A foodie is defined as an informal term for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. Therefore, I am not a foodie.  But I would like to be someday, because I love food, I love to cook and quite frankly, I’m pretty good at it.  My diet doesn’t differ much from that of a rabbit’s, but I’ll cook almost anything for others to enjoy.  I’ve had a few jobs working in kitchens, but I never want to pursue a career in that field – it’s way too stressful.  However, I admire people who cook for a living and I love to watch them work their magic.

During my Thanksgiving vacation I’ve allowed myself to watch every episode of Top Chef and Chef’s Academy and No Reservations and Bizarre Foods that I could find.  I really get inspired by watching these programs, and I think it increases dopamine.  Have you ever watched Diners, Drive-ins & Dives??  Whenever there’s a restaurant that serves pulled pork, my taste buds start screaming. “FEED ME, SEYMOUR!!”  But, I’ve kinda made a vow not to eat anything that once had a heart, or a brain, or a family.  So I can only dream.  (Actually, when I’m eating meat in my dream, I always catch myself and put whatever I’m eating down.  So I guess I can’t dream.)

There is hope for the Vegan/Vegetarian yet.  I was watching Gourmet Magazine’s Diary of a Foodie: Tuscany, where they featured a butcher and a baker and a tripe sandwich-maker.  The baker and his wife made Panzanella from a loaf of the region’s saltless crusty bread.  At the end of the show, they threw together a quick Tuscan kale pasta.  (Tuscan kale = Dinosaur kale.)  Simple, but delicious.  As far as the non-Vegetarians are concerned, the tripe sandwich vendor in Florence was offering some tasty-looking morsels.  If I had known of this place before I took my trip, I would have definitely insisted that my fellow travelers check it out…

They’ve been showing a lot of other interesting programs concerning food, since this is the holiday season.  I’m watching one on the History channel called “More American Eats.”  They go over the history of Hershey’s chocolate, Chef Boyardee, and barbequing, which began in the Islands with the Taino Indians.  According to this program, they were the first people to cook fish/meat on a grill over an open flame.  This method made it’s way over here, to the South, where slaves mastered the art and took it to the next level.

Honestly, the main reason I turned this on is to see where we went wrong.  As a nation.  Why is our health so poor?  I know that many of the diseases we have are food-related, that’s a fact.  But the government does not deem it necessary to stop manufacturers from producing food containing ingredients they know are not fit for human consumption.  Companies used to actually care about their consumers and wanted to give them the highest-quality product possible.  But greed will almost ALWAYS show his ugly face, and despite his gruesome apperance, few can resist his charm.

This program is long and packed full of info, and I can’t share everything I learned with you.  So you should watch for yourself if it re-airs.  There were a few things that were really interesting to me:

1.)  The government requested that Hershey’s develop some kind of energy bar for soldiers to eat in the case of an emergency.  They came up with the D Ration bar, something like the first PowerBar, I guess:

Link to info about the D Ration bar

2.)  John Harvey Kellogg, founder of Kellogg’s, was a doctor and Seventh-Day Adventist who was in favor of racial segregation and against masturbation.  His wikipedia page is quite interesting.  That’s all I have to say about that.

John Kellogg\’s Wikipedia

On a lighter note, I can’t wait to see who wins this season of Top Chef.  If it were up to me, I’d choose both the Voltaggio brothers.  All of the remaining finalists are talented, but I’m rooting for those two.

I think that’s all I care to write about now.  I’m gonna be stuck on the tube tonight, because they are re-airing the Essence Music Festival and the Maxwell stuff that I missed last time.  Also, Beyonce has a special on ABC that I must see!!

Out…

When Christopher Columbus landed on the other side of the Atlantic, in 1492, he encountered a culture of the native population which the West would soon utterly destroy. We came to believe those populations were beneath us, and so we were doing them a favour by Westernising their lands and wiping them out. The Tainos (The natives) were not at all barbaric, or backward, or primitive, as the Europeans first thought. They invented the Canoe, the hammock, their homes were far more spacious and luxurious than the tiny European homes back home. In fact, it could be argued, that given the horrendous religious turmoil that embodied Europe over the next century; the Tainos were far more advanced socially. Columbus commented “They are very gentle and without knowledge of what is evil; nor do they murder or steal”. And yet, we still felt the need to impose our will on those people. It then follows quite neatly, that the lands Columbus is famed for discovering (Latin America) would, in less than five hundred years, be the victim of quite horrific oppression from the Nation that celebrates Columbus day; The USA.

The word “Democracy” is quite a contentious one, when used in the Western sense. It is a by-word for Capitalism.
America was a blank slate in 1776. Direct, deliberative democracy could have been imposed, in a true people’s revolution. But, the “Revolutionaries” weren’t as revolutionary as one might first believe. Much like the Monarchy they wished to free themselves from, the revolutionaries still believed that only a specific class of person was capable of governing. They didn’t believe the general public should have much say in this new “democracy“. It explains the electoral college system. Alexander Hamilton declared the people were a “great beast” desperate to be tamed. One gets the sense that they believed those who were not of the propertied class did not have a right to have a complete say over the way their lives were ruled. James Madison goes one step further and says of Democracy, if elections were “open to all classes of people, the property of landed proprietors would be insecure” echoing the beliefs of Cicero, and Cassius, in the old Roman Republic. It is arguably, why Julius Caesar was murdered…… for giving the people more of a democratic say. Therefore, the object of democracy over the past two thousand years, has been to give added protection to the wealthy few. The protect the minority, from the majority, and therefore has created a system where the minority, control the World.

It then becomes obvious, that when George Bush managed to steal the 2000 election, winning less votes than Al Gore, but winning more of the “elite” vote, the public just didn’t care. They didn’t rebel. They didn’t question the legitimacy of their “democracy“. Of course not. And the reason they didn’t care, was because the public are fully aware that an election in the U.S.A, or England, is simply voting in a different business man.

Over here in England, the 2010 election will be run on “spending cuts“. Cuts to public spending. Cuts, quite drastically, that do not need to happen so sharply. The question of curbing business excesses, or fairer trade agreements, or closing tax loopholes for the rich will not come up, purely because those important issues negatively affect the politicians, who happen to be of that particular elite class. And so spending cuts that negatively affect the poor, is going to be the main topic of discussion, because the poor do not have any say whatsoever in the way the Country is run, they have no power, so they can be manipulated.

The Ancient Greeks noted that true democracy was a Welfare State, using public funds to ensure the basic necessities to life for every citizen, not just the elite few. Modern Democracy is far different because it assumes that if the poor start gaining wealth through a better education system, or a stronger Welfare state that allows them the chance to advance, that the poor will start to influence democracy to suit their own needs, which in turn threatens the elites, which is exactly what Madison feared when he said “the property of landed proprietors would be insecure” if the poorer classes had more of a say.

It is in this line of thought, that allows modern politicians (particularly Conservatives and Republicans) to argue for “less government“. This is me, is quite the paradox. By handing power over, from the State, from elected officials accountable to the public, into the hands of the Private market, they are by definition eroding democracy. These private powers then suddenly have the wealth and the power to influence public policy, which in itself, is not democratic, because….. and this wont shock you……. that public policy has become more and more geared toward the interests of big business.

