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Arts Opportunities, Scholarships, Programs, and Research Grants

From the New York State Alliance for Arts Education

Uncommon Approaches to the Common Core 2

August 12- 13, in Albany. Hear an inspiring keynote on inquiry-based learning from Barbara Stripling. Participate in experiential labs where you’ll learn how to create compelling lessons using cultural resources to meet the Common Core Learning Standards. Explore inquiry as a professional discipline. Network with colleagues in your region. And, to close the conference, hear from James B. Short, Director, Gottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning at the American Museum of Natural History. Register today!

Summit on Transforming Education through Creative Practices

Move this World, a global non-profit that uses creative expression to address and transform conflict and bullying in communities worldwide, invites you to participate in its 5th Annual Global Summit in Transforming Education through Creative Practices! They are calling on a global network of educators, youth workers, thought leaders, creative arts therapists, students, artists and social change advocates to connect and collaborate in New York City, August 22 – 24.

Aesthetica Art Prize 2014

Entries close August 31, 2014.

The Aesthetica Art Prize 2014 is now open for entries, offering both budding and established artists the opportunity to showcase their work to an international audience and influential figures from the arts sector. Celebrating and nurturing outstanding contemporary art from across the world, the Art Prize welcomes all forms of art in the following categories:Photographic & Digital Art, Three Dimensional Design & Sculpture, Painting & Drawing and Video, Installation & Performance.

Prizes include a 12 week group show; up to £1000 in cash; publication in the Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology and editorial coverage in Aesthetica Magazine (readership of 140,000 worldwide); art supplies and art books; and Q&As on the Aesthetica Blog. There are two main categories to enter: Main Prize and Student Prize. There is a winner for each main category. Entry is £15 and permits the submission of two works into any one category.

Grammy Foundation Supports Music Research and Preservation Projects

Deadline: October 1, 2014 (Letters of Inquiry)

Funded by the Recording Academy, the Grammy Foundation’s annual grant program provides support for music archiving and preservation efforts and scientific research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. The research projects grant program awards funding of up to $20,000 to organizations and individuals working to research the impact of music on the human condition. Examples include the study of the effects of music on mood, cognition, and healing; the medical and occupational well-being of music professionals; and the creative process underlying music. Priority will be given to projects with strong methodological design as well those designed to address an important research question.

Ucross Foundation’s Spring 2015 Artist Residencies

Deadline: October 1, 2014

Founded in 1981, the Ucross Foundation provides uninterrupted time, work space, and living accommodations in Sheridan, Wyoming, to competitively selected visual artists, writers, and composers. Nearly thirteen hundred individuals from every state in the U.S. as well as Germany, France, Scotland, England, Poland, Egypt, the Netherlands, Canada, and Thailand have spent time at Ucross since it first opened. Currently, the foundation is accepting applications for its 2015 Spring Residency program, which runs from late-February to mid-June.

YoungArts Applications for 2015 Open

Deadline: October 17, 2014

YoungArts identifies and nurtures emerging artists ages 15-18 (or in grades 10-12) in the visual, literary, design and performing arts. Winners in cinematic arts, dance, design, jazz, music, photography, theater, visual arts, voice, and writing are provided once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, significant access to scholarships and national recognition, including:

  • Up to $10,000 in monetary awards
  • Exclusive U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts nomination
  • Master classes with world-renowned artists
  • Access to scholarships, career opportunities and professional contacts
  • Opportunity for works to be viewed by top artists in their fields
  • All applicants to YoungArts have the opportunity to learn about college programs, scholarships, summer programs and festivals through participation in the YoungArts Student List Service.

Apply here.

