November 5, 2014

Paul Weagraff, Director

Design Delaware 2.0

Thanks to all who attended a Community Meeting or Focus Group! Your thoughts and ideas will be invaluable to the process of creating a new strategic plan for the arts in Delaware.

Milton Community Meeting Wilmington Community Meeting
All interested Delawareans are also encouraged to complete a brief, 10-minute survey. While the meetings/focus groups provided open-ended qualitative information, the survey provides quantitative data that is helpful in reviewing the effectiveness and usefulness of Division programs and services. The survey is open until noon on November 10, 2014. Thank you!

Upcoming Mezzanine Exhibits

Bobcat with beaded mp3 and box, 2012, Nancy Josephson

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by 2014 Individual Artist Fellow Nancy Josephson (Wilmington) from December 5-24, with an opening reception on December 5, 5-8 p.m.

Josephson is a self-taught artist, and she practices what some call folk or outsider art - her particular brand is filled with embellishment, by way of beads, sequins, rhinestone chains, glass mosaics or found metal.

A schedule for all 2014/2015 Mezzanine Exhibits and opening receptions, including the November 7-26 exhibit of work by 2014 Individual Artist Fellow Gabriel Jules, can be found here.

Delaware Day Fourth Grade Competition

Hosted by Delaware's Department of State, the annual Delaware Day competition is open to fourth graders across the state and is designed to excite students about Delaware history; encourage them to study the federal Constitution; and challenge them to utilize their organizational, persuasive writing, and artistic skills to create an historically accurate and visually compelling presentation.

The Division has partnered with the Secretary of State's office to help schools compete by providing funds to support classrooms that incur project-related expenses. For the first time this year, in partnership with the Newark Arts Alliance, the Division is sponsoring Artistic Merit Awards to acknowledge projects that exhibit exceptional visual design and impact. The awards presentation, celebrating student and teacher achievements, will be held at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover on December 6, 2014.

New Book from Richard Blanco

Richard Blanco, keynote speaker from the 2013 Delaware Arts Summit, has released a new memoir - a vivid account of Blanco's coming of age as the child of Cuban immigrants in the 1970's and 1980's in Miami and his effort to contend with his burgeoning artistic and sexual identities. The Prince of Los Cocuyos is now available in bookstores and online.

2014 Governor's Award for the Arts

Nearly 800 people attended the Governor's Awards for the Arts and the reception that followed on Monday, October 6th at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. The awards were presented to the eight winners by Governor Markell, First Lady Carla Markell and Delaware State Arts Council Chair Lise Monty.

More photos from the event are available on Flickr. Video interviews with the awardees, which were part of the presentation, are available on the Division's YouTube channel. WITN22-TV recorded the full event, along with interviews captured during the reception with each winner, the Governor, and the First Lady.

Photo on left: back row l-r: David Amado, Jennifer Gunther, Eunice LaFate, Xiang Gao, Governor Jack Markell, Division Director Paul Weagraff, Patti Grimes, Billie Travalini; front row l-r: Sharon Baker, Evelyn Swensson, First Lady Carla Markell, Arts Council Chair Lise Monty, Michelle Freeman.

Photo on right, l-r: Division Director Paul Weagraff, Arts Council Chair Lise Monty, Evelyn Swensson (winner, Peggy Amsterdam Outstanding Achievement Award), Governor Jack Markell, First Lady Carla Markell.

Photos by: Kathy Buckalew

Enjoy Holiday Programming in Delaware!

Visit DelawareScene.com or download the What's On mobile application to your mobile device to get the latest updates on Holiday Season arts and culture events in Delaware!

Image: The Nutcracker, Wilmington Ballet Academy of the Dance

DelawareScene.com

The best place to visit on the web for arts and culture entertainment information throughout Delaware. Browse by date, region, art form, free, family-friendly or special events. Event pages provide a description of the activity, dates/times, directions and links.

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Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

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