Bush also allocated an increase to fund Federal staff costs, so that the flat funding will be augmented by funds to cover the mandatory government employee salary increases approved by Congress. (otherwise, flat funding would result in a cut) If enacted by Congress, Bush's request would result in FY2002 budgets at approximately the current levels of $105 million for the NEA and $120.3 for the NEH.

"Given the President's desire to reduce the growth of Federal spending, we are pleased with his funding request for the Arts Endowment," commented NEA Chairman Bill Ivey. "It shows that the Bush Administration values the importance of a strong and continuing Federal commitment to the arts."

NEH Chair William Ferris also affirmed the support of continuing programs stating that "President Bush's FY2002 budget request of $120 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities will enable the Endowment to continue to support outstanding programs in humanities education, cultural preservation, lifelong learning, and research that touch the lives of all Americans."

FY2002 budget recommendations for The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) are not readily apparent in the Blueprint, and the IMLS is reserving comment on the 2002 budget until the final figures are released in April.

In line with the President's campaign rhetoric, the language in his funding plan for the NEA "offers States greater say in how funding is spent." However, the President has not yet clarified if this is in addition to the 40% of Congressionally appropriated NEA funding which is already mandated to be directed in block grants to state, jurisdictional and regional arts agencies.

The President's request for flat funding is substantially less than former President Clinton's requests in recent years for $150 million budget appropriations for both the NEA and the NEH. Clinton's requests for increased funding for the cultural agencies were repeatedly slashed by the Republican Congress. However, although they weren't at the levels requested by Clinton, last year bipartisan support for Federal arts funding resulted in moderate increases for both the NEA and the NEH, and there is some chance that this year Congress will increase funding for the Cultural agencies.

Noting that Bush's request for flat funding was not a surprise, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, (D-NY) who with Steve Horn (R-CA) is Co-chair of The Congressional Arts Caucus, emphasized to Arts Wire that "We're going to make every attempt to increase that."

When the Cultural funding debate begins in Congress, it will be overseen by new Interior Appropriations Subcommittee chairs -- in the House Representative Joe Skeen, (R-NM) who replaces Ralph Regula; (R-OH) in the Senate, Senator Conrad Burns, (R-MT) who replaces Slade Gorton. (R-WA) New committee chairs were appointed because of a Republican internal policy which limits committee chairs to 6 years per committee. Burns has a 100% pro arts rating in recent American Arts Alliance (AAA) records. Although in 1999 Skeen voted against Slaughter-Horn-Johnson Amendment to increase the NEA by $10 million and in 2000 against the amendment to increase NEA funds to $125, he also voted against the Stearns Amendment to decrease NEA funding by $2.1 million. In his appointment statement, Skeen pledged to work in a bipartisan manner with committee members as well as with his counterparts in the Senate.

According to AAA, Congress now has the narrowest margin across parties since 1953-54. There will be a 50-50 split in the Senate and a record total of 13 women. The House has 41 new members with 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats, including 61 women.

The President's budget Blueprint provides $494 million for The Smithsonian, a $40 million, or nine percent, increase over 2001. Included in this FY2002 Budget is $97.9 million for repair, restoration, and construction of Smithsonian buildings -- with funds allocated for continuing renovation of the Patent Office Building which houses the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. $30 million is slated for completing the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) on the Mall.

In 1989, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed Public Law 101-185, signed by President Bush, establishing the NMAI within the Smithsonian Institution. The law appropriated funds for the development of NMAI facilities at three sites: the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City which opened in 1994; the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, MD, which recently completed construction of its innovative new facility in Suitland, MD; and the NMAI on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

"At NMAI, we think of our new museum on the National Mall, set to open in 2003, along with our other sites....as Native places of a kind. We hope that visitors to our buildings will find not only a wealth of cultural knowledge and aesthetic wonders, but a welcoming spirit as well," Founding Director Rick West states on the NMAI website at http://www.nmai.si.edu

Sources/resources:

George W. Bush
"A Blueprint for New Beginnings"
THE WHITEHOUSE WEB SITE -- http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/usbudget/blueprint/budtoc.html

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS -- http://www.arts.gov

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES -- http://www.neh.gov

CONGRESSIONAL ARTS CAUCUS -- http://www.house.gov/slaughter/about-me/artscaucus.htm -- a bipartisan organization for Members of Congress who support the arts through Federal initiatives. The Caucus currently includes 146 Members of the House of Representatives.

AMERICAN ARTS ALLIANCE -- http://www.artswire.org/~aaa

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION -- http://www.si.edu

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN -- http://www.nmai.si.edu

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS -- http://www.artsusa.org -- has scheduled a NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE ARTS BRIEFING via AUDIOCONFERENCE on March 19, 2001 as part if the Arts Advocacy Day Conference in Washington, DC. Visit the site for more information.