Chamber Music Residency Partnership Program

Application Deadline: October 31, 2014

Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building audiences for classical/contemporary, jazz, and world chamber music through residency projects. Funding is specifically aimed at activities that take place in community settings and that are not part of a regular concert series. These activities may include, but are not limited to, clinics, interactive classroom programs, and lecture/demonstrations in libraries, hospitals, senior centers, or similar venues. Projects must take place in the U.S. or its territories. The length of the residencies ranges from a minimum of three days to one year. Grants support up to 75 percent of expenses directly connected to the project. The balance must be drawn from other sources, such as cash from other grants, earned income, or an allocation from the organization’s general operating funds. For information on applying, please see their website.

Infographic on Arts Education

This one page document from the Indiana Youth Institute summarizes some valuable research and information on the value of arts education.

Website for Lesson Sharing

Share My Lesson is a free platform, developed by teachers for teachers, that gives access to high-quality teaching resources and provides an online community where teachers can collaborate with, encourage and inspire each other.

Art, Events, Media, Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political, , , , , , , , ,

Summer Issue of the Cosmopolitan Review

The summer issue of the Cosmopolitan Review has been published. The authors note:

The arts, in all their variety, are mirrors that reflect a people. We owe so much to artists. They make us laugh, cry, think, and see ourselves in our infinite variety, so no wonder we admire those talented people who create images, words and music that enrich our lives.

This issue, we focus on them, whether we find them working in films, theatre, or galleries, composing music or performing it, writing plays or acting, or writing prose or poetry. You’ll find them all represented here.

Let’s start with the movies. For that we’re grateful to Agnieszka Niezgoda and Jacek Laskus, whose marvelous book, Hollywood.pl, introduces us to some of the most talented people to ever leave Poland – not necessarily forever – and make their mark in the dream capital of the world.

Hollywood has been a talent magnet for a long time and one of the first superstars was Poland’s Pola Negri. Justine Jablonska reviews her story written by Mariusz Kotowski.

Poland’s poets… as once written in the New York Times, “if cash money were on the line…” few critics would bet against Polish poets being the best in the world. With that in mind, Agnieszka Tworek spoke to award-winning translator Joanna Trzeciak about her work – and her friendship – with two of the greats: Wisława Szymborka and Tadeusz Różewicz.

And speaking of poets, Magda Romanska introduces us to a poet and playwright who also happens to be a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Roald Hoffman. Join them for a discussion about the arts and science, and about Polish roots.

Beth Holmgren revisits prewar Polish cabaret… and its postwar reappearance in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, Lara Szypszak has a few suggestions about galleries, performances and generally low cost and easily accessible culture in Warsaw. Join her.

An anthology of modern Polish plays, (A)pollonia, came to our attention via Will Harrington. The eleven plays, some performed in many countries, are set in Poland but deal with universal themes.

Łukasz Wodzyński returns to CR to share his love, and understanding, of modern Polish literature with an essay about the Introduction to Polish Literature by Jarosław Anders and a review of a new edition of Gomrowicz’s Diary, with the great writer’s thoughts on everything from the Catholic Church to Marxism, and the human condition in general.

Finally, there’s that long established and very special art form that, over time, has left us a record of some of the most interesting people in every culture: letter writing. We bring back that most colorful member of the original, 19th century Polish Society of California – not to mention a great American patriot, Rudolf Korwin Piotrowski, in a translation of previously unpublished letters found in the library of Jagiellonian University by the research/writing team, Maureen Mroczek Morris and Lynn Ludlow, who seem to travel between centuries with the greatest of ease.

And another writer whose letters transcend time and place, Krystyna Wituska, will be remembered in Germany on June 26th with a new book and a monument unveiled by the Memorial Centre in Halle Saale. A young member of the Polish underground, her words about war and peace, friendship and love, hairstyles, fashion, literature and fun, as well as life and death, were written to her parents and also – in what must be a unique prison correspondence – to the daughter of her compassionate German prison guard. Seems Wituska’s letters were written for our troubled times.

Enjoy the summer, read a lot, visit galleries and theatres, go to movies, and tip your hat to the creative people who make all this possible.

