Calling All Emerging Writers, Painters Over 45, Musicians, Dancers and Other Creative Creatures in Need of Sustenance!

Hey everyone, Mirabee is still alive and kicking! Sorry about not seeing some of you in Chicago. That was pretty disappointing BUT my reading at Book Cellar has been rescheduled for September 22nd, 2011 and there will be another reading in the Chicago area that week as well, probably in Winnetka. Stay tuned....

For now, I'm trying not to sit long at the computer so I'll be brief (still very much on the mend....not great but not bad)....just want to remind you all that this coming week I will be reading at Raab Auditorium at the Boston Public Library at a free event sponsored by TransculturalExchange. My reading will be on Thursday, April 7th at 6:30 but please come to the other readings as well: Reif Larsen (reading at 5:30 pm) the amazing author of The Collected Works of T. S. Spivet, a genre-breaking illustrated novel and Jayne Anne Phillips (reading at 7:30) wonderful author of several books, most recently Lark and Termite. For more info about this event and the rest of the conference (YOU CAN STILL REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE, believe it or not!), please go here: http://transculturalexchange.org/conference_2011/schedule.htm

Also, for those of you in the Boston area who are interested in learning more about publishing your first book, from finding an agent, working with editors to promoting your book, you are more than welcome to come to on yet another TCE sponsored free public eventFriday afternoon, April 8th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in the Boston Room at the Boston Public Library. I'll be moderating a panel with novelist and editor Jedediah Berry (The Manual of Detection) and poet Marissa Crawford (The Haunted House). For more info, go here: http://transculturalexchange.org/conference_2011/schedule.htm

I'll also be reading at Fairfield Library in Fairfield, CT on April 14th AND in New York Friggin' City on April 19th and 20th. I'll be at the Strand on the 19th and The Cake Shop on the 20th. Please check my calendar for details: www.thememorypalace.com.

Enough of THAT stuff, on to YOU:

(MUSICIANS/COMPOSERS) Exploring the Metropolis administers the Con Edison Musicians’ Residency: Composition Program. Heading into its third year, this expanding program serves three constituencies: (1) composers get consistent, long-term, private creative space; (2) host cultural facilities fill underused space and also present the composer in a public program; (3) the community is invited to at least one free program – a master class, an opera-in-progress, etc. This year, we will be expanding the program to accommodate 8 NYC-based composers in 4 sites (Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens). Online applications will be available early April 2011. If you’d like to be notified of the next call for applications in spring 2011, sign up for their e-newsletter. http://exploringthemetropolis.org/musicians-residency

(DANCERS/ PERFORMING ARTS/FILM) Dance MOViES Commission Program—The Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY is now accepting proposals for the DANCE MOViES Commission program. Selected artists receive awards ranging up to $40,000, and can also apply to create their works in conjunction with the Artist-in-Residence program at EMPAC. Works commissioned may take advantage of EMPAC’s infrastructure and technology, such as computer-controlled rigging, flexible black-box studios, and post-production engineering for audio and video. Previously commissioned works range from a punk marching band creating mayhem in the streets of Chicago to a poetic film based on the autobiographical account of a US-based African choreographer returning to dance in Zimbabwe. Read more about EMPAC and the DANCE MOViES Commission. Questions: 518-276-3918 or lesteh@rpi.edu. Deadline: April 18, 2011

(ARTISTS) Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant is offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The primary emphasis is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, as well as encouraging interest in artists who lack adequate recognition. Questions: Call 508-487-1750 or visit www.paam.org Deadline: August 15, 2011.

(ARTISTS) Galeria Bielska BWA is happy to announce the first edition of Artist In Residence programme. Artists from around the world working in the field of visual arts, are kindly invited to send a proposal for a site-specific work, an intervention in the public space of the Bielsko-Biała city.

During three months artists will have the time and chance to research, develop and make an art project in the public space which will relate to the subject of Beyond the time and to the history of the city. Besides the opportunity of showing your work in a public space Galeria Bielska BWA will include the digital presentation of the works made during the residency in the exhibition 1^st of September. The Gallery provides two apartments, living room, fully furnished with kitchen and bathroom. Artist pays own travel expenses, materials and personal needs.

How to apply: Please send the project proposal, CV/Statement (maximum 3 A4 pages) and portfolio (preferred format: Pdf )- in Polish or English via e-mail to the project coordinator Izabela Ołdak, e-mail: izabela.oldak@gmail.com before 30^th of April. For more information please contact the project coordinator. Deadline April 30, 2011.

(ALL) Vermont Creation Grants—Applicants to this category must be able to demonstrate that the primary component of the proposal is to fund the time, supplies, facilities (rehearsal or studio), etc. for the creation of new work. Work may be at various stages of completion. Grant amount $3,000. The council typically
awards 10-12 grants. Deadline May 2, 2011.For more info, go to: http://vermontartscouncil.org/Grants/ForArtists/CreationGrants/tabid/80/Default.aspx

Painting & Writing Fellowships, Residencies Overseas and More for the New Year!

Greetings all...Thanks to www.re-title.com, FundsforWriters.com and Poets & Writers for a couple of the following opportunities!

