P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E To The Congress of The United States: It is my pleasure to transmit herewith the Annual Report of the National Endowment for the Arts for the fiscal year 1995. On September 29, 1995, at the close of the fiscal year, the Arts Endowment celebrated its 30th anniversary. A young man or woman born at the same time as this Federal agency’s establishment has enjoyed access to the arts and culture unparalleled in the history of the country. The National Endowment for the Arts has helped bring tens of thousands of artists into schools, teaching tens of millions of students about the power of the creative imagination. This small Federal agency has helped launch a national cultural network that has grown in size and quality these past 30 years. This Annual Report is another chapter in a great success story. In these pages, you will find projects that bring the arts to people in every State and in thousands of commu­ nities from Putney, Vermont, to Mammoth Lakes, California. The difference art makes in our lives is profound; we see more clearly, listen more intently, and respond to our fellow man with deeper understanding and empathy. In these challenging times, when some question the value of public support for the arts, we should reflect upon our obligation to the common good. The arts are not a luxury, but a vital part of our national character and our individual human spirit. The poet Langston Hughes said, "Bring me all of your dreams, you dreamers. Bring me all of your heart melodies..." For 30 years, the Arts Endowment has helped keep those dreams alive for our artists and our audiences. May it long continue to do so. William J. Clinton President of the United States COVER: Black-On.White Bowl by Lucy Lewis, featured in The Studio Potter, a Visual Arts grantee. Photo courtesy Susan Peterson C 0 N T E N T S President’s Message 1 Chairman’s Message 4 The Arts Endowment in Brief 8 The National Council on the Arts 11 Programs Dance 12 Design 20 Folk & Traditional Arts 26 International 34 Literature 42 Media Arts 5O Museum and Visual Arts 60 Music 84 Opera-Musical Theater 102 Presenting 108 Theater 118 Partnerships Federal Interagency Partnerships 130 Arts for Youth 132 Arts in Education 134 Challenge 138 2 Advancement 144 Expansion Arts 148 3 Local Arts Agencies 160 State & Regional 164 Underserved Communities Set-Aside 168 Office of Policy, Research and Technology 174 Office for AccessAbility 176 Panels 180 Dance 181 Design 182 International 184 Literature 186 Media Arts 188 Museum 190 Visual Arts 192 Music 194 Opera-Musical Theater 197 Presenting 198 Theater 2OO Arts in Education 201 Challenge 202 Advancement 205 Expansion Arts 206 Local Arts 2O8 State & Regional 209 Financial Summary 210 1995 was a year of great change for the National Endowment for the Arts. The agency turned 30 on September 29, 1995, and at that moment, we made a new beginning. The year engaged us in a comprehensive planning process, creating the blueprint for a reinvented, streamlined National Endowment for the Arts. By late September, plans were in place to allow the agency in 1996 to reach a broad spectrum of arts organizations and the American public. The fundamental change in direction moves the agency toward a more integrated consideration of the impact that art has upon communities. Although we continue the expertise in all fields that has made the Endowment so distinguished in its leadership, we no longer fund each discipline separately. In addition to our public partnerships with state arts agencies and regional arts organizations, we now fund projects through four important divisions: Heritage & Preservation - for projects which honor, assist and make visible those arts rooted in and reflective of the many traditions that make up our nation’s culture, and for projects which preserve our most significant artistic accomplish­ ments and works of art. Education & Access - for projects which broaden and deepen arts education experiences for people of all ages, or to broaden access to the arts by reaching out to new audiences or introducing audiences to art forms to which exposure has been limited or nonexistent. Creation & Presentation - for the creation of new work and the presentation of new and existing works of any culture, period or discipline. Planning & Stabilization - for projects which focus on organizational planning, strengthening capacity internally or within an arts field, sustaining the arts, build­ ing partnerships, and developing new resources. Another major change is the limitation on the number of applications frown any one organization. In the past, organizations with multiple programs submitted multiple applications. Beginning in 1996, we will accept only one application per organization to one of the four divisions. Additionally, organizations may form consortia to apply to one of the four divisions. Applications will be reviewed through a four-tiered process. The first will be the traditional review by a jury of experts in a shared discipline. The next step will be a review by a combined arts