Christian Witness, Events, PNCC, , , , ,

Congratulations to Holy Trinity Parish

From the Meriden Record-Journal: Southington church turns 100

Been to the parish. Very dedicated and loving people. Congratulations on your anniversary! Dwieście lat!!!

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Marilyn Folcik and her sister Arlene Strazzulla looked at a black and white photo pinned on a corkboard inside the Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church on Summer Street Thursday afternoon.

Strazzulla leaned into the picture from 1957 to get a better look and then pointed to a little girl among a crowd of people standing outside the church.

“That was me and that was my sister,” she said.

Then she pointed to a man in the back.

“And that was my grandfather,” she added.

Folcik and Strazzulla’s grandfather, John Knapp, along with 16 other men, helped build the church 100 years ago. It opened its doors in July of 1914.

Rev. Joseph Krusienski, pastor of Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, stands with long-time parish members Arlene Strazzulla, left, of Southington, and Marilyn Folcik, right, of Bristol, Thursday, July 24, 2014. The church, located on Summer St. in Southington, is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. | Dave Zajac / Record-Journal
Rev. Joseph Krusienski, pastor of Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church, stands with long-time parish members Arlene Strazzulla, left, of Southington, and Marilyn Folcik, right, of Bristol, Thursday, July 24, 2014. The church, located on Summer St. in Southington, is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. | Dave Zajac / Record-Journal
In October, the church and its parishioners will celebrate the anniversary with a Mass followed by a banquet at the Aqua Turf Club.

The first Polish National Catholic Church was formed in 1897 in Scranton, Pa. after many Polish immigrants were longing to have Mass spoken in their native language.

“It was one of the original reasons why we broke away from the Roman Catholic Church,” said Folcik who is also the chairman of the church’s Parish Committee.

“They wanted a Polish-speaking priest,” Strazzulla added.

One of the major differences is that Polish Catholic priests are encouraged to marry and have families. The Holy Trinity Polish National Catholic Church also doesn’t consider the Pope to be infallible. Some of the seven sacraments have also been modified.

Folcik said she remembered her grandfather saying he wanted Polish people to be able to become priests and bishops and wanted Mass in their native language. The desires prompted some Polish members of the Southington community to form their own church.

A short history of the church written by Folcik for the anniversary, says the foundation of the building was “dug by hand by these sixteen men and others.”

After 1958 all Masses were in English.

“Even though ‘Polish’ is in the name of the church, that’s because it’s our heritage,’” said Strazzulla. “But it’s open to all nationalities.”

In April 1944, a fire tore through the building. Strazzulla and Folcik said the cause of the fire was never determined, though many speculate it could have started from a candle left burning from a wedding ceremony earlier in the day.

After the fire, parishioners joined together to salvage the church. Many made donations.

The Rev. Joseph Krusienski, who has been with the church for 43 years, went to the front of the church Thursday to retrieve old receipts from the repair work.

“The main altar, it was $1,050 to repair,” he said pointing to the typewritten receipt.

He added that each stain-glass window had to be replaced, costing $200 apiece.

“Now they’re worth a couple thousand,” Krusienski said.

In the 1960s the church underwent renovations that included new carpeting, paint on the walls, new pews, and new altar railings. A lot of the help came from parishioners who donated money to keep the church going.

The church’s properties, which include a rectory next to the church and a cemetery on Prospect Street in Plantsville, are owned and maintained by the parish. The parish committee and pastor make decisions regarding the properties.

Strazzulla and Folcik, both born and raised in Southington and now nearing or in their 50s, reminisced on the many years they spent in the church. As the third generation, they remembered being baptized, having their communion, confirmation, and even getting married in the church. The church’s 100th year anniversary is important, they said.

“It’s a really warm feeling,” Strazzulla said.

“We’re proud,” Folcik added.

“We’re very proud and honored to carry on what our ancestors started,” Strazzulla said.

