August 1 Deadline for Artist’s Resource Trust (A.R.T.) Fund

Grants available in painting, sculpture, printmaking, or mixed media to mid-career artists with financial need in New England and Columbia and Northeast Dutchess counties, NY. Non-profit organizations wishing to show, commission, or purchase work by mature artists living in New England may also apply. Grants range from $2,000 to $10,000. Applications and artwork must be submitted through our online grant portal at www.berkshiretaconic.org.

Deadline August 1.

 $20,000 Public Art Commission for Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

RFQ Deadline:  May 24, 2013, midnight

The Arts Committee for the “The Avenue”, a designated stretch of Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard Square and Porter Square, is seeking qualifications from artists interested in creating a work of public art for one section of the street that will serve as a Demonstration Block.  To review the Draft Plan for “The Avenue” go to: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Planning/lowermassave.aspx – tabs-1

THE SITE:

Following the goals of the Streetscape Master Plan and Public Development Standards for The Avenue, the City of Cambridge will be constructing streetscape improvements for The Avenue during the next year. The Demonstration Block is a three-block stretch of streetscape on the west side of Massachusetts Avenue from Shepard Street to Garfield Street.  The proposed sites for the public art project will include the area from curb to the back of the sidewalk.  The Demonstration Block will serve as a pilot component of the overall project to demonstrate the concepts developed in the Master Plan that aim to enliven the street as a destination of artistic expression, lively retail activity, and civic interaction.

The Avenue is a street with a rich history and a contemporary mix of day and nighttime activity, flanked by two neighborhoods: the Agassiz Neighborhood and Neighborhood Nine.  Along with an existing variety of restaurants, shops, and businesses, The Avenue is further defined by the presence of Lesley University and its Art Institute of Boston, Harvard University, and the Maud Morgan Center for the Arts just off The Avenue on  Sacramento Street. The last full scale improvement of the street dates back to 1956, when the needs of automobile traffic were given priority over pedestrian and bicycle activity.  The City’s current priorities are the reverse, giving preference to the experience of pedestrians and people using bicycles or public transportation and the nurturing of a vibrant social and business environment. People who live near and work in the neighborhood experience The Avenue as their “Main Street” and community center. 

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR THE RFQ:

• Past experience creating durable art for public spaces
• Ability to integrate public art into a linear and relatively narrow urban site.  The Avenue already has many functional features that compete in the visual field.
• Interest in engaging the variety of people of all generations and endeavors who use The Avenue – pedestrians, shoppers, workers, families with strollers, those meeting for business lunches or joining friends and family for dinner.
• Preference will be given to artists in the Greater Boston area, especially those with a connection to this part of Cambridge.

TIMELINE:

From this RFQ three semi-finalists will be invited to submit proposals, one of which will be selected for the final commission.  Each of the three semi-finalists will be interviewed and will receive $500 for their proposal.  One artist will be given the $20,000 commission, to cover all design services, fabrication, artist fee, travel, all drawings and documents, and coordination with city staff and the Art Committee for The Avenue.

May 8, 2013                                          RFQ Advertised                                   

May 24, 2013, midnight                     Deadline for submission of qualifications

June 17, 2013                                       Notification of 3 semi-finalists

July 29, 2013, midnight                       Proposals due

Early August                                          Semi-finalists interviewed by Art Committee                                                  

August 16, 2013                                   Announcement of selected artist to be commissioned                               

Summer-Fall 2013                               Installation of artwork

HOW TO SUBMIT:
Submit images of past work and biographic information at http://cac.slideroom.com. 

Registration is free and easy – upload digital files of work samples and complete a form of information and you will be considered for the Mass. Avenue project as well as all future public art commissions within the City of Cambridge.

For more information about Cambridge Arts Council programs please visit www.cambridgeartscouncil.org.  For technical support using Slideroom, please e-mail support@slideroom.com. For other questions please contact CAC Public Art Administrator, Jeremy Gaucher at jgaucher@cambridgema.gov; 617-349-4388.

Trinity Rep’s Education and Artistic Departments are seeking a School Partnerships Manager. This position will administer all aspects of Trinity Rep’s landmark Project Discovery student matinee program, direct all of the theater’s off-site programs at area schools and continue to foster relationships with educators and school officials throughout the area. This position will teach off-site classes and residencies for K-12 students on a regular basis.

Duties:

•Oversee all aspects of Trinity Rep’s landmark Project Discovery student matinee program, including coordinating and teaching workshops for attending schools.

•Coordinate all off-site residencies and initiates new partnerships with Rhode Island schools, with a specific focus on the Providence area.

