The crocuses are starting to pop and color the ground in shades of violet. This tells us that spring is near, and with it a plethora of opportunities to engage with the arts. Arts and culture organizations are gearing up for a busy spring as the Omicron wave subsides and restrictions are lifted. The arts have largely survived the pandemic and are now shifting into a recovery and rebuild mode. They are taking the opportunity to engage new and returning arts patrons in creative ways.
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There are also opportunities for arts patrons to support their favorite organizations during Do More 24 Delaware. You have from 6 p.m. today, March 3, until 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 4 to leverage your donation to eligible arts organizations with $400,000 in stretch pool funding from the Delaware Division of the Arts.
Participating arts organizations will receive an FY2023 grant bonus from the Division, proportionate to the success of their fundraising in the Do More 24 campaign. This is a great opportunity for patrons of the arts to support the arts in Delaware and multiply the impact of your donations. Simply visit the Do More 24 Delaware website, search for your organization(s), and make your contribution between 6 p.m. on March 3 and 6 p.m. on March 4.
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Spring is also a time for arts and culture advocates to raise their voices in support of the arts and arts education during the American for the Arts’ National Arts Action Summit. Arts advocates from across the United States will gather virtually March 28-30, 2022, for the summit to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts and culture. This year, for the first time, there will be no registration fee to attend the National Arts Action Summit for both individuals and partner organizations. Visit the Americans for the Arts website to find out more and register for free.
Finally, we’d like to wish a fond farewell to our Marketing and Communications Program Officer, Kaitlin Ammon, who is moving away from the area. Kaitlin has been amazing to work with and she will be missed at the Division. We will soon start the process of finding her replacement.
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Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition Now Open |
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Don't miss your chance to see artwork from State of Delaware employees and their family members!
The 11th annual Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition is now open until March 14 at the Delaware State University Art Center/Gallery.
People's Choice voting is now open
Let your voice be heard. Make sure you vote for your favorite piece(s) in the exhibition.
You can "like" your favorite(s) on Facebook or vote onsite at the Gallery. A third option is to send your choice(s) by email to Dana Wise.
The People's Choice winner will be announced during the Exhibition Celebration weekend, March 12-13. Voting closes on March 10.
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Three walls from the 2022
Delaware State Employee Art Exhibition
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Come celebrate with us: In place of the award reception and ceremony, visitors to the Arts Center/Gallery can celebrate the 11th Annual Delaware State Employees Exhibition on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday March 13 from 12-4 pm. There will be snacks, activities, and special giveaways for all ages.
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2022 Delaware Poetry Out Loud Finalists |
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Ten Delaware high school students participated in the taped state finals for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest that will premiere on the Delaware Division of the Arts’ YouTube channel. The winner of this competition will represent Delaware and advance to the national semifinals, to be streamed on Sunday, May 1, 2022 on arts.gov, with the top nine students advancing to the national finals, that will stream on Sunday, June 5, 2022. This program is sponsored by the Delaware Division of the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. More details
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Student Name
Blessings Akanbi
Joelle Caternor
Robyn Goodman
Aiden Morris
Ololade Olubowale
Natalie Kim Ramos
Kai Schmiedel
Ashley Schnyder
Kylie Short
Carrie Van Hauter
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School
Hodgson Vocational Technical School
Smyrna High School
Woodbridge High School
Mount Sophia Academy
The Tatnall School
Saint Mark’s High School
Delaware Valley Classical School
Sanford School
Milford High School
Sussex Central High School
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Division Grant Applicants: Important Information! |
The federal government is transitioning from the use of Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) to a new Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through the SAM.gov system as the primary identifier. This new UEI is required of state, regional, and local agencies, along with nonprofit organizations that receive federal funding. The new UEI is also required of subgrantees of state, regional, and local agencies.
Beginning in April 2022, all organizations applying for funding from the Delaware Division of the Arts will be required to have a Unique Entity ID (UEI) from SAM.gov in alignment with requirements from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Delaware Division of the Arts encourages all organizations that currently receive funding, have received funding in the past, and are planning to apply for future funding to apply for a new UEI before April 4, 2022. Individuals applying for Division funding do not need to create a UEI.
It is always free to get a new SAM UEI. Other state arts councils are getting reports of scammers offering to "help" organizations get SAM UEIs for a hefty cost - please delete and ignore these emails. They are scams.
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On the Mezzanine: Colleen Zufelt |
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The Mezzanine Gallery presents artist Colleen Zufelt’s exhibition, Recycle, Repurpose…RE-IMAGINE, showing March 4 through 25, 2022. Her exhibit will also be part of Art Loop Wilmington — the monthly self-guided tour of art in and around the city.
Zufelt spent over 15 years exhibiting her work throughout the U.S. In 1996, she stepped away from her studio to teach art in private and public schools. In fact, Zufelt was named Henry B. duPont Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2019. She has also previously taught classes and workshops at Delaware Art Museum, the Art Studios of New Castle County, Center for the Creative Arts, and Christina Cultural Arts Center. After retiring from public teaching in 2020, she returned to her studio full time.
Zufelt may be known to Delaware arts lovers more for her work in ceramics, but her full body of work includes not only ceramics but also clay compositions and vessels, and metal sculpture.
Her interest in metals came in 2016 after she attended a Marshall Bridge Workshop in Kennett Square with sculptor Stan Smokler. In that workshop, artists would search junk yards and scrap metal locations collecting tossed-away materials and “…envisioning what the next life would be for these pieces” through sculpture.
