The Delaware Poetry Out Loud State Final Competition is right around the corner. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2022 Poetry Out Loud program is being implemented virtually, with one-on-one coaching and closed adjudication sessions. Students are practicing at home and will videotape their recitation for remote adjudication by a panel of judges, selected for their background in literature, poetry, and theater. The state winner will be announced in early March. Even though the competition is virtual, it doesn't mean that you can't watch this year's participants' hard work and moving recitations. Be on the lookout for more information on how you can watch the 2022 State Final from the comfort of your own home.

Blessing Akanbi

Joelle Caternor

Robyn Goodman

Aiden Morris

Oyinkansola Olubowale

Natalie Kim Ramos

Kai Schmiedel

Ashley Schnyder

Kylie Short

Carrie Van Hauter

Hodgson Vo-Tech

Smyrna High School

Woodbridge Senior High

Mount Sophia Academy

The Tatnall School

Saint Mark’s High School

Delaware Valley Classical School

Sanford School

Milford Senior High School

Sussex Central High School

As the new Director of the Delaware Division of the Arts, I’m excited to write about a couple of new Division initiatives centered on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA).

We are pleased to be piloting a program called the Arts Equity and Innovation Incubator. The incubator program is an assessment, training, and planning initiative built on the principles of IDEA for the state’s arts industry. The State has invested $1.25 million in the initiative which will bring about the next ideas driving the future of the arts sector as it confronts the increasingly complex and interrelated social and economic challenges of our time. 

Five arts organizations are participating in the pilot program including the Delaware Art Museum, Choir School of Delaware, The Delaware Contemporary, The Freeman Arts Pavilion, and Clear Space Theatre Company. This cohort will receive support and guidance from a team of consultants experienced in leading arts organizations to be more equitable, accessible, and responsive; and through that, more durable and fiscally resilient. The consultants will evaluate current financial, governance, and programmatic practices at each organization. Based on this assessment, they will collaborate to develop custom strategies for sustainable practices and programming that integrate the principles of IDEA into all aspects of each organization’s operations.

During the final phase of the initiative, the arts organizations will be eligible for grant funding to support the implementation of their custom strategies and priority practices developed during the consulting period. Our plan is to continue the program with additional organization cohorts in 2022.

The Division of the Arts also recently launched the IDEA 101 Workshop developed for education staff of arts organizations and teaching artists. The purpose is to assist these educators in gaining more knowledge in this area of IDEA for meaningful programming and curriculums that relate to students - particularly those of color.  

The workshop will unpack the language of inclusion and discuss strategies that can be implemented. Taking into consideration the needs of education staff in arts organizations and teaching artists in the classroom, this training will focus on four areas of IDEA practice and impact: culturally relevant content, culturally responsive pedagogy, culturally responsive practice, and measuring impact. We plan to work with our partners in the arts education community to expand this new initiative. 

All Division grant applications with a March 1, 2022 application deadline are now open in smARTDE. This includes the following grant programs for Delaware-based organizations:

Log in to smARTDE, and click on “Opportunities” to access applications for which your organization is eligible.

For Grant Program Guidelines, instructions for smARTDE, and a 30-minute video demonstration, please visit our Grant Overview page. Be sure to read through the appropriate program guidelines carefully prior to application and contact Division staff members if you have questions.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced that four Delaware arts organizations – Art Works for All, Inc., The Delaware Contemporary, Delaware Shakespeare, and Wilmington Children’s Chorus – received either $50,000 or $100,000 American Rescue Plan (ARP) grants directly from the NEA. These four organizations are among 567 arts organizations nationwide – located in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC – that will receive a total of $57.75 million in nonmatching funds to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation.

The Delaware Division of the Arts is partnering with the United Way of Delaware and Spur Impact Association to promote philanthropy benefiting Delaware’s arts community. As part of the Do More 24 Delaware Day campaign, arts organizations receiving FY2022 general operating support from the Delaware Division of the Arts that participate in this event are eligible to receive additional funds from a Division-funded “stretch pool” totaling $400,000.

Participating organizations, divided into large and small divisions, will receive an FY2022 grant bonus, proportionate to the success of their fundraising within their division.

This is a great opportunity for patrons of the arts to support the arts in Delaware and multiply the impact of your donations. Simply visit the Do More 24 Delaware website, search for your organization(s), and make your contribution during the 24-hour period between March 3 (6 p.m.) and March 4 (6 p.m.). We'll take care of the rest.

As an added bonus and to show its thanks for supporting Delaware nonprofits, Do More 24 Delaware is inviting anyone who makes a $50 donation to one or more of the participating nonprofits during the giving day to an exclusive, virtual, one night only benefit concert featuring Backtrack Vocals, an award-winning, five-person a capella group based in New York City. Two of Backtrack Vocals' members went to schools in Delaware. The concert will air on Friday, March 4 at 8 p.m. after the 24-hour giving day officially ends.

Don't forget to also tune into the Do More 24 Delaware Livestream with Mr. Delaware Gives (Chris Bruce), who is returning for another 24-hour livestream for the length of the event. Starting around 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 3 and concluding 24 hours later, the public can view the livestream on Facebook and YouTube. The livestream will feature nonprofit guests and other leaders and Delebrities who will be chatting informally about their favorite nonprofits. It is a chance to learn more about Delaware nonprofits and the important work they do for and services they provide to Delawareans.

Images: The Glorification of Motherhood (details), 2021, mixed media, 7" x 7" x 7"

On Display II, an exhibition of artwork by Shari Dierkes, will be on view in the Mezzanine Gallery February 4 through February 25, 2022. Dierkes is the recipient of a 2021 Emerging Artist Fellowship in the category of Crafts from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Guests are invited to attend the artist's free, opening reception on Friday, February 4 from 5-7 p.m.