And then when they seem to have control over our Governments, they spread, across the World, whilst the government call it “spreading freedom and democracy“. Yet, in places like Brazil, in 1964, America didn’t seem to have a problem supplying funds and training, in helping to actually overthrow the democratically elected President Goulart (who was supremely popular with the public), helping to install a new right winged regime that quickly put an end to Democracy, wiped out thousands of people, including singers, painters and anyone who showed any form of left wing mindset. The same pattern of overthrowing democratic regimes and placing harsh, violent, corrupt,yet pro-American dictators in place can be seen across the history of the 20th Century. Nicaragua, Iran, Guatemala and Chile to name a few. Reagan, within eight years, didn’t seem to bothered about the Right Winged bloodbath taking place in Central America. In fact, he was shipping millions of dollars in military aid to the offending governments. 20,000 dead (according to Amnesty Int.) in Nicaragua alone.

UN-sponsored Commission for Historical Clarification, “the American training of the officer corps in counter-insurgency techniques was a key factor in the genocide…Entire Mayan villages were attacked and burned and their inhabitants were slaughtered in an effort to deny the guerillas protection.” Similarly, Reagan provided funds and training to Right winged terrorists in Colombia, which in turn gave Colombia the worst human rights record in the region. And yet, far from being labelled a war criminal, Reagan is hailed as a Conservative hero. By funding the murder of hundreds of thousands of people, he apparently created “freedom“. That “freedom” is a little wishful, given that whilst the U.S supported the right winged government of Somoza in Nicaragua, the Country had a two thirds malnutrition rate for children under five, whilst nine out of ten homes had unsafe drinking water, with the UN estimating that 60% of the population, under right winged rule, lived in dire poverty. If anything, it proves to me, that Reagan, and in fact, every President in the history of America has never been concerned with human rights, or horrendous suffering, and been more concerned with it’s own economic superiority. When you have to kill, and create an environment where genocide is taking place, one cannot seriously claim to have created “freedom” or “democracy“.

At the same time as evil dictators were being placed in charge of Latin American Countries by America; Britain’s equally as shameful Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher said “We support the United States’ aim to promote peaceful change, democracy and economic development”. One wonders what that “economic development” actually entailed given that after Reagan interfered with Guatemala, (according to the Inter-American development bank) by 1990 the per-capita income had fallen to below it’s 1971 levels. Is that economic development? No. Reagan should have spent his final years in prison.

Whilst James Madison quite openly admitted he didn’t want the poorer population to have much of a say in the democratic process; Ronald Reagan simply helped to destroy any poor people who might want a say in the democratic process. By freeing up the Country to the elites, he then labeled it “freedom” and “democracy“. It’s a strange old, American-owned World. From Columbus, to Obama, nothing much has changed. Democracy has not, and will never exist, without the public turning it’s attention away from it’s ridiculous obsession with consumerism, and onto what actually matters; the unjustifiable nature, of who controls the World.

The Dominican Republic — one part baseball mecca and one part beach colony, with a ton of Caribbean history and culture thrown in for added flavor.

The island of Hispaniola sits in the eastern Caribbean between Cuba and Puerto Rico. The western third of Hispaniola is controlled by Haiti. The Dominican Republic occupies the rest.

The Dominican Republic sends a steady stream of talent to Major League Baseball. You’d be hard-pressed today to find a National or American League team that doesn’t have at least one dominicano on its roster. One town, San Pedro de Macoris, practically specializes in producing infielders.

The DR also is known for its all-inclusive beach resorts — more than 30 of them at last count. Lodging, meals and just about everything else are included in a single, sometimes staggeringly low price.

But is that all there is to the country? Not by a long shot. The capital city, Santo Domingo contains enough history of the Americas to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Most of that history is packed into the Zona Colonial, where the age of almost everything except the residents is measured in centuries.

For instance, the Pat’e Palo restaurant has been doing business on the same spot for 500 years, which makes it three centuries older than the United States! The Hotel Palacio, where I stayed on a baseball trip a few years back, is a mere 400 years old.

The remains of Christopher Columbus are buried here. At least Dominicans think so. It’s a long story, and a big argument. There’s also a museum where you can see treasure from sunken Spanish galleons.

Even the thoroughfares have history. Calle de las Damas, so named because frilly ladies used to promenade there, is the oldest street in the Americas. It runs just below the perimeter wall of the old Ozama fort, which is not your typical Caribbean bastion.

Most colonial fortresses were erected to discourage pirates; Ozama was built to lure them in. Its buildings were designed to resemble a European church — from a distance. Only when they came into gun range did the pirates learn that the canons of this “church” were really cannons. Oops!

Americans still can’t legally visit Cuba because of the US embargo (although thousands skirt that ridiculous rule annually), but two stretches in the Zona Colonial can give you a sense of what Cuba is like. One is the seaside boulevard known as the Malecon. The other is El Conde.

The Malecon is lined with major hotels, casinos and restaurants overlooking the Caribbean. This is where we encountered a tasty liqueur known as Guavaberry. But don’t go looking for a bottle of this stuff to take home. It’s sold only on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. You can order it online, though.

When the sun goes down, lovers take over the concrete benches on the side of the street closest to the sea. On Sundays, the Malecon is closed to traffic. Kids play basketball and soccer and fly kites in the street, while vendors sell sweets, cold drinks and ice cream.

El Conde is a tree–shaded alleyway in the Zona Colonial lined with restos and shops. You’ll also find the Cubania cultural center, a good place for Cuba Libres, daiquiris, piña coladas and mojitos. This spot was used to simulate Havana in the film Godfather II.

If you’re into jewelry, El Conde also is a good place to find larimar, a stone similar to turqoise — and found nowhere else in the world.

Along both the Malecon and El Conde, you’ll see folks selling pieces of art done in the style of the Taino people, the original inhabitants of Hispaniola. The one thing you won’t find is any trace of the Taino themselves. The Spanish colonizers — and the diseases they brought with them — pretty much wiped them out.

(The decimation of the Taino by the Spanish led to African slaves being brought to Hispaniola, a pattern that would be repeated by Europeans throughout the Americas, including in what eventually became the United States.)

One of the must-sees in Santo Domingo is a restaurant called El Conuco. They specialize in traditional cooking known as criollo. The food is tasty, but that’s not why you go. What makes this place a command performance is the dance they call “bachata in a bottle.”

Baiguate waterfall, Dominican Republic

Bachata is a traditional Dominican music and dance style. The dance is performed by a couple who take turns spinning on one foot, while balanced atop an empty bottle of Cointreau. Think I’m kidding? Take a look!

As with the rest of the Caribbean, the DR is not the best place to be during hurricane season but makes an ideal winter getaway — especially if you live anyplace where it snows. The weather is warm and the Presidente beers are always — and I do mean always — ice-cold. In fact, don’t be surprised if your beer arrives with little chunks of ice stuck to the bottle.

If you’re inclined to rent an SUV and go exploring, the countryside is also tropically beautiful, especially in places like Baiguate, with its waterfalls.

But the most beautiful thing about the DR may be the people who call it home. Bright-eyed, quick to smile, warm and strong in spirit despite the poverty that makes life a struggle for many of them. Ultimately, they may be the nation’s best tourist attraction.

Retell: An account of Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of the Americas told from the point of view of a Taino boy.

