Arts Wire CURRENT is a project of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) -- http://www.nyfa.org

Arts Wire CURRENT features news updates on social, economic, philosophical, and political issues affecting the arts and culture. Your contributions are invited.
Contact Judy Malloy, editor.

To encourage the exchange of arts information and perspectives, Arts Wire CURRENT contents are not copyrighted unless specifically stated. We ask that you cite Arts Wire CURRENT as well as Arts Wire's url (http://www.artswire.org) when reprinting material. In addition, Arts Wire is very interested in documenting the use of material from Arts Wire CURRENT in other newsletters, publications and on online networks. Please send a copy to: Judy Malloy.

This week's Current is sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council -- http://www.ncarts.org

• National Arts and Humanities Month Celebrated in October
• Americans for the Arts Awards $1.2 M in First Round of Animating Democracy Initiative;
  Next Deadline Announced
• Flurry of Deals, New Publications, as E-book World Expands

• Conferences:
  Crossing Borders: 2000 NASAA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
• Arts Events:
  PanCanadian WordFest
  Seattle Underground Film Festival

• MONEY - Selected Listings from FYI
• Funding/Opportunities for Organizations:
  NEA Awards $493,000 Through ArtsReach
• Opportunities for Artists:
  MoMA/Franklin Furnace/Artist Book Collection
  Griffin Trust Inaugurates $80,000 Poetry Prize
  Publication Opportunities for Latino Writers
  CAA Conference 2001 no Longer Accepting Submissions
• Job Opportunities:
  

• Arts Wire Web Reports:
  New on ArtQuarry
  Open Home: Meredith Monk

• Elsewhere on the Net:
  Microsoft/Npower Partner to Assist Non profits in Using Technology

"The arts have long been an integral part of America's cultural heritage, encouraging us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and of our society," said President Bill Clinton, who first declared National Arts and Humanities Month in 1993. "The arts and humanities empower us to celebrate our individual identities, while reminding us of the values and commitments that unite us as a country. Having embarked on the new millennium, we recognize that the arts and humanities can help us interpret the past, understand the present, and imagine the future."

In a joint proclamation, cultural agency chairpeople Bill Ivey, William Ferris, and Beverly Sheppard wrote: "As we celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month 2000 this October, we at the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services take this special opportunity to honor the many individuals and organizations whose enduring contributions to the visual and performing arts and to the study of history, literature, and philosophy have enriched American community and family life."

This October at Middlebury College in Vermont, which is celebrating its Bicentennial, Arts Month events will evoke the College's past, celebrate its present, and salute its future. They include the premiere of a song cycle, commissioned for the Bicentennial and composed by music faculty member Su Lian Tan to a text by Jamaica Kincaid and a booksigning of Andrew Wentink's history of dance at Middlebury.

In Michigan, Governor John Engler has declared October as Arts and Humanities Month. "Michigan's rich cultural legacy and the diverse heritage of our population are treasures we celebrate throughout the year in small and large communities around the state, but October's observance gives special emphasis to the benefits we receive individually from the visual and performing arts and the study of history, philosophy and literature," Engler stated.

Over 100 performances, exhibitions and other cultural events will be free to the public on the first Saturday in October in the LOS ANGELES COUNTY-WIDE ARTS OPEN HOUSE -- presented each year by arts organizations in Los Angeles County as part of the celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month. Coordinated by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Open House is designed to raise awareness of the diversity of cultural resources in the county. Events include: MADE IN CALIFORNIA: NOW, interactive installations by 11 artists at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; (LACMA) CLUB TERMINA, "the story of 4 woman who are dead but not depressed" at the Indecent Exposure Theatre Company; Malathi Iyengar & Rangoli Dance Company's INTER-ACTIVE VISUAL POETRY at 18th St Arts Complex; Hysterica Dance Company's SPILLANE, a contemporary dance piece excerpted from "Noir" at Highways performance Space; and A FREE DAY OF TECHNICAL ADVICE at Arts, inc.

Americans for the Arts, which ten years ago founded National Arts Week, the precursor to National Arts and Humanities Month, urges the arts community to participate in the National Open House on Saturday, October 7. "Find a unique way to engage your community in the arts and humanities that day and invite local community leaders to participate," says Americans for the Arts President and CEO Bob Lynch.

Sources/resources:

For more information and ideas about how to celebrate the month, visit the AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS WEB SITE at http://www.artsusa.org

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF STATE ARTS AGENCIES (NASAA) WEB SITE -- http://www.nasaa-arts.org

THE CORNING MUSEUM OF GLASS -- http://www.cmog.org/

NORTH CAROLINA ARTS COUNCIL -- http://www.ncarts.org

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE CONCERT SERIES 1999-2000 -- http://www.middlebury.edu/~cfa/Pages/conserdetails.html

ARTSERVE MICHIGAN -- http://www.artservemichigan.org

LOS ANGELES COUNTY-WIDE ARTS OPEN HOUSE -- http://www.lacountyarts.org/openhouse.html

Supported by the Ford Foundation, Animating Democracy fosters artistic and humanistic activity that encourages civic dialogue on contemporary issues. Through this project, Americans for the Arts hopes to advance the creation and/or presentation of artistic activity that enhances dialogue on important civic issues of our time, and to advance field understanding about the philosophical, practical, aesthetic, and social dimensions of this work.

