ANNUAL REPORT 2011 CELEBRATING 35 YEARS NEFA supports artists with grants and professional resources; establishes vital connections between artists, arts programmers, and the public; and strengthens the region’s creative economy through research that informs public policy. You can help strengthen NEFA’s impact by making an online gift at www.nefa.org. daniel bernard roumain | expeditions photo: leslie lyons cover photos (from left to right, top to bottom): dance, the spirit of cambodia | cambodian artists project | photo: rachel cooper • trisha brown dance company | national dance project | photo: chris callis • electric dragon | new modern theatre project | photo: chris pfuhl • dan hurlin’s disfarmer | expeditions | photo: richard termine • northern forest canoe trail | art & community landscapes | photo courtesy of the national park service • doug varone and dancers | national dance project | photo: lois greenfield • emily johnson (yup’ik, right) | national native artist exchange | photo courtesy of vermont performance lab • sandglass theater’s story of the dog | new england states touring | photo: frank mullen • cultural organization of lowell’s riverfest | fund for the arts | photo: carita ramos • odaiko new england | new england states touring | photo: frank mullin • flotilla festival | art & community landscapes | photo: maura cronin • liz lerman dance exchange ferocious beauty: genome | national dance project | photo: kevin kennefick nefa was created as one of six regional arts organizations nationwide with funding through the National Endowment for the Arts and New England state arts agencies. As a 501(c)(3) public charity with additional funding from corporations, foundations, and individuals, NEFA now operates with an annual budget of over $7 million to develop and deliver arts programs on local, regional, national, and international levels. NEFA’s mission is to creatively support the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, make vital connections between artists and communities, and build the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector. sarah sockbeson (penobscot) | native arts new england photo: nicholas halsdorff 1982 NEFA is incorporated as a photo: a. vincent scarano photo: without 1976 private, nonprofit organization. The National Theatre of Thomas Wolf is the Deaf (NTD) tours New boundary executive director. England with Gilgamesh, one of 25 traveling NTD productions that NEFA will The New England support over the years. NEFA has been a pioneering Touring Program 1977 begins with 15 cultural force since its featured musicians and performing founding in 1976. From artists. With support from the Jessie 1985 B. Cox Charitable building a national support Trust, NEFA begins three-year plan to system for contemporary develop new arts partnerships in rural dance, to defining the communities. creative economy, to 1976 increasing civic engagement through public art, our commitment to artists, art NEFA sponsors New in New England conference, which launches focus forms, and programs that on the presentation of contemporary, defy traditional boundaries 1984 experimental work. has driven our success. NEFA’s 35th anniversary represents the culmination of more than a generation of boundary-breaking work while serving as a platform for the next era. NEFA publishes The Arts and 1981 the New England Economy. Visual Arts/Media Program is launched to tour exhibitions to audiences throughout the region, nation, and the world. 1980 Holly Sidford signs on as executive director. NEFA launches the Regional Fellowships for Visual Artists program; granting $5,000 awards to New 1986 NEFA launches Mixed Signals, distributing 1990 England visual artists in partnership with the work by independent film and video artists. National Endowment for the Arts. The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund awards NEFA and the National Jazz Service Organization 1991 a $3.4 million grant to manage the Lila Wallace- Reader’s Digest National Jazz Network. NEFA produces Presenting the Folk Arts in Lowell, MA, the first conference and performance showcase focusing on issues of folk arts presentation. Fund for the Arts becomes a permanent fund of NEFA, supporting 1992 public art in Greater Boston. trisha brown dance compnay compnay dance trisha brown chris callis photo: Sam Miller takes helm as NEFA funds the first regional, seven-site executive director. tour of dance innovator Trisha Brown. 1994 In partnership with the NEA, Poet Laureate 1998 Robert Pinsky, Boston NEFA launches Traditional University, and the Arts initiative to support folk Library of Congress, 1988 artists in the region. photo courtesy of NEFA establishes the boston univeristy Favorite Poem Project. photo services NEFA receives $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts Challenge III program. NEFA’s Fund for the Arts launches Cambodian and Laotian Visible Republic, a four year public traditional performing artists art funding collaboration including are the first beneficiaries of the LEF Foundation and the Boston NEFA’s Newcomers Project. Foundation. 