Office for the Arts announces spring grants

The Office for the Arts (OFA) has announced its sponsorship of 44 creative projects to be held at Harvard University next spring by students in dance, music, theater, literature, and more. Projects include visual art exhibitions in the Science Center, new student publications, music projects and performances, and both classic and student-written theater pieces.

The Council on the Arts, a committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, responded favorably to 84 percent of the grant requests. Grant award amounts ranged from $150 to $1,000.

Applications are accepted from Harvard students, staff, and faculty. Council members for the 2002-03 academic year include Robert J. Kiely (chair), Elizabeth Bergmann, S. Allen Counter, Deborah Foster, Jorie Graham, Christopher Killip, Annette Lemieux, Cathleen McCormick, Jack Megan, Robert J. Orchard, Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Marcus Stern, and John Stewart.

OFA, which administers the grants, also offers grants for projects to take place during Arts First weekend (May 1-4) and fall semester 2003. The deadline for Arts First grant applications is Feb. 5, 2003; the deadline for OFA grant applications for projects occurring in the fall semester is April 23, 2003.

To submit an application or for further information visit http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~ofa.

The spring 2003 grants for dance

Expressions Dance Company Spring Dance Concert, Cassandra Cummings ’05: Kahn Grant to produce a spring concert featuring a variety of dance styles including jazz, African, and hip-hop showcased in student-choreographed pieces.

Harvard Ballroom Spring Recital Performance, Ryan Browne ’03: Khan Grant to present a showcase of ballroom dance styles including Latin American, modern European, and American. The production will include a series of student- and professionally choreographed pieces.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Ballet Company, “Legally Ballet,” Laurie Schnidman ’05: OFA Grant for a performance that will analyze, through classical and contemporary pieces, the ways contrasting techniques and styles in pointe work, soft-slipper, and barefoot are united.

Harvard-Radcliffe South Asian Association, South Asian classical dance lessons, Deepa Dhume ’04: Kahn Grant to support Kathak dance lessons that teach not only technique but also traditions and meanings associated with the dance, emphasizing the aesthetic and expressive nature of this particular art form.

TAPS, “TAPstatic!” Kim McCarthy ’04: Kahn Grant for a spring showcase of tapping featuring a diverse array of tapping styles set to multiple music genres performed in the Adams Pool Theater. The group also plans to perform as guest artists in a number of on-campus shows throughout the spring semester.

Harvard Vietnamese Association, Vietnamese dance troupe, Hoang-Oanh Nguyen ’04: Kahn Grant to support multiple spring performances featuring student choreographed pieces combining both modern dance as well as dance styles of the Vietnamese culture performed in traditional Vietnamese costumes (ao dai).

The spring 2003 grants for literature

Association of Black Harvard Women (ABHW), photojournal, Shanna Ricketts ’03: Segal Grant for the second annual ABHW photojournal publication. The focus this year will be on black women’s bodies using photographs accompanied by poetry and prose submitted by students.

Cinematic – The Annual Harvard Film Review, Raja Haddad ’05: Solomon Grant to produce the first film publication on campus with the vision of offering a yearly, in-depth review of movies including independent and international titles. The magazine will include an analysis of trends shaping the cinema scene and an exploration of innovations that affect the industry.

Diversity & Distinction, magazine publication, Eduardo Saverin ’05: OFA Grant to publish Diversity & Distinction, a magazine dedicated to issues of diversity and identity including sexual orientation, gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, religion, class, and race.

Harvard Advocate, spring reading series, Min Lieskovsky ’03: OFA Grant to produce a joint reading series with Jubilat magazine that includes readings by Harvard students, professors, and other professional poets. The series will provide Harvard student writers an opportunity to interact with professional poets in an intimate setting.

The Gamut, Kevin Holden ’05: OFA Grant to produce a poetry publication distributed annually to all Harvard undergraduates. The publication solicits submissions from all members of the Harvard community, and undergraduates participate in the selection process.

The Harvard African, Paul Maasdorp ’03: OFA Grant to produce a biannual publication that provides a forum for undergraduates to engage in a meaningful dialogue on African and Africa-related issues through the media of poetry, artwork, photo essays, and fiction.