Topics: Christopher Columbus, explorers, gold, Taino, trade, slaves

Units of Study: Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, Content-Area

Tribes: mutual respect

Reading Skills: interpretation, envisionment, inference

Writing Skills: using figurative language

My Thoughts: Yesterday was Columbus Day and to celebrate, here is one of my favorite Columbus Day read alouds.  Since the story is told from the perspective of a child, students will be able to relate to how powerless the boy feels.  He warns his people not to trust the “strange creatures” that were “spat out of the canoes”, but no one listens to him.  This is a fantastic text for teaching inference.  Yolen takes great care not to use terms that would have been foreign to the Taino people.  Readers must constantly infer what the boy is describing.  For example, Yolen describes beards as “hair growing like bushes on their chins”.  When Columbus claims the island for Spain she describes how people “knelt before their chief and pushed sticks into the sand”.  It’s important to model how readers constantly consult the illustration while reading the text in order to construct meaning.

Por Fátima Portorreal

El 12 de octubre no es un día heroico, ni un legado que nos gustaría importantizar, pero si colocarlo en su justa balanza. Es el día en el que se apago la libertad de Abya Yala, nombre dado al continente por la etnia Kuna de Panamá y Colombia antes de la llegada de los europeos. Su significado es hermoso, la llaman tierra madura o tierra viva en florecimiento. Así los pueblos originarios la nombran y el significante establece una ética de la acción.

Ya no estamos guiados por el miedo o por una epifanía que oculta la presencia del otro, ese que somos nosotras/os, mulatos/as,  negros/as, aborígenes o simplemente aquellos que todavía se levantan guiado por una memoria ancestral que no ocultará su rostro como víctima frente  a la mirada del verdugo.

Hoy no conmemoro el 12 de octubre, más bien le digo a occidente, a sus imperativos universales y filosofías moralistas que ya no somos rehenes, ni fundamos nuestra ética en la sumisión o resignación.

Hoy prefiero hablar de un diálogo intecultural y de un reconocimiento a la pluralidad. Hoy abrazamos la gestión movilizadora por la justicia y negamos las mentiras manifiestas en los balcones de un Estado autoritario y embaucador. Hoy resistimos a la dictadura propuesta por los tres partidos coloniales.

Hoy somos responsables de una apuesta a la descolonización al oprobioso modelo civilizatorio que atiborrado de mentiras y brutalidad quiso suprimir nuestra memoria intentando destruir y arrancar las culturas que encontraron a su paso. El etnocidio, genocidio y ecocidio no será una apuesta del presente. Ya no creemos en promesas de eternidad, en una religión que se ampara en  actos que parecen desprovistos de sentidos, pero que realmente la desnudan con el bienestar de  los poderosos. A 517 años de ese oprobioso acto, los verdaderos cristianos del pueblo de Dios, no de su reverendísima jerarquía propugnan por una fe solidaria y una espiritualidad descolonizada y mestiza.

Hoy 12 de octubre postulamos la libertad de creer, de darle sentido a la existencia, y de reflexionar conscientemente con la fuerza de la historia. Manifestamos el sentido de la auto- identidad y de la autoconciencia de nuestro propio poder, esa fuerza contradictoria, pero actuante contra la no-verdad y contra la no –libertad.

Hoy estamos aquí para decirle no a la privatización de las playas y a no darle la espalda al mar, así como lo instituyo la Corona Española a finales del siglo XVI, con las devastaciones de Osorio. Ya que se les  prohibió vivir y frecuentar las orillas de las playas de la costa norte para evitar el contacto con los otros.

Hoy estamos indignando con la repetición que favorece proyectos de desarrollo orientado al turismo y que requieren de la privatización de nuestras playas. El modelo civilizatorio es el mismo, devastar nuestros recursos en aras del progreso, no obstante, hundimos nuestras raíces en el poder de nuestra memoria,  he impulsamos nuestra fuerza, como antítesis radical para surgir libremente y convertir la infinita posibilidad del poder en la esencia que fecunde lo real.

Hoy Guabancex Viento y Agua se manifiesta en el agónico espacio de lo visible y postula como principio la descolonización y el rechazo a la continuidad de los poderes que se concentran en los tres oprobiosos partidos colonialistas que avalan una Constitución que  niega la singularidad, los derechos civiles y reproductivos de los hombres y mujeres de este país.

Hoy más que nunca rechazamos la ilegitimidad de esa Constitución que se ampara todavía en principios coloniales y en el poder bochornoso de lo que se creen vencedores. Hoy 12 de octubre del 2009 apostamos a la  libertad radical, la que nos pones en contacto con la alteridad, lugar donde se afirma y se recrea nuestra identidad. Hoy no hacemos concesiones, declaramos en ruina los significantes que no reconocen las promesas de la diversidad, de nuestra memoria, de la libertad, de la democracia participativa y del abrazo a la elección de decidir como acto que se sobrepone a sí mismo y al itinerario de construir lo nuevo.

Since I always write about current issues relevant to improving quality of life globally, I thought I’d take a departure today. There’s a lot about myself that I know and always think about, but I’ve always refrained from discussing with people or writing about such things. One of those things is my bloodline, who I only discuss with a few family members who don’t mind or are in fact interested in talking about it. Over the past ten years, I’ve sought to learn more and more about my big family and its roots, which are incredibly diverse. I have asked elders about their past, analyzed thinking patterns of some family members and their causes, and estimated what’s in me, genetically speaking. So here’s my story.

As most people who’ve met or known me may know, I’m from the Dominican Republic, a country that shares the eastern two-thirds of the island I like to call by what its original inhabitants, the Taino and other indigenous people, knew it as: Quisqueya. Though I wasn’t born in the Dominican Republic, my entire family is from that country and I’ve lived enough years there to know the Dominican way of life and consider myself Dominican (especially since I intend to live there again in the future).

Now, anybody who knows a little bit about the Dominican Republic knows how diverse it is in terms of the physical character of its people. The current inhabitants are descendants of Tainos, Africans, Spanish, and even Asians. Unlike other diverse countries where you have immigrants form diverse communities, the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic have actually been mixing for centuries now, and so the mixture is much more punctuated than many other countries with diverse populations. In any given family, it’s not atypical to find skin colors ranging from black to white and everything in between, heights ranging from below average to very tall, and even spoken Spanish ranging from formal to very Dominican slang. And although there’s a huge mix, few people recognize it or even appreciate their bloodlines, prefering certain physical characteristics over others even if most of their genetic makeup may side with what they deem undesirable.

When it comes to me, I’ve been able to draw out my bloodline pretty well, ranging to about three (3) generations back, which would put all I know about where I come from to the late 19th century, when the population in the Dominican Republic was just above 500,000, down from 9.5 million today. From what I’ve found out, my most immediate family members are all from the Eastern part of the country, specifically from the provinces of El Seibo, La Altagracia, La Romana, Samana, and San Pedro de Macoris.

From my mother’s side, the bloodline has a Spanish and Taino makeup. My grandmother from my mother’s side was completely Taino, with no mixture whatsoever, and of course so were my great-grandparents from my mom’s side. The picture to the left is my young grandmother, which must have been taken around 1950. That entire part of my family is from the rural areas of the province of La Romana, very near to the sugar cane fields used to produce sugar, for reasons my mother does not know.

