Princess Grace Foundation

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA has announced the availability of applications for the 2012 Princess Grace Awards in theater, playwriting, dance performance, choreography, and film.

Founded in 1982, the foundation identifies and assists emerging artists in theater, dance, and film, and has awarded more than $8.5 million to nearly six hundred individuals in the United States.

Theater Awards are offered in the form of scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships. Grants are awarded based on the quality of the emerging artist's past work, his/her potential for future excellence, and the impact the collaboration between the nominating organization and the artist will have on the individual's artistic growth. The Playwriting Award includes a residency at New Dramatists, Inc. and opportunity for the winning play to be licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc. (Deadline: March 21, 2012.)

Dance Performance Awards are offered in the form of scholarships and fellowships. Awards are based on the applicant's artistic merit, significance of the award to current artistic development, and the potential for future excellence and impact on the field. Choreography Awards offer emerging choreographers the opportunity to create a new work with organizations with which they have little experience. (Deadline: April 30, 2012.)

Film Scholarships, awarded to undergraduate and graduate students, are by invitation-only. Approved university, college, and school film programs are invited to submit applicants via their department chairs or deans. Film scholarships provide funding toward the filmmaker's thesis project. (A complete list of accepted schools is available at the foundation's Web site.) (Deadline: June 1, 2012.)

For more information, click here.

NEA "Our Town" Grants

Through Our Town, subject to the availability of funding, the National Endowment for the Arts will provide a limited number of grants, ranging from $25,000 to $150,000, for creative placemaking projects that contribute toward the livability of communities and help transform them into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core. Our Town will invest in creative and innovative projects in which communities, together with their arts and design organizations and artists, seek to:

• Improve their quality of life.
• Encourage creative activity.
• Create community identity and a sense of place.
• Revitalize local economies.

Date due: March 1, 2012

Amount: $25,000 - $150,000

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Grants in Emerging Fields, Literature, and Performing Arts

Creative Capital, a national nonprofit organization that provides integrated financial and advisory support to artists pursuing adventurous projects, has announced guidelines and the application schedule for its 2012 grant cycle.

This year's program is open to artists working in emerging fields, literature, and performing arts. Emerging fields may include architecture/design, digital arts, gaming, interdisciplinary, new genres, and sound art. Literature may include fiction, genre-defying literary work, nonfiction, and poetry. Performing arts is focused on the live performing arts and may include dance, dance-theater, experimental music performance, interdisciplinary, multimedia performance, music-theater, non-traditional opera, performance art, puppetry, spoken word and theater.

Creative Capital is interested in supporting artists who demonstrate bold, inventive, and singular ideas in project form and content; are at a catalytic moment in their creative practice and career approach; are deeply engaged with and rigorously committed to their art form; have potential for significant artistic and cultural impact; and understand the professional landscape of their field. To be eligible to apply, an artist must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident, at least 25 years old, a working artist with at least five years of professional experience, and not a full-time student.

Amount: $10,000

Date due: March 1, 2012

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America's Music (NEH)

America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway is a six-week public program featuring documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions of twentieth-century American popular music. The six sessions focus on these uniquely American musical genres: blues and gospel, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and country, rock n’ roll, and mambo and hip hop. The project will provide DVDs of compelling documentary films, discussion guidelines, original essays by eminent scholars, extensive resource guides, and Web support. The project will offer participating organizations training in how to organize, promote, and run the series successfully. All libraries and nonprofit organizations selected to implement the public program will receive grants of $2,500 for project expenses. Fifty organizations (libraries and other eligible nonprofits) will be selected to receive a grant to present this series of community programs on the history of American popular music. The grantee institutions are expected to offer the programs between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013.

Amount: $2,500

Date due: March 14, 2012

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MetLife Creative Connections

MetLife Creative Connections provides support for American composers to participate in public activities related to specific performances of their original music. By supporting the composer’s interaction with audiences, performers, arts organizations, and local communities, Metlife Creative Connections aims to increase public awareness and enhance the creative artist’s role in society.

Metlife Creative Connections applications are submitted by a Sponsoring Organization requesting support for one or more composers participating in public activities organized, sponsored, and/or presented by the organization.

Amount: $3,500

Date due: January 7, 2012

For more information, click here.

Chamber Music America Announces Fall Funding Opportunities (Jazz, Classical)

Chamber Music America announces awards for classical and jazz ensembles.

The CMA/ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming recognize ensembles and presenters for their commitment to public programming of recent classical/contemporary and/or jazz music. Awards will be presented at the CMA National Conference in New York City, January 12-15, 2012. Each recipient will receive a $500 award and a plaque. Applicants must be based in the United States or its territories, be either a not-for-profit presenter or an ensemble of two to ten musicians, have been in existence for at least two years, and be a current CMA organization-level member. (Deadline: October 7, 2011.)

The CMA Presenting Jazz program supports concert presenters in engaging U.S.-based jazz ensembles in concert settings. To be eligible, a presenter must be a U.S.-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has presented at least ten public music concerts by professional, touring music ensembles over the past two years and be a CMA organization-level member. The jazz ensemble named in the application must be based in the U.S. or its territories, consist of two to ten members, have performed together as a professional touring jazz ensemble for a minimum of two years, and include improvisation as an integral part of its composition and performance. Core support will range from $5,000 to $10,000. Additional incentives of $1,000 are available for a presenter engaging a CMA New Works/New Jazz Works grantee, and if the CMA New Works/New Jazz Works grantee ensemble performs its CMA commission in its entirety. (Deadline: October 14, 2011.)

The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in reaching audiences for classical/contemporary, jazz, and world chamber music through residency projects. Funding is specifically aimed at activities that take place in community settings. U.S.-based ensembles and not-for-profit presenters may submit an application for a residency. The organizing and ensemble partners must be CMA organization-level members. Typical residency activities include but are not limited to workshops, ensemble coachings, master classes, clinics, lecture-demonstrations, and open rehearsals. Grants provide up to a maximum of $6,000 for a short-term residency and $12,000 for an extended residency. (Deadline: November 18, 2011.)

For more information, click here.

Scholarly Editions and Translations

Scholarly Editions and Translations grants support the preparation of editions and translations of pre-existing texts and documents that are currently inaccessible or available in inadequate editions. These grants support full-time or part-time activities for periods of a minimum of one year up to a maximum of three years. Projects must be undertaken by a team of at least one editor or translator and one other staff member. Grants typically support editions and translations of significant literary, philosophical, and historical materials, but other types of work, such as musical notation, are also eligible.

Amount: $300,000

Date due: December 8, 2011

For more information, click here.