The Harvard Book Review, Benjamin Olson ’05: OFA Grant to produce the college’s answer to the New York Times Book Review. Publishing three times a year, the magazine consists of approximately 30 reviews of the latest fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Reviews are written entirely by undergraduates and are accompanied by student photography and artwork.

Catholic Students Association, Vox Literary Magazine, Brian Hayes ’03: OFA Grant for the production of Vox Magazine, which is dedicated to the vocation of beauty. The magazine features art, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction on any theme, and submissions are accepted from the entire Harvard community. Two publications of the magazine are scheduled for distribution during 2002-03.

Yisei Magazine: Voices of Koreans at Harvard, Anna Joo ’03: OFA Grant to produce the publication dedicated to serving as a forum in which Korean and Asian students can share their experiences, perspectives, and literary talents with the Harvard community through personal essays, short stories, interviews, poetry, photography, and artwork.

Visual Text, John Hulsey ’04: Segal Grant to produce the first issue of a multifaceted journal for the visual arts at Harvard, with a focus on interdisciplinary study of visual culture.

ZALACAIN: The Harvard Journal of Latin America, Maria Mogollon ’03: OFA Grant for the production of ZALACAIN, the Harvard Journal of Latin America. The magazine presents the richness and variety of Latin America to Harvard students through art and literature reviews, photographic essays, personal essays, original works of poetry and short fiction, as well as political and economic articles.

The spring 2003 multidisciplinary grants

d/Txt, Jesse Green ’03: Solomon Grant in support of a project designed to establish text-free space at Harvard through providing alternative means of communication including text-free fliers distributed to students, an associated Web site, and participation in an interactive sculpture in Harvard Yard.

Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, 2003 Harvard University Black Arts Festival, Joy Fuller ’04: OFA Grant to produce the sixth annual Black Arts Festival, organizing and promoting events to foster and facilitate discussion, collaboration, and art exhibition through a variety of activities, such as workshops, lecture demonstrations, film screenings, showcases, and panel series.

“On Thin Ice, Sax and Violence: An Improvised Musical Detective Comedy,” Robert Dubbin ’04: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a production of two improvised musical performances. The theatrical bent of the shows will spoof the detective/film noir genre, with audience involved in selecting characters and supplying major plot points. Spontaneous musical numbers, including pieces by an improvisational jazz quartet, will punctuate the performance.

“The House Ansiedade Built,” Shelby Braxton-Brooks ’03: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a production that explores, through interactive folklore, dance, and music, questions of how societies evolve from collaborations and why collaborators eventually “run” from one another with attention directed to cultural anxieties in Brazil and the United States.

The spring 2003 grants for music

Harvard Pops Orchestra, “A Rhapsody of Pops,” Mark Goldin ’05: OFA Grant for a performance featuring Gershwin’s “Second Rhapsody for Piano” performed by pianist Mike Callahan ’04, a student arrangement of the rock classic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and a selection of pieces arranged by Pops members and performed by cabaret singer Will McMillan.

Brattle Street Chamber Players, concert, Yee-Ping Sun ’03: OFA Grant for a concert by the 13-member string ensemble featuring a selection of pieces from the Romantic and Baroque periods as well as undergraduate compositions.

Harvard-Radcliffe Mozart Society Orchestra, freshman concerto competition, Joshua Evans ’04: OFA Grant for a performance that will present the winner of the 2002 Freshman Concerto Competition in a concert that will also include performances of other selected pieces by the orchestra.

Dunster House Opera Society, “La Cenerentola,” Karoun Demirjian ’03: Lipson-Eckstein Grant for a production of Rossini’s opera based on the fairy tale Cinderella, completely produced and performed by undergraduates.

Holden Choirs, “Missa Solemnis,” Jeffrey Grossman ’03: Kahn Grant for the performance of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” at Sanders Theatre in March featuring the three Holden Choruses accompanied by the internationally renowned Orchestra of Emmanuel Music.

Mariachi Veritas de Harvard, spring concert, Claudia García ’05: OFA Grant for a spring Lowell Hall performance featuring Harvard’s only mariachi music ensemble, as well as Ballet Folklórico and the Latin band Un Poquito Màs.

String orchestra concert, Benjamin Vogt ’03: Kahn Grant in support of a performance by a newly formed undergraduate ensemble including members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra and the Brattle Street Chamber Players. Pieces to be performed include Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen” and Schoenberg’s “Transfigured.”