My grandfather, my mother’s father, was a Spanish descendant on the other hand, who owned a lot of land in El Seibo and in La Romana, all under agricultural production, which was the main economic activity at the time. His entire family, from the stories my uncles tell me, inherited a great deal of land that they eventually sold, including land today owned by hotel establishments (including Reina Cumayasa if anybody is interested in knowing). Of all that land, which from the descriptions ranged in the thousands of acres, including significant portions of prime coastline, about 50 acres remain, which is now owned by my mother and her brothers. My grandfather was a well-known farmer in El Seibo and La Romana during his times, and I was honored to grow up seeing him every day as he walked about 1km to my home at 8am sharp to say hello to my mother and I and drink his morning coffee (see him below carrying me; next to him is my grandmother).

From my father’s side, the bloodline is a lot more mixed, with African, Spanish, and Taino all mixed up. Moreover, the size of the family is a lot bigger on this side, and the mysteries are even bigger as my grandparents continue to tell me stories I didn’t know about. On this front, my family comes from La Altagracia, La Romana, Samana, and San Pedro de Macoris. My grandmother from my father’s side, which is a very interesting person for those who have met her, has a mix of African, Spanish, and Taino. Both of their parents, my grandparents, come from La Altagracia, and also owned a significant amount of land there, all handed over by previous governments for agricultural purposes. My great-grandmother came from African and Spanish predecessors, while my great-grandfather, well-known in his times and respected by my entire family, was also Taino.

My grandmother, who grew up in rural communities around the Chavon River in La Altagracia, has a very interesting story to tell, which includes a lot of traditional thoughts and practices involving sacred beliefs, some of which she still claims to practice today sometimes. All of these she learned from her Taino father, who supposedly he also shared with his family in El Seibo and Samana. Eventually, my grandmother, their parents, and her 10+ brothers and sisters all moved west to La Romana, San Pedro de Macoris, and Santo Domingo, where many are today.

My grandfather, on the other hand, has pure African roots. My grandfather’s mother grew up in Puerto Rico, while his father grew up in St. Thomas at a time when it was either British owned or had a strong British presence. That’s where my family’s English last name comes from. My grandfather assumes his father was a slave at the time, back in the late 19th century. Somehow, both his mother and his father ended up in the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, in a town called Sanchez in the province of Samana, where my grandfather and his brothers and sisters grew up. These people are known historically as “cocolos” because of the English connection. From there, they all had the opportunity to travel to the United States, where they established in New York City and spread from there to other areas of that country. My grandfather met my grandmother in La Romana when my grandmother escaped from her Taino father in a rural community of Chavon because she felt old enough to marry, something which with my grandfather disagreed. One night, she decided to walk all the way from Chavon to La Romana at night to escape from her father, and along the way, she stopped in a rural community where a brother was, and that’s where she met my grandfather.

So, to sum it up, my mother’s makeup is Taino with some Spanish, while my father’s makeup is very mixed. So my genetic makeup, as a result, is also highly mixed with those three lineages. I’m proud of all three lineages, and I wished Dominican society embraced all three equally and respectfully. In addition to having learned about my bloodline, I’ve also learned significantly about the indigenous people who lives in the Caribbean islands prior to European colonization. The rich history those people have constantly leave me wondering why it’s not explored more deeply, why it’s not appreciated more strongly, and why it’s not honored as it should by Dominican society and its government. Being more closely associated with my mother, I feel more closely tied to my Taino heritage (which by the way includes many different indigenous people from the Caribbean, not just one united people) than anything else, in spite of being proud and defensive of my entire bloodline. I have come to appreciate and live by the Taino way, and I hope some day that appreciation can be extended to the level it deserved in Dominican society.

Los indios de Boriquén (Puerto Rico) usaban la palabra batey para referirse al juego de bola o batú. También batey era la bola usada en este deporte.

Ante la casa principal, la del cacique, había una plaza grande, más barrida y más llana. Era más larga que cuadrada y la llamaban los indios batey, pronunciado la letra E más larga.

Bateyes también se llaman las plazas cercadas por piedras en que celebraban sus juegos o fiestas llamadas areytos.

Tomado del Libro: “Huellas de un mundo perdido”, Nelson Rafael

NEC Rep Announces Auditions for Fall Sessions September 14 and 23, 2009  and

Kick Off for NEC Rep Members Announced Mon Aug 24 at

La Perle Noire 6-8pm !!

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR:

GRANTS WITH OPEN,  ROLLING AND VARIOUS DEADLINES…

NYFA Listings for Full and Part Time Jobs in the Arts

Mixed Greens Listing of Arts Exhibits and Festivals

NYFA Listing for Studio Space

The Urban Artist Initiative/NYC (UAI/NYC)

A program for NYC artists of all disciplines who self-define themselves as artists of color.

The UAI Steering Committee is presently reexamining its program options for this 2008/09. Please keep checking the websites of the Steering Committee- the Asian American Arts Alliance, the Association of Hispanic Arts, the Harlem Arts Alliance, the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, the Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA, and the Bronx Council on the Arts – for an annoucement about the next grants cycle.

We anticipate an announcement in late November/December.

BUILD Grants of $10-20,000 for Small and Mid Size Dance Companies in NYC

BUILD awards operating grants to small and mid-sized dance companies based in New York City. These grants of $10,000 and $20,000 provide funds to choreographers seeking to enhance their companies’ infrastructure and management capacity. Grants can be used for a range of activities as long as the primary focus is on infrastructure support and maintenance

Strategic Opportunity Stipends (SOS),

A project of the New York Foundation for the Arts, working in collaboration with arts councils and cultural organizations across New York State, are designed to help individual artists of all disciplines take advantage of unique opportunities that will significantly benefit their work or career development. Grants of $100-600.

NYFA’s new program offering affordable workspace  to NYFA-affiliated artists and organizations.

NYFA is a creative environment with a staff of about thirty working artists, writers, dancers, and playwrights

NYFA’s space: NYFA’s offices are located at 20 Jay Street, Suite 740, Brooklyn (DUMBO), NY. The building is wheelchair accessible. NYFA’s office is 10 minutes from Manhattan and a 5 minute walk from the F train and Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. The office is air conditioned with views of the Williamsburg Bridge and the East River.
Application Deadline Extended for African Diaspora Marketplace Program
Grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded to U.S.-resident members of the African diaspora working to build sustainable businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa; proposals will now be accepted through July 30, 2009….
Deadline: July 30, 2009 (Extended)
Posted: July 23, 2009

ASCAP Foundation Announces Grant Guidelines for New 2010 Funding
Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded to nonprofits working to help American songwriters and composers develop their skills and talent….
Deadline: August 1, 2009 (Letter of Intent)
Posted: July 8, 2009

Alliance for California Traditional Arts Invites Applications for Living Cultures Grants Program
Grants of up to $7,500 each will be awarded to nonprofits and tribal organizations working to preserve folk and traditional arts representing California groups sharing a common heritage, language, religion, occupation, or region….
Deadline: August 1, 2009
Posted: May 2, 2009

American Composers Forum Announces Call for Scores for Jerome Composers Commissioning Program
Grants of up to $8,000 will be awarded to emerging composers in all musical genres residing in Minnesota or in the five boroughs of New York City creating new works and working to expand new-music culture….
Deadline: August 1, 2009
Posted: July 2, 2009