"It is very important to bring together two great assets - education and the arts - for the benefit of both," said Gerry Robinson, Chairman of the Arts Council. "This imaginative initiative is based on using limited resources to real and lasting effect. It is intended to bring about the beginning of a step change in the way in which artists engage with young people and young people engage with the arts".

The national pilot program will provide artists and arts organizations of all kinds with an opportunity to establish creative links with young people, especially in schools. Contact between the arts community and young people is planned to be regular, sustained, and beneficial to students, teachers and artists alike. It is hoped that successful completion of the pilot program will result in establishing Creative Partnerships all across England.

Source:

THE ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND -- http://www.artscouncil.org.uk

"With public lending rights, Canadians found a way to reward authors for their unrewarded contribution to the widening of the reading public," said writer John Ralston Saul. "And it was done without damaging our public library system. In effect, we created the equivalent of a minimum wage for authors."

Author Marie-Claire Blais added that "the direct support provided by the PLR program is indispensable to all our authors: it is basic justice due to our artists who represent the present and the future of our society."

An additional amount of $600,000 was provided to the PLR Commission's budget by the Canada Council for the Arts. This was part of a $10 million increase in the Council's funding announced in last February's federal budget.

The Public Lending Right Commission, comprised of representatives of national writers', librarians' and publishers' associations, administers the PLR program. PLR payments are determined by sampling the holdings of a representative number of libraries: the more libraries in which an eligible title is found, the larger the PLR payment, up to a per-author maximum this year of $3,525; the average PLR payment is $679. Five hundred and eighty-seven authors are receiving a PLR payment for the first time this year.

Public Lending Right programs operate in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and all of Scandinavia. Plans to create PLR programs are also under way in other parts of the world, including France and countries in Eastern Europe.

Source:

THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS -- http://www.canadacouncil.ca

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, (ACLU) Forsythe uses the image of Barbie in a variety of poses to critique the materialistic and gender-oppressive values he believes the doll embodies.

In keeping with "its history of employing heavy-handed litigation to squelch free speech involving its iconic doll," the toymaker Mattel sued Forsythe, alleging a variety of claims, including trademark and copyright infringement, the ACLU reports. The company sought a preliminary injunction against Forsythe, who is represented by the ACLU of Southern California and the private firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin. A Federal District Court denied the motion, and the corporation had appealed to the Court of Appeals to overturn that decision.

"My Barbie series of photos critiques the Barbie doll and the shallow, consumerist values fostered and perpetuated by it," said Forsythe. "Little did I know that Mattel, chief purveyor of images that degrade and silence young women, would turn the full force of its multi-billion dollar power on me."

The ACLU notes that Mattel has "a long rap sheet as an aggressive litigator to stop the fair use of Barbie images." Among the artists and publishers which Mattel has brought suit against are Paul Hansen, who sold 150 modified Barbies as art works; Mark Napier whose THE DISTORTED BARBIE" web site explored the cultural phenomenon of Barbie; the band Aqua for its hit song BARBIE GIRL; and Seal Press, publisher of ADIOS, BARBIE, a feminist examination of body image.

"The book had been out an entire year, and we just thought that the First Amendment provided us with every right to evoke the outrageousness of tall, thin, and white being the only widely accepted body type," THE SEATTLE WEEKLY quotes Seal Press publisher Faith Conlon as saying.

The suit was settled out of court with Seal agreeing to change the title and redesign the cover after its current run was sold out. "Ultimately we decided it was more important to keep putting the book on shelves than it was to fight it and possibly drain resources from our other titles," Conlon commented, according to the Weekly.

ADIOS BARBIE, by Ophira Edut is now BODY OUTLAWS. The image of Barbie has been removed from the cover -- which now features photos of contributors to the book.

"This case is about insisting that a corporate giant can't stop an artist from using one of their products to create art and to comment on our society," said attorney Douglas Winthrop about Tom Forsythe's case. "If we were to allow that to happen, the content of our culture would be greatly reduced and emptied. We cannot allow Mattel to do that."

Sources/resources:

"9th Circuit Court of Appeals Deals Blow to Toymaker Mattel
Company's Barbie Art Blackout Judged Unlikely to Succeed"
ACLU- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WEB SITE -- http://www.aclu-sc.org
February 22, 2001

"Judge Says No to Mattel's Effort to Stop Artist's Photographic Critiques of Barbie"
THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION (ACLU) WEB SITE -- http://www.aclu.org/news/2000/n092500.html

Kristy Ojala
"Seal of disapproval"
SEATTLE WEEKLY - http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0009/books-ojala.shtml
March 2-8, 2000

SEAL PRESS -- http://www.sealpress.com/

NEWSTEPS: A DANCE SERIES FOR EMERGING CHOREOGRAPHERS

The Mulberry Street Theater presents 8 emerging choreographers in its eleventh NEWSTEPS dance series. Introduced in 1994, this series was created to support the community of emerging choreographers who are developing innovative and risk-taking works.