Organizations receiving grants are:

The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington - $100,000 for the exhibition, BETTER LIVING THROUGH SCIENCE: CONTEMPORARY ART AND HUMAN GENOMICS which will explore the social, ethical, and economic implications of the Human Genome Project. The exhibition will feature commissions of new works by nationally recognized visual artists collaborating with scientists in the field of genomics.

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, San Jose, California - $65,000 for TIES THAT BIND a photographic, oral history, and public dialogue project that reflects upon the history of inter-marriage between Asians and Latinos in the Silicon Valley to illuminate civic issues of intra- and inter-ethnic relations between them in California today.

Flint Youth Theatre, Flint, Michigan - $75,000 to produce BANG, BANG, YOU'RE DEAD, an original theatre piece motivated by school shootings in Flint, Littleton, and other cities.

New World Theater, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts - $85,000 for PROJECT 2050, an artistic exploration of the post-millennium demographic shift in which racial and ethnic hybridity will progressively blur racial categories. Dialogues will consider the effects of this shift on the future of todays youth and on power relationships, politics, and social change as a whole.

San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Diego, California - $100,000 to bring together a binational ensemble to create NUESTRO PUEBLO, a multi-lingual theatre work that explores physical and cultural boundaries along the United States/Mexico border.

CEC International Partners, New York, New York - $70,000 for GO_HOME, a collaborative residency project of Maja Bajevic and Danica Dakic from Bosnia and Hersegovina, and Sandra Sterle from Croatia. Go_HOME examines issues of physical, psychological, and cultural dislocation for immigrants and exiles. The artists will work with CEC's cultural exchange program, ArtsLink, to establish an experimental, open-door home in New York City, where they will live and create visual and media arts installations, some in collaboration with immigrant neighbors.

American Composers Orchestra, New York, New York - $60,000 for COMING TO AMERICA: IMMIGRANT SOUNDS/IMMIGRANT VOICES, which links the symphonic work of immigrant composers to questions central to immigration and the formative process of American identity. The project spans the Orchestra's 2001 season and includes Carnegie Hall Concerts, chamber music concerts at community locations including the Ellis Island Museum of Immigration, and school-based programs.

The Kitchen, New York, New York - $90,000 to present THE THREE WILLIES, a multi-media jazz opera with music by Leroy Jenkins, libretto by Homer Jackson, and direction and choreography by Rennie Harris. The opera addresses the image of the black male as perpetual suspect and the ways that such stereotyping has affected different generations, ethnic cultures, genders, and classes of people. The Three Willies uses the "Willie Horton commercial," employed in the 1988 presidential campaign to defame Michael Dukakis, as a reference point and paradigm for the issues being explored.

Esperanza Center, San Antonio, Texas - $65,000 for ARTE ES VIDA PLATICAS, which addressing issues of cultural equity and democracy, brings Nuestras Sabias (elder wise women artists) and other artists to perform and participate in platicas (dialogues) within marginalized communities of San Antonio.

Other funded organizations include Cornerstone Theater Company, Los Angeles, California for its FAITH-BASED THEATER PROJECT; Junebug Productions, New Orleans, Louisiana, for THE COLOR LINE PROJECT; SPARC/Social and Public Art Resource Center, Venice, California; Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities; Hawaii Alliance for Arts Education, North Kohala, Hawaii; Northern Lakes Center for the Arts, Amery, Wisconsin; and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Over two funding cycles, the Animating Democracy Lab aims to identify and select a total of 30 arts-based civic dialogue projects, strengthen them through financial support and connections to other resources, and document their stories in the Americans for the Arts online national arts information clearinghouse.

Guidelines will be available this month for organizations interested in applying during the second cycle. The Letter of Intent deadlines are January 23, 2001 for electronic submissions and January 24, 2001 for mail-in submissions. To request the guidelines, or to order a copy of the study ANIMATING DEMOCRACY: THE ARTISTIC IMAGINATION AS A FORCE IN CIVIC DIALOGUE, contact Americans for the Arts at 202-371-2830 or Email: adi@artsusa.org or visit http://www.artsusa.org/AnimatingDemocracy/lab_summary.html

Last week NBCi announced a deal with Versaware to make e-books available for purchase on NBC's Xoom.com. The NBCi e-book portal is projected to include access to personal virtual libraries which would allow users to search their own collections. (in the e-books which the user owns and stores on the site)

Last week, Barnes & Noble.com (B&N.com) announced that it is buying Fatbrain.com, which, according to PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, (PW) is the third-largest online bookseller in the US. B&N.com, the second largest online book retailer, already owns a 49% stake in print-on-demand subsidy publisher iUniverse.com and recently launched an e-book superstore in conjunction with Microsoft

Last month at SEYBOLD SAN FRANCISCO/PUBLISHING 2000, Microsoft announced that Amazon.com has selected Microsoft Reader as the preferred format for their future e-book store. Microsoft Reader features ClearType display technology, which according the company greatly improves font resolution on LCD screens. Microsoft will create a customized Amazon.com version of Microsoft Reader, giving consumers the ability to purchase and download e-book titles directly from Amazon.com and read them in Microsoft Reader format.