She continues that process, visiting junk shops, antiques stores, and the like, developing vessels that play with natural light and shadow when displayed outdoors. She is also working on adding elements of “illumination from within” to her sculptures.
Of her return to creating and her most recent works, Zufelt notes: “As I return to my studio full time, I strive to create a beauty from the discarded in my search for harmony.”
Her current series employs both metal and clay remnants — some Zufelt has saved over years of creating, and others that have evolved as she herself explored new processes.
“In our current fast-paced world, I hope to inspire viewers to slow down and contemplate the Spirit of Creation while at the same time, recycling, repurposing, and reusing,” she says.
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The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. |
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Image: Gatekeeper III, 2020, Steel; plasma cut/welded recycled parts, 37" x 18".
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LAST CALL for Mezzanine Gallery Applications |
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The Mezzanine Gallery features one-person exhibitions of Delaware artists in disciplines including painting, photography, sculpture, crafts, folk, and media arts.
Eligibility guidelines:
- Professionals in the visual arts who are Delaware residents, at least 18 years of age and not enrolled in a degree-granting educational program, may apply.
- Division staff and their families or DSAC members and their families are not eligible to apply.
- Applications must be made annually by March 15 to be considered for an exhibition in the Mezzanine Gallery.
- Artists are eligible to exhibit their work in the gallery every three calendar years. For example, a 2020 exhibitor could apply by the March 15, 2022 deadline for a 2023 exhibition.
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JoAnn Balingit
2022 Established Fellow,
Literature: Creative Nonfiction
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JoAnn Balingit is a second-generation Filipina American whose writing has been shaped by the fact that “my parents were not storytellers. They hid their pasts, as some in their generation were taught to do.” Her memoir-in-progress (currently called What Were the Names of the Trees) is filled with myriad intellectual and personal currents, and it begins with “the loss of my siblings in the 1970s when I turned sixteen, a brown girl in a white Southern town.” Visit JoAnn’s website. |
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Joseph Barbaccia
2022 Established Fellow,
Visual Arts: Crafts
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Joseph Barbaccia had always had a large studio, but in 2018 he and his wife (also an artist) moved to Georgetown, Delaware, where his workspace was smaller. Realizing “I would have to change my materials and methods to accommodate the new reality,” he landed on polymer clay as “the perfect choice.” The material – with its transparency and a full color spectrum – allows him to create in both two and three dimensions. It led Barbaccia in a new direction. Visit Joseph’s website. |
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Stephanie Boateng
2022 Emerging Fellow,
Visual Arts: Painting
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Stephanie Boateng is inspired by Black artists, stylists, photographers, and influencers, especially by Alyssa Silos, whose social media following and flourishing world-wide art career led Boateng to begin her business and venture into 3-D portraits. “My portraits are very emotional beings,” created to be “an experience of happiness, love, and beauty” both for herself and her viewers. The addition of flowers, rhinestones, papier mache, aluminum cans, and other objects allows Boateng’s vivid, smiling, and sometimes larger-than-life portraits to move off the canvas. Read more about Stephanie.
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The Delaware Division of the Arts engages Delaware citizens to review and make recommendations on grant applications for state funding of the arts. The Division selects panelists based on their knowledge and experience in the arts, in business and nonprofit management, and in their community.
To be considered for service, you may nominate yourself or someone else. Nominations are accepted year round; the next panel review meetings take place in early May 2022. Please visit smARTDE for more information on the grant review process and use this nomination form to nominate yourself or others. |
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Artist Opportunity Grants |
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Deadline: April 1, 2022 for activities occurring between 5/15/2022-8/15/2022 |
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Artist Opportunity Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support unique professional and artistic development and presentation opportunities for artists. Examples include: materials to complete work for a specific show or program; the cost to rent a facility for a performance; study with a master for a specified period of time. Evaluation criteria include: anticipated impact on the artist’s work or career; financial feasibility and need; marketing plans; and uniqueness of the opportunity.
Applicants can request up to 80% of the opportunity cost not to exceed $750.
For more information, visit the Division's Grants for Artists page and click on "Artist Opportunity Grant." |
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Other Opportunities
DelawareScene lists select arts, job, fellowship and internship opportunities in the arts and culture industry from Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic region including the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia (other opportunities outside this region will be considered on a case-by-case basis).
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Each month we feature arts and community-based organizations and their programs and projects funded by the Delaware Division of the Arts. Funding for Division of the Arts grants is provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. To view past grants awarded (2000 to present), please visit our Grants Awarded page.
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Choir School of Delaware
Phenomenal Woman
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Greenbank Mills & Philips Farm
Timeless Trades
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The Division recommends that organizations, businesses, and individual artists submit their 2021 and 2022 events as soon as they are scheduled, and no later than the recommended deadlines below. Submit an event to DelawareScene now. |
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Event Date
March - May 2022
June & July 2022
August & September 2022
October & November 2022
December 2022 & January 2023
February & March 2023
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Submission Deadline
As soon as possible
April 1, 2022
June 1, 2022
August 1, 2022
October 1, 2022
December 1, 2022
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Delaware State of the Arts Podcast |
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Do you have an exciting arts program, project, or story to share? Are you interested in being interviewed, either to promote an upcoming event, your work in the arts, or an issue relevant to Delaware’s arts and entertainment sector? Send an email to delarts@delaware.gov with "DE State of the Arts Podcast" in the subject line.
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Ongoing Division Grant Deadlines |
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Arts Access Grants: rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to project start date
Artist Opportunity: deadline 4/1/2022, for activities occurring between 5/15/2022-8/15/2022
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Please note: All applications for grants must be submitted through smARTDE. |
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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. |
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