panel, with expertise in many different areas. The third step is adjudication by the National Council on the Arts, and the fourth is the final review of the Chairman. CH A I R M A N ’ S M E SS A G E It is zny hope that the new structure will encourage community-wide cooperation in addition to collaboration within and across arts disciplines. This new structure was born out of the notion that sustainable strength of the nonprofit arts can be achieved through unity of organizations which share a common mission or even a common home. The success of our new structure will be measured in future annual reports. While this has been a hard year at the Endowment, it has not been without its rewards and many successes. A few bear special mention. The Endowment has made a strong effort to work with other agencies of the Federal government in support of projects in the arts that fit within the mission of President Clinton’s Administration. In Fiscal Year 1995, the Endowment par­ ticipated in 30 formal partnership agreements with other agencies, including the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Housing and Urban Devel­ opment, Health and Human Services, Justice, State, Transportation, the General Services Administration, the Corporation for National Service and the U.S. Infor­ mation Agency. 4 These efforts have resulted in such projects which impact favorably upon our 5 children and communities. WritersCorps, which brings 60 writers to work with Watching the inner-city communities in the Bronx, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., is funded in partnership with the AmeriCorps. Pathways to Success, a partnership dancers and the dance, Jane Alexander takes in a class in Jackson, Wyoming. C H A I R M A N ’ S M E S S A G E ~ith the Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention supports after-school and weekend programs for at-risk youth. Arts and Prevention, a collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services, resulted in the inclusion of arts organizations under the funding guidelines for grants awarded to community coalitions providing substance abuse and mental health services. In partnership with the Department of Education, the Endowment assists over 100 national arts and education organizations to implement arts education in the curriculum. Perhaps the most poignant of all of our partnerships came about in response to tragedy. After the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City, the Arts Endowment collaborated with the General Services Administration, the Depart­ Ray Stroud at ment of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to begin the "Celebration the process of community rebuilding through a design initiative. An exhibition, "We Will of the Spirit," Be Back: Oklahoma City Rebuilds," details the community-wide design workshop held in an arts workshop Oklahoma City in the summer of 1995. for survivors and Every fiscal year begins on October 1 for the Federal government, a happy coincidence families of the for the cultural community, since October is Oklahoma City National Arts & Humanities Month. In October 1994, at the beginning of the fiscal year, the bombing. President awarded the National Medal of Arts to 11 distinguished artists and patrons and one arts organization on the White House lawn. The 1994 Medals went to: singer Harry Belafonte, pianist and com­ poser Dave Brubeck, singer Celia Cruz, violin teacher Dorothy DeLay, actress Julie Harris, dancer/choreographer Erick Hawkins, dancer and actor Gene Kelly, folk musician Pete Seeger, arts patron Catherine Filene Shouse, artist and teacher Wayne Thiebaud, poet and playwright Richard Wilbur and the arts education organization Young Audiences. At a luncheon that week, I had the distinct plea­ sure of awarding rosettes to former members of the National Council on the Arts, designating them as Ambassadors for the Arts. Throughout the year, I continued to meet with people in communities all across the country. It is clear to me that there is a genuine hunger for more arts in our towns and cities; art performances and exhibitions are a few remaining activities that bring people together in a community and give a sense of the common legacy they share. C H A I R M A N ’ S M E S S A G E A sense of community rounds out each fiscal year when the Endowment presents the National Heritage Awards. At a White House ceremony hosted by the First Lady, the following individuals from communities across our great country received this highest honor for our nation’s folk and traditional artists: Bao Mo-Li, Chinese-Americanjing ehru player from Flushing, New York Mary Holiday Black, Navajo basketweaver from Medicine Hat, Utah Lyman Enloe, old-time fiddler from Lee’s Summit, Missouri Donny Golden, Irish-American stepdancer from Brooklyn, New York Wayne Henderson, luthier from Mouth of Wilson, Virginia Bea Ellis Hensley, blacksmith from Spruce Pine, North Carolina Nathan Jackson, Tlingit woodcarver/metalsmith/dancer from Ketchikan, Alaska Danongan Kalanduyan, Filipino-American kulintang musician from San Fran­ cisco, California Robert Jr.