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A place to fill out their souls

From the The Lowell Sun: A welcoming family: St. Casimir’s Parish in Lowell welcomes those seeking faith to its tight-knit community

LOWELL — It may be one of Lowell’s best kept secrets, particularly for those who love traditional Polish foods like pierogi (dumplings), golabki (cabbage roll) or kapusta (braised sauerkraut or cabbage with bacon, mushroom and onion).

At a church kitchen and hall on Lakeview Avenue, volunteers who know their way around a dough pressing machine as well as the tricks to producing the perfect cabbage roll lend their talents a few times a month to their church, St. Casimir’s Polish National Catholic Church.

The team effort of these volunteers, who range in age from pre-teens to their 90s, results in hundreds of handmade pierogi and golabki, plus dozens of quarts of kapusta — all later frozen and sold in their parish store.

On Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon, St. Casimir’s Parish Store is open to the public. Pierogi sell for $11 per dozen, kapusta is $6 per quart, golabki $18 a dozen. Proceeds benefit the parish.

“This is a labor of love. We make these the old-fashioned way, with so many steps that it’s time-consuming. People often don’t have the time today,” said Joanne Menzia, who took part in the pierogi assembly line on Tuesday, along with more than a dozen other volunteers.

“People use pierogi as a side dish, a main dish, or even as an appetizer,” said Janice Klimczak. “We sell quite a lot of them.”

The store also sells for $12 each the parish’s new cookbook, A Taste of Heaven, featuring traditional Polish recipes from church members as well as recipes contributed by the church’s many non-Polish members.

Doing his own part in the pierogi assembly line was the pastor, the Rev. Andrzej Tenus, a native of northern Poland who came to the United States in 2006 speaking no English.

Tenus, a former Roman Catholic priest, born in 1972, and a current beekeeper, musician, husband and father of four, went to Pennsylvania to study English for three months at the Polish National Catholic Church headquarters. He was preparing for his new role as a pastor within the Polish National Catholic Church in the U.S.

He did pretty well with the Pennsylvania dialect; then he came to Lowell, where the Boston accent made it a little more difficult, he said, smiling. Today, Tenus has only a trace of a Polish accent, which belies the fact that he’s spoken English for less than a decade.

One of the questions he’s often asked from those outside the community is how the Polish National Catholic Church differs from the Roman Catholic Church. Many find it hard to grasp, he said, how a Catholic church in Lowell is not connected to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, that its bishops and priests (since 1921) are allowed to marry, and the church is democratic. Its governing board chooses the pastor, controls the finances, and the parish owns its assets.

The Polish National Catholic Church, according to its website, is a Christian denomination formed in 1897 in Scranton, Pa. While it serves the spiritual needs of its members, it also welcomes all people who wish to follow Christ. Today, there are more than 25,000 members in the United States.

The National Catholic movement, which encompasses more than the Polish National Church, resulted from the division in the Christian Church that similarly initiated the Protestant movement. However, according to the St. Patrick Catholic Church website, a National Catholic Church in Rhode Island, it differs from the Protestant divisions in that it kept its belief in the Mass and the priesthood necessary to have the Mass, as well as other Catholic rites and rituals.

The liturgy, especially the contemporary liturgy that Tenus is initiating at St. Casimir, closely resembles that of the Roman Catholic Church. Standing inside St. Casimir’s Church, which was built in 1908 for the then-large Polish community in the city’s Centralville neighborhood, is like standing inside any Roman Catholic Church.

“We keep the same beliefs. The difference is only in the administration level. We’re not connected to Rome,” said Tenus.

Tenus leads a busy life while living next to the church with his wife, Agnes, who followed her husband to the United States three months after his arrival. In Poland, Agnes trained as a nutritionist and professional cook. She creates recipes from her home country and often bakes desserts for home and the church with the honey Tenus harvests from three bee hives located at St. Casimir Cemetery in Pelham. Beekeeping was a hobby Tenus started in Poland and has since resurrected.

