Recently Awarded Grants

Fiscal Year 2005 / Round II

Artist Project Grant Awards

Sandra L. Dyas, Iowa City
$7,800
Music and Iowa

The University of Iowa Press will publish a book of Iowa musicians' photographs by Sandra Dyas. This funding will provide the support needed to make this book possible. "Music and Iowa" will serve to celebrate the rich and vibrant community of musicians in Iowa.

BeJae Fleming, Ames
$4,000
BeJae Fleming Trio CD Recording Project

The BeJae Fleming Trio consisting of BeJae Fleming, vocals, guitar, primary songwriter; Jackie Blount, bass; Al Clarke, lead guitar and collaborating songwriter, will produce, package, market and distribute a CD of twelve original songs. Its release is supported by statewide tour of performances and the presentation of songwriting workshops for at-risk youth.

Nora Garda Marcos, Iowa City
$8,200
Tango Variations and the Iowa Waltz

Argentinean Tango and the Iowa Waltz will mix with dancers on stage and in recorded images to tell a story of song, dance, and people migrating around the globe. It will be first preformed collaboratively by Habeas Corpus, Travelers Dance and Arts A La Carte in February 2005 in three Iowa City locations: Arts A La Carte, Senior Center and UI Intermedia Department. It will be taken to schools, senior centers, community centers and more in the state of Iowa.

Oleg Timofeyev, Iowa City
$8,800
Dostoevsky, Jews and Gypsies

Funding will bring to Iowa TALISMAN, the Russian-Gypsy music ensemble and to develop a program in collaboration with the Iowa Klezmer Band, an Iowa City based ensemble. This program, inspired by an episode in Karamozov Brothers that involves both Gypsy and Jewish musicians, will be recorded for a full-length CD. It will also be presented in Iowa City, Cedar Falls, Ames, and Grinnell.

Brent Eric Watkins, Cedar Rapids
$3,200
The Heroes of Parlor Town

Heroes of Parlor Town combine oral history and live piano performance to trace the transformation of American Popular Music by African-American composers from the 1890's to the early 1920's. The presentation offers compelling historical insight into the struggle of black musicians to overcome racial and cultural stereotypes.

Artists in Schools and Communities Residency Grants

Grinnell-Newburg Community School District, Grinnell
$2,300
MOLA Residency with Calle Sur

The artist duo, Calle Sur will implement "The Music of Latin America" project in Grinnell. Calle Sur artist will be in residency at Middle and High Schools through out a 3 month period working with students on cultural aspects of Latin America and providing a community presentation with performances by Calle Sur and the school choirs.

Mount Ayr Elementary School, Mount Ayr
$1,900
10 Day AISC Residency with Pat Mendoza

Pat Mendoza will teach history through the performing arts. Three 6th grade core groups will conduct social studies research, write poetry and create songs. A core talented and gifted group will study Lewis and Clark's expedition form both white and Native American perspectives and write a play to perform.

Arts in Education Project Grants

Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Mt. Pleasant
$2,000
Artist In Residence

Cellist, Hannah Holman, will serve a two-week residency for the SE Iowa Symphony Orchestra. She will perform and teach for public/private school children, community groups, senior citizens and the general public throughout SE Iowa without charge to the constituents.

Iowa Children's Museum, Coralville
$9,000
Art for All Iowans!

Art for All Iowans! Gives participants of all ages diverse opportunities to create art with artists representing the cultural diversity of Iowa, including Calle Sur, Jafar Mogadam, and David Garrision. This project promotes cultural understanding and tolerance through art experiences at the Iowa Children's' Museum an innovative family environment.

VSA arts of Iowa, Des Moines
$9,800
The Arts for Children Education Program (AFC)

The Arts for Children Education Program trains classroom educators to use the arts as a vehicle to each academic subjects effectively in a setting where students with and without disabilities learn together. The program also trains professional artists with disabilities to follow up the teacher training by serving as Artists-in-Residence in classrooms.