A recently released PricewaterhouseCoopers study of the growth prospects for the entertainment and media industries concludes that electronic publishing will have a significant impact on all segments of the book publishing market by 2004, according to PW. By 2004 electronic books (e-books, print on-demand titles, and materials downloaded from the Internet) will comprise 26% of all unit sales, the study concludes.

This year the Frankfurt Book Fair features an Electronic Media Centre as well as the Microsoft-initiated Frankfurt e-book Award. As the Fair's Guest of Honor, Poland will highlight its literature and books including for the first time Polish multimedia publications and Internet projects based on the Polish book.

This month, as e-commerce e-book portals jockeyed for territory, pioneer hyperfiction publisher Eastgate Systems released DOWN TIME, a new collection of hypermedia stories by Rob Swigart, whose interactive novel, PORTAL was published by Activision in 1986. Down Time consists of twenty-one stories of the computer age, connected by shared characters, events and objects.

Other new works recently released by Eastgate include M. D. Coverley's CALIFIA which in the words of hyperfiction critic and UCLA professor N. Katherine Hayles, "takes layering as its central trope. Califia, the name of a fabled Amazon warrior, was used by Spanish explorers to christen California when they still thought it was an island [and] suggests how the present site of Southern California is underlain by an earlier history, which itself alludes to a still more distant past."

Also this month, the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) launched the Electronic Literature Directory --"our answer to the need for a single source to locate electronic literature of all varieties on the World Wide Web and elsewhere." A comprehensive resource to the field, the directory links to more than 500 works of electronic literature.

Meanwhile, Arts Wire received the following message about Stephen King's serialized e-book THE PLANT, which will only continue if enough readers pay for downloading the work:

"Hello Loyal Stephen King Readers! These are exciting times here at the Official Stephen King Web Presence. We're coming up on the release of Installment III of The Plant, and so far the numbers are just under 70% (the number needed is 75%). Those of us involved with the site are anxiously awaiting the numbers for Installment III -- they will make or break this project. Those numbers will determine whether or not we will continue to offer installments. We really want to see this through to the end."

Sources/resources:

Frankfurt Book Fair -- http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com

NBCi.COM -- http://www.nbci.com

BARNES & NOBLE.COM -- http://www.bn.com

MICROSOFT WEB SITE -- http://www.microsoft.com
Microsoft Reader can be downloaded at no charge at http://www.microsoft.com/reader/

AMAZON.COM -- http://www.amazon.com

John Mutter & Calvin Reid
"Barnes&Noble.com to Buy Fatbrain.com
Deal valued at about $64 million, 75% in B&N.com stock"
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -- http://www.publishersweekly.com/newsindex.asp
September 18, 2000

"E-Spending to Double"
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY -- http://www.publishersweekly.com

EASTGATE SYSTEMS WEB SITE -- http://www.eastgate.com
In addition to information about Rob Swigart's DOWN TIME and M. D. Coverley's CALIFIA, Eastgate currently features Rob Kendall's PENETRATION in its Reading Room.

THE ELECTRONIC LITERATURE ORGANIZATION -- http://www.eliterature.org/

THE OFFICIAL STEPHEN KING WEB PRESENCE -- http://www.stephenking.com/

"Stephen King Launches Self Published Online Serial for Pay"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2000/cur080100.html
August 1, 2000

CROSSING BORDERS: 2000 NASAA ANNUAL MEETING

"Borders were and are created to lend definition. Whether they define a governmental unit or the meaning of a word, they literally and conceptually influence human affairs. The effect of a border changes as the material environment changes. Furthermore, each person may consider the impact and value of a border very differently depending on his or her perspective. If a border functions as a divider, we do well also to consider how, as Mexican-born artist and writer Guillermo Gomez-Pena states, 'the border is the juncture, not the edge.'"

By crossing and blurring existing borders, CROSSING BORDERS: 2000 NASAA ANNUAL MEETING will celebrate shared cultural aspects and learn from unique cultural differences. "Understanding that we are all immigrants when we cross borders, we will examine how the arts community can speak a common language and gain a greater understanding of each others cultural communities for our mutual benefit," NASAA writes.

Plenary and breakout sessions will explore borders in four theme areas: partnerships, technology, participation and globalization. A special preconference -- Values, Benefits and Evidence -- will focus on evaluation and performance measurement.

