Issue link: http://saihq.uberflip.com/i/467443
saI-NaTIONal.ORg WINTER 2015 PAN PIPES 5 T he National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded grants to the American Guild of Organists (AGO) and the MacDowell Colony in Fall 2014. e $20,000 NEA "Art Works" grant for the AGO will support Pipe Organ Encounters for youth and adults, performances, and workshops at all seven AGO Regional Conventions, the Guild's professional certification program for organists and choral conductors, and new music commissions. While the Guild has benefitted from NEA support for the past five consecutive AGO National Conventions, the 2015 grant represents the first support the Guild has received for its educational programs and regional conventions. "is grant covers the full breadth of the AGO's educational activities for current and prospective members as well as our programs of outreach to the public," AGO Executive Director James omashower said. "e NEA's funding sends an upliing message to the entire organ community: our instrument and its music are vitally important to the American people. e award validates the AGO's ongoing efforts to ensure that music for the organ is created by talented composers, performed by skilled musicians, and appreciated by the widest audience possible. It is an honor for the Guild to be recognized by the NEA, the most prestigious independent federal agency in the United States responsible for funding and promoting artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation." NEA Chairman and SAI Epsilon Delta initiate Dr. Jane Chu added, "I am pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Art Works including the award to the American Guild of Organists. e arts foster value, connection, creativity, and innovation for the American people. is grant demonstrates those attributes and affirms that the arts are part of our everyday lives." e NEA also awarded $40,000 to the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. is was the second grant the colony had received from the NEA to support artist residencies. With a focus on artists who have not yet been engaged by the organization, the residencies will include exclusive studio use, room and board, and exchanges with peer artists. Resident fellows also may participate in a new program to expand online audiences. To attract qualified applicants who would otherwise not be able to afford time off for a residency, MacDowell will provide financial aid and travel support in addition to the residency fellowships supported by this grant. e Colony also received a $30,000 NEA grant to support ten first-year residents in January 2014. e mission of e MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. SAI has long supported the colony, the nation's first artist residency program. In 2013, MacDowell Fellows arrived from 32 states and 15 countries. "Bringing talented artists together from all over the country to work in New Hampshire is a simple idea that requires a lot of resources," Executive Director Cheryl Young said of the initial NEA 2014 grant. "e NEA's support has always been integral." Founded in 1907, e MacDowell Colony has provided crucial time and space to more than 6,000 artists, including such notable names as Leonard Bernstein, ornton Wilder, Aaron Copland, Milton Avery, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Alice Sebold, Michael Chabon, Suzan-Lori Parks, and many more. SAI financed the construction of Pan's Cottage in 1919 and maintains it via an SAI fund established in 1943. SAI presented a $75,000 gi to the MacDowell Colony in Summer 2007 to restore and preserve founder Edward MacDowell's music room. e sole criterion for acceptance to e MacDowell Colony is artistic excellence. MacDowell defines excellence in a pluralistic and inclusive way, encouraging applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics. Art Works grants support the creation of art, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. e NEA received 1,474 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $75 million in funding. Of those applications, 919 were recommended for grants for a total of $26.6 million. — compiled from press releases SUPPORTINg ThE ARTS neA Awards grants to AgO, macDowell Colony Forms for registration, workshops, and more for the 2015 National Convention are available at the SAI website, sai-national.org. All Aboard!