Division of Cultural Affairs Announces Professional Development Retreats for Artists!

The Division of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Capital Foundation is presenting two Creative Capital Foundation Weekend Professional Development Retreats for Artists. The weekend retreats are open to creative/generative artists, not interpretive (ex. the composer over the violinist; the playwright over the actor) residing in Florida and will take place at two locations in 2007:

Seaside - February 9-11, 2007
Winter Park - Crealdé School of Art May 11-13, 2007

Founded in 1999, Creative Capital Foundation is a national non-profit organization based in New York City that supports artists. Since 2003, Creative Capital Foundation has partnered with arts stakeholders to develop and present professional development workshops for hundreds of artists around the country. 

The Professional Development Weekend Retreats are designed to deliver skill-building opportunities to artists living and working in Florida. The goal of the retreats is to provide a cohesive structure that will help artists to organize, plan, and sustain their creative careers. The retreats will use an integrated approach to developing skills in marketing/public relations and fundraising with a particular emphasis on strategic planning for individuals. The retreats also aim to help artists break patterns of crisis management and increase satisfaction in their art practices and careers.

Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Challenge America Program, the Division is able to offer these workshops free of charge to selected artists.  Selected participants will only be responsible for paying the cost of their accommodations during the weekend retreat and travel costs to and from the retreat location. 

For more information or to download the application form for the Artist Retreats, please visit the following link:  http://www.florida-arts.org/news/releases/2007Retreats.html. 

DONT FORGET: The application deadline for the retreats is NOVEMBER 20, 2006!!!

Grants for Individual Artists

Individual Artist Fellowship Program:
The panel season for the 2007 Individual Artist Fellowship Program is drawing to a close.  Official award announcements for the 2007 Fellows will be made in December of 2006.  For those interested in applying for a fellowship on an upcoming deadline, the next deadline to apply will be June 1, 2007 for the disciplines of Visual Arts and Media Arts only.  The next deadline to apply in other disciplines will be in June of 2008. 

Artist Enhancement Grants Program:
The Artist Enhancement Grants Program recently had a deadline of October 12, 2006.  The panel meeting to give award recommendations for this deadline will be November 1, 2006.  The next deadline to apply for an Artist Enhancement Grant will be January 12, 2007.  Remember, Artist Enhancement Grants are used to support specific, skill-building opportunities that will significantly enhance your career and your work.  For more information on the program, please visit the Division's website: www.florida-arts.org. 

Applying for Division Grants

Don't forget: The mechanism for applying for grants to the Division of Cultural Affairs is now ONLINE!  Yes, the OASIS system is up and running!  If you plan on seeking funding from the Division, you will be using this new, helpful system.  All you need to use OASIS is a valid email address and internet access.  To get more information about OASIS, please visit the OASIS help site at the following link:  http://www.florida-arts.org/oasis/. 

Spotlight on Florida Artists

Starting with this edition, each edition of the Artistlink e-newsletter, we will give information and spotlight a different Florida Artist.  It is our hope that this new section of the Artistlink will help us become better acquainted the rich talent and resources that Florida has in its individual artists. 

Donna Wissinger

Flutist Donna Wissinger has been described as “a flutist of rare gifts" and hailed as a dynamic international star. Her concerts include acclaimed recitals on the main stages of Carnegie Hall and the renowned Glinka Capella. She has performed many recital tours of Europe and the USA, as well as a highly successful tour throughout several republics of the former Soviet Union. Audiences everywhere are captivated by her beautiful and communicative playing, her charismatic stage presence, and her obvious love and enthusiasm for her art.

More than her accomplishments, it is important to Donna that people feel the passion for what she is doing. “I wake up every morning excited because I am doing what I love and what I believe is valuable.” She hopes to inspire others to fulfill their dreams and do what they love. “Can you imagine a world in which all people had the opportunity to live their best dreams and encouraged the dreams of others as well? This is what I dream. Art is the vehicle through which I endeavor to inspire, to encourage and to pass along the skills that enable people to live the lives they imagine.”