November 16 - 2:00-5:15 PM
Opening Session - PARTNERSHIPS
Opening Keynote Address: Historian David McCullough, author of the Pulitzer-prize winning book TRUMAN and host of THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on PBS.
"Partnerships are crucial to state arts agencies' and regional arts organizations' ability to serve the public. We reach across the real and perceived borders of our agency, community, state, region and country every day. We work toward successful partnerships with for-profit organizations, businesses and the private sector. We plan with communities. We embrace artists and arts disciplines that blur the borders and color outside of the lines, experimenting with new technology and communicating their vision in new ways...But, are we making the`right choices in our partnerships and conversations? When do we move beyond talk? Are we trapped in our agency structure? How do we serve communities and individuals for whom 501(c)(3) status is unfamiliar or inappropriate?"

November 16 - 6:30 PM
TASTE OF PENNSYLVANIA Reception at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. "Join William Strickland, Jr., CEO, for an exciting kick-off reception and dinner Enjoy the creative tastes from Manchester's very own culinary institute, revel in the sounds of the Manchester House Jazz Band, and then dance to the tunes of Joe Grkman's 'Grkmania' Polka Band. Generous private philanthropy and enthusiastic volunteer support for the arts distinguish the United States in general and our host city, Pittsburgh, in particular. "

November 17 - 9:00 AM - 12:00 noon
PARTICIPATION Session
Lily Yeh, artist, Executive Director of the Village of Arts and Humanities
John Kemp, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development for HalfthePlanet.com, a lawyer and expert on disability issues and services
"....The audiences, not of tomorrow but of today, should look like our communities, inclusive of young people, seniors, new immigrants, people with disabilities and people from many different ethnic backgrounds. However....all segments of our communities don't participate in or perceive the arts in the same way. How do we cross the border to engage each of these audiences and increase their level of participation? In what ways does our structure as state arts agencies and regional arts organizations encourage or discourage innovation? How are we relevant to popular culture?"

November 17 - 12:15 - 1:45 PM
LEADERSHIP LUNCHEON
Featured Speaker: William H. Ivey
Bill Ivey is a folklorist, musician, teacher and writer. He is chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. Over a 25-year career, Ivey has forged strong and productive relationships between the nonprofit and commercial arts, and continues to discuss the role of the arts in America as we approach the next century.

November 17 - 2:15-5:15 PM
GLOBALIZATION Session
Featured Speaker: Guillermo Gomez-Pena, artist, author and commentator for NPR. His work explores crosscultural issues and North-South relations.
"What does it mean when where you are no longer defines who you are? What are the lines of demarcation when cultural borders are more permeable and political borders are more policed than ever? Artists are creating within these ambiguities daily. In exploring our roles and responsibilities in this new world, we have much to learn from artists, arts organizations, our colleagues in other countries and our new immigrant communities in the United States. State arts agencies and regional arts organizations must determine their role in globalization....." Countries of focus include Japan, Mexico, Canada, Israel and Great Britain.

November 18 - 10:15 AM - 1:30 PM
TECHNOLOGY Session
Featured Speaker: Don Marinelli, co-director for the Center for Entertainment Technology and associate professor of drama and arts management at Carnegie-Mellon University
Dr. William L. "Red" Whittaker (invited) Fredkin Research Professor of Robotics at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, director of the Field Robotics Center
"....Feeling like immigrants in the land of technology, we plan for what has already happened and struggle to understand what is on the horizon. How do state arts agencies and regional arts organizations manage and plan for technology, internally and externally? Is technology the bridge between the generations, helping us to build a new workforce of arts professionals? We know that access to technology is uneven. What is our responsibility to level the playing field, and how can we use technology to achieve our agency mission? What is threatened by advances in technology?

November 18 - 2:15-3:15
CLOSING SPEAKER: Anna Deavere Smith
An award-winning playwright and actor, Smith's theatrical works, which include FIRES IN THE MIRROR: CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN AND OTHER IDENTITIES and TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, explore the American character and our multifaceted national identity.

During this annual meeting, participants will celebrate and advance private arts support through the signing, by representatives of the private sector, of the Pittsburgh Arts Accords. These accords follow the adoption in June 1999 of the Atlanta Arts Accords endorsing public support for the arts.

Crossing Borders is hosted by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts -- http://www.artsnet.org/pca/

For more information visit THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF STATE ARTS AGENCIES (NASAA) WEB SITE -- http://www.nasaa-arts.org

The 5th Annual PanCanadian WordFest:
BANFF-CALGARY INTERNATIONAL WRITERS FESTIVAL

More than fifty artists from around the world will gather for over five days in Calgary and Banff for the PANCANADIAN WORDFEST.

This year's festival highlights the spoken word in OUT LOUD LIVE!, a melding of poetry and jazz with the legendary Tommy Banks providing musical direction. OUT LOUD LIVE! participants will include Canadian word performers Bob Holman, Paul Dutton, Clifton Joseph, Fortner Anderson and Sheri-D Wilson and Joolz Denby.(UK)

For the second year in a row, a panel dealing with contemporary publishing issues will discuss the state of the Canadian publishing industry with book publishing industry players Louise Dennys and Anna Porter.