Their children, Karina, 13, Jonah, 9, Christoper, 6 and Amelia, 3, consider St. Casimir’s close-knit parish family as surrogate aunts, uncles and grandparents, Tenus said. Likewise, the parishioners love having them here, he added.

Tenus has many ideas to keep the small parish active within and outside the community, including a busy youth group that produces an annual talent show. He emphasizes the importance of welcoming others to their church.

“No matter your background, ethnicity or denomination, we don’t look at that. Just people with good will looking for some place to fill out their souls,” he said. “If you need comfort, a place to pray, this is the place. We do not judge — it’s not up to us to judge.”

Sunday Mass is offered at 10 a.m. at 268 Lakeview Ave., Lowell, followed by fellowship hour. For more information, visit the parish website, call 978-453-0742, or send an E-mail.

Watch live streaming video from StCasimirs at livestream.com
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Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema

Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema – A screening series of restored classic Polish films touring the U.S. and Canada, which opened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York in February 2014.

The Masterpieces will be shown at the Cinema Arts Centre, at 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY from June 18th through July 23rd. More Masterpieces to come on July 9th, 13th, 16th and 23rd. Titles to be announced.

Organized and curated by Martin Scorsese, one of the most recognized and respected filmmakers in the world, the series is the largest presentation of restored Polish cinema to date.

21 Films you might not know

Martin Scorsese has personally selected 21 Polish films that have been an inspiration and influence.

30+ Theaters across North America

Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema is an unprecedented cultural event. Polish cinema has never been showcased in North America on such a scale. The best in classic Polish film will be shown in cities in the U.S. and Canada throughout 2014, beginning with a special premiere presentation in New York City on February 5th.

Pristine quality

Films in the series will be presented in the highest possible quality thanks to extensive digital picture and audio restoration. Dirt, scratches and other ravages of time have been removed, while preserving the integrity and beauty of the original films.

Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , ,

Honoring Dr. Walter Golaski in Philadelphia

Golaski_02In 2013 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission approved a historical marker to honor Dr. Walter Golaski (1913-1996), engineer and inventor who was a leading pioneer in manufacturing knitted Dacron blood-vessel replacements. A Drexel University graduate, he was also a philanthropist who devoted much time and energy to establishing closer ties between the United States and Poland through cultural and scholarly exchange. Though a Philadelphian, he was Chairman of the Board at the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York during the years 1973-1982.

A The dedication ceremony for the Historical Marker honoring Dr. Walter Golaski will take place at 12:00 noon on Saturday, May 17th at the corner of 34th Street and Lancaster Ave. in Philadelphia, this is Lancaster Walk in back of Drexel University athletic center. All are welcome to attend.

A luncheon will follow the dedication at approximately 2:00 pm at Drexel University’s Paul Peck Alumni Center located at 32nd and Market Street. Seating is limited – please make your reservation now. Tickets are $40 per person.

The contact person for information and tickets to the luncheon is Jean Joka, telephone: 215-483-0193.

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Free webinar – Music and More: Strategies for Success in Inclusion Settings

The New York State Alliance for Arts Education will be hosting a free webinar: Music and More: Strategies for Success in Inclusion Settings on Tuesday, May 20th from 3pm to 4pm (EDT)

Music educators Elise Sobol and Alan Núñez offer methodologies for teaching in and through music in inclusion settings. Drawing on their decades of experience as teachers and trainers for teachers, Núñez and Sobol will provide specific music ed techniques that build on or contribute to learning approaches in other art disciplines. Intended for music specialists and generalists alike, this webinar will give participants both theoretical and pragmatic approaches to multi-modal, multi-sensory learning that can be used in any K – 12 classroom, and are particularly successful for students with a wide range of abilities. The webinar will include a question and answer portion for participants.

See the biographies of the presenters, Elise Sobol and Alan Núñez.

