The 2019 Delaware Arts Summit will be held at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino on Monday, October 28, 2019, from 8:45 am - 4:00 pm. We are excited to announce that registration is now open at the early-bird price of $45! Click here to register!
 
Come participate in workshops on important topics like attracting and keeping audiences, financial wellness for artists, and digital marketing; view a series of performances throughout the day; and enjoy a Keynote Address from Alysia Lee, Founder and Artistic Director of Sister Cities Girlchoir. Finally, join us for a reception from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
 
(Early-bird pricing will remain in effect through October 7, at which time the price changes to $55. Registration will remain open through October 22.)
2019 Governor's Awards for the Arts
The Delaware Division of the Arts is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 Governor’s Awards for the Arts, which pay tribute to distinguished individuals and organizations that have had a profound and lasting impact on the state’s artistic and cultural life. The recipients are:
 
Arts Administration: Raye Jones Avery . Arts Education: Charles J. Conway . Arts Patron, Corporate: M&T Bank . Arts Patron, Individual: Carla Markell . Community Engagement: Art Therapy Express . Peggy Amsterdam Award for Outstanding Achievement: Debora Hansen .
 
Congratulations and thank you to the recipients for all that they have done for Delaware! To celebrate the recipients’ achievements, an award ceremony will be held on Monday, October 28, at 4:00 pm at the Rollins Center at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino. This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information about the recipients and the award ceremony.
Poetry Out Loud
Poetry Out Loud is a national program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. School Registration is now open! See more important dates below.
 
November 1, 2019
School Registration Closes
Oct.– Dec. 2019
Classroom/School Competitions
January 21, 2020
Deadline to Report School Winners
February 2020
State Semi-Finals

From the Director
School is back in full swing, students are getting acclimated to new teachers, new routines, and new expectations. It reminds me of an almost nightly routine I had with one of my children at the dinner table. The conversation went something like this:
 
Me: What did you learn in school today?
Child: Nothing.
Me: Then what’s the point?
Child: There is no point.
( Silence )
 
Perhaps I was asking the wrong questions! When you talk to your kids about school, ask them specifically: What classes did you have today? What did you talk about? What kinds of activities did you participate in?
 
Even more specifically, ask them about their art class, their music class, or their theater or dance class. By asking specific questions about specific subject areas, you help reinforce the importance of all the subject areas.
 
We hear much about the “core curriculum.” Well, the arts are part of the core curriculum: a curriculum that offers a comprehensive education in building knowledge, acquiring work/life skills, and understanding our heritage, culture, and increasingly diverse and complex society.
 
Supporting arts education today ensures a future of visionaries, creative thinkers, and innovative solutions to the challenges we face in science, medicine, the environment…and the list goes on.
 
-- Paul Weagraff, Director, Delaware Division of the Arts  
Meet the Artist Fellows
Karen Hurley-Heyman
Emerging Professional, Literature: Poetry
Hurley-Heyman considers herself a “beginning poet with a long history of living.” She cites a wide swath of poetic inspiration – Elizabeth Bishop, W.H. Auden, Mary Oliver, Alice Walker, Ted Hughes – and also draws on both the vivid memories of her interesting relatives and visits to museums, which she calls “treasure troves of inspiration.” Read more .
D.H. Regnier
Emerging Professional, Music: Composition
For Regnier, one of the best things about being a composer is that it provides him the ability to participate in the long arc of creating a work – “ being able to see a piece go from my brain, to the notation software, and then seeing it rehearsed and performed is super rewarding.” Read more .
Daniel Jackson
Established Professional, Visual Arts: Photography
Daniel Jackson grew up in a house with a darkroom, so “as far back as high school, I was [there] making prints.” Though he studied painting and printmaking – and began his artistic career working in those media – photography “has [always] been a big part of my process no matter what kind of art I am working on.” Read more .
For information about upcoming events featuring these three Fellows in September, visit: https://www.delawarescene.com/feature/38/individual-artist-fellow-events
Award Winners Exhibition Opens September 6 at Cab Calloway School of the Arts
The Award Winners group exhibition featuring the 2019 Individual Artist Fellows opens at Cab Calloway School of the Arts on Friday, September 6. This traveling exhibition, organized by the Biggs Museum of American Art, will be on view until October 18. Meet some of this year’s Fellows at the opening reception on Friday, September 6, from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm during Wilmington’s Art Loop. Contact the school for visiting hours.
On the Mezzanine
Human Connection
 by Olga Nielsen
Image: Amethysts, pastel, 19" x 15"
“Human Connection,” an exhibition of sculptures, pastels, and drawings by Olga Nielsen, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery from September 6 - 27, 2019. The artist will host a free opening reception on Friday, September 6, from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Nielsen will present quick sketching sessions with a live model who will pose for sketches during the opening reception. Visitors are invited to bring their sketchbooks and pencils.
 
