fuselier Rd., throughJan. 16, 2009. A public exhibition that deepens Acadiana’s knowledge of the interconnectivity between art forms in Cajun (Louisiana) and Acadian (Canadian Maritimes) circa 1968-2008. The exhibition features visual art, music, film, video, ephemera and literature, demonstrating the close cultural relationship between these two historically linked cultures. For more information, contact project director Lucius Fontenot at Lucius.fontenot@gmail.com, or at 337-280-3798.

Lafayette-Lake Charles-New Iberia – Louisiana Crossroads Season 9, Sept. 2008 – April 2009. This year, the annual seven-month, 17-event season unites accomplished performers with deep understandings of their diverse genres, histories and aesthetics. Louisiana Crossroads is a meeting ground defined not by geography but by experience where songs, stories, traditions and history are shared and explored. Pass performers include Marcia Ball, Michael Doucet, Chris Thomas King, Sonny Landreth, Anders Osbourne, George Porter, Jr., Jerry Douglas, Doyle Bramhall and Zachary Richard. Upcoming events include 30 Years of the Radiators with the following performances:

• Central School Theatre – 7 p.m. Jan. 28, 809 Kirby St., Lake Charles
• Sliman Theatre – 8 p.m. Jan. 29, 129 E. Main St., New Iberia
• Vermilionville Performance Center – 7 p.m. Jan. 30, 300 Fisher Rd., Lafayette

For more information, visit www.louisianacrossroads.org, or contact project director Vicki Chrisman at Vicki@acadianaartscouncil.org or at 337-233-7060.

Monroe – The Masur Museum of Art presents an exhibition entitled “John Scott Retrospective” with an interpretive LEH-supported exhibition catalogue and premieres the “Blues Poems for the Urban Landscape” series of woodblocks. The exhibition is on display through Jan. 18. For more information, contact the museum at 318-329-2237.

Shreveport – Paintings and Photographs from the Permanent Collection, Recent Gifts, and Current Loans, Meadows Museum of Art, Nov. 16 - Feb. 1. Because the thematic approach to exhibitions and programs has proven successful, the museum chose for its 2008-2009 season the title Open the Vault: Masterpieces from the Meadows Museum of Art Permanent Collections, Recent Gifts, and Current Loans Series. The exhibition features newly acquired work by Nancy Graves titled Riphaeus Mountains Region of the Moon and the photographic collection by Andy Warhol recently donated to the museum by the Andy Warhol Foundation. Artists whose works are on loan for this exhibition are American impressionist Ernest Lawson and Louisiana artists Robert Gordy and Ida Kolhmeyer. For more information, visit www.centenary.edu/meadows or contact project director Diane Dufilho at ddufilho@centenary.edu or at 318-869-5014.

Give the gift of Louisiana!
Need a gift for loved ones, your friends from college, a neighbor or maybe a few business associates? If they love to read about Louisiana’s unique history and culture or visit the intriguing back roads of our state, you should consider a gift subscription to Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine!

Four times over the next year they will be able to paddle the bayou, walk the French Quarter, and explore the Cane River. They will learn Louisiana's history from Hot Sauce to Hot Jazz and travel our towns from Abbeville to Zwolle. And finally, they will enjoy the work of our finest writers, photo-essayists, and artists all bringing forth the magic that comes from Louisiana's people and places, history and culture. With this special offer, your first gift subscription is the regular price of $16, after that they are only $12 each - a full 25% discount! To purchase your gift subscriptions to Louisiana Cultural Vistas online, please click on www.leh.org for the order form or contact Jan Clifford at clifford@leh.org or call 504-620-2630.

LEH Grants Deadlines
Louisiana Publishing Initiative - Feb. 15, 2009. Contact John Kemp, kemp@leh.org or 504-620-2481