(FORT LEE, NJ) -- National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $27 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019. Included in this is a Challenge America grant of $10,000 to the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company to support the creation of the Company's production Celebrating the Year of the Pig. Challenge America grants support projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations-those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.
"The arts enhance our communities and our lives, and we look forward to seeing these projects take place throughout the country, giving Americans opportunities to learn, to create, to heal, and to celebrate," said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company is proud to be one of the few Asian American Dance Company to receive NEA support. The Company is a leading producer of innovative, engaging cultural experiene that reflects the diversity, courage and hope of the cross-cultural journey. We look forward to the cheering audience in our upcoming celebrations" said Andrrew Chiang, Executive Director
NEA Challenge America grant will support the development of the 2019 Year of the RPig Celebration, a Chinese Lunar New Year Festival to be presented at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ, the College of Staten Island and the Kupferberg Center of Queens College in Flushing, Queens, reaching 10,000 audience.
The Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company will invite renowned musicians, artisans and craft artists from the Chinese American community in the NY/NJ area to celebrate the Year of the Rat collaboratively through performances and outreach. The project will include bilingual educational and community engagement, language-specific media campaigns, visual arts/crafts exhibits, pre-performance lectures/demos, main stage productions, post-performance discussions to serve and engage audiences in the economically disadvantaged neighborhoods of Queens, Staten Island and Newark, NJ with excellent arts to strengthening the understanding of the Chinese American artistic heritage.
PHOTO: Dragon Dance by Joseph Wagner