NYFA Cash Flow Loans

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Offers 2010 Individual Artist Fellowships
Grants of up to $10,000 each will be awarded to Pennsylvania artists working in traditional arts, visual arts, theater scriptwriting, classical music, media arts, or new technologies….
Deadline: August 3, 2009
Posted: June 10, 2009

Irvine Foundation Invites Applications for Creative Connections Fund
Grants of up to $50,000 will be awarded to nonprofits in California collaborating with individual artists on the creation of new works or reinterpretation of classic works….
Deadline: August 3, 2009
Posted: April 20, 2009

Application Information Available for Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Touring Program
An honorarium plus expenses will be provided to ensembles of four musicians conducting one-month international tours of American jazz, urban/hip hop, or roots music such as blues, bluegrass, Cajun, gospel, zydeco, and country….
Deadline: August 10, 2009
Posted: July 9, 2009

Stage Director and Choreographers Foundation Invites Applications for Observership Program
Twenty-five early career directors and choreographers will gain the opportunity to observe professionals in the field as they create new productions in New York City and at regional theaters….
Deadline: August 17, 2009
Posted: July 30, 2009

New Guidelines Available for National Endowment for the Humanities Media Makers Grants
Grants of up to $1 million will be awarded to nonprofits and government agencies working to combine radio, television, or digital media with other resources to enhance their humanities content….
Deadline: August 26, 2009
Posted: July 1, 2009

American Theatre Wing Invites Applications for Jonathan Larson Grants
Unrestricted general support will be given to support the careers of emerging composers, lyricists, and bookwriters dedicated to working in musical theater….
Deadline: August 29, 2009
Posted: July 22, 2009
Science-Related Film Projects Invited for 2010 Sundance Institute/Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant
Up to $25,000 and other support will be given to a screenwriter developing a science- or technology-related film that is neither a documentary nor a piece of science fiction….
Deadline: September 8, 2009
Posted: July 23, 2009

Driehaus Foundation Accepting Grant Applications From Chicago-Based Small Theater and Dance Funding Program
Grants of up to $10,000 will be awarded to dance and theater companies in the Chicago metropolitan area that have produced at least one show and have operating budgets of less than $150,000….
Deadline: September 14, 2009
Posted: July 11, 2009

Guidelines Announced for American Heritage Preservation Grants
The program funds the preservation of endangered and fragile artistic, literary, scientific and historical works and provides grants of up to $3,000 to libraries, museums, and archival collections for conservation projects….
Deadline: September 15, 2009
Posted: July 29, 2009
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Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Accepting Applications for Fund for Creative Communities and Community Arts Fund
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to Manhattan-based artists and nonprofit organizations working on arts projects with a public-benefit component….
Deadline: September 22, 2009
Posted: June 25, 2009
National Museum of the American Indian Offers the Visiting Indigenous Professional Program
The program will provide hands-on training in various disciplines at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., to individuals working in Native museums and cultural centers….
Deadline: September 15 and March 15, Annually
Posted: July 29, 2009

South Carolina Film Commission Invites Filmmakers to Collaborate With Universities
Grants totaling up to $200,000 will be awarded to filmmakers who are partnering with the media arts department of the University of South Carolina or the film, radio and television department of Trident Technical College….
Deadline: September 18, 2009

California Council for the Humanities Invites Entries for California Documentary Project
Grants of up to $7,000 will be awarded to individuals working to produce film and radio projects that enhance understanding of California cultures, peoples, and histories….
Deadline: October 1, 2009
Posted: July 30, 2009

National Endowment for the Arts Invites Applications for American Masterpieces: Chamber Music
Grants of up to $75,000 will be awarded to nonprofits, government agencies, and tribal communities working to provide the American public with performances of chamber music, traditional and indigenous music, and jazz….
Deadline: October 8, 2009
Posted: July 15, 2009
Johnson & Johnson/Society for the Arts in Healthcare Grant Funds Available for Arts in Healthcare Programs
A total of $60,000 will be awarded to nonprofits and government agencies that are members of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare and whose arts in healthcare programs show evidence of initial impact….
Deadline: October 15, 2009 Letter of Inquiry
Posted: July 25, 2009

Social Equity Venture Fund Announces Second Annual Open Enterprise Solutions to Poverty Request for Proposals
Two grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded for research in economics, government policy, or business strategy that bears directly on the potential of enterprise-based solutions to poverty…..
Deadline: October 15, 2009 (Initial Proposals)
Posted: July 31, 2009

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Announces New Guest Artist Initiative Program
The new grant program will award up to $5,000 in matching funds to a college or university for the hiring of professional stage directors and choreographers as guest artists; a second grant of $1,000 will be awarded to the runner-up school….
Deadline: October 15, 2009
Posted: June 17, 2009

Posted: July 15, 2009

Getty Research Institute Announces 2009-10 Theme for Research Grants for Getty Scholars and Visiting Scholars
The theme for 2009-10 will be “The Display of Art”; grants will allow researchers in residence at the Getty Institute to pursue projects while utilizing the Getty Collections and participating in Getty activities….
Deadline: November 1, 2009
Posted: July 2, 2009

Writing Competition Invites Native Americans to Share Insights on Economy
Six awards of $10,000 each will be given to Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and American Indian individuals who have written essays depicting their perspectives on challenges and opportunities in the current economic and political climate….
Deadline: September 15, 2009
Posted: May 23, 2009

National Endowment for the Humanities Announces Picturing America School Collaboration Projects Grant Opportunity
Grants of up to $75,000 will be awarded to collaborative projects between humanities scholars and educators to develop K-12 coursework related to American art….
Deadline: October 7, 2009
Posted: June 8, 2009

Native Voices Endowment Announces Request for Proposals
Grants and scholarships will be given to individuals working to document or revitalize the languages of Native American tribes that came in contact with the Lewis and Clark Expedition between 1803-1806….
Deadline: October 15, 2009
Posted: April 8, 2009

NYFA Awards Artists’ Fellowships Deadline First week on November

NYFA Awards Artists’ Fellowships are $7,000 cash awards made to individual originating artists living and working in the state of New York for unrestricted use. Grants are awarded in 16 artistic disciplines, with applications accepted in eight categories each year. Since the awards began in 1985, NYFA has awarded over $22 million to over 3,688 artists. In 2009, NYFA awarded 131 Fellowships to 134 artists, with six of them working in a collaboration.

Deadline: first week of  November

Will Be Posted: early September

GRANTS WITH OPEN,  ROLLING AND VARIOUS DEADLINES

Association of Performing Arts Presenters Announces Cultural Exchange Fund Application Schedule
Grants of up to $20,000 will be awarded to arts presenters working to build partnerships and collaborations that promote the display of work by artists from around the world in its own cultural context…..
Deadline: July 31, 2009 ; November 16, 2009; May 14, 2010; and November 15, 2010
Posted: June 25, 2009

Sacramento Region Community Foundation Announces Grant and Capacity Development Opportunities for Arts Organizations
Grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to nonprofit arts organizations working to create art experiences in the community, and develop professionals in the field through workshops, symposia, and related resources….
Deadline: Various
Posted: February 3, 2009

Princess Grace Foundation-USA Offers Support for Emerging Artists in Theater, Dance, and Film
Grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded to help artists working in theater, dance, or film grow in their specific discipline, to offset their educational or artistic fees, and/or to create new works….
Deadline: Various
Posted: January 28, 2009

