Delaware Division of the Arts Receives $1 Million Increase in FY25 Budget

The Division is excited to announce that Governor John Carney and the Delaware State Legislature has approved a $1 million increase in state arts funding in the FY25 state budget. This is the second year that the Division has received an increase thanks to your advocacy.

We ask that you reach out to your local elected officials to thank them for this support. You can find your local legislator by visiting: https://www.delawareartsalliance.org/resources/find-officials/.

DEADLINE APPROACHING:

2025 Individual Artist Fellowships

The Fiscal Year 2025 Artist Fellowship application is now open in smARTDE. Awards are $5,000 for Emerging; $8,000 for Established; and $12,000 for Masters. The deadline for applications is August 1, 2024. In Fiscal Year 2025, Masters ($12,000 award) Fellowship applications will be accepted in the disciplines of Literary Arts and Media Arts from artists who received an Established Professional Fellowship in the same artistic discipline more than seven years ago (prior to January 2018).

Individual Artist Fellowships are awarded for artistic quality to Delaware creative artists working in the visual, performing, media, folk, and literary arts. Due to high numbers of applications and limited funds, the program is highly competitive. Fellowships are designed to enable recipients to purchase equipment and materials, allocate working time, or fulfill other needs that will allow them to advance their careers (excluding foreign travel and lobbying). Fellowship recipients are required to present examples of their work to the public during their Fellowship year.

The Division is accepting applications in the following disciplines:

Masters Fellowship

Literary Arts (Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Playwriting, Poetry)

Media Arts

Established and Emerging Fellowships

Dance: Choreography

Folk Art: Music

Folk Art: Oral Literature

Folk Art: Visual Arts

Jazz: Composition

Jazz: Performance

Literature: Creative Nonfiction

Literature: Fiction

Literature: Playwriting

Literature: Poetry

Media Arts: Video/Film

Music: Composition

Music: Contemporary Performance (hip-hop, popular, R&B)

Music: Solo Recital (classical)

Visual Arts: Crafts

Visual Arts: Painting

Visual Arts: Photography

Visual Arts: Sculpture

Visual Arts: Works on Paper

Visual Arts: Interdisciplinary (combines two or more disciplines)

READ THE 2025 GUIDELINES >>>

APPLY BEFORE AUGUST 1 >>>

Questions about your application? Schedule a 1-on-1 call!

Sign up for a 30-minute meeting with Program Officer Roxanne Stanulis to discuss your application and have your questions answered. Appointments are available the week of July 15 and July 29. Questions can be emailed to roxanne.stanulis@delaware.go v.

Please Note: Roxanne is not the juror that will be reviewing your application.

Schedule a Zoom >

DEADLINE APPROACHING:

2024 Delaware Writers Retreat

The Delaware Division of the Arts is hosting the 2024 Writers Retreat from November 7-10, 2024 at the Virden Center in Lewes. This is a special opportunity to get away from everyday life and focus on creative writing in a relaxed coastal setting. Participants will have time to write, connect with peers, work alongside established authors, give and receive feedback in workshops, and get inspired!

Applications are being accepted from creative writers in the following areas: fiction, including fiction for young adults; creative nonfiction; and poetry. The application process is competitive, and participants will be chosen based on the merit of their work. Work samples will be juried in an anonymous review process to select up to 20 attendees from the pool of applicants split between poetry and prose.

If selected, the fee for the Retreat is $325, which includes a private room and most meals. Each room contains a bed, desk, small refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. This is a tobacco-free facility.

Deadline to apply for consideration is Thursday, August 1, 2024 at 11:59pm.

Learn More >>>

Apply Before August 1 >>>

Our 2024 Facilitators Are...

Tope Folarin, Prose Facilitator

Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. He serves as Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He is the recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other awards. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster.

Catherine Pierce, Poetry Facilitator

Catherine Pierce is the Poet Laureate of Mississippi and the author of four books of poems: Danger Days (2020), The Tornado Is the World (2016), The Girls of Peculiar (2012), and Famous Last Words (2008), all from Saturnalia Books. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Best American Poetry, the Pushcart Prize anthology, The Nation, American Poetry Review, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of American Poets, she teaches at Mississippi State University.