1989 NEFA presents a major regional folk arts conference in Portland, ME, called Local Ingenuity: Engaging Cultural NEFA funds 2,062 performances 1999 Traditions in Community Building. and workshops region-wide. Audiences surpass 2.9 million. Budget reaches $1.8 million. Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange, with women and men of all ages, expands the definition of dance through residencies at six New England sites. photo: marilyn humphries marilyn photo: New England Artists’ Congress IV is held 1997 in Newport, NH, with NEFA support. 1988 photo: dennis deloria NEFA establishes NEFA launches the Building Communities first region-wide through Culture program. commissioning and touring A $1 million National Endowment for project with New the Arts leadership grant is awarded England Presenters to NEFA to initiate the National Dance Project, setting the stage for a long- consortium. The Apple Hill Chamber term partnership with the Doris Duke Players travels to 17 Charitable Foundation and other major 1996 1987 funders. photo: al karevy sites in the region. With the National Endowment for the Arts, NEFA hosts Clearing the Path: Arts and Accessibility 2007 2000 in New England to develop model approaches to accessibility practices in the arts. Creative Economy Initiative: NEFA partners with the New England Council to define the creative economy and With a grant from the U.S. analyze its collective Department of Commerce, economic impact. NEFA, in partnership 2006 with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, launches company graham dance martha deane john photo: MatchBook.org, an online In partnership with the National Endowment performing arts directory that for the Arts and Dance/USA, NEFA makes The first Idea Swap links artists with those who the first of three years of grants in the – the networking hire them. American Masterpieces: Dance program. event associated 2002 with the Expeditions program – takes place NEFA collaborates with its five sister at the American Textile regional arts organizations to publish Museum in Lowell, MA. the report Global Positioning Strategy 2009 (GPS) for the Arts: Recommitting America to International Cultural Exchange. 2011 photo: basketweaver jeremy jeremy basketweaver photo: (passamaquoddy) frey rainpan 43 43 rainpan costanzo greg photo: With support from the Ford Foundation, NEFA, in With support from The Andrew W. association with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Mellon Foundation, the National Alliance (MIBA), convenes the region’s Native Theater Pilot makes the first of American artists and leaders to design a support two rounds of grants for devised 2010 2005 system for New England’s Native artists. theater projects. NEFA partners with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Park Service on Art & Community Landscapes. 2004 lincoln street green strip art & community landscapes photo: matt chan regional dance development development dance regional ma in concord, initiative fink arthur photo: With support from the Aliad Fund at the Boston Foundation, NEFA’s National Dance Project hosts the New England Dance Lab NEFA produces Dance, in 2007 and seven gatherings throughout the Spirit of Cambodia, the the region in 2008. These free events first formal U.S. tour of reach over 270 dance artists, presenters, Cambodian dance and funders, and administrators interested in 2008 2001 music in over a decade. nurturing the region’s dance ecology. photo: rachel cooper Dear Friends, It is my pleasure to share this year’s annual report, a special edition which marks NEFA’s 35 years at work. “Steadfast” and “boundary-breaking” are not typically used to describe the same organization. But over the past 35 years, NEFA has served as both an anchor of support for diverse artists and art forms, and a catalyst for pioneering partnerships and programs. This dual role has established us as a laboratory for pilot projects and a trusted steward of resources among our funders and donors. In fiscal year 2011, NEFA made 486 grants, distributing contents $3.45 million to 1,350 artists and organizations throughout 2 programs & New England and across the U.S. The year’s first-ever services Creative Communities Exchange and Creative Economy 3 awards are exemplars of groundbreaking in other NEFA stories & timeline programs and services. 8 geographic impact None of this work would be possible without the vision and 10 support of our funders, or the extraordinary dedication