Due to COVID-19, this year's Poetry Out Loud National Finals have been cancelled. In the weeks to come, the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts will honor the achievements of each 2020 Poetry Out Loud State Champion including, Delaware's 2020 State Champion, Camille Decker, a senior from Sanford School. Here's Camille reciting "Double Dutch" by Gregory Pardlo.
Thank you to the following poets and students for sharing their poetry in April for National Poetry Month! View their poems on our website, and other digital content on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • April 6 - Caroline N. Simpson, 2020 Established Fellow, Poetry
  • April 13 - 2020 Scholastic Writing Award Gold & Silver Award winners:
  • Iris Hwang, senior at St. Andrew's School
  • Christine Chen, junior at St. Andrew's School
  • Samantha Oliver, sophomore at Sussex Academy of Arts & Sciences
  • Julie Griswold, junior at Tatnall School
  • April 20 - Kari Ann Ebert, 2020 Emerging Fellow, Poetry
  • April 27 - Delaware Poets Laureate - Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha and Al Mills
  • With surprise poet - J. Mack Wathen, Chair of the Delaware State Arts Council
From the Director
The Division of the Arts is as busy as ever working to keep the arts community abreast of relief efforts, funding opportunities, and innovative programming.

A few heroes have emerged for me in this crisis. Leeann Wallett has been stellar in using our communications and social media to keep the arts community informed about opportunities and arts resources for families and youth alike. If you don’t follow us on Facebook, please consider doing so. And kudos go out to Jessica Ball and Arreon Harley-Emerson at the Delaware Arts Alliance for their amazing work in convening members of the arts community, collecting data, and creating messaging to keep at the forefront the impact the COVID-19 crisis has had on artists and arts organizations throughout the state.

Finally, we are pleased that the Division of the Arts recently received $423,600 from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the CARES Act. A special application is now available in smARTDE for current recipients of General Operating Support and Project Support to help assist with costs associated with preserving jobs and covering utility costs in their facilities. While this funding won’t go very far in supporting 60 arts organizations and an additional 20 arts programs, the Division is committed to allocating those dollars where they will be the most helpful. The CARES Organization Relief guidelines identify the eligibility requirements and parameters of the special funding opportunity. The deadline to apply is May 15, 2020.
Congrats 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Award National Medalists
This year there were over 25 Delaware students honored nationally by the Scholastic Awards. Teens in grades 7-12 can apply in 29 categories of art and writing. In 2019, students submitted nearly 340,000 works of art and writing to the Awards. View or read the students' award-winning work at the link below.
Visual Arts
Gold Medal
  • Finley Anderson, Sanford School, Photography
  • Hannah Garey, Caesar Rodney High, Drawing

American Vision/Gold Medal
  • Katie Raab, Concord High, Painting

Silver Medal
  • Esther Adebi, Tatnall School, Painting
  • Stephen D’Antonio, Archmere Academy, Ceramics
  • Taylor Davis, Newark High, Photography
  • Cecilia Gao, Sanford School, Photography
  • Kylie King, James H. Groves, Photography
  • Kira Meakin, Cab Calloway School, Drawing
  • Sophie Moosberg, Archmere Academy, Ceramics
  • Olivia Smithson, Cab Calloway School, Comic Art
  • Many Wang, Concord High, Painting
  • Lauren Wilson, Archmere Academy, Painting
  • Giusy Zappulo, Holy Cross School, Editorial Cartoon
Writing
Gold Medal
  • Ashley Bao, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Curated Concrete (Flash Fiction)
  • Renna Brooks, Appoquinimink High School, It is the East (Short Story)
  • Lila Feldmann, St. Andrew’s School, Poems for the Female Existence (Poetry)
  • Julie Griswold, Tatnall School, Aegotheles savesi (the New Caledonian owlet-nightjar) (Poetry)
  • Iris Hwang , St. Andrew’s School, The School (Dramatic Script) and Sound with no Letters (Poetry)
  • Samantha Oliver, Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences, On Birdsong and Love: An Abecedarian (Poetry)
  • Ella Trembanis, Middletown High School,Memorialization of our Pasts (and Present) (Journalism)

American Vision/Gold Medal
  • Jesse Roy, Newark Charter Junior/Senior High School, Voix (Personal Essay & Memoir)

