Calling All Emerging Writers, Painters Over 45, Musicians, Dancers and Other Creative Creatures in Need of Sustenance!

Hey everyone, Mirabee is still alive and kicking! Sorry about not seeing some of you in Chicago. That was pretty disappointing BUT my reading at Book Cellar has been rescheduled for September 22nd, 2011 and there will be another reading in the Chicago area that week as well, probably in Winnetka. Stay tuned....

For now, I'm trying not to sit long at the computer so I'll be brief (still very much on the mend....not great but not bad)....just want to remind you all that this coming week I will be reading at Raab Auditorium at the Boston Public Library at a free event sponsored by TransculturalExchange. My reading will be on Thursday, April 7th at 6:30 but please come to the other readings as well: Reif Larsen (reading at 5:30 pm) the amazing author of The Collected Works of T. S. Spivet, a genre-breaking illustrated novel and Jayne Anne Phillips (reading at 7:30) wonderful author of several books, most recently Lark and Termite. For more info about this event and the rest of the conference (YOU CAN STILL REGISTER FOR THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE, believe it or not!), please go here: http://transculturalexchange.org/conference_2011/schedule.htm

Also, for those of you in the Boston area who are interested in learning more about publishing your first book, from finding an agent, working with editors to promoting your book, you are more than welcome to come to on yet another TCE sponsored free public eventFriday afternoon, April 8th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm in the Boston Room at the Boston Public Library. I'll be moderating a panel with novelist and editor Jedediah Berry (The Manual of Detection) and poet Marissa Crawford (The Haunted House). For more info, go here: http://transculturalexchange.org/conference_2011/schedule.htm

I'll also be reading at Fairfield Library in Fairfield, CT on April 14th AND in New York Friggin' City on April 19th and 20th. I'll be at the Strand on the 19th and The Cake Shop on the 20th. Please check my calendar for details: www.thememorypalace.com.

Enough of THAT stuff, on to YOU:

(MUSICIANS/COMPOSERS) Exploring the Metropolis administers the Con Edison Musicians’ Residency: Composition Program. Heading into its third year, this expanding program serves three constituencies: (1) composers get consistent, long-term, private creative space; (2) host cultural facilities fill underused space and also present the composer in a public program; (3) the community is invited to at least one free program – a master class, an opera-in-progress, etc. This year, we will be expanding the program to accommodate 8 NYC-based composers in 4 sites (Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens). Online applications will be available early April 2011. If you’d like to be notified of the next call for applications in spring 2011, sign up for their e-newsletter. http://exploringthemetropolis.org/musicians-residency

(DANCERS/ PERFORMING ARTS/FILM) Dance MOViES Commission Program—The Experimental Media & Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY is now accepting proposals for the DANCE MOViES Commission program. Selected artists receive awards ranging up to $40,000, and can also apply to create their works in conjunction with the Artist-in-Residence program at EMPAC. Works commissioned may take advantage of EMPAC’s infrastructure and technology, such as computer-controlled rigging, flexible black-box studios, and post-production engineering for audio and video. Previously commissioned works range from a punk marching band creating mayhem in the streets of Chicago to a poetic film based on the autobiographical account of a US-based African choreographer returning to dance in Zimbabwe. Read more about EMPAC and the DANCE MOViES Commission. Questions: 518-276-3918 or lesteh@rpi.edu. Deadline: April 18, 2011

(ARTISTS) Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant is offered to American painters aged 45 or older who demonstrate financial need. The primary emphasis is to promote public awareness and a commitment to American art, as well as encouraging interest in artists who lack adequate recognition. Questions: Call 508-487-1750 or visit www.paam.org Deadline: August 15, 2011.

(ARTISTS) Galeria Bielska BWA is happy to announce the first edition of Artist In Residence programme. Artists from around the world working in the field of visual arts, are kindly invited to send a proposal for a site-specific work, an intervention in the public space of the Bielsko-Biała city.

During three months artists will have the time and chance to research, develop and make an art project in the public space which will relate to the subject of Beyond the time and to the history of the city. Besides the opportunity of showing your work in a public space Galeria Bielska BWA will include the digital presentation of the works made during the residency in the exhibition 1^st of September. The Gallery provides two apartments, living room, fully furnished with kitchen and bathroom. Artist pays own travel expenses, materials and personal needs.

How to apply: Please send the project proposal, CV/Statement (maximum 3 A4 pages) and portfolio (preferred format: Pdf )- in Polish or English via e-mail to the project coordinator Izabela Ołdak, e-mail: izabela.oldak@gmail.com before 30^th of April. For more information please contact the project coordinator. Deadline April 30, 2011.

(ALL) Vermont Creation Grants—Applicants to this category must be able to demonstrate that the primary component of the proposal is to fund the time, supplies, facilities (rehearsal or studio), etc. for the creation of new work. Work may be at various stages of completion. Grant amount $3,000. The council typically
awards 10-12 grants. Deadline May 2, 2011.For more info, go to: http://vermontartscouncil.org/Grants/ForArtists/CreationGrants/tabid/80/Default.aspx