Miss Wissinger is very active in the Florida community, both as an artist and an educator. The documentary of her work in the community entitled, The Magic Flute: An Ensemble of Community Partners Enriching Lives Through the Arts, is serving as a model program for artists and communities nationwide. She is co-author of the ACE/FAAE Florida Model Program Tool Kit for artists and educators and is the inaugural recipient of the Doris Leeper Artist as Educator Award for her exemplary work in the field of Arts Education.

Currently, Donna is continuing her program “The Hero’s Journey,” in which she has been visiting Boys and Girls clubs throughout the Big Bend area and giving students skills to use on their “journey” throughout their lives. In November, Miss Wissinger will begin her tour of the Midwest including eighteen concerts. Her CD, Amazing Grace: An American Tapestry, is heralded worldwide, and can be sampled from her home page as well as on the Eroica Classical Label site at www.eroica.com.

Miss Wissinger is a principal of Associated Solo Artists and a leading artist in that organization's educational (The Learning Arts) and corporate (Creative Leaps International) programs as well as in the chamber ensemble Icaras Works. She is on the roster of SouthernArtistry (a service of the Southern Arts Federation) and the Florida State Touring Program.

A firm believer in life-long and interdisciplinary learning, Donna Wissinger is a USPTA teaching professional, a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist, a marathon runner, and published poet and author. Donna was featured on National Geographic's Discovery program Bicycle for her Bicycle/Flute tour TOP FORM. Miss Wissinger has consulted for GE, the US Government, Pfizer, and The Center for Excellence. She is a noted keynote speaker at many FL conferences as well as at international conferences such as the 2006 NAMP Conference, the 2002 Excellence in Government Conference in Washington, DC, the International Art and Business Conference Idriart in Slovenia and the IODA Conference in Guanajuato, Mexico.

For more information on Donna, visit her website at:www.donnawissinger.com.  For more information on the Artist Spotlight, or if you would like to nominate an artist for the spotlight, please email Laurie Hayner, Program Assistant. 

Don't forget the new OASIS system is not just for grants.  The OASIS program is also an information system that the Division will be using to get information out to individuals and organizations about grants and other opportunities that they may be interested in.  If you are an individual artist who is interested in our public art program, go to OASIS and set up a profile!  It may look like its just for grants, but OASIS is an information system too!

POINTERS:
If you are interested in the Art in State Buildings Program, when you set up your profile, make sure that you ANSWER yes, to both Art in State Buildings questions.  This will add your contact information to the Art in State Buildings Mailing List, and when we post descriptions of new ASB projects, you will be notified via email. 

CAPITOL COMPLEX EXHIBITION PROGRAM:
The Capitol Complex Exhibition is another of the Division's nongrant programs for individual artists.  If you are a visual artist currently residing in Florida and are interested in getting information about this program, you will also want to go on OASIS and set up a profile. 

How do I set up a profile?
Its easy!  First, click on the link for the OASIS Support Site, and go to the Help Documents Section.  In this section you will be able to download an instruction sheet for setting up your profile in OASIS. 

Florida's Art In State Buildings Program places strong and impressive artwork by state, national and international artists in public spaces where our citizens and visitors can enjoy and learn on a daily basis.  For more information about the program, or projects completed in Florida, visit the Division's website: http://www.florida-arts.org/programs/statebuildings/index.htm or contact Lee Modica, Program Administrator, lmodica@dos.state.fl.us. 

Other Words Literary Conference - Panel Proposals Requested
A Conference of Literary Magazines and Independent Publishers

Conference participants include: Julianna Baggot, David Vann, Sidney Wade, Bob Shacochis, Jeff Vandermeer, John Holman, and Jocelyn Bartkevicius. Others will be added soon. The goal of the conference is to bring together writers, editors, agents, publishers, book sellers, grant administrators, directors of writers’ colonies and retreats, and other interested people in one place. The focus of the discussions will be the "how to" of the literary arts: how to write it, make it, sell it, fund it, and nurture it.

The Conference will feature panels, roundtables, readings, talks, and workshops covering all genres of writing and all aspects of the literary arts. The hope is that by bringing together the region's literary arts workers, we will build a community to promote our mutual literary efforts in as many ways as possible. Book fair space is available for those who want to sell and share their work.