Organization Project Grants

Northeast Iowa School of Music, Dubuque
$3,700
Masterworks Series 2005

The Northeast Iowa School of Music proposes to offer a series of master classes, workshops and concerts by guest artists with Iowa connections. Artist-teachers include violist Michael Kimber of Iowa City, Grinnell College graduate/horn player Brian Hill and flutist and former University of Iowa member Tadeu Coelho.

Iowa Lakes Community College, Estherville
$7,200
Mozart Requiem

Iowa Lakes community College will serve as the project performance site for a dynamic group of amateur and professional musicians. Professional string musicians from the Sioux City Symphony will travel to Emmet County and the surrounding communities to provide residents with this unique opportunity to experience Mozart's Requiem.

Community Corrections Improvement Association, Cedar Rapids
$5,600
Celebrating Our Diversity through the Arts (CODA)

CCIA, Johnson School for the Arts, Paul Engle Center and the U of I Art Education Dept. will provide 30 disadvantaged youth and their families with African American, Latino and Native American visual arts, music and dance experiences. Participating artists: Dorian Byrd, Calle Sur, Soleil Banguid and Visions of the New Millennium.

School for the Performing Arts, Iowa City
$8,400
Treasure Island

Iowa City's School for the 'Performing Arts will rehearse and perform a young people's production of Treasure Island, collaborating with Arts A La Carte. Project director is Mary Ward. The grant will fund artists' fees, travel, marketing, etc., creating and expanding general and special populations, performers and audiences.

African American Historical Museum, Cedar Rapids
$4,800
Bronzeville to Harlem

This project combines a traveling exhibit in bronze by Illinois sculptor, Preston Jackson, with 30 original photos taken of figures of the Harlem Renaissance borrowed from the Cedar Rapids Community School System.

Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, Cedar Rapids
$8,800
CROT - "Carmen" Production and Young Artist Program

Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre will present performances of "Carmen" on June 17 and 19. Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre's Young Artist Program, still in its infancy but critical to developing young talent, will provide chorus members for the opera and will present outreach performances at local schools and other venues.

Red Cedar Chamber Music, Marion
$7,500
5 Turner Alley: A Musical Celebration of Artist Grant Wood

Red Cedar Chamber Music will partner with the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in a series of musical educational events and concerts to celebrate the life of artist Grant Wood, whose carriage house studio at 5 Turner Alley in Cedar Rapids will open to the public for the first time in 2005. The Red Cedar Trio will premiere a newly commissioned work inspired by the Grant Woods' art by the Iowa countryside in a series of four educational events and four concerts. The IAC-rostered musicians are Jan Boland and John Dowdall.

Des Moines Choral Society, Clive
$6,100
"Liberty and Justice for All"

The Des Moines Choral Society will present "Liberty and Justice for All" on Feb. 18, 2005 in collaboration with the choirs of Des Moines' Corinthian Baptist Church. The production will combine choral music, narration and dramatic vignettes to tell a story of the Civil Rights movement in Iowa.

Des Moines National Poetry Festival, Des Moines
$7,600
Des Moines National Poetry Festival

The Des Moines National Poetry Festival is entering its 15th year and in 2005 will feature four national poets, including US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser; former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins; and award winners Sandra MacPherson and Joy Harjo. In addition, we will feature Poets in the Schools, a public forum and book signing.

Ghost Light Theatre, Inc., Davenport
$7,100
Quad Cities Premier of Gilligan's Island: The Musical

Gilligan's Island: The Musical, by Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz with music by Laurence and Hope Juber is the third production on Ghostlight Theatre's 10th Anniversary Gala Season. Circle in the Square theatre Conservatory graduate Michael King will direct the production which will employ professional actors and theatre artists from Iowa.

Waldorf Community Artist Series, Forest City
$5,000
Waldorf Community Artist Series - Spring 2005

The Waldorf Community Artist Series will present four quality, professional programs during the spring of 2005. They are: Daugherty/McPartland Jazz Group on Jan. 16, Ashanti Latin Jazz on Feb.20, North Iowa Choral Society on March 6, and Ethos Percussion Group on April 10.