In POLITICS & THE PAGE, Pat Carney, (CAN) Witi Ihimaera, (NZ) and Lara Zavala (MEX) -- three authors whose writing lives have intersected with politics in different ways -- will join in a discussion of the interface between the written word and political action.

And much more.

visit the PANCANADIAN WORDFEST site at http://www.wordfest.com/ for details
tel: 403-294-7462

SECOND ANNUAL SEATTLE UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

This October, THE SECOND ANNUAL SEATTLE UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL (SUFF) will present 17 features and 113 short works from 13 countries -- 16mm and 35mm film as well as video.

SUFF will kick off Friday, October 6th at 7:30 PM at Cinema 18 with a presentation of the feature film SHAFTED by Tom Putnam, a parody of the 1970s exploitation films, particularly kung- fu movies and the blaxploitation genre. Shafted! is the story of Steven Byzinsky, "one very confused white man who thinks he's none other than 1970's pop icon and "blaxploitation" film hero John Shat" -- with "loads of great music, zombies, a big pink rocket and even Mr. Gary Coleman himself as a hired assassin!"

An Opening Night OPENING NIGHT PARTY AND ALL NIGHT ORGY at Cinema 18 will follow the screening.

The program will also include:

RADICAL SHORT FILMS -- such as THE FLESH IS WILLING by Todd Verow; THE KILLER KRAPPER by Aromando D. Munoz; SHIT - THE MOVIE by Julie Gaw; LOAN SHARK by Jay Robert Jennings; and more.

NARRATIVE 16mm FILM SHORTS -- such as THE ANCHOR MAN by Christopher Summa; BELIEVE by Aaron Saidman; GRAY FRUIT by Thouly Dosios; and more.

THE HORROR OMNIBUS -- with THE NIGHT FERRIS BUELLER DIED by Dan Settani; PRIMER FOR A DENTAL EXTRACTION by Carl Wiedemann; and more.

Plus BUTTERFLY by Doug Wolens - a documentary film about the environmental heroine, Julia Butterfly Hill who has gained the attention of the world, for her 2 year vigil 180 feet atop an ancient redwood tree -- preventinurke@nyfa.org

Ongoing: VIDEO LOUNGE seeks short animation, experimental, or documentary videos for ongoing screening series. No narrative or works made on film. Currently searching for international videos for upcoming series in spring. Send non-returnable VHS tape with brief bio and $1 to: Video Lounge, P.O. Box 1220, New York, NY 10013; email info@videolounge.org or visit http://www.videolounge.org

Ongoing: EL MUSEO DEL BARRIO, a not-for-profit organization founded to preserve, interpret, and promote Latino and Latin American art, is interested in reviewing artists' work on an on-going basis. Work is reviewed twice a year, in June and November. El Museo del Barrio maintains an Artists' Archive which is open to the public by appointment. Work should be submitted in slide form (duplicates only), with resume, press clippings, and an SASE. Send submissions for review to: El Museo del Barrio, Attn: Curatorial, 1230 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10029; or phone (212) 831-7272.

Ongoing: THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL, one of the oldest alternative media organizations in the nation, is seeking submissions of short and feature length documentaries, narratives, experimental, and other works attentive to the intersections of race, class, gender, and similar issues of social and political interest. Send -" VHS tapes with synopsis of the film and director's bio to: Third World Newsreel, Attn: Noel Shaw, 545 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018; phone (212) 947-9277; fax (212) 594-6417; or visit http://www.twn.org

THE GETTY GRANT PROGRAM funds a diverse range of projects that promote researching the history of art and related fields, advancement of the understanding of art, and conservation of cultural heritage. It supports projects that set high standards and make significant contributions to their fields. Grants may fund conceptual projects that take intellectual risks, or they may support more basic resources and activities. Funded projects include a wide variety of methodologies and subject matter, ranging through all historical periods and geographic regions. For information, contact: The Getty Grant Program,1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90049; phone (310) 440-7320; fax (310) 440-7703; or visit http://www.getty.edu/grant/index.html

TURBULENCE, a project of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. of Staten Island, provides funding for work that creatively explores the possibilities of the Internet. This includes work by individual artists and collaborations; work that uses the Internet as a repository, and work that explores its possibilities as a conduit. All artists are encouraged to consider how their project advances an imaginative use of the Internet. For information, contact: New Radio and Performing Arts, phone (718) 273-3646; or email newradio@interport.net

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced last week that 18 states will be awarded 56 grants totaling $493,000 through ArtsREACH, a program that expands the geographic reach of NEA support to new communities by directing awards to 20 states which received five or fewer direct Endowment grants during one of the previous two years.

