Community-based nonprofits in Delaware can request funding to support capital projects in Delaware communities hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic through the Community Investment Recovery Fund. Delaware Governor John Carney created the Community Investment Recovery Fund using American Rescue Plan funding. The capital projects must meet the strict federal compliance eligibility standards. The application must be fully completed and submitted by November 30, 2021.

The application for funding is available at de.gov/rescueplan.

The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation has awarded $178,000 in grants supporting 46 performing arts engagements through its 2021-2022 Mid Atlantic Tours program. The grants, awarded directly to presenting organizations, will support engagements in Mid Atlantic Arts' partner states and jurisdictions. Learn more about the 2021-2022 tours.

The following presenting organizations in Delaware received Mid Atlantic Tour grants:

The Delaware Tourism Office is hosting the 2021 Delaware Tourism Summit on December 2, 2021 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. The one-day conference promises to be a day of education, inspiration, and innovation. Attendees will get to hear from nationally renowned speakers while learning about a wide range of topics, providing opportunities for both individual and professional development. Lunch will be provided to attendees.

For more information on the 2021 Delaware Tourism Summit or to register for the summit, visit the 2021 Delaware Tourism Summit page.

Images: Tears on My Grandnother's Braids (detail), 2019, mixed media, 24" x 24" and Prayer Tree In The Bleak Mid-Winter 2021 (detail), 2021, mixed media, 48" x 60"

In the Between, an exhibition of paintings by Denise Eno Ernest, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery through November 24, 2021. Ernest is the recipient of a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellowship in Painting from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Guests are invited to attend the artist's free, opening reception on Friday, November 5 from 5-7p.m.

Ernest has been an artist her entire life. Now residing in Newark, Delaware, she has diligently developed a new body of work over the past eight years. As an older artist, Ernest offers, "I bring experience, creativity, and wisdom to my work."

Ernest's work employs either three-dimensional forms attached to her paintings or mixed media to create a three-dimensional landscape. She integrates silk scarves, textiles, and found objects with acrylic and metallic paint to build each art piece. The juxtaposition of these materials, Ernest says, creates both a tension and vulnerability in her art. "The results are visual and tactile works in a language all my own."

One of the signature pieces in this exhibit, Prayer Tree In The Bleak Mid-Winter 2021, incorporates actual tree branches to represent trees in an abstract landscape. "I asked over 28 families across the country to write anything meaningful to them on fabric ribbons I provided," Ernest says of the piece. "They sent back drawings, poems, prayers, Bible verses, famous quotes, and personal messages, which I attached to the tree branches." She describes that many cultures use prayer trees to send spiritual messages out into the world. "This is my interpretation of a prayer tree," she says.

For more information about Denise Eno Ernest and her upcoming exhibition, watch her Meet the Artist video on YouTube.

Richard Raw is fueled by the written word. This musician, activist, and producer uses his creativity and entrepreneurial drive to both satisfy his spiritual hunger and mix his artistry with service. He passionately believes that his music is "a tool to address social issues and challenge us to think in ways that are unconventional." And he acts on his beliefs.

Read more about Richard Raw.

Artists in need who are practicing in the disciplines of visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, or choreography and living in the U.S., Tribal Nations, District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories who are seeking support for medical, dental, or mental health-related emergency expenses: the Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent emergencies. This program, supported by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), is designed to serve artists in financial need who otherwise may delay critical treatment or incur substantial and perhaps overwhelming debt. The current cycle is open now through November 30 for emergencies occurring April 1, 2021 and later.

Please click here for details about the Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants.

USArtists International supports performances by U.S. dance, music, and theater solo artists and ensembles invited to perform at important cultural festivals and performing arts marketplaces anywhere in the world outside the United States and its territories. This grant program has recently expanded to accept applications for virtual performances (live-streamed or pre-recorded) at eligible international festivals. USArtists International grantees reflect the vibrant diversity of U.S. artists and creative expression in the performing arts. The next program deadline is December 1, 2021.

To learn more about the program, read the program guidelines, or view additional details, please visit Mid Atlantic Arts Foundations website.

Dance/USA announced a new round of Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists (DFA). As our society grapples with unprecedented challenges and increasingly recognizes the inequity and injustice of our systems, Dance/USA is reaffirmed that the work of supporting artists who engage in art for social change is pivotal and overdue. DFA offers direct support to individual artists who have a sustained and intentional practice of working through dance or movement-based modalities to address social change.

DFA will award 30 Fellowships of a minimum of $30,000 per artist by August of 2022. Fellowship funds may be used at the artist's discretion. Artists are invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry by December 8, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

Find the DFA program overview and guidelines here.

The Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program is part of the Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network and managed in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance. This grant program aims to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military service members and veterans exposed to trauma as well as their families and caregivers through support of non-clinical arts engagement projects. Matching grants of $10,000 to $50,000 are available to eligible organizations for emerging and established projects that take place after July 1, 2022. Deadline for applications: December 15, 2021. Read the Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant full press release for more information.

Guidelines, eligibility requirements, and the application are available on the Mid-America Arts Alliance's website here.

The Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) is currently accepting applications for Fall 2022 residencies (September 1-December 31, 2022) at Mt. San Angelo. All Delaware writers, visual artists, and composers who apply for a two-week or one-month long VCCA residency at Mt. San Angelo are eligible for a fully-funded residency through the Mid Atlantic Arts Creative Fellowships program, supported by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. All fellows in residence are provided with a private individual studio, a private bedroom with an en-suite bathroom, and three meals a day in a community of cross-disciplinary artists. Delaware writers, visual artists, or composers who complete the Application for a Mt. San Angelo Residency by the deadline of January 15, 2022 will automatically be considered for a Mid Atlantic Arts Creative Fellowship.

Bring the NEA Big Read to your community! Fifteen books representing a diverse range of contemporary themes, voices, and perspectives are available for organizations interested in applying for a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read grant to hold a project between September 2022 and June 2023. An initiative of the NEA in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read supports programs held around the country, each designed around a single NEA Big Read book selection with the goal of inspiring meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in each community. The deadline for applications is January 26, 2022.

Visit arts.gov/neabigread for more information.

The Theater Project is currently accepting submissions for its THINK FAST Short Play Fest. Adult playwrights, age 18 and up, are invited to submit a short play, either a drama or a comedy, that is no longer than 15 minutes running time. Eight to ten of the submitted short plays will be selected for the festival.

There is no fee to submit a play for consideration, but there is a fee if chosen to participate in the festival. The playwright whose play is chosen as Best Play during the festival wins a $500 prize.

For more information about the submission process and the festival, visit the THINK FAST: Annual One-Act Play Competition page.

Each month we feature a handful of arts and community-based organizations and their programs and projects funded by the Delaware Division of the Arts. Funding for Division of the Arts grants is provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. To view past grants awarded (2000 to present), please visit our Grants Awarded page.

The Division recommends that organizations, businesses, and individual artists submit their 2021 and 2022 events as soon as they are scheduled, and no later than the recommended deadlines below. Submit an event to DelawareScene now.

November 2021 - January 2022

February & March 2022

April & May 2022

June & July 2022

August & September 2022

October & November 2022

As soon as possible

December 1, 2021

February 1, 2022

April 1, 2022

June 1, 2022

August 1, 2022

Do you have an exciting arts program, project, or story to share? Are you interested in being interviewed, either to promote an upcoming event, your work in the arts, or an issue relevant to Delaware’s arts and entertainment sector? Send an email to delarts@delaware.gov with "DE State of the Arts Podcast" in the subject line.

Please note: All applications for grants must be submitted through smARTDE.

The 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. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.