If you have a panel suggestion and/or are interested in serving on a panel please contact Carissa Neff at cnn5376@garnet.acns.fsu.edu or Rick Campbell at Info@anhinga.org. The deadline for panel proposals has been extended until December 1, 2006.

Deadline: November 15, 2006
Request for Proposals Artists, craftsmen, designers, architects and art students – either individually, as a group, or as a formal organization – are invited to submit designs for Carolina CarTrek (CCT) 2007. Artists may sculpt, paint, transform and adorn the car as they wish. However, the structural integrity of the car must not be compromised. Cars will be placed in areas that are fully accessible to the public. It is possible that a few cars may be placed in indoor locations; however, most will be outdoors. Artists may submit up to three designs. Artists will be paid a $1,000 honorarium for each design selected for production that yields a finished car for exhibition. Children are also invited to submit designs.   For more information about CarTrek 2007, and the application process, please call Kimberly Linow at (843) 332-6234, email klinow@aol.com, or visit www.carolinacartrek.com.

McKee en Plein Air:  November 30 - December 2, 2006
This event is a fundraiser to benefit Cultural County of Indian River County and McKee Botanical Garden. Thirty plein air (out of doors) painters will create original art on site at McKee Botanical Garden, located at 350 U.S. Highway 1 in Vero Beach. Immediately after completion, the artworks will be framed and made available for sale on site during the three days of the event and at the event’s “Bon Voyage” wrap-up party. Visitors to the garden will see oil, acrylic, pastel and watercolor paintings based on beautiful McKee Botanical Garden come magically to life before their eyes. Proceeds from the sale of the artworks will be divided between the artists, the Cultural Council of Indian River County and McKee Botanical Garden. McKee Botanical Garden will also benefit from the event from admissions and gift shop sales. For more information, please call 772.595.9845. 

Deadline: February 23, 2007
Call to Artists:  The Center for Jazz Composition welcomes submissions of scores for big band from composers of all nationalities as part of its 1st International Jazz Arranging Competition. This year’s competition will focus on the compositions of renowned saxophonist/composer Michael Brecker. Submissions may be made in one of two categories: Open (no age restrictions) or Young Artist (30 years of age or younger by 6/1/07). Winning selections will be premiered by Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge in three concerts dedicated to the works of Michael Brecker in April of 2007 as part of the Center’s Jazz Masterworks Series. They may also be recorded at a later date. A cash prize will be offered in each category.  Complete guidelines and an application form can be found on the Center’s website: http://centerforjazzcomp.arts.usf.edu.

Many more opportunities for individual artists can be found on the Division's website at http://www.florida-arts.org/jobs/individual.htm

November 29, 2006
Creating Sustainable Funding for Your Nonprofit
Please join Laura Fixler at the Crowne Plaza Universal Orlando on November 29th from 5:15-6:30 p.m. for a complimentary session to learn how to become more effective at inspiring others about the mission of your favorite nonprofit arts organization. The Benevon™ fundraising approach frees you from pressuring people to give and provides an organic system for building sustainable funding from multiple-year individual donors. Learn how to implement mission-focused, permission-based fundraising, make your organization more visible in your community, and personally cultivate individual donors who are passionate about your mission.  Questions: Contact Sara Gosney at 206-709-9400 ext. 138 or sara.gosney@benevon.com.  To register: Go to Introductory Session Registration, submit your information, and click “Register.” 

January 3-5, 2007
"Relax: You can make it!" by artist Jim Bove at Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach
Explore advanced fabrication techniques such as hinges and mechanisms in Jewelry and metals while applying these techniques to your individual areas of creative interest.
This workshop will help intermediate and advanced jewelry and metal artists increase their technical knowledge in order to create a stronger body of work.

The instructor Jim Bove has an extensive national and international exhibition record and frequently teaches workshops on contemporary metals and jewelry techniques. His work has been featured in a wide variety of publications including "The art and craft of Jewelry making" and the upcoming "500 necklaces" from Larkbooks.

To learn more about the workshop, contact:

Armory Art Center
1700 Parker Avenue
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
(561) 832-1776
www.armoryart.org