Harvard-Radcliffe South Asian Association, tabla lessons, Deepa Dhume ’04: Lipson-Eckstein Grant in support of the introduction of tabla lessons at Harvard. These classes will introduce undergraduates to the traditional Indian percussion instrument through instruction in technique and rhythmic theory.

“Taraana: Harvard University Celebrates South Asian Music,” Mallika Mundkur ’04: OFA Grant for a performance celebrating the diverse forms of South Asian music talent at Harvard. The concert will feature traditional North Indian and South Indian folk and classical vocal songs, as well as selections from contemporary South Asian popular music and pieces fusing various styles.

The Harvard University Drummers (THUD), spring concert, Jessica Zdeb ’04: OFA Grant for THUD’s spring concert. Works presented will be both traditional and original. A number of the pieces will be written, arranged, or choreographed by members of the ensemble.

Harvard-Radcliffe Contemporary Music Ensemble, “V-4: A Night of Student Opera Performances,” Carson Cooman ’03: Kahn Grant to produce a night of four short operas composed by undergraduates featuring a variety of moods, plots, and dramatic styles. Production aspects are to be handled entirely by students.

The spring 2003 grants for theater

Hyperion Shakespeare Company production, Erica Lipez ’05: OFA Grant for a spring production to be determined. Titles under consideration include “Hamlet” and “Twelfth Night.” Following last year’s successful outdoor staging of “Macbeth” at Hilles courtyard, the company plans to continue to utilize unconventional spaces at Harvard for its production location.

“Kiss Me Kate,” Julia Griffin ’03: Cobey Grant for a production of one of the most popular plays to depict the interplay of action onstage and off. This musical, with a score by Cole Porter, features such classics as “Another Openin’, Another Show,” “Too Darn Hot,” and “So In Love.”

Immediate Gratification Players (IGP), Laugh Riot Comedy Festival, Evan Macosko ’03: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for the annual intercollegiate improvisational comedy festival. Last year, six groups from colleges throughout the Northeast joined IGP for four free shows in the Loeb Experimental Theatre.

“Macbeth: the Puppet Shakespeare,” Emily Carmichael ’03: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a staging of Shakespeare’s classic with a 20-puppet cast involving undergraduates as actors, puppet makers, and puppeteers.

Athena Theater Company, “The Merchant of Venice,” Heather Thomason ’03: Cobey Grant for an all-female production staged in Agassiz Theatre in tribute to a similar production staged by the Radcliffe Idler Club. An exhibit commemorating the Idler Club, Radcliffe’s first student organization, will accompany the production.

“The Miracle Today,” Josh Stenberg ’04: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a new student work that explores, through techniques of epic theater, monologues, and song, a rethinking of the way people perform ordinary tasks or live ordinary lives.

“Twelfth Night,” Brett Gamboa, GSAS: OFA Grant for a production in Quincy House of Shakespeare’s, comedy featuring mistaken identities, misdirected passions, and unexpected poignancy. Participants will be solicited from the entire undergraduate community.

“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” Katherine O’Gara ’05: Cobey Grant for a production of the musical version of Charles M. Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip.

The spring 2003 grant for cultural arts

Harvard-Radcliffe South Asian Association, “Ghungroo,” Deepa Dhume ’04: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for the annual cultural production involving more than 200 South Asian undergraduates at Harvard and featuring classical and modern dance, singing, music, skits, and other original performances from different genres.

The spring 2003 grants for visual arts

The Sylvester Initiative, contemporary art shows, Julie Wecsler ’03: Segal Grant in support of an ongoing art show series featuring student work. Curated by the same initiative throughout the entire academic year.

Harvard Advocate, “Measures of Space,” Seung-Min Lee ’03: Segal Grant for a student art and video exhibition in the Science Center. The show will use the announcements monitor to screen video art and the arcade wall to present photographs. The location of the exhibition will serve to make art viewing available to a large number of undergraduates.

The Most Magazine, Michael Wang ’03: Solomon Grant for the second issue of a 50-page, full-color, photographic publication produced by a team of Harvard students. Publication explores the newfound currency of spectacle and of pastiche as a means for communicating and negotiating the limits of culture production in an age of globalization, postcolonialism, and postmodernism.