•Sustain and strengthen Trinity Rep’s relationship with area schools while working with high school principals, teachers, and teaching artists in the creation, implementation, and assessment of in-school and after-school programs at the schools.

•Teach at off-site residencies and occasionally in the Young Actors Studio after-school classes (held onsite at Trinity Rep) as necessary.

•Schedule and teach professional development workshops with Rhode Island and Massachusetts educators.

•Work with the Education Programs Manager to prepare for and supervise the Young Actors Summer Institute (YASI).  YASI is a full day, summer program for grades K-12 that runs from late June through early August.

•Supervises the full-time education intern

Ideal Experience and Qualifications:

•Bachelor’s degree required; MA or MFA in Education/Theater preferred.

•Five or more years experience in arts education management in urban environments.

•Demonstrated ability to create effective, sustainable programming.

•Experience in program assessment and evaluation, specifically in after-school settings. 

•Excellent organizational, communication, written, and verbal skills.

Salary commensurate with experience. Please submit resume and cover letter to jobs [at] trinityrep.com. No calls, please. Trinity Rep values diversity in the workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Trinity Rep’s Education and Artistic Departments are seeking a Community Programs Manager. This position will coordinate the education department’s non-school community-based programs (including the Trinity Rep Active Imagination Network), as well as the theater’s talkbacks/discussion series, corporate training, Under35 and school-to-career internship programs.  This position will cultivate relationships with existing and potential community partners, and teach classes and workshops for children and adults.

Duties:

•Cultivate relationships between the theater and community groups, organizations and area businesses

•Oversee and teach for the Trinity Rep Active Imagination Network (TRAIN) series of classes and workshops for children on the autism spectrum.
•Supervise and monitor the theater’s post-show talkback program, as well as the “Lunch and Learn” series of free discussions for the general public.
•Oversee and process all applications for the theater’s full-time post-college internship program
•Supervise all school-to-career initiatives, including the high school Theater Ambassadors and high school internships
•Teach both off-site residencies and on-site after school classes on a regular basis.
•Work with the Education Programs Manager to prepare for and supervise the Young Actors Summer Institute (YASI).  YASI is a full day, summer program for grades K-12 that runs from late June through early August.
•Coordinate with marketing department to promote artistic and education department activities via the theater’s social media.
•Coordinate the theater’s Under35 program, which allows people under the age of 35 to see shows at a reduced price – the Community Programs Manager should arrange two to three events per season for the group’s members 

Ideal Experience and Qualifications:

•Bachelor’s degree required; MA or MFA in Education/Theater preferred
•A highly creative and strategic thinker, capable of collaborating with artists and community-based organizations
•Experience teaching students with special needs
•Three or more years of teaching experience 
•Excellent organizational, communication, written, and verbal skills 
•Knowledge of and connection to the professional theater world 
•Passion for theater and theater education, and in mentoring young artists

Salary commensurate with experience. Please submit resume and cover letter to jobs [at] trinityrep.com. No calls, please. Trinity Rep values diversity in the workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Those of us here at RISCA encourage you to prepare your nomination now, in loving memory of our former Executive Director, Iona Dobbins

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

IonaFest, a celebration to honor arts advocate Iona Dobbins’ memory and tocelebrate the arts in Rhode Island, requests nominations for the first annual IFaward, which will be presented on the evening of September 28, 2013.

Rhode Island artist, Peter Diepenbrock, has been commissioned to create this award.

Deadline for nominations: June 30, 2013.

The award recipient will be selected on the following criteria:

The recipient of the IF Award will be an individual, from any walk of life, who embodies Iona Dobbins’ generosity and leadership in the arts community. The nominee should reflect Iona’s great skill at convening diverse artists and audiences; her tireless advocacy for all art forms; and her profile as an honest broker who crossed boundaries, everywhere present wherever art was beingmade, shown or dreamed.To nominate an individual and to learn more about the IonaFest, please go to http://www.ionafest.org for the IonaFest nomination form.

For the Arts & Cultural Alliance’s 5th Annual NEWPORT BRIDGEFEST we are looking for street performers of all types to fill our “Busking at Bowen’s” Schedule.  

Newport BridgeFest is a local live music festival spanning Newport County – “bridging the gap” between the prestigious Newport Folk & Jazz Festivals. The festival is put on by the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County (ACA) in an effort to connect the local music scene with the community in the height of Newport’s tourist season.