ArtsReach grants will support the creation of cultural assessments and/or plans in Texarkana, AR; Minot, ND; Chickasaw Nation, Ada, OK; Sparks, NV; Providence, RI; and Buckhannon, WV. They will also support JUST AROUND THE CORNER, a regional arts festival in Northwest Indiana; and the CULTURE CAFE, a presenting series that showcases the performing arts heritage of immigrants (in Sudanese, Latino, Bosnian, Tai Dam, Vietnamese and Cambodian communities) who live in Central Iowa.

The program now in its third year, has given nearly $2 million in funding to arts programs that might be considered off the beaten path -- supporting partnerships between civic, business, cultural and social organizations. ArtsREACH "Target States" are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Among this year's other grants are:

Space One Eleven (SOE) Birmingham, AL - $10,000 to support LEAVING HOME, an oral history and mural project. Nationally acclaimed artists will collaborate with local artists and residents of the Metropolitan Gardens neighborhood to document the evolution of this historically significant community. Partners include Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, Tenants Association and Metropolitan Gardens Housing.

Cowley County Community College, Arkansas City, KS - $10,000 to support a series of artist residencies and arts marketing in rural south central Kansas. Among the artists proposed for the residences are cellist Eugene Friesen, environmental artist Stan Herd, theater performer and mask maker Rob Faust and the Prairie Wind Dancers. Partners include the Arkansas City Area City Council, Winfield Arts and Humanities Council, Southwestern College and Cowley College.

Tougaloo College Economic Development Corporation, Jackson, MS - $10,000 to support a feasibility study and development of a cultural plan which will focus on the development of artist studios at the Tougaloo Art Colony on the Tougaloo College campus -- where artist instructors in residence offer a week of demonstrations and presentations. Partners include the Tougaloo Art Committee, Art Colony, Tougaloo College, Tougaloo EDC, Mississippi State University, Jackson Community Design Center, City of Jackson, Mississippi Planning Department and the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Nebraskans for Public Television, Inc., Lincoln, NE - $10,000. Facilitated by the Nebraska Educational Television Network, the project will assess the feasibility of a dedicated Nebraska arts channel to address formal and informal arts education needs, as well as enrichment for Nebraska citizens. Partners include the Nebraska Arts Council, Lincoln Arts Council, ArtsAIM, Lied Center for the Performing Arts, Joslyn Art Museum and other area organizations.

Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN - $7,500 to support an artist-in-residence program featuring the visual and media arts. The intent of the program is to provide greater recognition of emerging local artists and to assist these young professionals in becoming self-supporting through their artistic endeavors. Partners include the Candy Factory, (City of Knoxville) Arts Council of Greater Knoxville and the University of Tennessee.

Cheyenne Family YMCA, Cheyenne, WY - $10,000 to support a planning process for the Writers Voice Program in order to more fully integrate the Writer's Voice Program into the YMCA's overall programming schedule. Partners include the Wyoming Arts Council, Laramie County Library, Wyoming State Library, Laramie County Community College and Barnes & Noble Bookstore.

Sources/resources:

NATIONAL ENDOWMENTS FOR THE ARTS -- http://www.arts.gov/learn/00grants/AR.html

"Twenty 'Underserved' States Receive NEA ArtsREACH Grants"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/1999/cur091499.html
September 14, 1999

Opportunities for Artists

NEW YORK CITY, NY -- Franklin Furnace's collection of international artists' books published after 1960, one of the largest in this country, has been merged with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Library's collection.

The breadth of Franklin Furnace's collection complements MoMA's in-depth holdings, says former Director of the MoMA Library, Clive Phillpot. "Together, the Museum of Modern Art/Franklin Furnace/Artist Book Collection sets in motion a resource of unparalleled value."

Records for the collection are now available in MoMA's DADABASE -- http://library.moma.org -- which is searchable by Author, Title, Publisher, Form/Genre, etc.

MoMA has assumed Franklin Furnace's open acquisition policy of accepting any multiple published by an artist as a work of art. Submissions are invited. One copy of the work, a resume, and any available documentation should be sent to: Museum of Modern Art/Franklin Furnace/Artist Book Collection, Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019

Artists are advised that all information and materials sent will become the property of the Museum of Modern Art/Franklin Furnace/Artist Book Collection and may be used in exhibitions and publications.

For more information, visit: http://www.franklinfurnace.org/moma.html

TORONTO, Canada -- An English-language poetry prize worth $80,000 was announced this month. According to THE GLOBE AND MAIL, $40,000 will be being awarded to a Canadian English-language poet with an outstanding body of work, and the remainder to a non-Canadian English-language poet for a similar body of work.

The Globe and Mail reports that Funding for the prize, which will be awarded annually, is coming from the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, established by Scott Griffin, the Toronto-based founder of Meridian Technologies Inc. and a long-time patron of the Canadian arts.

Canadian writers Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and David Young; British editor and poet Robin Robertson; and former U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass will serve as trustees of the prize.

Source: "New $80,000 Canadian poetry prize established"
THE GLOBE AND MAIL -- http://www.globeandmail.com
September 6, 2000

"With the advent of web technology, the Latino population boom and the increasing curiosity of the Latino experience by the mainstream, new styles of prose are popping up and Latino escritores can now choose from both traditional and new publishing ventures," writes Marina Garcia-Vasquez, LATINO.COM.

