The Clarice Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant
June 09, 2022
The $35,000 award will fund an Artists in Residence program.
By ARHU Staff
The University of Maryland has received a $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the Grants for Arts Projects category to support an Artists in Residence program at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
The program, bolstered by a team of Clarice curators, will bring regional and national artists to the university to develop new work and engage with local community organizations, area residents and UMD students, faculty and staff. The NEA grant will fund the program during the 2022–23 academic year, with a focus on Black and Latino artists or works that investigate pressing social, political and environmental issues, such as climate change.
It’s among 1,125 projects totaling more than $26.6 million funded during the latest round of Grants for Arts Projects, announced last week.
“We are so honored to have been acknowledged and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Jane Hirshberg, artistic planning program director at The Clarice. “Since the start of the pandemic, artists have told us that having a ‘home’ to return to, not only to develop new work, but to engage more deeply with communities, is something they need now more than ever.”
The Clarice is a vital part of the University of Maryland and Prince George’s County; visiting artists connect to communities within and beyond the campus through residencies, masterclasses, K-12 programs, community partnership events and discussions. It’s also a key player in the campuswide Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address grand challenges. In recent years, The Clarice has sought to provide artists with the opportunity to spend more time at UMD, developing work and engaging with students and the community.
The NEA-funded Artist in Residence program will deepen and extend this effort. Artists will work in residence over a period of approximately 24 months on a revolving basis. During the first year of the residency, artists will conduct research related to the development of a new work, along with presentations of works-in-progress. In the second year, they will return to perform that work for audiences, participating in extensive student and community engagement activities during both visits.
Among the artists that will take part in The Clarice’s Artists in Residence program during 2022–23 are Helanius J. Wilkins, a choreographer, performance artist, innovator and educator; Zoey Martinson, an artist, director and producer; Taylor Knight and Anna Thompson, co-artistic directors of slowdanger, a multidisciplinary performance entity; and musical director Martha Gonzalez and writer Virginia Grise, whose collaborative work blends music, theater and social justice.
“These artists and creatives are addressing issues of social justice by bringing voice to it and making people aware,” Hirshberg said. “The work is beautiful and poignant as well as being grounded in activism.”
Image from “Black History Museum…According to the United States of America,” conceived and directed by Zoey Martinson. Photo by Paula Court.