Division Invests $2.95 million in the Arts Sector

Twenty-three communities across Delaware, from Claymont to Selbyville, will receive grants in FY2016 to support arts programming and services, arts education, and related arts marketing and promotion. Grants will support 112 arts initiatives throughout the state, including a variety of programs and projects.  A news release and complete listing of FY 2016 grants can be found here. 

Please Help Us Improve Our Communications!

Please take a minute to complete this brief, 5-question survey  to help us understand what information you would like to receive from the Division, and how you would like to receive it. Thank you!

Save the Date! 2015 Delaware Arts Summit

Get ready to "Get Engaged" with the arts at the 2015 Delaware Arts Summit - Monday, October 26 at Dover Downs! Engaging with your community, your audiences, your funders, your partners, and each other is a key element of success for your organization or artistic endeavors. This year, the Division presents a group of celebrated speakers offering innovative and intriguing ideas and action plans to make the most of these engagements. The Summit is for arts organization staff, board, and volunteers; artists; program planners; educators; arts patrons; and state and community leaders - it's a great day with the arts! Look for more information in the mail and on our website later this month.

Delaware Welcomes Four New Arts Leaders

Alan Jordan, currently executive director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra will take over as executive director of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra in September. Dr. John C. Rumm, an expert on the du Pont family, returns to area as executive director of the Nemours Mansion and Gardens. Jackie Milad is the new Gretchen Hupfel Curator of Contemporary Art at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and Jonathan Moser is the new conductor of The Music School of Delaware's Wilmington Community Orchestra. More information on each of these new faces can be found at www.delawareonline.com.

On the Mezzanine

September

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by painter Troy Richards called, Interior Monologues, during the month of September. The exhibition will be on view from September 4-25, with an opening reception on Friday, September 4 from 5-7 p.m. Richards' work is about focus and discipline as a response to the distractions of our contemporary world. He measures and carefully applies each brushstroke in the paintings. The surface texture in the work is a result of the multiple attempts to apply the paint in consistent brushstrokes. Richards is associate professor of art and chair of the Department of Art and Design at the University of Delaware. 

August

Work by painter Steve Rogers is on display in the Mezzanine Gallery through August 7-28 with a meet-the-artist reception on August 7, 5-8 p.m. Watch the Meet the Artist video with Rogers.

The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. Sign up here to receive Mezzanine Gallery email invitations for upcoming exhibits.

Image: Black Rabbit (2014).Oil/Canvas. 48"h x 36"w

Meet the 2015 Artist Fellows

Each month, we introduce one or two of Delaware's  2015 Individual Artist Fellows. We'll also provide information about upcoming public events where you can experience their work. All the 2015 Fellows are represented in a group show, Award Winners XV, at the Biggs Museum through September 27. A free reception and Artist Award Presentation will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2015 from 11: 00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. at the Biggs.

The 2015 Artist Fellows in Literature will be featured in an evening of readings to kick off the Lewes Creative Writers Conference on Friday, August 21 at the Lewes Public Library. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested. For the schedule of the readings and to register, visit: www.leweslibrary.org.

Kimberly Reighley

Masters, Music: Solo Recital

Wilmington

Kimberly Reighley plays baroque and modern flute, is co-artistic director of Mélomanie, plays principal flute with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and OperaDelaware, and has performed with numerous ensembles in the mid-Atlantic region and California. She is professor of flute at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and has taught masterclasses throughout Delaware. Reighley, along with Tracy Richardson, will perform at the  opening reception for the Delaware Watercolor Society exhibition at the Biggs Museum in Dover on Friday, August 7. Additionally, she will perform with Mélomanie, at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts on September 13 at 2 p.m. For an interview with Reighley, listen to the State of the Arts podcast.

Jeffrey Rubin

Established Professional, Visual Arts: Photography

Wilmington

Jeffrey Rubin's work has been shown in museums and galleries across the United States. His work is currently on view at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art in Wilmington, DE and at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, DE. Rubin will be displaying photographs from his " Abstractions in Nature " series at the Mezzanine Gallery in October. Look for more information on the show next month.

Delaware Craft Week - October 2-11, 2015

Sign up NOW! Crafts artists, retailers, wholesale shows, museums, schools, organizations, fairs, festivals, and individuals - anyone who creates, sells, displays, promotes, collects or just plain loves - American craft, You can participate in American Craft Week for FREE thanks to a 2015 sponsorship from the Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitor's Bureau. To sign up as a participant, use this link, select DEL ($0) as the Participant Type, select "Check" as the Payment Method. American (and Delaware) Craft Week is October 2-11, 2015!

NEA 50th Anniversary - Tell Your Story!

This year, 2015, is the 50th anniversary of the signing of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, which created the National Endowment for the Arts. To better recount the story of the NEA and the arts in America, the NEA wants to share your story of how the arts have influenced your life. They invite you to share:

• how the arts are part of your day,
• how the arts have inspired you to do something unique, or
• how they have made a difference among you and your family, as well as in the communities and neighborhoods in which you live.

If there is a specific NEA grant that has had an impact on you and your community, let them know. In addition to, or instead of, a narrative, you can include one to three photos and/or one video or audio of no more than five minutes.

Starting September 29, 2015, the NEA will begin posting these stories on their website and promoting them across social media. Join the celebration by telling your story of how the arts or the NEA have influenced your life. 

Upcoming Opportunities

• DDOA Artist Roster, rolling deadline (click on the "Register" button)
• DDOA Opportunity Grants for Community Organizations, rolling deadline
• DDOA Opportunity Grants for Artists, rolling deadline
• NEA Our Town Grant, deadline September 21, 2015
• The GRAMMY Foundation Grants, deadline for letter of inquiry October 1, 2015
• Levitt AMP Grant, deadline October 15, 2015
• Webinar September 17 

For more opportunities such as auditions, calls for artists and jobs in the arts, visit the Division's website.