This season's showcase will include the works of Lily Baldwin, Francisco Rider DaSilva, Justin Jones & Christopher Yon, Eliza Miller, Mindy Meyers, Michelle Pritchard, and Jessica Reed.

"The Newsteps series is a great way for me to show work in an early stage of development," says Eliza Miller will be showing a new work-in-progress to music by Berlin composer Alan Bern, with whom she is collaborating on a longer piece for the fall. "I'm going in a new direction with this piece it's more contemplative and emotionally based than some of my earlier work."

The choreographers were selected through open audition by a panel including H.T. Chen, Douglas Dunn, Carla Peterson, Holly Fairbank and Laura Upritchard. The lighting design for Newsteps will be created by Farley Whitfield.

Newsteps is a semi-annual dance series featuring choreographers producing new works and works in progress. The artists are selected for each showcase through an open audition, judged by a panel of active and prominent artists in the dance field. Since 1994, the Newsteps series has presented the work of over 60 young artists.

The Mulberry Street Theater is an intimate black box performance space created in 1988 with the mission to promote understanding through the arts, provide professional opportunities for artists, increase participation in the arts and develop future audiences. The Mulberry Street Theater is an affiliate of the H.T. Dance Company Inc., the non-profit umbrella organization for Chen & Dancers, Mulberry Street Theater, and the Arts Gate Center.

As a co-presenter of independent artists and presenter of three dance series -- NEWSTEPS, EAR TO THE GROUND/MOVING WORD and THE LADDER SERIES (co-coordinated by Taipei Theater) -- the theater supports the development of dance artists by providing a professional theater space in which artists of high caliber receive visibility in the dance community and press. The theater, one of Chinatown's first professional performance spaces, serves as a home base for local and visiting artists to develop and showcase their work. The theater also hosts H.T. Chen & Dancers' annual educational series for children, provides affordable rehearsal space for modern dance artists, and serves as a venue for community events.

The Newsteps program receives support from the Chase Manhattan Bank; the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, J.P. Morgan, Jerome Foundation, New York Community Trust - Lila Wallace Theater Funds, R.H. Macy & Company, and the Phillip Morris Companies, Inc.

Tickets: $12 Reservations: 212-349-0438

For more information about the program, contact tel 212-349-0126 Fax 212-349-0494 Email info@htchendance.org Web Site -- http://www.htchendance.org

JOE GOODE; MORDINE & CO; RONALD K. BROWN; 33 FAINTING SPELLS

Last summer, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago officially opened the doors to its new state-of-the-art facility. The three-story facility, a 33,000-square-foot Art Deco building is located in the heart of the growing South Loop. Columbia College purchased the building for $1.3 million and spent an additional $3 million on renovations. Among the improvements are a 274-seat performance space complete with permanent seating and a higher lighting grid; seven spacious dance studios, one of which may be used as a gallery for art exhibits, lectures, receptions and other special events; two classrooms; a sound lab; student dressing rooms and lounge areas; faculty and staff offices; and generous common space. Architects on the project were Shayman, Salk, Arenson, and Sussholz.

Now in its 31st season, The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago is one of the city's leading presenters of contemporary dance. Upcoming Performances in the Spring Season include:

March 22-24, 2001
JOE GOODE PERFORMANCE GROUP
"'What if the stories we hear are not the stories we live?' asks Joe Goode at the start of his latest work. And what if there are no heroes to show us the way? Gender, identity and role models lie at the core of Goode's provocative companion pieces, GENDER HEROES (PART I) and UNDERTAKING HARRY (PART II). Based on interviews about role models with men and women around the San Francisco Bay Area, and loosely informed by the life of 86 year-old Gay rights activist, Harry Hay, these works ring with the pain of hypocrisy and the humor of truth. Replete with masks, dramatic set pieces, evocative text, and daring choreography, Goode charts new territory and banishes the frontier between dance and theater."

April 26-29, 2001
MORDINE & COMPANY DANCE THEATRE
"In keeping with Mordine and Company's tradition of collaboration, nationally renowned guest choreographer Ishmael Houston-Jones sets a new work on the company of seven dancers. Houston-Jones, a veteran African-American artist noted for his 'fast-moving...high energy dance' and 'strong, sure sense of theater,' (THE NEW YORK TIMES) creates a bold and daring work set to music by Chicago composer David Pavkovic. The program also features a premiere by Artistic Director, Shirley Mordine. With music ranging from jazz to opera, and incorporating the ancient technique of shadow play, Mordine's new work is a haunting exploration of desire."