Many cities, including Newport, ban the concept of “busking” or street performance.  Musicians, Jugglers, Human Statues and other street performers who have a connection to Rhode Island and/or Newport County are eligible to use the ACA’s permit that we are sponsoring for the week of Newport BridgeFest: July 29 – Aug 1st.  60-90 minute time slots are blocked out between 4-10 PM on each day of the festival.  Limit 2 performers per group due to space/time restrictions. Our plan is to have electricity provided. We will give artists information on the specific location at Bowen’s Warf, who has graciously paired up with us as a private venue supporting our cause.

Musicians are allowed to keep any tips that they make by putting out a case/hat/bucket/etc. or by selling CD’s of original music. 

Buskers should send their availability for July 29th through August 1st accompanied by a demo to ACA board member & busking curator Aaron Abrahamson Cote at CotePercussion@Hotmail.com as soon as possible.

“Nature, Nurture, Hope: A Different Kind of Mental Health”

Art Exhibit at TSESTE Gallery, 51 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903

on Friday May 10th between 6-8pm.

For more information, call TSETSE gallery at (401) 453 3337 or  contact Rebecca Flores, www.rebeccaflores.biz

The Maine Arts Commission is seeking a full-time Visual Arts Director to develop and oversee the agency’s visual arts programming for the state of Maine. The application deadline is May 27, 2013.

The Visual Arts Director will work in a strong team setting with other program directors and under the supervision of the agency’s Executive Director to further the arts in Maine. This position is an exciting one with a great deal of scope to develop new partnerships and programs that are essential to Maine’s cultural development. The agency is interested in applicants with vision and originality who are deeply and broadly knowledgeable in the visual arts, and their intersection with the economy and other sectors.

The person selected will take the reins of some of the agency’s ongoing programs, such as Arts in the Capitol, the Maine Youth Excellence in Art Project, and Maine’s Congressional Art Awards Competition. Beyond that the Visual Arts Director will collaborate and consult with state and national arts organizations and institutions to promote best practices, exemplary visual arts programming, and to implement professional development opportunities.

To be considered an applicant must have a bachelor’s degree in an Arts or Humanities related field and two (2) years experience working with artists, art groups, and/or humanities organizations. Preference will be given to applicants with a master’s degree or commensurate work experience preferably in the field of visual arts. Knowledge of Maine artists, galleries and museums is a benefit.

Please visit http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Communication/VisualArtsDirector to view the full job posting and for details of how to apply.

A pop-up museum, art making and performance space in Central Falls. Come out to this free event and see inspiring art, make your own art, and watch performances, with tasty treats from Tierra Restaurant and Lounge.
May 3rd @ 7PM at the Central Falls Library,
205 Central Street, Central Falls. Artist include
Jessica Lee Perry, Alfonso D. Acevedo, Brett Henrikson,
Robert Easton, Matt Kesner, Lin Collette, Heidi Born, Rachel Stern, Bruce Kaplan, Diego Correal, and Robert St. Pierre Jr.

Investments will increase the understanding of how art works and its impacts on communities

Washington, D.C.— Today National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced $350,000 in NEA support for 17 new research grants that measure different characteristics and contributions of the arts, which the NEA has mapped as a complex, dynamic system. This is the second annual round of Arts Works: Research grants, which encourage the public to propose research studies using new or existing data sets to measure the value and/or impact of the arts in the United States.

“There is a universal call for more rigorous research on the arts,” said NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa. “While there’s no universal definition on what should be measured, we hope that the NEA’s system map offers a useful starting point. We expect these grants to produce reliable research that can advance public knowledge and understanding about the map’s myriad components.”

These projects investigate areas of research that align with parts of the “How Art Works” system map, such as the cognitive and emotional benefits of art for individuals or the role of arts education and training in achieving broader outcomes. Other projects look at arts infrastructure, arts participation and art-making, and the benefits of art for society and communities. Some of the specific questions asked in these studies are: How do the arts work in rural-urban (‘rurban’) geographies? How does art affect physiological responses to stress in young children? Are there links between arts participation in high school and college enrollment and achievement levels?

Examples of projects supported in this round of Art Works: Research are:

Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, IL, a grant for $20,000 to support a study of the characteristics, needs, and support systems of ethnically and culturally specific organizations in the U.S. and Canada by analyzing existing datasets alongside results from a planned survey of arts organizations. Researchers will mine data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the U.S. Census, Statistics Canada, and the Canada Revenue Agency in order to generate a study sample of organizations whose missions explicitly address one or more of the following groups: Asian; African American; Latino/a; Native American/Aboriginal; White; Some Other Race; and Multiethnic.