National Museum of the American Indian Invites Applications for Indigenous Contemporary Arts Program
Awards of up to $15,000 will be given to Native American and Native Hawaiian artists working to increase the knowledge and appreciation of contemporary Native American arts through publication, performance, and personal artistic development….
Deadline: Various
Posted: October 22, 2008

ASCAP Foundation Invites Entries for Young Jazz Composer Awards
A shared award of $25,000 will be given to U.S. residents under the age of 30 who have composed a jazz piece….
Deadline: December 1, Annually
Posted: October 9, 2008

NAMM Foundation Offers Funding for Music Making and Research
Support will be provided to community music-making programs, scientific researchers investigating the effects of making music, and music programs for seniors and school-aged children….
Deadline: Various
Posted: October 3, 2008

Bush Foundation Announces Categories and Informational Meetings for Artist Fellowship Program
Grants of up to $48,000 each, plus an additional $2,000 for implementing an individual communications strategy, will be awarded to literary, music, and other performing artists residing in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota….
Deadline: Various
Posted: September 3, 2008

New York Foundation for the Arts Accepting Applications for Artists’ Fellowships
Fellowships of $7,000 will be awarded to New York artists working in the disciplines of poetry, printmaking/drawing/book arts, nonfiction literature, sculpture, crafts, digital/electronic arts, and film…..
Deadline: Various
Posted: August 25, 2008

New York Foundation for the Arts Offers Discounted Office Space to Artists and Arts Organizations
The new program offers affordable workspace to NYFA-affiliated artists and organizations working in various genres; once accepted into the program, participants can rent at $200 a month or $550 for three months on a renewable cycle….
Deadline: Rolling
Posted: June 10, 2009

North Dakota Council on the Arts Announces Technology Grant Program
The new program will give grants of up to $600 each to North Dakota nonprofit arts organizations to support development of their Web sites, equipment purchases, and software upgrades….
Deadline: Rolling
Posted: June 1, 2009

Community Leaders Invited to Apply for Preserve America Community Designation
Grants of up to $150,000 will be awarded to counties with an elected governing official, unincorporated communities, cities of 200,000 or more residents, and tribal communities working to preserve cultural and natural American heritage….
Deadline: Quarterly
Posted: August 24, 2008

Guitar Center Music Foundation Offers Support for Music Instruction
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to nonprofit music programs in the United States providing music instruction to people of any age in underserved communities….
Deadline: Open
Posted: June 16, 2008

Nominations of New York City Arts Organizations Invited for Union Square Arts Award
Grants of up to $30,000 will be awarded to arts organizations making a significant contribution to the lives of low-income youth, families, and their communities in New York City…..
Deadline: Nominations are reviewed in the order received.
Posted: February 5, 2008

Princess Grace Foundation-USA Announces Availability of Applications for 2008 Awards in Theater, Playwriting, Dance, Choreography, and Film
Grants will be awarded to individual artists across the United States; theater and dance awards will be in the form of scholarships, apprencticeships, and fellowships, while film awards are scholarships by invitation only….
Deadline: Various
Posted: January 28, 2008

MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Invites Applications from Chicago-Area Organizations
Operating grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to arts and culture organizations that have budgets of $500,000 or less and reside in and serve the Chicago metropolitan area….
Deadline: Various
Posted: January 15, 2008

National Geographic All Roads Film Project Offers Seed Grants for Indigenous Filmmakers
The All Roads Film Project will award grants of up to $10,000 to film projects by and about indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture filmmakers from all reaches of the globe….
Deadline: Quarterly
Posted: January 8, 2008

NAMM Foundation Announces New Grant Initiatives for Music Makers and Researchers
Support will be provided to individuals and organizations for efforts that support the foundation’s mission of advancing active participation in music making….
Deadline: Various
Posted: November 12, 2007

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Arts Program Announces National Projects Fund
Grants of up to $200,000 will be awarded to individual nonprofits and consortia working to strengthen the health of dance, jazz, presenting, or the theater arts….
Deadline: Open
Posted: August 29, 2007

American Councils for International Education Offers Support for Policy Relevant Research
Fellowships of $25,000 will be awarded to U.S. graduate students, faculty, and post-doctoral scholars conducting foreign policy-relevant research in Belarus, Central Asia, Russia, the South Caucasus, Ukraine, or Moldova….
Deadline: Rolling
Posted: August 23, 2007

District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities Offers Folk & Traditional Arts Mini-Grant Program
Grants of up to $1,000 will be awarded to artists and arts organizations providing folk and traditional arts projects in close consultation and collaboration with their communities….
Deadline: Rolling
Posted: August 22, 2007

Surdna Foundation Arts Program Announces Request for Proposals for Creative Writing Residencies for Teens
Established artists’ communities that serve creative writers will be awarded funding to develop summer retreats lasting at least two weeks for teens…
Deadline: Open
Posted: June 24, 2007

Meet The Composer Accepting Applications for Creative Connections
Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to U.S. composers working in any genre of music or sound art for public performance or discussion of their original work….
Deadline: Quarterly
Posted: February 28, 2007

Theatre Communications Group Announces Deadlines for Career Development Programs for Theater Directors and Designers
Professional development grants of $22,500 each will be awarded to fourteen talented stage directors and designers wishing to pursue a career in American not-for-profit professional theater….
Deadline: Various
Posted: November 21, 2006

Bush Foundation Announces Artist Fellows Program
Fifteen artists working in literature, music composition, scriptworks, or film/video that reflects diverse communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, or northwestern Wisconsin will receive $48,000 for a fellowship of up to two years….
Deadline: Various
Posted: August 26, 2006

Green Foundation Seeks Grant Proposals
Tax exempt, public charity organizations are eligible to apply for funding in the arts, education, and health and scientific research….
Deadline: Open
Posted: September 23, 2005

Leeway Foundation Offers New Grant Programs for Women and Transgendered Artists in the Philadelphia Region
The Leeway Foundation has announced the Leeway Transformation Award and the Art and ChangeGrant, two new funding programs designed to celebrate the power and vision of women artists creating change in the Philadelphia area….
Deadline: Various
Posted: March 2, 2005

Luce Fund in American Art Offers Support for Scholarly Exhibitions and Publications
Each proposed project must result in a tangible product that can be added to the body of scholarship in the field of American art….
Deadline: March 1, annually (Letter of Inquiry)
Posted: October 6, 2003

Sundance Fund to Support International Documentary Projects
The Sundance Documentary Fund is dedicated to supporting international documentary films and videos focused on current and significant issues and movements in contemporary human rights, freedom of expression, social justice, and civil liberties….
Deadline: Rolling
Posted: November 18, 2002

Grants and Other Funding Sources for Individual Artists

Individual Artist Grants

The Gunk Foundation Grants for Public Art
http://www.gunk.org/
The Gunk Foundation is interested in supporting projects that make it out of the museum, gallery and alternative spaces, and into the spaces of daily life. For example, work that is shown in the spaces of public transportation, city streets, or work places and is seen by people “outside” of the art and academic worlds. The Foundation is looking for non-traditional, thought-provoking public work that is site specific. PLEASE NOTE: The Grants for Public Art Program has been temporarily suspended.

Creative Capital
http://www.creative-capital.org
The foundation seeks funding requests for artist projects in either media, performing and visual arts, or in emerging fields (which includes all forms of digital work). Disciplines are funded in alternate grant cycles.