Upcoming Grant Deadline for NEA's Our Town Program

Our Town is the NEA’s creative placemaking grants program. Through project-based funding, the program supports activities that integrate arts, culture, and design into local efforts that strengthen communities over the long term. Our Town projects engage a wide range of local stakeholders in efforts to advance local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes in communities. Competitive projects are responsive to unique local conditions, develop meaningful and substantive engagement in communities, center equity, advance artful lives, and lay the groundwork for long-term systems change.

Important dates:

August 1 - Register to Grants.gov

August 8 - Applicant Portal Opens

August 15 - Applicant Portal Closes

Learn More >>>

Free Professional Development Webinars Courtesy of South Arts

Each virtual workshop below is presented free-of-charge.

Authentic Social Media Marketing

July 18 from 11am-12:30pm

Department of Labor, The New Overtime Rule and Arts Organizations

August 22 from 11am-12:30pm

A Prescription for Art? Yes Please!

September 12 from 11am-12:30pm

September 19 from 11am-12:30pm

Department of Education Visual and Performing Arts Summer Professional Learning

Teaching artists are encouraged to register for this one-day professional development opportunity with the Department of Education. This year's workshops are focused on high quality culturally responsive arts education and trauma support for arts educations.

The learning will be July 24 from 8am to 4:30pm at Delaware State University.

Delaware Art Education Association presents their 2024 State Arts Conference

The Delaware Art Education Association (DAEA) is a non-profit organization that promotes visual arts education in the State of Delaware.

Teachers, artists, and advocates of visual arts are encouraged to attend.

When: September 10th, Tuesday (Primary Day),7:30 AM - 3:30 PM

Where: Dover Middle School 1 Patrick Lynn Dr, Dover, DE 19904

Cost: $50 for members, $75 for non-members

Upcoming Artist Opportunity Deadline - October 1

Artist Opportunity Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to support unique professional and artistic development and presentation opportunities for artists. Examples include: materials to complete work for a specific show or program; the cost to rent a facility for a performance; study with a master for a specified period of time. Evaluation criteria include: anticipated impact on the artist’s work or career; financial feasibility and need; marketing plans; and uniqueness of the opportunity.

Apply Today >>>

Submit your

upcoming events!

DelawareScene is a comprehensive, up-to-date website calendar featuring Delaware’s arts and cultural events and attractions in and around Delaware. Acquaint yourself with one of Delaware’s many artists, get carried away by the magic of a theater performance, frequent one of Delaware’s world-renowned museums, experience one of Delaware’s many unique festivals.

REMINDER: All grantees MUST list all events on DelawareScene.com as soon as they are announced.

Submit an Event >>>

On the Mezzanine - Vik Hart

The Mezzanine Gallery presents Vik Hart's "Odd Little Creatures", on view through August 30. This exhibition focuses on a series of works portraying small creatures in an imagined world, exploring their environments and how they adapt to unique features of the places they live. Meet the artist tomorrow, July 12 from 5-7pm during Art Loop Wilmington!

Meet the 2024 Fellows

The prestigious Individual Artist Fellowships from the Delaware Division of the Arts recognize a variety of disciplines and outstanding quality of work. Each month, we will highlight a few fellows from the 2024 cohort.

Victor Letonoff

Established, Literature: Creative Nonfiction

“I approach my writing as I once did sculpture, cleaning it up, cleaning it up, cleaning it up, until I can see the final form.”

Learn More >>>

Rebecca Raubacher

Established, Visual Arts: Painting

“My oldest sister took me for a pony ride. When I came home, I asked for pencil and paper. I’ve been drawing ever since.”

Learn More >>>

Award Winners XXIV Schedule Across the State

Delaware’s Individual Artist Fellowships recognize artists for their outstanding quality of work. Each year, the Biggs Museum of American Art curates an exhibition of the Fellows’ artwork called Award Winners. Mark your calendars!