On Display II is a visual storytelling of Dierkes’ artistic journey that includes some of her previous work; her Artist Fellowship application collection; and new works created as a result of the Fellowship. She chose the title, she says, to play on the vulnerability she has experienced displaying her art — the graphic embodiment of her inner thoughts — in a public forum.

“My curiosity about the realities of human life include a deep dive into behavior, psychology, and relationships, and the conversations these elements have with each other,” she notes. “My hope is that viewers get a sense of how the parts of our existence work together, even if not always in harmony. We are imperfect systems.”

Dierkes’ work often uses plants as a metaphor for her experiences in the human condition. Her material choices are often driven by natural resources with malleable properties, such as wood, metal, and gemstones.

Dierkes says the act of creating art, for her, is like the need to eat. “I need to do some form of it to survive. Even more, though, it's like eating a favorite meal. I not only need to create art, but I also thoroughly enjoy creating it.”

For more information about Shari Dierkes and her upcoming exhibition, watch her Meet the Artist video on YouTube.

To be considered for an exhibition, artists may submit a Mezzanine Gallery Application before the March 15, 2022 deadline.

Linda Blaskey’s work has been chosen for inclusion in Best New Poets, 2014, and in North Carolina’s Poetry on the Bus project for National Poetry Month. She is poetry/interview editor emerita for Broadkill Review, is coordinator for the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize, and current editor for the new online journal, Quartet. She organized a presentation of Icelandic poetry for the Rehoboth Beach Film Festival, and her work was included in Southern Delaware Choral Society’s presentation of Haydn: “Mass in the Time of War.” She sat on the panel, “Collaborative Publishing,” for Western Maryland Indie Lit Festival at Frostburg State University. Blaskey’s work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies and she is the author of four poetry collections, two of which are collaborations, one forthcoming in 2022.

She lives with her husband on a small horse/goat farm in Sussex County, Delaware.

The Delaware Division of the Arts engages Delaware citizens to review and make recommendations on grant applications for state funding of the arts. The Division selects panelists based on their knowledge and experience in the arts, in business and nonprofit management, and in their community.

To be considered for service, you may nominate yourself or someone else. Nominations are accepted year round; the next panel review meetings take place in early May 2022. Please visit smARTDE for more information on the grant review process and use this nomination form to nominate yourself or others.

If you love the arts and actively participate in programs or attend events, you may be a candidate to serve as an on-site evaluator for the Division. We are currently seeking to expand our list of potential evaluators who are dependable, articulate observers with knowledge in one or more art forms (you do not need to be professionally trained in the arts).

Evaluators generally attend and produce a written review of two or more programs each year, including performances, exhibits, workshops or classes, and more. Experience new art forms and see more of Delaware’s treasures while serving a vital role in the review of grant-funded programs. If interested, please visit smARTDE.

The Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program, supported by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, provides artists in need who are practicing in the disciplines of visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography and residing in the U.S., Tribal Nations, District of Columbia, or U.S. Territories with one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent, unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies. The current application cycle is open now through February 7 for emergencies occurring June 1, 2021 and later.

Visit the Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants page for more information.

Grants for Arts Projects is the National Endowment for the Arts' principal grants program. Applicants can request cost share/matching grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 for arts projects in 15 different disciplines. The deadline for applications is February 10, 2022.

Visit the NEA's Grants for Arts Projects page for more information.

Individual artists working in craft disciplines are invited to apply for grants up to $500 to undertake activities to safeguard their studios, protect their careers, and prepare for emergencies. In response to the effects of COVID-19 on artists and their careers, this cycle will also support projects that help artists acquire the required career skills and business assets needed in the current and post-pandemic creative economy. The deadline for applications is February 22, 2022.

Visit CERF +'s Artist Get Ready Grants page for more information.

This grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts provides funds for the creation and the U.S. touring of artist-led, ensemble, devised projects. The deadline for applications is February 28, 2022.

Learn more and apply at NEFA's National Theater Project Creation & Touring Grant page.

The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is currently accepting submissions for its ninth annual, internationally recognized Golden Haiku poetry competition. Poets and aspiring poets of all ages from around the world are invited to submit a maximum of two haiku to the competition. This year's competition theme is Reboot and Rebloom. The deadline for submission is February 6, 2022.

Visit Golden Haiku Poetry Contest for more information.

The Delaware Forest Service is seeking entries for its 2022 Annual Arbor Day Poster Contest. The contest is open to all kindergarten through fifth-grade public, private, and homeschool students as well as after-school and other organized youth groups. This year's theme is "Trees Are Terrific...for Today and Tomorrow!"

All teachers who plan on participating in the Arbor Day Contest must register by March 9, 2022, and the school's or organization's winning entries must be submitted by April 1, 2022.

For more information, visit the Delaware Forest Service's Arbor Day Poster Contest page.

Nonprofit Finance Fund is conducting its 2022 National State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey. This survey is the biggest national sampling of the nonprofit sector, and the Nonprofit Finance Fund wants to make sure it hears from nonprofits, both big and small, from across the country. Don't miss your chance to add your voice to the survey's findings which are widely used and cited by nonprofit leaders and boards, funders, advocates, policy advisors, and many others.

Learn more about the survey by visiting 2022 National State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey. The survey closes on February 28, 2022.

Each month we feature 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.

February - April 2022

May & June 2022

July & August 2022

September & October 2022

November & December 2022

January & February 2023

As soon as possible

March 1, 2022

May 1, 2022

July 1, 2022

September 1, 2022

November 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.