Campus & Community

OFA announces Arts First grants

4 min read

Arts First, Harvard’s annual weekend festival of students in the arts, will celebrate its 13th anniversary May 5-8. Sponsored by Harvard University’s Board of Overseers, the festival involves more than 2,000 students in presenting some 200 concerts, multimedia presentations, exhibitions, public artwork, and theatrical and dance productions.

The Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA), which produces Arts First, is sponsoring 21 of the many projects taking place over the weekend. A sampling of the projects – which are awarded to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff and are sponsored by the OFA grants program and selected by the Council on the Arts at Harvard – include an art walk, a performance by the Harvard Ballet, and an outdoor production of “Twelfth Night.”

A committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Council on the Arts for the 2004-05 academic year, include members Robert J. Kiely (chair), Elizabeth Bergmann, S. Allen Counter, Deborah Foster, Jorie Graham, Annette Lemieux, Cathleen McCormick, Jack Megan, Robert J. Orchard, Stephen Prina, Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Marcus Stern, and John Stewart.

OFA will also offer grants for projects taking place during the fall semester 2005. The deadline for grant applications for projects occurring in fall semester 2005 is April 27. Apply online at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/ofa. For more information, call (617) 495-8676.

Spring 2005 grants for dance

Crimson Dance Team performance, Monika Laszkowska ’07: OFA grant for the team’s presentation of routines incorporating jazz, funk, gymnastics, and ballet.

Harvard Vietnamese Association Dance Troupe, fan dance interpretation of “A Brief Moment on West Lake,” Elaine Vo ’08: OFA Grant for a Vietnamese dance fusing traditional and modern.

Harvard Ballet Company, David Blazar ’06: OFA Grant for a performance featuring original choreographed pieces created by members of the company.

South Asian Dance Company, Monica Soni ’06: OFA Grant for a performance blending classical Indian, bhangra, and modern dance.

Spring 2005 grants for multidisciplinary arts

Maria Nardell ’06: OFA Grant for the annual “Brothers and Sisters of Kuumba” performance celebrating the artistry and spirituality of black culture.

The Hive’s Coffeehouse: “Narrating Dance,” Signet Society, Expressions Dance Company, Spoken Word Society, Manuela Zoninstein ’05: OFA Grant for a performance of original choreography performed to spoken word.

Spring 2005 grants for music

Bach Society Orchestra, Matthew Smith ’07: OFA Grant for (50th) annual concert, featuring a piece by former orchestra conductor John Adams ’69, and solo performances by violinist Stefan Jackiw ’07 and Professor Robert Levin.

Harvard Sunday Jazz Band, Brett Wortzman ’06: OFA Grant for a concert featuring the music of Benny Carter, including pieces newly released since the composer’s death in 2003.

Harvard Wind Ensemble, “A Walk with Grainger,” Laura Stoppel ’08: OFA Grant for a concert highlighting the works of symphonic band composer Percy Grainger.

Harvard Pops Orchestra performance, Perry Tsai ’07: OFA Grant for a concert featuring pieces composed, arranged, and conducted by student members of the orchestra.

Holden Choruses, Brahms Requiem, Rosalie Thede ’06: OFA Grant for a performance of Brahms’ choral masterwork.

Harvard Baroque Choral Ensemble, “Christ Lag in Todesbanden,” Alan Rozenshtein ’07: OFA Grant for a performance of J.S. Bach’s rarely performed cantata.

The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers (THUD), Danielle Lehle ’07: OFA Grant for a performance of ensemble pieces featuring nontraditional instruments.

Spring 2005 grants for theater

Harvard Magic Society performance, Anshul Shah ’05: OFA Grant for a performance of various magic tricks.

Winthrop House Drama Society, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” Sarah Hill ’05: Timothy S. Mayer Grant for a production of Steve Martin’s play.

Sunken Garden Children’s Theater, “The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” Johanna Karlin ’05: OFA Grant for an adaptation of the Grimms’ Fairy Tale, written by recent graduate Adam Kline ’02.

Hyperion Shakespeare Company, “Twelfth Night,” Akiva Fox ’05: OFA Grant for an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s play in the Mather House Courtyard.

Spring 2005 grants for visual arts

Art walk, Rebecca Fleming ’07: OFA Grant for a tour of the gallery spaces of Harvard’s residential houses as they open their doors for first-night receptions.

Projections, Kris Trujillo ’05: OFA Grant for an outdoor installation featuring films that depict the private rooms and lives of individuals projected onto dynamic fabric sculptures in Tercentenary Theatre.

The Gold Coast Collection: The Art of Adams House, Kristen O’Neill ’07: OFA Grant for an exhibition showcasing the art and artists of Adams House.

“Walking paintings,” Jane Van Cleef ’06: OFA Grant for a series of silk-screened T-shirts featuring original artwork distributed to members of the Harvard community to wear as “walking paintings.”