The Aaron Siskind Individual Photographers Fellowship Grants
http://www.aaronsiskind.org/grant.html
The Aaron Siskind Foundation is offering a limited number of fellowship grants of up to $5,000 each for individuals working in still photography and photography-based media. Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

The Alexia Foundation for World Peace
http://www.alexiafoundation.org/
The Alexia Foundation for World Peace Annual Photography Contest offers grants to students and professionals for the production of a proposed project. The Alexia Foundation seeks to provide the financial ability for a photographer to produce a substantial picture story that furthers the foundation’s goals of promoting world peace and cultural understanding.

The Gordon Parks International Photo Competition
http://www.gordonparkscenter.org/photocontest.asp
Fort Scott Community College began the Gordon Parks Photography Competition to honor Fort Scott’s most famous photographer, Gordon Parks. Each year the Committee awards prizes of $1,000, $500, and $250 to photographers whose images reflect important themes in the life and the work of Gordon Parks, such as social injustice, the suffering of others, and family values.

College Art Association
http://www.collegeart.org/opportunities/type/1/
The CAA’s Professional Development Fellowship for Master of Fine Arts Candidates was initiated to help M.F.A. students to bridge the gap between graduate study and professional careers. Each fellow receives support over a period of two years: In the first year, CAA grants $5,000 to each fellow to use during the final year of his/hers MFA program. In year two, CAA helps each fellow search for employment at a museum, art center, college, or university. Upon securing a position, CAA provides a $10,000 subsidy to the employer as part of the fellow’s salary. Also lists other fellowships, awards,and grants

American Craft Council
http://www.craftcouncil.org/
The Emerging Artist Grant Program was founded to provide support for artists in the beginning stages of their careers. Funding is available to emerging artists working in all craft media (clay, glass, fiber, metal, wood and mixed media) to support the creation of a new body of work, travel and research, or to attended professional development workshops.

The Center for Documentary Studies
http://cds.aas.duke.edu/grants/index.html
Duke University seeks applications for the annual $10,000 Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize, awarded to a collaborative team consisting of a writer and photographer who are in the formative or fieldwork stage of a documentary project.

The Fund for Women Artists
http://www.womenarts.org/fund/
This website has a list of aproximately 200 funding sources.

Langlois Foundation
http://www.fondation-langlois.org/
The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology annually awards two grants to individuals making an exceptional contribution to advancing knowledge at the crossroads of art, science, and technology, or to individuals whose projects are highly original or innovative. Projects proposed by scientific researchers, computer scientists, or engineers must involve a partnership with an artist.(Did not accept applications for grants in 2004.)

Liquitex “Excellence in Art” Purchase Award Program
http://www.liquitex.com/awardprograms/eia/eia.cfm
The Liquitex Excellence in Art Purchase Awards have been established to recognize those artists whose pursuit of excellence is demonstrated through their creative use of color, concept and media, with an artwork completed primarily in acrylics. Awards totaling over $15,000 in cash and products will be made to artists demonstrating skill and creativity in the use of acrylic paints.

Onassis Public Benefit Foundation
http://www.onassis.gr/english/scholars/foreign.html
The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation seeks applications for grants from foreign full members of Academies of Science, university professors and researchers, artists, and translators of Greek literature, and for scholarships from postgraduate students and Ph.D. candidates. The aim of the program is the dissemination of the Hellenic language, culture, and history abroad. Grants are awarded in the fields of humanistic sciences, political science, law, economics, architecture, and the arts, and provide roundtrip airfare, accommodations, and a monthly allowance.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation
http://pkf.org/grant.html
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s dual criteria for grants are recognizable artistic merit and demonstrable financial need, whether professional, personal or both. The Foundation’s mission is to aid, internationally, those individuals who have as professional artists over a significant period of time. The Foundations welcome, throughout the year, applications from visuals artists who are painters, sculptors, and artists who work on paper, including printmakers. There are no deadlines.

Women’s Studio Workshop
http://www.wsworkshop.org/_art_opp/artopp.htm
WSW offers a variety of grants and residency opportunities for artists working in printmaking, papermaking, book arts, photography, and ceramics.

Puffin Foundation
http://www.puffinfoundation.org
Puffin Foundation Grants are open to emerging artists in the fields of art, photography, music, theater, dance and literature whose works due to their genre and/or social philosophy might have difficulty being aired. Average Puffin Foundation grants range from $1,000 to $2,500.

Connecticut

LEF Foundation
http://www.lef-foundation.org
LEF operates within two regional areas: California and New England. Each region has unique areas of interest and funding priorities. Please refer to the specific guidelines for the region from which you are applying. For projects in development outside these two regions, please contact the main office in California. LEF Foundation, 1095 Lodi LN., Saint Helena, CA 94574.

Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/site/default.asp
Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism Artist Fellowship program is designed to encourage the continuing artistic development of Connecticut’s finest creative artists who are seriously committed to their art form and who have a demonstrated history of professional activity in the state. Twenty to thirty-five awards are made each year in the amounts of $5,000 and $2,500. Visual artists are eligible for this program during odd numbered years.

Delaware

Delaware Division of the Arts
http://www.artsdel.org/grants/default.shtml
The Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowships are awarded to applicants residing in Delaware for at least one year and at least 18 years of age.

District of Columbia

The District of Columbia Comission on Arts and Humanities
http://dcarts.dc.gov/dcarts/site/default.asp
The Arts Commission offers funding for the arts in the District of Columbia. The Artist Fellowship Program offers grants to individuals in a broad range of artistic endeavors. Individual fellowships support individual artists who make significant contributions to the arts and who promote the arts in the District of Columbia through artistic excellence. Fellowship artist disciplines rotate on a biannual basis. In 2005, fellowships will be awarded in Media, Visual Arts, and Crafts.

New York

Jerome Foundation
http://www.jeromefdn.org
The Jerome Foundation makes grants to support the creation and production of new artistic works by emerging artists, and contributes to the professional advancement of those artists. Open to residents of Minnesota and New York City. Individual grants are available in Media Arts, and for travel or study.

Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council
http://www.larac.org
Individual Artist Grants are available to individual artists residing in Warren or Washington County. One grant of $2500 is available for artists who reside in Washington County, and a grant of $2500 and another for $1000 are available to artists who reside in Warren County. These proposals must be for the creation of new art that will impact the community creatively or involve the community in the creative process.

New York Foundation for the Arts
http://www.nyfa.org/home.html
New York Foundation for the Arts Artists’ Fellowships awards grants of $7,000 in sixteen separate disciplines to individual originating artists in New York State. Through Artists & Audiences Exchange, each fellowship recipient performs a public service activity in collaboration with a non-profit organization located in New York State. The Foundation also offers Career Advancement Mini-Grants($100-$600).

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
http://www.artsnet.org/pca/
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts offers funding opportunities and services for Pennsylvania artists. Opportunities include individual fellowships up to $10,000 and an annual catalogue of Fellowship Recipients.

Leeway Foundation
http://www.leeway.org/
The Leeway Foundation was established to promote the welfare of women and benefit the arts. Awards to individual women artists are offered in a selected visual or literary discipline each year. Specific grants are available for emerging and established women artists. There is also a Window of Opportunity Grant which help artists take advantage of unique, time-limited opportunities that could significantly benefit their work or increase its recognition.