Silver Medal
  • Riley Baker, St. Andrew’s School, Mousetrap (Novel Writing)
  • Christine Chen, St. Andrew’s School, Raining Leaves, To the Couple in the Kitchen Across from My Window (Poetry)
  • Isabella DaGrossa, Cab Calloway School of the Arts, Si, Hijo (Short Story)
  • Zoe Musil, Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences, In A Blink (Journalism)
  • Chelsea Tabaco, Sussex Academy of Arts and Sciences, No Escape (Journalism)
Free Online Arts Resources
Need to entertain the kids? Looking for a way to escape COVID-19? Look no further than our online-only content provided by local Delaware and nationwide arts organizations. This is the perfect time to immerse yourself in the arts now, soon, and near you.
Ann Colwell
Established Professional, Literature: Creative Nonfiction
Anne Colwell, a professor, poet, literary critic and short story writer, has ventured into a new arena – creative nonfiction. Poetry and fiction allow artists to speak in a voice that may – or may not – be their own. But “once I started writing personal essays, I realized that creative nonfiction gives the writer a chance to truly ‘essay’ a topic . . . to grapple with it.” (Image: Angie Moon) Read more
Kim DeCicco
Emerging Professional, Literature: Fiction
Kim DeCicco has taken an unusual and winding road to writing. Her first inspirational influences were 1970s rock albums “pilfered from my brother’s record collection.” Literature came at first through music and historical movies. But a true igniting literary spark came from The Alan Parsons Project’s concept album "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," a musical retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s horror stories Read more
On the Mezzanine
Not Just a Pretty Face
by Paul Simon
Not Just a Pretty Face, an exhibition of pastel portraits by Paul Simon, has been extended through the end of May. The May exhibition by Kim Klabe has been postponed until November 2020. View her work
The Mezzanine Gallery, open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is located in the
Carvel State Office Building, 820 N. French Street, Wilmington. 
Award Winners XX Exhibition
The work of the Fellows will be featured in a group exhibition, Award Winners XX at the Biggs Museum from June 5 to July 23, 2020 with an award ceremony and reception on Wednesday, June 10 at 5 p.m. All dates are subject to change.

Selections from Award Winners will travel to CAMP Rehoboth for the entire month of August and then Cab Calloway School of the Arts from September 4 to October 25.
Biggs Museum of American Art
June 5 to July 23, 2020
Opening Reception: June 5
Award Ceremony: June 10
CAMP Rehoboth
August 1-30, 2020
Opening Reception: August 1
Cab Calloway School of the Arts
September 4 to October 25, 2020
Opening Reception: October 2
Featured Opportunities
Division's Artist Fellowship Application
The Fiscal Year 2021 Artist Fellowship application will open no later than June 1 through smARTDE with applications due August 3, 2020. Check our website for past guidelines and more information.

Masters applications will be accepted in Dance, Jazz or Music from artists who have received an Established Fellowship prior to January 2014 in the same discipline.
Support for Division-Funded Arts Organizations Affected by COVID-19
The Division has launched the CARES Organization Relief grant opportunity for recent recipients of General Operating Support (FY18, FY19, FY20) and current Project Support recipients (FY20).

Read the guidelines to verify your eligibility before applying. Deadline May 15, 2020 at 4:30 p.m.

Additional COVID-19 resources are available on our website .
Upcoming Nonprofit Webinars
The Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA) has scheduled a variety of webinars designed to assist the nonprofit sector continue operations during the state of emergency. Workshops include how to manage cash flow, sustain relations with donors, and conduct online meetings. They also provide updates to state and federal funding opportunities available to the nonprofit sector.

Bookmark https://alliance.delawarenonprofit.org/events/ and https://delawarenonprofit.org/covid-19/ to easily access the resources and information that they provide. If your nonprofit is not a member of DANA, you may want to consider becoming one.
Virtual Accessibility
Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities – With the pivot to virtual programming and meetings, the National Endowment for the Arts has developed this guide to help arts organizations navigate the best approaches to accessibility.
After careful discussion and consideratio n —and owing to an abundance of caution —many organizations have decided to cancel their upcoming events, performances and exhibitions.

Please be sure to c heck the organization's website and/or social media page(s) for up-to-date information. Any canceled events will be deleted immediately after we've been notified.

Are you an organization and need to delete or postpone an event? Please contact - contact@delawarescene.com.
Ongoing Division Grant Deadlines
Artist Opportunity: deadline 7/1/2020, for activities happening between 8/15/2020 - 11/15/2020

Artist Residency: rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to start of scheduled residency

Artist Roster : rolling deadline
Arts Access Grants: rolling deadline, submitted at least 6 weeks prior to project start date

TranspARTation Grant: Will return this fall.
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.