May 3-5, 2001
RONALD K. BROWN/EVIDENCE
"Ronald K. Brown, one of the country's leading African-American choreographers, and his company of ten highly energized dancers make their Chicago debut with HIGH LIFE. Movement, stories and music converge in Brown's latest work, inspired by the migration of African-Americans from the rural south to the north, and the parallel cultural expressions that developed in West African cities as young people left the villages for the metropolis. Filled with determination and warrior-like characters, High Life (named after a fusion style of African popular music from the 1950's) features compositions by the revered Nigerian composer Fela Kuti."

May 10-12, 2001
33 FAINTING SPELLS
"From dramatically layered situations and a unique collection of props -- paper, lemons and water -- emerges an athletic and imagistic journey into the realm of the remembered image. This company has earned national attention for dance theater that is rich with mystery, wit and precision. Seattle-based choreographers Dany Hanson and Gaelen Hanson, who co-founded 33 Fainting Spells in 1994, have collaborated with two guest dancers to create SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER, an evening-length work set to an original score by The Black Cat Orchestra. "

To purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at tel: 312-344-8300 or visit http://www.ticketweb.com

Columbia College Chicago is an independent liberal arts college in downtown Chicago. Columbia offers an instructional program leading to a bachelor of arts degree in dance, and, beginning in fall 2000, the department also offers a bachelor of fine arts degree. The college has more than 100 dance majors, as well as professional dancers and community residents who take classes in contemporary dance, jazz, tap, African dance, ballet and other genres.

For more information, visit http://www.dancecenter.org/

CABARET BORIS & NATASHA

This second installment of CABARET BORIS & NATASHA features music, dance, spoken word, puppetry, and theatre. Performers include Christine Knight, Erin Boberg, Leanne Grabel, Carol Triffle & Katie Griesar, and Other Hand Productions.

Performance Works NorthWest, the parent organization of Linda Austin & Dancers, is a new space in the Portland area with a mission of advancing the contemporary performing arts in the Pacific Northwest by sponsoring live performance and providing rehearsal and performing space to local performers.

"Our cats Boris & Natasha will be present via video," says says dancer/choreographer Linda Austin, who is currently working on two new pieces to premiere at the space for a three week run in June.

In addition to the Sunday evening open movement jam and Cabaret Boris & Natasha, other ongoing programs include HOLY GOATS! a Sunday afternoon music & dance improvisation series.

Refreshments -- beer, wine, pretzels -- are included in the $12/14 ticket price for Cabaret Boris & Natasha. The Audience at The Holy Goats! series gets free coffee and bagel along with the performance for the $7 admission price.

For more information tel: 503-777-1907

Presented by The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts Institute for Studies in the Arts at ASU, the dance research project TRUST is choreographed by Robinson, who is hearing-impaired. Nola Baker-Jones' ability to dance without fear is the result of new technology developed at Herberger College under the Institute for Studies in the Arts (ISA) and the Department of Dance.

The dancer wears a small device, similar to a hearing aid, which warns her when she approaches invisible lasers marking the stage's boundaries. Each boundary gives a different sound, increasing in volume as the dancer nears it. Baker-Jones is thereby able to tell exactly where she is on the stage at all times. The devices were developed by an ISA electronic engineer, Assegid "Ozzie" Kidane.

The TRUST project, conceived by ASU dance graduate student Aaron Robinson, grew out of an interest in addressing populations that remain underserved by traditional performance training programs. The collaborators wanted to provide potential artists with the means to explore unknown territories and experience freedom of movement.

For more information, visit http://herbergercollege.asu.edu/dance/

The National Endowment for the Humanities invites suggestions for streamlining and improving procedures for grant application and administration. NEH and the other grantmaking federal agencies have been working to improve the effectiveness and performance of federal grant programs.

Issues being discussed are increased electronic processing in grant-program administration; development of common application forms and reporting systems; and simplification of grant application and reporting requirements.

The NEH welcomes ideof integrating technology into their programs. The program provides subsidies for consultants, travel and staff training/professional development. TechTAP funded projects develop a sustainable vision of what New York State arts organizations can achieve via technology. TechTAP is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

In this second cycle of TechTAP there were 51 applicants with six awards made, totaling $18,000. Technical assistance grants were awarded to the following organizations:

171 CEDAR, dba Cedar Arts Center, (Steuben, NY)
$3,000 to hire a consultant to provide staff training in the 171 Access database and Ticket Maker Software, plus the merger of Ticket Maker and 171 Access Database software. This will enable the staff to operate more efficient and tailored services resulting from a fully functioning box-office.

DONNA UCHIZONO COMPANY, (La Donna Dance, Inc.) (New York, NY)
$3,000 to hire a consultant to plan, design, and support the development of a technology-based marketing and fundraising initiative starting with the construction of a Web site. Additionally staff will receive web site maintenance training necessary for the upkeep of the site.

HARVESTWORKS, (New York, NY)
$3,000 to hire a consultant to develop an institutional database system which will interface with their Internet database. Furthermore staff will be trained in operating and maintaining the site. The design and implementation of this database will streamline operations enabling Harvestworks to serve its constituents with increased efficiency.

