(BALTIMORE, MD) -- Nineteen ensembles and solo performers will represent the United States at 20 festivals worldwide with over $212,000 in support from round one of the 2023 USArtists International (USAI) program. Those engagements will take place on five continents and include nine music, six dance, and four theater/interdisciplinary companies and solo performers. The list includes Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.
USAI supports performances by American artists at important cultural festivals and arts marketplaces around the globe. The program encourages and promotes the vibrant diversity of American artists and creative expression in the performing arts by expanding opportunities and exposure to international audiences, encouraging international cultural exchange, and enhancing creative and professional development of US artists by providing connections with presenters, curators, and artists around the world. USAI extends the reach and impact of professional artists dependent on touring for continued sustainability and career advancement.
To expand the equitable impacts of USAI and encourage greater cultural exchange between the Americas, the program was broadened this year to allow U.S. artists to apply for major, non-festival engagements in twelve countries. These Ibero-American countries include: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. This program component was made possible in partnership with Ibermúsicas.
USAI is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. It is the only program of its kind in the United States, and since its inception in 2006, has awarded over $9.8 million in support.
The second program deadline for 2023 was November 30, 2022. The third and final deadline for the 2023 USAI program year is Wednesday, March 29, 2023 for projects taking place between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024.
Round one grantees showcase a diversity of styles within their disciplines and include:
* Antonio Sanchez & Bad Hombre, NY: Ponta Lopud Jazz, Croatia
* BANDALOOP, CA: Santiago a Mil International Festival, Chile
* Brooklyn Raga Massive, NY: Winter Sound Music Festival, France
* Cantus, MN: International Jazz Festival of Cuba, Cuba
* Chaksam-pa, Tibetan dance and opera company, CA: Tibetan National Opera Festival, India
* Gerald Clayton, CA: Jazz Terrassa Festival, Spain and Savoy JAZZFest, Finland
* Jeremy Danneman and Sophie Nzayisenga, NY: Jewish Culture Festival, Poland
* J'Sun Howard, IL: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, Singapore
* Julie Weitz, CA: Jewish Culture Festival, Poland
* Kofago Dance Ensemble, NY: You and Me Festival, Senegal
* Making Movies, MO: Macro Fest, Panama
* Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble, NY: Holland Festival, Netherlands
* Muntu Dance Theatre, IL: Dance and Music Festival, Senegal
* Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, Inc., NJ: DAP FESTIVAL, Italy
* PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER, MD: European Capital of Culture, Greece
* Quince Ensemble, MN: May Cultural Festival, Mexico
* Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, NY: Belgrade Dance Festival, Serbia
* Yang and Olivia, IL: The Social Service of Commerce International Music Festival, Brazil
* Yarn/Wire, NY: Donaueschingen Festival, Germany
As artists are returning to touring after the long hiatus brought about by the pandemic, we are hearing a lot about what this means to them in their final reports. Jazz vocalist Gretchen Parlato travelled to three festivals with USAI support in 2022 and had this to say, "This tour was a welcome and vital return to the stage after 2 1/2 years of the pandemic. As the arts were the first to go and last to return, this creative and performing outlet was needed not only for me as an artist, but for the audiences who haven’t been able to share the experience of live music for so long. COVID affected artists severely, in many ways psychologically, emotionally, and financially. To tour again was a reminder to myself that I have a message to share, that I am interconnected to everyone who is affected by the music we create. We need these personal experiences with our fellow humans, live, in person feeling the magic, space, and energy of the arts."
USAI grantees are selected through a panel process. Mid Atlantic Arts convened one panel to review round one applications on October 25, 2022. The panel consisted of experienced artists and arts professionals.
PHOTO: 2022 USArtists International grantee L.A. Dance Project in Benjamin Millepied's "Romeo & Juliet Suite" at the Nights of Fourvière Festival in France. Photo credit: Paul Bourdrel.
Mid Atlantic Arts supports artists, presenters, and organizations through unique programming, grant support, partnerships, and information sharing. Created in 1979, Mid Atlantic Arts is aligned with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. We combine state and federal funding with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to nurture diverse artistic expression while connecting people to meaningful arts experiences within our region and beyond.
Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. By advancing equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, the NEA fosters and sustains an environment in which the arts benefit everyone in the United States.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive.
The Trust for Mutual Understanding awards grants to American nonprofit organizations to support direct exchange in the arts and the environment between professionals from the United States and TMU’s geographic region: the Baltic States; Central Asia; Central, East, Southeast Europe; Mongolia; and Russia.
