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PROJECTS & INITIATIVES: International Programs USArtists InternationalUSArtists International is committed to ensuring that the impressive range of expression and creativity of the U.S. performing arts is represented at international festivals abroad. The program works to strengthen the creative and professional development of U.S. artists by providing support for their performances at significant international festivals. Through the participation of exemplary U.S. artists in international festivals, USArtists International will help develop audiences for, and appreciation of, the excellence, diversity and vitality of the American arts. For the inaugural year, USArtists International will target support for U.S. dance and music ensembles and will focus on countries that comprise the European Union. Grants are available to U.S. dance and music ensembles that have been invited to participate in international festivals in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The National Endowment for the Arts and Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation seek to build a foundation for the expansion of USArtists International to include other arts disciplines and geographic regions in coming years. US Mexico Cultural Connections With the aim of creating a mechanism for sustained cultural exchange between the U.S. and Mexico, the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, working in partnership with Mexico's National Fund for Culture and the Arts and the U.S. Mexico Fund for Culture, initiated the US Mexico Cultural Connections initiative. The Alliance is a network composed of the six U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and five Mexican Regional Arts Organizations. Officially initiated in 2002, the goal of the Alianza is for Regional Organizations to develop projects across borders, and, most importantly, to integrate their binational work into their ongoing activities. Projects range from arts education to dance, folk arts, music, and visual arts exhibitions. The Allianza has also seeded collaborative creative work. Carlos Fuentes' novella Aura is the inspiration for a dance theater collaboration between Los Angeles based choreographer, Rosanna Gamson and accomplished Mexican choreographer, Cecilia Appleton. An Alianza-spurred connection recently brought the U.S. and Mexican puppetry communities together in Mexico City. Support from New England Foundation for the Arts spearheaded the organization of a puppetry conference in Mexico in April that included 20 U.S. puppetry artists and presenters from the New England and Mid Atlantic regions and a large representation of Mexican puppetry artists and organizations. These examples provide just a glimpse of the variety of exchange taking place through the Regional initiative. |
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