The in depth article, available on LATINOLINK, documents publishing venues for Latino writers -- from dotcoms such as Latino.com to academic reviews and literary magazines. Details, including submission information, are included about EL ANDAR, CIPACTLI, ARTE PUBLICO PRESS, and others. For details, visit:

Marina Garcia-Vasquez
"Latino.com - Latino Writers Making Publishing Inroads"
LATINOLINK -- http://www.latinolink.com/article.php3/000725path?Page=3

Please note that the CAA Conference 2001 panels (mentioned in last week's Current) are no longer accepting submissions from potential speakers.

Deadline: September 22, 2000, Fulton County (GA) visual artists, INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCY PROGRAM IN SOUTH AFRICA

Deadline: September 28, 2000, Call for Contributors, THE OLYMPICS, (WHAT ELSE?) M/C REVIEWS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, (Theater) (Pittsburgh, PA)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, (Arvada, CO)

2 POSITIONS IN INTERACTIVE MEDIA, Georgia Tech, (Atlanta, GA)

COORDINATING PRODUCER, P.O.V./ American Documentary, Inc., (New York City, NY)

WEB CONTENT MANAGER/EDITOR, (classical music portal site), (Boston, MA)

REGIONAL SERVICES COORDINATOR, Northwest Film Center, Portland Art Museum, (Portland, OR)

TECHNOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR; PROGRAM COORDINATOR, Arts Horizons, (Englewood, NJ)

MANAGER OF GRAPHIC DESIGN, Childrens Museum of Manhattan, (New York City,NY)

ASSISTANT CURATOR, Visual Arts Center, Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science, (Sioux Falls, SD)

ARTS STATION ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, (Tifton, GA)

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, New Langton Arts,(San Francisco, CA)

ART DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL MANAGER OF GIFTS, GRANTS & CONTRACTS, The New York Botanical Garden, (New York City, NY)

BUSINESS MANAGER/CONTROLLER, PROGRAM COORDINATOR (F/T) FOR MUSIC & ARTS CAMPAIGN, Arts Council Silicon Valley

GALLERY ASSISTANT, (New York City, NY)

FINE ARTS PROGRAMS SPECIALIST; BUSINESS OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE, CULTURAL SERVICES DEPT, City of Walnut Creek, (Walnut Creek, CA)

GALLERY EDUCATOR, The Queens Library Gallery, (Jamaica, NY)

(GALLERY JOB), Margarete Roeder Gallery and Editions, (New York City, NY)

REGISTRAR/ASSOCIATE REGISTRAR, (museum) (Kansas City, MO)

REGISTRAR, Springfield Library & Museums Association, (Springfield, MA)

REGISTRAR; DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, The Suzuki-Orff School for Young Musicians, (Chicago, IL)

ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, (regional theatre), (Washington, DC)

EXHIBIT DESIGNER, Denver Museum of Natural Sciences, (DMNS) (Denver, CO)

CONTROLLER; COLLECTIONS DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR; VOLUNTEER SERVICES ASSISTANT; LIBRARY DATA ENTRY TECHNICIAN, The Asian Art Museum, (San Francisco, CA)

PEACEMAKERS: EDUCATIONAL SPECIALIST TUTOR IN MATH, HUMANITIES, SCIENCE, T.R.U.C.E., (New York City, NY)

OFFICE MANAGER/GALLERY RECEPTIONIST, Swiss Institute, (New York City, NY)

VOLUNTEER INTERNSHIPS, Women Make Movies, (New York City, NY)

EDUCATION INTERNSHIP POSTING, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, (Brooklyn, NY)

ARTS ADMINISTRATION INTERN, Urban Glass, (Brooklyn, NY)

DEPARTMENT INTERN, Department Education & Training, American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, (New York City, NY)

A growing list of links to job resources for artists and arts administrators is available on Arts Wire's Web Site at http://www.artswire.org/current/jobres.html

Arts Wire's ARTQUARRY (formerly WEBBASE) is a searchable database of arts related websites available on Arts Wire's public home page at http://www.artswire.org/artquarry

Created as a public service to help the online arts community to keep abreast of arts sites and for arts websters to promote their new or renovated sites to an arts audience, ArtQuarry, (and WebBase before it) has served the web since 1996.

Artists and art organizations are invited to visit ArtQuarry both to search art sources and to add their sites. Among the recent entries are:

GRAVITY PRESSES (LEST WE ALL FLOAT AWAY) INC. -- http://www.gravitypresses.com -- is a small-press poetry publisher of poetry chapbooks and a quarterly literary magazine, Now Here Nowhere. The web site displays excerpts and samples from their published books as well as from each issue of the magazine.

