RECENT GRANTS

Aid to Artisans, Hartford, CT
The Lead Free Potter Program developed by Aid to Artisans together with Barro Sin Plomo (BSP), is an integrated training model on the use of lead-free glazes and the construction of lead-free and environmentally efficient kilns in several locations across Mexico. BSP also provides product development and marketing assistance to help expand the market available to Mexican potters. This program protects the health of the artisans and their environment, and preserves artistic traditions and cultural heritage by improving the artisans' livelihood.

Associacion Civil RESPONDE, Buenos Aires, Argentina
In Argentina, 40% of small rural towns are in danger of disappearance due to the migration of their inhabitants to urban areas in search of work. The WINGS program works to slow and reverse this trend by encouraging economic and social development within rural towns, before they vanish entirely. The WINGS program starts with the creation of a Socioeconomic-Cultural Center in each selected town, and gradually expands to organize each community in the development of sustainable rural tourism programs. These programs are designed to create new economic drivers that will revitalize and preserve each village for generations to come.

Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Carnegie's first festival exploring American music is centered on the work and legacy of Leonard Bernstein. The multi-disciplinary festival will mark the 90th anniversary of Bernstein's birth and will involve artists, cultural figures, arts educators, and community leaders from all over the world. Although Bernstein is known as a conductor and composer of popular musical theater, his accomplishments as a composer of orchestral, chamber and vocal music are not as well established. This festival will highlight several of Bernstein's compositions, such as Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront, that are not considered mainstream, allowing the public to discover music that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience.

Florida Grand Opera, Miami, FL
A production of Julius Caesar, which has not been performed in the U.S. in almost 20 years, in the musical tradition of Baroque opera that is rarely seen by audiences. The Baroque was a ground-breaking musical form in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Though Baroque music is well known, Baroque opera is rare due to the vocal challenges it places on singers. Julius Caesar is only the second Baroque opera to be presented by Florida Grand Opera in its sixty-seven year history.

Houston Symphony, Houston, TX
Focus on the Music is an initiative to help the Houston Symphony recover from the destruction of its music library by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Among the missing works is a series of fanfares commissioned by the Houston Symphony to celebrate the Texas Sesquicentennial in 1986. To generate interest in its revival, the Symphony will perform three of these fanfares per season to enhance awareness of, and participation in, the Focus on the Music program and take an important step towards the preservation of Texas history.

Jazz Arts of the Mountain West, Murray, UT
This annual festival in the Salt Lake City area has a mission to expose the public to jazz. By presenting lesser-known jazz artists in addition to reinterpretations of classic jazz works, Jazz Arts of the Mountain West festival seeks to preserve the heritage of jazz music for many future generations to come. Additionally, the diversity of the festival's artists, as well as the audience in attendance, underscores the diversity of American culture and its art forms.

The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
The American Express Cultural Heritage Series creates opportunities for the Kimmel Center's audiences to share in the experiences of historical or native arts from Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Armenia and China. Specifically, the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez will tell mythic stories of Mexico through dance; Tania Libertad will sing Afro-Peruvian music influenced by African slaves; Mazowsze, specializing in the folk dances of Poland, will draw on the richness of national dances, songs and traditions; Shoghaken Folk Ensemble, using only traditional Armenian instruments, will provide a unique interpretation of Armenian folk and ashoughagan music; and Shen Wei Dance Arts will explore the hybridism between Western and Eastern civilizations through dance, theater, Chinese Opera, painting and sculpture.

Signature Theatre Company, New York, NY
Signature Theatre's 2008/2009 season celebrates the work of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) by honoring African-American writers whose cultural contribution have helped shape America's theatrical heritage. The season will include four fully-staged productions from the 1960's, 1970's, 1980's and a recently presented production. Through the exploration of the NEC's work, Signature will offer audiences of diverse backgrounds an experience in understanding the rich history of African-American culture. The NEC, which was founded 40 years ago, provides African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. Since its creation, it has produced more than 200 plays and provided a home for more than 4,000 cast and crew members.

Sociedad de Amigos del Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, A.C., Mexico City, Mexico
Gabriel Figueroa is widely considered to be the most important Mexican cinematographer. His vivid panoramas of Mexican landscapes defined a look for Mexican films during the 1940s -- the decade described as the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. His work for Hollywood studios won him international acclaim including Academy Award nominations and a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Cinematographers. The Palace of Fine Arts, one of Mexico City's finest public buildings, has mounted the first national exhibition and retrospective of Figueroa's works, from January to March 2008, on the centennial of his birth.

INITIATIVES

Partners in Preservation