LONG ISLAND ARTS COUNCIL AT FREEPORT, (Nassau, NY)
$3,000 to hire a consultant to design and develop a database and provide training for the entire staff. Creation of the database will enable the Arts Council to streamline and enhance communications with their members and the community.

NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY, (New York, NY) $3,000 to hire a consultant to further develop their Web site and to provide staff training in the use and maintenance of the site. Additional training will take place to aid in the overall knowledge of the applications and usage of all technology currently available to the organization.

UNISON ARTS & LEARNING CENTER, (Ulster, NY) $3,000 to hire a consultant to customize their database program and train staff in its use and applications. This will enable staff to operate a more efficient and targeted database which will allow them to serve constituents more efficiently.

Evaluators were Jonathan Goldberg, New York, NY; Cheryl Jackson, Buffalo, NY; and Joyce Picone, Mahopac, NY.

The next TechTAP application deadline is Friday, April 20, 2001, 5:00 PM, for the third cycle of Fiscal Year 2001 grants. For information please contact Carla Mapelli, Program Officer at 212-366-6900 ext.224 or via email at TechTAP@nyfa.org or visit NYFA's Web site at http://www.nyfa.org/TechTAP

Opportunities for Artists and Organizations

In 1988, the Rockefeller Foundation developed the Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund to encourage proposals in the performing arts which reflect bold and creative approaches to new work in contemporary art. Applications are invited from professional artists and arts organizations which have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in the creation of new work.

Projects submitted must be new works either in the developmental stage or the first full production. Grants will be made for project activities taking place between August 2001 and December 2002. The deadline is March 29, 2001.

Supported projects include commissioning of artists, research and development, collaborations among artists, collaborations among artists and communities, artistic residencies, community residencies, and production of new work. In 2000, the MAP Fund awarded grants in amounts ranging from $15,000 to $30,000 to 46 projects involving artists and organizations exploring the dynamics of contemporary culture. Among the projects supported in 2000 are:

• Arena Stage - $20,000 to support the creation and development of ALLEYS AND PATHWAYS: THE SOUTHWEST DC PROJECT, an oral history-based performance work by playwright Rebecca Rice

• Bates College/Bates Dance Festival - $25,000 to support the creation and development of THE CARAVAN PROJECT, a tap and video performance work by tap artist Herbin Van Cayseele, video artist Jean de Boysson, and musician Kenny Muhammad

• Borderlands Theater - $25,000 to support the creation and production of ELECTRIDAD, a Chicano adaptation of Electra set in the Arizona desert by playwright Luis Alfaro and director Barclay Goldsmith

• Higher Ground Projects - $20,000 to support the commissioning and production of GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, a roving participatory dance party/concert by choreographer Sarah Skaggs and billboard artists Marc Pierson and Tony Cokes

• Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble - $20,000 to support the creation and production of THE NEW FOLKSONGS COMMISSIONING PROJECT, three new works of music for female vocal ensemble by composers David Lang, Chen Yi, and Janet Kutulas

• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council - $25,000 to support the development of SPECTROPIA, an evening-length interactive media performance by artist Toni Dove

• New York Foundation for the Arts - $25,000 to support the creation and production of HARRIET TUBMAN: A JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH, an evening-length suite of music by composer/performers Brandon Ross, J.T. Lewis, and Melvin Gibbs. Vesna Todorovic Miksic, Producer/Project Director

• Stephen Petronio Dance Company - $25,000 to support the creation and production of STRANGE ATTRACTORS PART II, a multi-media dance work by choreographer Stephen Petronio, composer James Lavell, and artist Anish Kapoor

Partnerships Affirming Community Transformation, (PACT) a program of the Rockefeller Foundation's Creativity & Culture Division (formerly Arts & Humanities) supports community cultural development projects-projects undertaken by artists and other cultural professionals in collaboration with other community members to express identity, concerns and aspirations through the arts and media, building cultural capacity, and contributing to social change.

In the 2001 round of PACT, grants will be given to a range of projects in which community artists or teams use their artistic and organizing skills to advance the development of an identified community, be it geographic, (such as a neighborhood or small town), a community of interest, (such as shipyard workers, victims of environmental racism) or any other affinity. (such as Latino teenagers, the elders who use a senior center) A small number of grants will be earmarked for initiatives to help develop the field.

Funding requests may cover project periods from twelve months to three years. Grant amounts will range from $10,000 to $50,000 per project per year, depending on scope and need.

Priority will be given to proposed projects in which all four of the following aims are addressed: 1.) projects that speak to social and cultural conditions of the participating communities, and are grounded in the challenges and opportunities facing those communities; 2.) projects that are designed to give all participants substantive, collaborative and reciprocal roles; 3.) projects that are designed to enable all participants to enter fully into shaping each project and setting its aims; and 4.) projects that center on creating artistic experiences of power and meaning.