A nationally recognized artist, Nielsen works in a classical realistic tradition of figurative art, whether her medium is clay or pastel. She will exhibit three-dimensional sculpture and relief sculpture which has a flat background with images rising above it into space. To complement the sculpture, Nielsen will hang pastel and charcoal portraits on the surrounding walls.
 
For more about the artist, watch the Meet the Artist video.
The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, is located in the
Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. 
Visitors to the Gallery should enter via the main doors on 9th and French Streets.
In the News
“Making the Arts Accessible” :  This article in Out & About magazine highlights the ways that the Delaware Division of the Arts supports the arts in Delaware.
 
“Arts Off the Beaten Path” : The Division of the Arts worked closely with Delaware Today on this article to highlight 10 “hidden gems” among Delaware’s arts and culture scene, as well as to highlight our DelawareScene.com website.

Featured Opportunities
Rightfully Yours Youth Art Competition
As the National Archives celebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage through its  Rightfully Hers  exhibit, the National Archives Foundation has launched the Rightfully Yours Youth Art Competition. Students in grades 4-6 will be asked to create a visual piece of artwork that answers the question “What does the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote mean to you and your community?” The competition closes on November 5 and winners will be announced in early winter 2019. The overall winner will be awarded complimentary air travel to Washington, DC, a one-night hotel stay, and two complimentary tickets for the spring 2020 Rightfully Hers -themed sleepover where the winner's artwork will be showcased. Click here for more information. 
Exhibitor Opportunity at the Delaware State Arts Conference
The Delaware Music Educators’ Association, Delaware Art Education Association, Delaware Dance Education Organization, and Delaware Thespians and Educational Theatre Association will be hosting the Delaware State Arts Conference on Friday, October 11, 2019, at Middletown High School from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. Many Delaware Visual and Performing Arts Educators and friends of the arts will attend this event, which is held on a statewide school in-service day. What better way to meet and greet on a one-on-one basis with our state’s educators to discuss the services you have available for them and their students?
 
Typically, the cost for vendor / exhibit table space at the conference is $50.00. However, the Division will cover the fee for the first 10 teaching artists or arts organizations that are interested and respond to this notice. Please notify Sheila Dean Ross by email ( sheila.ross@delaware.gov ) before Wednesday, September 11, if you are interested in this promotional opportunity.

Artist Residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
Calling all writers, visual artists, and composers residing in the mid-Atlantic region! Apply now for a residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo location in Amherst, Virginia hosts nearly 400 artists each year in residencies of two weeks to two months. A residency at Mt. San Angelo includes a private bedroom with semi-private bath, a private studio, and three meals a day, as well as access to the gym, library, nature trails, and grounds of Sweet Briar College. Applications are due September 15. Click here for more information.
Free IMLS Grant Workshop in Newark, NJ
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is rolling out a new series of regional grant workshops designed for applicants for the museum grant programs. The Mid-Atlantic workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, in Newark, NJ. These free workshops are intended for new and returning applicants. OMS staff will help prospective applicants walk through the nuts and bolts of putting together a successful IMLS application. Space is limited and registration is required. Attendance is limited to two staff members per institution.


National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures
Grant Opportunity
The NALAC Fund for the Arts (NFA) is accepting applications from Latinx artists and arts organizations based in the United States and Puerto Rico working in all arts disciplines. For this upcoming cycle, national NFA grant awards have doubled to $10,000. Please visit their website  to learn more, download the guidelines, and apply online by September 25, 2019. 
Ongoing Division Grant Deadlines
Artist Opportunity : deadline 10/1/19, for activities happening between 11/15/19 - 2/15/2020.

Artist Residency : rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to start of scheduled residency.

Artist Roster :   rolling deadline.
Arts Access Grants:   rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to project start date.

TranspARTation Grant : rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to planned field trip .
Please note: All applications for grants must be submitted through smARTDE .
The Division has embarked on a year-long digital advertising campaign to increase reach and engagement on DelawareScene.com . We remind and recommend that organizations, businesses, and individual artists submit their 2019-2020 events as soon as they are scheduled, and no later than the recommended deadlines below. Submit now.
Event Date
September & October
November & December
January & February 2020
Submission Deadline
As soon as possible
September 15
November 15
The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit  arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.