To participate in this valuable professional development opportunity, please register here.

Events, Poetry, Poland - Polish - Polonia, , , , , , ,

Preserving language – beauty and distinctiveness

The nuances in Polish language make it particularly beautiful, poetic, and musical. In addition, it allows for plays in language that are useful in conveying meaning and humor. It has helped Poland and Poles everywhere in standing up to countries and dictators.

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News: Poland campaigns to preserve its complex spelling

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish language experts launched a campaign Thursday to preserve the challenging system of its diacritical marks, saying the tails, dots and strokes are becoming obsolete under the pressure of IT and speed.

The drive, initiated by the state-run Council of the Polish Language, is part of the UNESCO International Mother Language Day. The campaign’s Polish name is complicated for a non-Polish keyboard: “Je,zyk polski jest a,-e,.”

That’s a pun meaning that Polish language needs its tails and is top class. Part of the meaning is lost and the pronunciation sounds wrong if the marks aren’t there.

alfabetComputer and phone keyboards require users to punch additional keys for Polish alphabet. To save time, Poles skip the nuances, and sometimes need to guess the meaning of the message that they have received. This is also true for IT equipment users of other languages with diacritical marks…

As part of the new campaign, some radio and TV stations are playing songs with words stripped of diacritical pronunciation, making them sound odd to the Polish ear. A rap song concludes: “Press the right Alt sometimes” to obtain Polish letters, referring one of the keyboard buttons that Poles need to press to write characters with diacritical marks.

In Poland, linguist Jerzy Bralczyk said the diacritical marks are a visual, defining feature of the Polish language, and they carry meaning and enrich the speech.

“Today, the Polish language is threatened by the tendency to avoid its characteristic letters,” Bralczyk said. “The less we use diacritical marks in text messages, the more likely they are to vanish altogether. That would mean an impoverishment of the language and of our life. I would be sorry.”

The tails make “a” and “e” nasal, strokes over “s,” “c” and “n” soften them and sometimes make them whistling sound, a stroke across “l” makes it sound like the English “w,” and a dot over “z” makes it hard like a metal drill. And each change matters.

“Los” means “fate,” but when you put a slash across the “l” and add a stroke over the “s” it becomes “elk.” “Paczki” are “parcels,” but “pa,czki” are doughnuts.

Foreigners who know Polish say the diacritical marks are a visual sign that it’s a tough language and that they add to the complexity of the grammar and vocabulary, which does not derive from Latin or from Germanic languages.

…

In Romania, the tongue’s tails on “t” and “s,” circumflexes on “a” and “I” and hats on “a” are ignored even by state officials and institutes. Some words have up to four diacritical marks, and not using them changes the pronunciation and, in some cases, the meaning, to the point of no meaning at all.

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Grant/Residency Opportunity, Call for Proposals for artists, architects, social activists

Developing Sustainable Practices within Affordable Housing Communities

Living Resources, a program of a California-based nonprofit organization, has teamed up with Grand Central Art Center (GCAC), a unit of the College of the Arts at California State University, Fullerton, in enlisting community-driven “Creatives” (artists, architects, social activists) to respond to a “Call” for proposals.

Specifically, the Creatives selected will be awarded a one-year opportunity to engage the residents in one of two affordable housing communities in Southern California and Phoenix, AZ to ignite social change through sustainable practices and programs. The Creatives selected – individual and or collective groups, will be given housing (or a housing stipend), a working stipend, and a small budget to execute their projects.

Complete details and application information is available online.

affordable-housing-fee

Living Resources is an outreach program developed and funded by a nonprofit organization founded to promote the preservation and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income households. Living Resources provides support – financial or otherwise, to underserved individuals or other nonprofit organizations serving those in need.

California State University, Fullerton Grand Central Art Center is dedicated to the investigation and promotion of contemporary art and visual culture: regionally, nationally, and internationally through unique collaborations among artists, students, and the community.

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