Recipients of the 2000 PACT AWARDS included Alternate Roots, Atlanta, GA for ROOTS ON TOUR: A GATHERING OF RESOURCES, an audience development program for underserved, rural, and/or new presenters and community groups throughout the Southeast; Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, Dearborn, MI for the oral history project LIVING THE PRESENT, CHERISHING THE PAST: VOICES FROM ARAB DETROIT; Elders Share the Arts, Brooklyn, NY for CROSSING THE BOULEVARD, a multimedia project which will make visible the largely invisible lives and stories of new immigrants who live and/or work in the borough of Queens, New York; WING LUKE ASIAN MUSEUM, Seattle, WA for IF THESE HANDS COULD TALK: GARMENT WORKERS IN SEATTLE; and Youth Radio, Berkeley, CA to institute a national network of community-based youth broadcasting partners.

For detailed guidelines and an application form as well as links to other programs, visit http://www.rockfound.org/humanities/ccguidelines.html

Opportunities for Artists

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Smithsonian American Art Museum has announced the establishment of the Lucelia Artist Award, an annual prize to be awarded to a leading contemporary American artist.

"The dynamism of the 21st century is reflected by so many artists working today," said Elizabeth Broun, the museum's Margaret and Terry Stent Director. "The Lucelia Artist Award enhances the museum's commitment to contemporary artists and honors the achievement and promise of living artists who enrich our society with their insight and creativity."

The Lucelia Artist Award will annually recognize an American artist under the age of 50 who has produced a significant body of artwork that demonstrates exceptional creativity. The $25,000 prize is intended to encourage the artist's future development and experimentation.

The award is funded by The Lucelia Foundation. Based in New York City, The Lucelia Foundation is a private foundation which supports the visual arts, specifically 19th-century American and contemporary art.

Sidra Stich is the Lucelia Artist Award Executive Director. The award winner will be determined by a panel of five jurors selected from across the US, each with wide knowledge of contemporary American art through experiences as an artist, critic, author, curator, or collector. Jurors remain anonymous until nominations are complete and the winner is announced. The inaugural 2001 winner will be announced in May.

"Building an exciting contemporary art program through exhibitions, acquisitions, new media initiatives and interaction with artists is a priority for the museum," said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, chief curator at the museum. "The Lucelia Artist Award will play a major role in achieving our goal."

For more information, visit http://www.AmericanArt.si.edu

New technology artists Cindy Bernard, Russet Lederman, and Patrick Lichty are winners of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's New Media/New Century Award to create art for the Web. Their work will be posted on HELIOS, the museum's online American photography center, through its website -- http://AmericanArt.si.edu

Richmond, VA-based Dominion, one of the nation's largest energy companies, makes the New Media/New Century award possible as part of an ongoing partnership with the museum. The partnership is dedicated to supporting photography that examines the American landscape and, in this case, projects which bring new insight to the subject of landscape as online art works. The award grants each artist $4,000 to create his or her proposed project.

Bernard, of San Pedro, CA, is collaborating with sound artist Joseph Hammer of Los Angeles. Visual and aural information will be used to conjure iconic landscapes found in cinema.

Lederman, who currently teaches at the Pratt Institute of Art in New York, is creating a collage of stories collected from various individuals about their memories of, inspirations from and attachments to particular locations. The piece will communicate personal, as well as eclectic views of American landscape.

Lichty's project brings together online panoramic photography, streaming audio and video and annotated texts to construct a story of the 1990s urban sprawl in his hometown of North Canton, Ohio.

"As an artist and independent curator, it is good to see institutions like the Smithsonian American Art Museum recognizing technological media," said Lichty. " It is an indication that digital culture has permeated our society at a very deep level. Artistic expression through electronic media represents the impact that online technologies have had on the Western world."

Jurors for the award were Steve Dietz, director of New Media Initiatives at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN, and Jim Sheldon, associate professor of New Media at Emerson College in Boston, MA. The jurors worked with the Smithsonian American Art Museum's senior curator for photography, Merry Forresta.

