In its first major grant announcement for 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts has said that it will award $21 million to 839 nonprofit, national, regional, state, and local organizations across the country. This includes Access to Artistic Excellence grants as well as Literature Fellowships for individuals.

Last year, through its Challenge America Access Grants, the NEA gave 915 grants totaling more than $25.3 million. But though the total amount of these awards is lower, the amount going to New York City has increased considerably. The total amount that will be granted to culture organization’s in New York City is $5,417,350, an increase of more than 400%.

The NEA’s 2004 budget was $122.5 million – slightly more than the $121 million it has been allotted for 2005.

“Through these grants and fellowships, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing critical investments in the American arts,” said Chairman of the Arts Endowment, Dana Gioia. “From preserving our cultural heritage through regional folk life festivals, to providing young people with their first visit to live theater, to writing fellowships that allow writers the time to produce their best work, these projects bring arts of the highest quality to communities across the country.”

In addition to grants to groups, the NEA announced its Literature Fellowships in Poetry, a $20,000 award, was given to 45 individuals. Five of them are from New York City: Sally Dawidoff, Cathy Hong, Tyehimba Jess, Ted Mathys, and Sean Singer.

Uncle Sam Loves NYC
City Organizations Receiving $30,000 or More

Aaron Davis Hall Inc. $55,000 for development of works by artists

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation Inc. $100,000 for a 2005 U.S. tour

Academy of American Poets Inc. $30,000 for the National Poetry Almanac

American Ballet Theatre $70,000 for four new productions of ballets by Fokine

American Composers Orchestra Inc. $45,000 for the Emerging Composers Program

Art in General Inc. $35,000 for artist residencies and exhibitions

Asia Society $70,000 for a touring exhibition of recent art from India and a consortium project to commission a multimedia work titled “Five Streams”

BAM LDC $37,500 for a public space urban design program for the BAM cultural district

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company $50,000 for the creation of an evening-length dance theater work, choreographed by Bill T. Jones

Brooklyn Academy of Music Inc. $55,000 for the annual Next Wave Festival

Bronx Council on the Arts Inc. $30,000 for the Cultural Enterprise Network

Builders Association Inc. $40,000 for the creation and development of a multimedia performance

Carnegie Hall Society Inc. $100,000 for the presentations, Inventive American Artists

Center for the Study of Classical Architecture Inc. $50,000 for a consortium project with Habitat for Humanity International.

Chamber Music America Inc. $100,000 for the National Leadership Initiative

City Lore Inc. $50,000 for Def Jam The Poetry Dialogues

Creative Time Inc. $45,000 for a public art project by Jenny Holzer

Cunningham Dance Foundation Inc. $100,000 for a new work in collaboration with Frank Gehry, as well as a revival

Dahesh Museum of Art $30,000 for the exhibition “Gods and Mortals”

Danspace Project Inc. $35,000 for the 13-week series of performances, City/Dans

Dance Theater Workshop Inc. $70,000 for a program for emerging and established artists

Doug Varone and Dancers $30,000 for the creation of a full-evening work by choreographer Doug Varone

Drawing Center Inc. $30,000 for the touring exhibition “Eva Hesse Studies and Drawings”

Eiko & Koma $30,000 for the creation of a new work by Eiko and Koma

Electronic Arts Intermix Inc. $40,000 for the Artists’ Videotape Distribution Service

Exit Art/The First World Inc. $45,000 for an exhibition examining contemporary concerns regarding water conservation

Feminist Press Inc. $35,000 for publications and promotions as part of Women Writers of the Islamic World series

Feminist Press Inc. $35,000 for publications and promotions

Fiji Theater Company Inc. $45,000 for the development, presentation, and tour of a new theatre puppet work

Film Forum $70,000 for the theatrical premiers of American independent and foreign films Frick Collection $50,000 for an exhibition of portraits by Flemish artist Hans Memling

Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center $30,000 for the development of professional writers and playwrights

Group I Acting Company Inc. $35,000 for the production of Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona”

House Foundation for the Arts Inc. $30,000 for a new work by Meredith Monk

International Center of Photography $75,000 for a touring exhibition of the work of Robert Capa

Japan Society Inc. $30,000 for the exhibition “Cool Japan Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture”

Jazz at Lincoln Center Inc. $65,000 for Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival

Joyce Theater Foundation Inc. $70,000 for the Dance Presentation Program

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Inc. $35,000 for a new play based on the Greek myth Atalanta

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Inc. $55,000 for the Lincoln Center Festival 2005

Mabou Mines Development Foundation $30,000 for a site-specific theater work

Mark Morris Dance Group $70,000 for three works by Mark Morris to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary

Metropolitan Museum of Art $100,000 for the exhibition “Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437”

Metropolitan Opera Association Inc. $100,000 for the North American premiere of Franco Alfano’s “Cyrano de Bergerac”

Museum of Modern Art $85,000 for the preservation of endangered films as well as a site-specific architectural installation at P.S.1

Monday Morning Foundation Inc. $40,000 for a publication on design and visual culture

Museum of Arts and Design $70,000 for an exhibition as part of The Centenary Project

New 42nd Street Inc. $30,000 for theater productions for young audiences

New Dramatists Inc. $50,000 for the program Readings and Workshops

New York City Ballet Inc. $100,000 for the 13th year of the Diamond Project

New York City Opera Inc. $60,000 for a new production of Puccini’s “La Faniculla del West”

New York Philharmonic $100,000 for the American Creations Festival

New York Theatre Workshop Inc. $40,000 for a production of “Eyewitness Blues”

Ontological-Hysteric Theater Inc. $30,000 for the creation and production of a new work, “The Idiot Savant”

Paul Taylor Dance Foundation Inc. $100,000 for new works by Paul Taylor as part of the 50th anniversary celebration Pentacle $35,000 for the artistic mentorship program, Help Desk

Playwrights Horizons Inc. $50,000 for new programs and productions

Point Community Development Corporation $30,000 for the Mamba to Hip Hop Initiative

Public Art Fund Inc. $30,000 for “In the Public Realm”

Roundabout Theatre Company Inc. $40,000 for a production of Sam Sheperd’s play, “Fool for Love”

Theatre for a New Audience Inc. $40,000 for a “Coriolanus” and a new English translation of Eduardo de Filippo’s “Questi Fantasmi”

Trisha Brown Dance Company Inc. $70,000 for a new work and the reconstruction of three seminal pieces

Vineyard Theatre & Workshop Center Inc. $45,000 for a new interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s 1920’s play, “Mary Rose”

Vivian Beaumont Theater Inc. $60,000 for a new musical based on a novel by Sherley Anne Williams

World Music Institute Inc. $40,000 to support Music and Dance of Latin America