Arts Spotlight written on a dark blue background with unfocused orbs of light

 

Each month we feature a handful of arts and community-based organizations and their programs and projects funded by the Delaware Division of the Arts in our Arts Spotlight which will be included on our monthly e-newsletter, Arts E-News and online. If you haven’t signed up yet for Arts E-News, please do so here.

Funding for Division of the Arts grants is provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. To view past grants awarded (1999 to present), please visit our Grants Awarded page.

Grant Types: GOS – General Operating Support; PS – Project Support

 

March 2021

Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware
Art Wowzers! 
Milford and expanding statewide
PS

Art Wowzers! is a Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware teen workforce project where Teen Members are hired and trained to run programs for younger Club members. After two trainings and eight sessions of working with the younger members, the Wowzers! are given a $200 stipend. This program allows busy teens to gain valuable work experience within their busy schedules and allows for younger Club members to participate in enriching activities. Art Wowzers! specifically targets those teens interested in and studying art. Art Wowzers! utilizes Eyeball It! (trademarked) a curriculum designed by local artist Ellen Priest. At the Greater Milford Club, the Art Wowzers! are teaching Eyeball It! Letters and Numbers, art activities specifically designed for 4-6 year old’s to help them not only engage with the visual arts but work on their reading skills as well. More than 20 Art Wowzers have participated at the Clubs over the last year and a half and upwards of 100 Club members have participated in the program to this point.

The Ministry of Caring
Storyteller Project
Wilmington (Virtual)
PS

The Storyteller Project engages low-income and homeless children in quality art performances by Clem Bowen, a talented musician and storyteller. He performs original songs, incorporating dancing and homemade instruments, which contribute to the children’s social, emotional, and intellectual growth. The Ministry of Caring is committed to providing programs that make a meaningful impact, in large and small ways, on the life of each child. The Storyteller Project provides a unique arts experience through development of music, rhythm, vocabulary, sounds of language, and creates a sense of group cooperation and belonging for our children.

The Ministry of Caring creates opportunities for underprivileged individuals to improve their quality of life and future prospects—providing holistic support to low-income and homeless individuals. For families with small children, early education programs offered by the Ministry are an integral component of the organization’s wrap-around supportive services. The children at the Child Care Center and Guardian Angel Child Care benefit from careful supervision and a structured schedules, nutritious breakfast and lunch, regular age-appropriate activities promoting social, physical, and intellectual development, and special programming such as the Storyteller Project. In 2021, the performances may be virtual but the impact on the children is undeniable.

Newark Symphony Orchestra
March 14th Virtual Concert “Music Montage”
Newark (Virtual)
GOS

This free one-hour virtual concert on March 14th is a music montage, a perfect glimpse of Newark Symphony Orchestra today and through its years, with music and performances for all to enjoy. Bach’s “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” and Offenbach’s “Barcarolle” are new performances that showcase the NSO’s strong community of volunteer skills from wind and brass musicians and their recordings to video and sound engineering work. An additional new performance of Hindemith’s “Der Schwanendreher” (“The Swan turner”) features the Youth Concerto 2020 Honorable Mention Nicolette Sullivan-Cozza playing the viola. Archived performances feature arts collaboration with Delaware Dance Company for selections of Swan Lake, and Southern Delaware Choral Society and Cecil County Choral Society ensembles for Borodin’s “Polovetsian Dances from ‘Prince Igor.'”

NSO’s Education & Outreach committee carries its strong tradition to host the Youth Concerto Competition. The competition in November 2020 was its 43rd year, and its first run virtually. The High School Division had amazing talent resulting in one winner and three honorable mentions, which is rare. NSO also creatively programs its symphony performances to invite other performing ensembles for larger collaborations and audience enjoyment. For this season, the Board of NSO worked diligently to adapt the orchestra’s 54th season as a free virtual offering and financially maintained its operations through grants and donations.

Wilmington Wintergrass
Wilmington Bluegrass Free Live Stream Concert
Townsend (Virtual)
GOS

Wilmington Wintergrass presents its annual concert in virtual format at the end of March. The program includes performances by Dan Paisley & Southern Grass, Blades of Grass, Acoustic Turnpike, Homestead, and Free Range. Head to www.wilmingtonwintergrass.org on March 27, 2021 from 4-9 pm to see it live. While this annual concert is normally in person, this year’s virtual event is free and promises to be as entertaining as always.

Bluegrass music is an unwritten American folk genre that is passed from one generation to the next. Since the mid-1930s, these heartfelt, soulful songs stem from real life in the hills of Appalachia. Festivals and other bluegrass gatherings are crucial to continuing this tradition, and it is an integral organizational goal of Wilmington Wintergrass to bring awareness about the cultural and rich opportunities that bluegrass music has to offer. When their annual concert is live and in person, Wilmington Wintergrass offers affordable weekend entertainment; brings people together to play and learn about the music; engages educational workshops; attracts people who would not otherwise be exposed to such cultural events; provides excellence in new artist programming; and partners with other bluegrass communities. What sets Wilmington Wintergrass apart from other bluegrass festivals is that they strive to create an affordable public event while preserving the quality of entertainment by featuring national and many talented but lesser-known acts.

The projects above are supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes these and other Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com.

The Division offers a variety of grant programs for individual artists; nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations chartered and based in Delaware; and schools and government entities that support arts activities. View a full list of Division grants on the Grants Overview page.