For more information, visit the http://www.AmericanArt.si.edu

Deadline: March 19, 2001, articles that delve into the mix and write about its methods, meanings and products, M/C - A JOURNAL OF MEDIA AND CULTURE

Deadline: March 31, poetry on video -- experiences of personal healing through writing, SCREENING AT POETRY THERAPY ANNUAL CONFERENCE, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Deadline: April 1, 2001, Book Arts and Art-In-Education Residencies, WOMEN'S STUDIO WORKSHOP, ROSENDALE, NY

Deadline: April 9, 2001, video installation residency, PREMA, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK

Deadline: April 13, 2001, critical responses to particular issues surrounding the success and interest in RTV, M/C REVIEWS 'SCREENS' FEATURE - "MUST-SEE REALITY TV"

Deadline: April 23, 2001, papers on Using the Media Arts as a Therapeutic Tool, AFTERIMAGE

Deadline: May 1, 2001, Emerging and established writers and artists dealing with issues related to the local and global Pilipino community, DISOORIENT

Deadline: May 1, 2001, artists working in printmaking - traditional printmaking, digital media, book arts, INTERNATIONAL PRINTMAKING FELLOWSHIP, KALA ART INSTITUTE, BERKELEY, CA

Deadline: June 1, 2001, new and original scripts for a full production during 2002 season, THE SPIRIT OF BROADWAY THEATER, NORWICH, CT

Details about these and other opportunities are available on Arts Wire's Web Site at http://www.artswire.org/current/calls.html

To submit "calls" for either artists or organizations, send email to artswire@artswire.org

New Jersey Theatre Alliance will presents the 15th Annual Job Fair March 24, 2001 from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, 19 Livingston Avenue New Brunswick, NJ.

Upon arrival at the Job Fair, attendees receive a comprehensive list of positions available at participating theatres. Attendees then schedule interview appointments with as many theatres as they choose.

Positions available include Internships, Entry-Level, Mid and upper level staff positions, Administrative, Technical and Production. (Full and Part Time, Seasonal and Year Round). Acting jobs are not available at the Job Fair as auditions are run separately twice a year.

Participating theaters include American Stage Company, Teaneck; Bickford Theatre, Morristown; Dreamcatcher Repertory, Bloomfield; Forum Theatre Company, Metuchen; George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick McCarter Theatre, Princeton; New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Madison; Palistage, Tenafly; Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn; Passage Theatre, Trenton Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Madison; Pushcart Players, Verona; TheatreFest, Upper Montclair; Tri-State Actors Theate, Hamburg; Two River Theatre Company, Red Bank; and Union County Arts Center, Rahway.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the statewide consortium of professional not-for-profit theatres. The Theatre Alliance's mission is to promote and develop professional theatre in the Garden State. In addition to the Job Fair, they also host a Job Bank which makes submits resumes to performing arts organization as jobs become available throughout the year.

Cost to attend the Job Fair is $15 if registered by March 22. Registration at the door is $20. Participants can also register for both the Job Fair and the Job Bank by March 22 for $25.

For more information and to receive a registration form, send email to njtg@nj.com Please put "Job Fair" in the subject line.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, (Kansas City, MO)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, South Jersey Cultural Alliance, (Moorestown, NJ)

MANAGING DIRECTOR, The Village of Arts & Humanities, (Philadelphia, PA)

DIVISION DIRECTOR, The Delaware Division of the Arts, (Wilmington, DE)

CURATOR, The Photographic Resource Center at Boston University (Boston, MA)

INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR, (arts education association), (Los Angeles area)

PROGRAM COORDINATOR, Arts Center/Old Forge, (Old Forge, NY)

PROGRAM SPECIALIST, MEDIA LITERACY; PROGRAM SPECIALIST, PUBLIC EDUCATION DIVISION MANAGER; SITE COORDINATOR, The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, (Richmond, CA)

ART PREPARATOR, The Pierpont Morgan Library, (New York City, NY)

LIGHTING ASSISTANT, Technical / Production Department, San Francisco Opera, (San Francisco, CA)

TOUR MANAGER, Opera Center, (San Francisco, CA)

VICE PRESIDENT/OPERATIONS AND HUMAN RESOURCES, Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, (Oak Park, IL)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND INFORMATION, (for arts programs) Department of College Administration, Emory University, (Atlanta, GA)

GALLERY DIRECTOR, Commencement Art Gallery, (Tacoma, WA)

SUPERVISOR OF GRAPHIC DESIGN DEPARTMENT/LOS ANGELES; ADMINISTRATIVE/GALLERY ASSISTANT/NYC; RECEPTIONIST/NYC; GALLERY ASSISTANT/ART INSTALLATION/NYC; ASSISTANT REGISTRAR TEMPORARY/PART-TIME/NYC (agency)

PUBLIC AFFAIRS ASSISTANT, Dia Center for the Arts, (New York City, NY)

ASSOCIATE MARKET DIRECTOR, The Independent Feature Project, (New York City, NY)

FYI ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE, For Your Information, FYI New York Foundation for the Arts, (New York State)

SALES ASSOCIATES, (2) (part-time 20 hours a week) Urban Gateways Center for Arts in Education, (Chicago, IL)

MARKETING AND PROMOTIONS MANAGER, New York City Opera, (New York City, NY)

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, (New York City, NY)

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, Birch Creek Music Performance Center, (Egg Harbor, WI)

DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT, The New York Foundation for the Arts, (New York City, NY)

SPECIAL EVENTS COORDINATOR, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Planning and Development Department, (Brooklyn, NY)