(ARTISTS) The British School at Rome: Artists Residencies & Fellowships: Applications are invited for a number of residencies in the visual arts. They offer an en-suite studio and bedroom, meals taken together in a communal dining room, 24-hour access to a historic library collection, a research grant, and at least one group show; they are tenable for three, nine or twelve months.

The awards available for 2011–12 include: Abbey Scholarship and Fellowships; Australia Council Residencies; the Derek Hill Foundation Scholarship; and the Sainsbury Scholarship in Painting and Sculpture. See http://www.bsr.ac.uk/ or contact the Registrar, Gill Clark, at bsr@britac.ac.uk Closing dates for applications: mainly January 2011
(see http://www.bsr.ac.uk for precise details and dates)

(POETS) Martin Dibner Fellowships—Fellowships of up to $1,000 each are given in alternating years to emerging Maine-based poets and fiction writers to attend writing workshops or complete writing projects. For this year’s fellowships, poets may submit a writing sample of five to seven pages and a resumé by January 15, 2011. There is no entry fee. Visit the Web site for complete guidelines: www.mainecf.org/DibnerFellowship.aspx

(ALL) The Wellcome Trust Arts Awards—The Wellcome Trust is inviting organizations and individuals to apply for funding through its Arts Awards. The Arts Awards support projects that engage the public with biomedical science through the arts including dance, drama, performance arts, visual arts, music, film, craft, photography, creative writing or digital media. Applications are invited for projects up to £30,000.

The aim of the awards is to support arts projects that reach new audiences which may not traditionally be interested in science and provide new ways of thinking about the social, cultural and ethical issues around contemporary science. The scheme is open to a wide range of people including, artists, scientists, curators, filmmakers, writers, producers, arts workers and education officers. Deadline: 28 January, 2011. Further Information - http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/arts Email: arts@wellcome.ac.uk

(ARTISTS) Visual Arts Residencies—One-month residencies for visual artists are being offered in America's oldest working art colony on Rocky Neck in Gloucester, Ma. Included is a waterfront studio/ gallery/ living space, and access to a rich, cultural community.

June - October 2011. Application fee is $25. Deadline is March 1st, 2011. rockyneckartcolony.org for application and info. Ruth Mordecai, Director Residency Committee rglouc@comcast.net

(WRITERS) Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, United States/Japan Creative Artists Residency—Up to five five-month residencies, each of which includes a monthly stipend of 600,000 yen (approximately $7,100) for living expenses, housing, and professional support, are awarded annually to published U.S. poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to live in Japan and pursue creative projects. The residencies are sponsored by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts. The residencies also each include a travel grant of up to $6,000. Submit 10 pages of poetry or up to 15 pages of a long poem or work of prose, two letters of recommendation, a resumé, and proof of publication by February 1. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines. Deadline: February 1, 2011. www.jusfc.gov/programguidelines.asp E-mail address: artists@jusfc.gov

Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, United States/Japan Creative Artists Residency, c/o Margaret Mihori, 1201 15th Street NW, Suite 330, Washington, D.C. 20005. (202) 653-9800.

(WRITERS) David T. K. Wong Fellowship: A one-year fellowship at the University of East Anglia, including a £26,000 (approximately $41,300) stipend, is given annually to a fiction writer for a work that “deals seriously with some aspect of life in the Far East.” Submit up to 2,500 words of fiction with a £10 (approximately $16) entry fee by January 17. Visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines: http://www1.uea.ac.uk/cm/home/schools/hum/lit/awards University of East Anglia, School of Literature and Creative Writing, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Natalie Mitchell, Fellowship Administrator.

(WRITERS) Charles Pick Fellowship—A six-month fellowship at the University of East Anglia, including a £10,000 (approximately $16,000) stipend, is given annually to a fiction writer or creative nonfiction writer who has not yet published a book. Submit up to 2,500 words of prose and a letter of reference by January 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines: www1.uea.ac.uk/cm/home/schools/hum/lit/awards University of East Anglia, School of Literature and Creative Writing, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Natalie Mitchell, Fellowship Administrator.

(WRITERS) Stadler Center for Poetry/Philip Roth Residency—A four-month residency, including a $4,000 stipend, at the Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell University is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, or a creative nonfiction writer. The 2011 Philip Roth Residence is open to U.S. fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers who are over the age of 21 and not enrolled in a college or university. Using the online submission system, submit up to 20 pages of prose, a curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation by February 11. E-mail or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Stadler Center for Poetry, Philip Roth Residence, Bucknell Hall, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837. Andrew Ciotola, Operations Manager. Deadline: February 11, 2011. Web site: www.bucknell.edu/stadlercenter E-mail address:

ciotola@bucknell.edu

(ALL) Byrdcliffe Art Colony Residencies—The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild offers month long Artist in Residence (AIR) opportunities for visual artists, composers, playwrights/screenwriters, and writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Longer residencies are available for ceramic artists. The AIR sessions generally occur during the months of June, July, August, and September. Our goal is to provide solitude in a community and uninterrupted time in which to concentrate on creative work alongside fellow artists. Opened in 1903, the Byrdcliffe Art Colony was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1979 for its architectural and historical significance. It is located in the Catskill Mountains, 1.5 miles from the center of Woodstock, New York. For more information or to apply, please go to http://www.woodstockguild.org/artist_in_residence/index.html Deadline is March 1, 2011.