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Arts News for March 14, 2019    
Vermont Playwright Brings Veteran Voices to the Stage

Photo courtesy Northern Stage
Writer and journalist Nicola Smith received a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant to develop a play about the experiences of female veterans. As Nicola explained, "Female veterans' perspectives are not often heard. Yet the effect of service on their lives, especially on their identities as women and as citizens, is transformative. I realized that the intimacy and immediacy of theater would be a powerful way for audiences to hear these women's stories."
 
Nicola approached Northern Stage for advice about writing the play and was connected to dramaturg Samantha Lazar. Nicola and Samantha spent a year shaping the disparate narratives into a cohesive whole while developing the work's structure, themes, and characters. The resulting work, Deployed, will debut with a reading on March 30 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction.
 
Congratulations to Nicola and Samantha. Thanks for bringing these important voices to the stage.
 
Creation Grant Round Opens: Artists Take Note
 
Choreographer Laurel Jenkins received a FY2019 Creation Grant to support the development of Beacon Fire, a dance collaboration. 
The play Deployed, mentioned above, is one of many projects supported by Creation Grants. A just-published  book of essays by Emily Bernard also received funding through the program. Kinetic sculpture, poetry collections, and new music have also been backed through this program this year.

Creation Grants support Vermont artists in developing new work. Grant funds may be used for time spent creating work, to purchase materials, or to rent equipment or space for the process.

The FY2020 grant round is open and the deadline is June 3. The guidelines, tips, and online application are available here. And when you're ready to propose your idea,
be sure to read this week's featured story Making the Pitch. 
Arts Awards: who will you nominate?

2018 Arts Awards recipients. Top: Chris Miller and Jerry Williams. Middle: Alison Bechdel and Judith Chalmer. Bottom: Allison Coyne Carroll and John Willis.  
Two sculptors, a photographer, and a cartoonist were among the recipients of 2018 Vermont Arts Council awards. Their accomplishments were honored at the Governor's Arts Awards event held at the Vermont State House last October.  
 
Nominations are invited for the 2019 Arts Awards. Five awards are presented annually to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the arts through the practice of an art form, or through advocacy, arts administration, or education.
 
Nominations will be accepted through April 5. Find more information about the awards on our website. 
Poetry Out Loud Finals Next Week!
 
Ten high school students will compete in the Vermont Poetry Out Loud Finals to be held at Vermont PBS in Colchester. The event will be live-streamed on Monday, March 18 at 5 p.m., with support from Vermont PBS.    
 
Poetry Out Loud is supported in part by a generous grant from the George W. Mergens Foundation. We are also grateful to our sponsor, the National Life Group. 
 
Find out more about Poetry Out Loud and how to watch the live stream .   
 
Congratulations to (l to r) Eloise Silver Van Meter from Thetford Academy; Alyese Caruso-Randall from Bellows Free Academy, Fairfax; Vera Escaja-Heiss from South Burlington High School; Sirena Sawyer from Mount Mansfield Union High School; Sam Bulpin from St. Johnsbury Academy; Anna Senesac from Rice Memorial High School; Owen Darling from Mount Abraham Union High School; Arianna Barrios from Arlington Memorial High School; Adsel Sparrow from Bellows Free Academy, St. Albans; and Ada Melton-Houghton from Brattleboro Union High School.
Arts Briefs
The Vermont Arts Council FY2018 Annual Report is now available online.
Read it here.
A new national study, Rural Prosperity through the Arts & Creative Sector, offers strategies to revitalize rural communities--and highlights three Vermont projects!
  Read the study.
The Governors Institutes for the Arts is accepting applications for its summer program. The deadline to apply is March 31.
Upcoming Events
Vermont Jazz Center
March 16
Brattleboro
City Hall Gallery
through March 26
Burlington
The Masonic Hall
March 16
Bennington
PRYDEIN & CATAMOUNT PIPE BAND
Burke Mountain Hotel
March 16
East Burke
NAKED IN MARCH
The Hive
March 16
Middlesex
Chandler Center for the Arts
March 16
Randolph
Barre Opera House
March 16
Barre
The Front
March 15 to April 28
Montpelier
Brandon Music
March 15
Brandon
BOB STANNARD AND THOSE DANGEROUS BLUESMEN
Weston Playhouse at
Walker Farm
March 16
Weston
Adamant Community Club
March 16
Adamant
ALEXANDER MELNIKOV AND ANDREAS STAIER
Mahaney Arts Center
March 15
Middlebury
Welcome to Young Tradition Vermont_s Instrument Petting Zoo
Fletcher Free Library
March 16
Burlington
Vermont State House
March 20
Montpelier


WHAT'S UNDERNEATH: A CREATIVE NONFICTION WRITING WORKSHOP
Vermont College of Fine Arts Noble Annex
March 16
Montpelier
The Vermont Arts Council is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts , which requires a 1:1 match from the Vermont State Legislature. Council grants, programs, and statewide arts promotion would not be possible without the critical funding provided by these government agencies.


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