ASSISTANT TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT, NEFA (Boston, MA)

PERSONAL ASSISTANT, Linda R. Silverman Fine Art

BOX OFFICE ASSISTANT, The Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center, (Albany, NY)

(OFFICE WORK), (modern dance Co), (New York City, NY)

ADMINISTRATIVE INTERN, Stephen Petronio Company, (New York City, NY)

INTERNSHIPS, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Education Division, (Brooklyn, NY)

INTERNSHIPS, Woodstock Photography Workshop,(Woodstock, NY)

INTERNSHIPS, Summer Cabaret at Yale (New Haven, CT)

Details about these and other jobs are available on Arts Wire's Web Site at http://www.artswire.org/current/jobs.html To submit jobs to ARTS WIRE CURRENT JOBS, send email to joblist@artswire.org

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 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 POETS & WRITERS.

POETS & WRITERS (P&W) -- http://www.pw.org -- believes in literature's fundamental contribution to contemporary culture. For the past 30 years, P&W has focused on the source of literature, providing support and exposure to writers at all stages in their development. P&W assists authors in their search for career-related information, outlets for their work, opportunities for professional advancement and community with other writers.

Programs include The Readings/Workshops Program which connects writers and audiences by supporting public literary events in diverse rural and urban settings; The Writers Exchange which nurtures the development of emerging writers by introducing them to literary communities outside their home states; The Writers on Site program which offers multi-disciplinary residencies for writers working in partnership with visual and literary arts organizations in California; and Literary Horizons which promotes the professional development of writers at all stages of their careers.

POETS & WRITERS ONLINE, the comprehensive P&W website, includes Classifieds; Contests; the DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN POETS & FICTION WRITERS; grants & awards; Literary Links; News from the Writing World; information about POETS & WRITERS MAGAZINE; and many other resources.

This year poets and writers, both well-known and emerging, are taking part in celebrating POETS & WRITERS' 30TH ANNIVERSARY, a year-long nationwide series of events which highlight the many ways Poets & Writers serves writers and celebrate the great diversity of poetry and fiction writing in the United States today.

Visit the site to find out more!

The Australia Council has released PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE: ISSUES, TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ARTS IN AUSTRALIA, a comprehensive discussion paper based on the findings of 12 months of research and consultation with the arts sector. The report, which includes input from many sectors of the Australian arts community, was prepared to raise stimulating discussion and debate about the arts in Australia and about the best means for the Australia Council and other funding bodies to facilitate artistic development in Australia over the next decade. It addresses questions such as:

How does Australia develop and maintain the uniqueness and diversity of its arts and culture in an increasingly globalized world?

Can current arts infrastructures develop sufficiently over the next ten years to enable the arts sector to fulfill its potential?

How should the role of the artist in 21st century Australian society be promoted?

Concern about government funding for innovation and diversity was at the forefront of reports from many arts sectors, according to report analysis. For instance, the Dance report called for funding agencies to both sustain existing levels of subsidy and to support increasing diversity, and the Literature report expressed concerns about the growing divide between support for young and older writers.

The need to support work which crossed artistic sectors and boundaries was also highlighted with Theatre suggesting this may require the development of new funding models. The New Media Arts report observed the blurring between the commercial and non-commercial aspects of artistic practice.

Visual Arts/Craft noted that, compared with ten years ago, artists are working increasingly across sectors and outside the traditional arts infrastructure; that they need an entrepreneurial approach, and the know- how to run small businesses. Indigenous artists expressed concern that the lack of infrastructure prevented opportunities to present and sell work. The fundamental role of Indigenous arts in Australian arts, culture, and identity was strongly acknowledged and endorsed by all participants, the report notes.

Among many other areas for discussion raised in the report are the dramatic impact that the Internet and new technology is having on the arts; concern about the merging of publishing houses and the impact this will have on distribution options for Australian writers; the trend for artists to increasingly work outside the traditional arts infrastructures and to access non-traditional venues. (which might include workplaces, sporting grounds and shopping centers) Employment issues were also emphasized -- such as a decline in live performance and the number of live performing venues which has led to a corresponding decline in audiences and employment prospects for musicians. "The statistics show the creative industries contribute significantly to the economy, yet few artists benefit," the report points out.

"The crucial task for the Australia Council is to establish mechanisms of support for the arts that will celebrate the achievements and insight of the past and, at the same time, support innovation and develop new opportunities," Margaret Seares, Chair of the Australia Council writes to introduce the report. "To do this the Council will need to work beyond the traditional dichotomies -- high arts versus community arts; commercial or subsidized versus amateur; established arts and artists versus the young and the new -- that have often inhibited successful outcomes."

For the complete report, which was prepared partially from input by 150 members of the art community at a series of "Vision Days" hosted by the Australia Council, visit http://www.ozco.gov.au/issues/pff/paper.html

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