Pew Fellowships in the Arts
http://www.pewarts.org/index.html
Pew Fellowships in the Arts awards grants of $50,000 to artists working in a wide variety of performing, visual, and literary disciplines which rotate on a four-year cycle. The primary function of the fellowships is to free artists from other activities-literally to “buy time”-so they can focus on creative development for an extended period. Up to twelve fellowships are awarded annually to artists living and working in the five-county Philadelphia area.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
http://www.arts.ri.gov/grants/index.php
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts makes direct grants to Rhode Island artists. Grants to individuals include Fellowships and Folk Arts apprenticeships. Proposals for funding for individual artists are also considered.

LEF Foundation
http://www.lef-foundation.org
LEF operates within two regional areas: California and New England. Each region has unique areas of interest and funding priorities. Please refer to the specific guidelines for the region from which you are applying. For projects in development outside these two regions, please contact the main office in California. LEF Foundation, 1095 Lodi LN., Saint Helena, CA 94574.

England

Arts Council England
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/individuals
Arts Council England’s Grants for the arts are for individuals, arts organizations, national touring and other people who use the arts in their work. They are for activities that benefit the people in England or that help artists and arts organizations from England to carry out their work.

France

The Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarships at the Foundation des Etats-Unis
http://nfrance.com/~am17204/framset.html
The Foundation des Etats-Unis annually awards up to four Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarships to American visual artists and musicians. The grant is designated for study at the graduate level and allows young, talented musicians and artists to continue their studies in Paris. The stipend covers room and board for one academic year (October-June) at the Foundation.

Scandinavia

The American-Scandanavian Foundation
http://www.amscan.org/index.html
The American-Scandinavian Foundation promotes international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Each year, the ASF wards more than $500,000 in fellowships and grants to individual students, scholars, professionals and artists for projects abroad.

Asia

Asian Cultural Council
http://www.asianculturalcouncil.org/programs.html
The Asian Cultural Council supports cultural exchange between Asia and the United states in the performing and visual arts, primarily by providing individual fellowship grants to artists, scholars, and students. Some of the grants listed on this site are for Americans who wish to study in China, Japan, or Taiwan.

Japan Foundation
http://www.jfny.org/jfny/arts.html
The Japan Foundation Artist Fellowships provide artists the opportunity to pursue creative projects in Japan for 2 to 6 months.

RFP: Art Culture Nature Retreat

Please send us your name and contact details, a proposal of what you would like to do, show or present (up to 250 words, for 1-2 hour section leader, 10-min show and tell, 15 min performance slot, gallery exhibit, or other), a brief bio statement with a note about your experiences running workshops (if that‚s what you are proposing), and any other information you think will be useful for us. Please do not send large (<750k) files with visuals.

Send to: pkuppers@bryant.edu, by February 5th, 2006 (early submission encouraged).

More info: Susan Monagan <smonagan@ithaca.edu>

Please find below The New York Community Trust’s 2009 Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking applications for the Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund.

The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust provides support for talented, culturally diverse, economically disadvantaged young people who are seriously dedicated to a career in the arts.

We are changing this year’s program as follows:

1. The Trust is issuing a single RFP for Advancing the Professional Development of Disadvantaged Young Artists at the Post-College Level.
2. We will not be making grants at the Pre-College Level this year.

Please direct any questions you may have about the 2009 Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund’s RFP for Advancing the Professional Development of Disadvantaged Young Artists at the Post-College Level to Kerry McCarthy, program officer for Arts & Historic Preservation, at (212) 686-0010 x520.

Thank you for your continued interest in The Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund of The New York Community Trust.

Sincerely,

Joyce Bove
Senior Vice President
Grants and Special Projects

Today I’d like to remember an important figure in Haitian/Caribbean history.  Anacaona (which is Arawak for ‘Golden Flower’) was a leader amongst the Taino people on the island once called Quisqueya, meaning “mother of the earth,” and what we now call Hispaniola.  In Taino culture, leadership was passed down to the eldest daughters of sisters (if there were none, it’d be passed to the brothers) making Anacaona a cacique (chief) of Xaragua, which was the western plains of Haiti.

Unfortunately, most of what we know about her is from the non-indigenous people (the Spanish, mostly), however, what we do know is Anacaona’s legacy is one of resistance.  She is cited for being an advocate for peace between the Spaniards and the Taino people as well as a warrior; Xaragua was the last territory to be taken by Spanish conquest.  (Anacaona’s husband, Caonabo, was kidnapped by Columbus and put on ship headed to Spain, however, it is told that in a last attempt against Spanish oppression, the Tainos on board sank the ship, resulting in their deaths).  In 1503 a  new Spansih govenor named Nicholas Ovando arrived with 2500 troops…apparently he was displeased with the independence of Anacaona’s Xaragua and ordered a massacre and killed around 80 Tainos (according to Bartolome de las Casas, they were tied to poles and stabbed with swords and those who tried to escape had their legs cut off).  Anacaona escaped the massacre but was later captured a few months later. She was taken to what is now the Dominican Republic and hung.

So today I give thanks to this woman, this leader, this Queen and poet who provided an example of resistance, who paved the way for such revolutionaries like Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and others.  Her legacy remains and can be seen in freedom fighters like So Ann.

I give thanks to this beautiful ancestor.

Ase

Since the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States there has been a lot of attention given to the fact that the judge is Hispanic, specifically of Puerto Rican descent. Judge Sotomayor has used the terms Puerto Rican and Nuyorican to describe herself, but some Americans not familiar with the terms have not understood the references.

Puerto Rico is the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles, located between the Atlantic Ocean to the north and the Caribbean Basin to the south. Originally settled as a Spanish colony, Puerto Rico became part of the United States as a result of the Spanish American War and in 1917, the Jones Act conferred U.S. citizenship on Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rico is, therefore, part of the United States of American and not a foreign country as some people mistakenly claim.

Just as the mainland United States has a rich and diverse history with settlers from all over the world, Puerto Rico, too, attracted many people to its shores.

The first to settle the island were the Taíno  who named the island Borinquen. They were an Arawak people of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas who did not fare well when they encountered the Spanish and by the mid fifteen hundreds, they were extinct. A Boriqua is an inhabitant of Borinquen.

The European heritage of Puerto Ricans comes primarily from one source:  Spaniards (including Canarians, Catalans, Galicians, Asturians, Asturians, Andalucians and Basques.)

Other European influences include: Corsicans, French, Germans, Irish, Portuguese, Scots and Maltese

African influences include: West African– Yoruba–Igbo.  Other influences: Chinese, Jewish, Lebanese

A Puerto Rican, therefore, is any person born on the island. Most of the inhabitants trace their heritage to Spain, but many others are the descendants of other parts of Europe, Africa or Asia as well as the Taíno. Many Puerto Ricans, who also commonly refer to themselves as “boricuas,” are also a blend of these groups, which has produced a very diversified people. A Puerto Rican, too, is anyone who lives on the island, which has been described as the closest thing to paradise on earth.

The population of Puerto Ricans and descendants is estimated to be between 8 to 10 million worldwide, with most living within the islands of Puerto Rico, Central Florida and the  Chicago Metropolitan Area. In New York City there is a huge Nuyorican community.

What is a Nuyorican? A person of Puerto Rican birth or descent living primarily in New York City.

Question: What is a Puerto Rican?

Answer: A very proud American.