California State University Stanislaus in Turlock, CA, a grant for $20,000 to support a study of the differential impacts of arts participation on California’s Central San Joaquin Valley, in particular Stanislaus County. The study will use geospatial mapping to analyze data from multiple sources, including the American Community Survey, the General Social Survey, the Cultural Data Project, and participation rosters and mailing lists from local arts organizations.

Trustees of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA, a grant for $25,000 to support a study to determine whether Americans’ interests in visual arts, music, and literature can predict levels of entrepreneurship and innovation in the workplace, as demonstrated by longitudinal survey data from the U.S. Department of Labor. The study also will examine whether factors such as self-mastery and risk-tolerance strengthen any associations between arts interests and workplace innovation.

University of Maryland at College Park in College Park, MD, a grant for $25,000 to support an analysis of two longitudinal datasets for information about the impact of high school arts education on college attainment, after controlling for certain pre-existing differences between arts and non-arts students. The researchers have access to “restricted-use” datasets under a license from the U.S. Department of Education, thus allowing more detailed analysis of students’ socioeconomic status and school-related outcomes than is typically possible.

West Chester University of Pennsylvania in West Chester, PA, a grant for $25,000 to support research on the physiological impacts of arts, music, and visual arts participation on economically disadvantaged children by measuring the relationship between levels of the stress hormone cortisol and arts engagement among Head Start preschool students.

This grant category is part of a new direction for NEA research. The NEA seeks to extend the conversation on arts research through commissioned research and research and policy conferences that look at the value and impact of the arts in other domains of American life, such as education, health and well-being, community livability, and economic prosperity. These new endeavors build on more than 30 years of NEA-published research on the arts in America.

A list of all 17 grants is available here. 

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the NEA at www.arts.gov.

RICH director Dr. Elizabeth Francis

It’s a pleasure to publicly congratulate Elizabeth Francis, director of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, on her appointment by Governor Chafee to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation board.

According to a press announcement released today by Governor Chafee’s office, the nomination of Francis and two others, “reflect [the Governor's] “ongoing commitment to having Rhode Island’s key industries represented on the EDC Board, in this case, health care, arts and culture, and information technology.”

Brava!  Elizabeth Francis is an excellent choice, not only because she is an excellent person, but also because she brings to the EDC board a connection to our state’s arts and cultural community that will add an exciting dimension to the work of a newly invigorated Economic Development Corporation.

All of us here at the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts congratulate our colleague in the Humanities on this appointment, and look forward to working with her to ensure that the arts and culture continue to be a strong part of our state’s economic development strategy.

Randall Rosenbaum, Executive Director, RISCA

SEDC-SEA is seeking an local experience/talented Artist
that can paint name and logo on it owned building located at
270 Elmwood Avenue, Providence.

The work need to be completed before April 27 for the unveiling of the new
name which is scheduled for April 29 at 11:30am.
Please call Channavy Chhay at 274-8811.

Channavy Chhay
Executive Director
Socio-Economic Development Center
For Southeast Asians
channavy.chhay@sedcsea.org

Main Office:
270 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI 02907
p: 401-274-8811 x12; f: 401-274-8877

Woonsocket Office:
727 Front Street, Suite 110, Woonsocket, RI 02895
p: 401-762-0343; f: 401-762-1459

WHEN: April 23, 2013 | 5:00PM-8:00PM |

Presentations and discussion will begin at 5:30PM
 

WHERE: Villa Victoria

Center for the Arts | 85 W. Newton Street, Boston, MA 02118

CCX workshops will focus on the implementation of successful creative economy work and attendees will gain information and actionable tools that can be executed in their own communities. New workshops just added!

FIGMENT Boston is currently seeking artists projects for participation in their annual weekend event. The work must be free, participatory, temporary work that leaves no trace after the weekend is over. Learn more.
Deadline: June 17, 2013

The Fort Point Arts Community, Inc., with the support of the Friends of Fort Point Channel, is seeking proposals for a temporary work of public art for installation in conjunction with its annual fall Open Studios event in October 2013. The work of public art will serve to engage the public, highlight the Channel, the Fort Point neighborhood and its creative community, and promote their Open Studios. Learn more.
Deadline: June 3, 2013

Entries are now being accepted for the nineteenth COLLISIONcollective exhibition to be held at the Boston Cyberarts Gallery in Jamaica Plain, Boston, on Friday, June 14, 2013. Learn more.
Deadline: May 11, 2013 (before midnight eastern time)

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and Boston Cyberarts are looking for media art for display on the 80-foot-tall Marquee at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The Marquee offers more than 3,000 square feet of display area on 7 screens, providing full-motion video capability. Learn more. Questions, email info@bostoncyberarts.org.
Deadline: May 6, 2013