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS -- http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/internet/artsadmin.htm -- features Internet resources covering all facets of arts administration and management. Topics covered include Foundations & Grantwriting; Careers; Arts Education; Government Resources; Associations & Organizations; and Business, Legal & Copyright Issues. Part of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Selected Internet Resources which includes Arts Administration, Theatre, Dance, Recorded Sound, Music, Television & Radio, and Film.

NONCHALANCE -- http://www.nonchalance.org -- represents current works and events by the underground Oakland arts collective called the Nonchalants. "We are mostly concerned with promoting and preserving the East Bay cultural perspective."

OUTRIDER PRESS, INC. -- http://www.outriderpress.com -- in affiliation with TallGrass Writers Guild, sponsors an annual Anthology/Contest on a different theme each year, with $1,000 in cash prizes. The 2001 AnthologyContest theme is Romantic Love, with a February 28, 2001 deadline for entries. For complete guidelines w/required entry form, e-mail outriderpr@aol.com

TADDLE CREEK MAGAZINE -- http://taddlecreekmag.com -- is a Canadian literary magazine publishing fiction and poetry by writers from across Toronto. Taddle Creek also publishes author interviews, historical essays of local interest, and photography spreads.

Arts Wire's website at http://www.artswire.org is a central place to visit the cyberhomes of the diverse artists and art organizations who are Arts Wire members. This week CURRENT invites readers to visit the home page of Meredith Monk.

Composer, singer, filmmaker, choreographer, director MEREDITH MONK -- http://www.meredithmonk.org/ -- is a pioneer in what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance." Since graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1964, Meredith Monk, who is the fourth generation singer in her family, has created more than 100 works.

"The heart of my work is singing," Monk writes in an interview available on the web site. "I think of my work as a big tree with two main branches. One main branch is the singing and it started from my solo work, exploring the human voice and all its possibilities. That's been a very strong discipline for over 30 years, working with my own instrument and discovering all the different possibilities....And then the other branch is the composite forms, which could be operas or musical theater pieces, or installations, or films. And that's where different elements are woven together into one big composition."

In 1968 Meredith Monk founded The House, a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. She formed Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble in 1978 to perform her unique musical compositions. Among many other works, Monk has made more than a dozen recordings, most of which are on the ECM New Series label, including her full-length opera, ATLAS: an opera in three parts which premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in 1991. In March 1997, ECM released Monk's newest CD, VOLCANO SONGS.

Exhibitions include the retrospective, MEREDITH MONK: ARCHEOLOGY OF AN ARTIST at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in 1996, and recently, a major installation, ART PERFORMS LIFE at The Walker Art Center.

"Live performance is a unique experience," Monk says in the Interview. "It's really one of the only communal group experience that we have, other than going to church where there is an interaction between human beings. I think that what art can do is to slow you down enough so that you really become more aware of reality....let go of the habitual ways of -- of dealing with seeing and hearing and experiencing things. In that sense, art becomes a prototype or template for the richness of experience in the world that we're living in. And I think emotionally, because of the overload of speed and the kind of fragmentation that we live with and the density of information, I think that our nervous systems start numbing out. And in a way I think, if you have art that really has a certain power or vision, it becomes a way of getting in touch again. And I think that that's something that's very important."

SEATTLE, WA -- As part of the 25th anniversary celebration of Microsoft, President and CEO Steve Ballmer has announced a $25 million commitment of cash and software to fund the Microsoft NPower National Partnership. The partnership is a national rollout of NPower, a nonprofit-focused technology assistance organization. This national program will assist nonprofits in making more effective use of technology in their work with people and communities.

In addition to Npower's existing program in the Seattle area, several cities are under consideration for new NPower programs, including New York and Dallas.

"It is through collaboration with the technology industry, business community and organizations like NPower that we can assist nonprofits in realizing the immense potential technology has on their vital work in human services, civic development, the arts and the environment," Ballmer stated.

Microsoft and NPower note that the announcement comes at a time when nonprofits are under pressure to improve performance in terms of accountability to their supporters and funders as well as to improve outreach to the communities they serve, Yet an estimated 72 percent of nonprofits lack in-house staff and access to affordable technology services that could be woven into their overall organizational plans to improve effectiveness.

Formed in March 1999 with start-up funding from Microsoft, The Medina Foundation, The Seattle Foundation and The Boeing Company, NPower -- http://www.NPower.org -- is a nonprofit organization that offers no-cost and low-cost technology assistance to Puget Sound nonprofit groups.

The $25 million Microsoft NPower National Partnership will allow NPower to expand into three to five additional cities a year over the next five years, ultimately creating new NPower programs in up to 12 cities. With assistance from NPower, communities will conduct a thorough community planning and assessment process, resulting in a business plan and commitments from local funders for an NPower program. Selected communities will receive start-up funding from Microsoft and technical assistance from NPower. Over time, the network of NPower programs is expected to become a powerful source of learning and best practices for nonprofit technology assistance nationally and even internationally.

Sources/resources:

MICROSOFT WEB SITE -- http://www.microsoft.com

NPOWER WEB SITE -- http://www.npower.org/