2012 Grantees & Award Recipients

Click a grant or award named below to read about the recipients in that category

  • 2012 Premier Grantees

    17 awards, total awarded: $36,817
    Funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

    Sanchie Bobrow: Love Songs for Youth Chorus
    Sanchie will compose three original pieces of music for the Youth Chorus of the Richmond Choral Society using poems by Rabindranath Tagore and Sarojini Naidu. The poems each speak of love for children in a non-religious yet spiritual voice. By composing new music for these young singers, she hopes to draw attention to their ability to perform music that is unique and fresh, while contrasting with the rest of the program which will feature music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
    Award Amount: $1115

    Thomas Bonelli Island Sounds
    Thomas’ project is large in scope and includes recording songs from twelve Staten Island singers/singer-songwriters, record additional instrumentation, and mix and master the songs to record to CD. He will then work with Staten Island artists and graphic designers to create artwork for the CD. The CD’s will be printed and will be sold through various music channels. He will then work with a video producer to create a music video for one of the songs on the CD. All proceeds from the project will go towards Van Duzer Days, a summer festival that showcases local musicians, visual artists, performance artists, and restaurants.
    Award amount: $2500

    Christine Carannante: Kinship
    Christina will explore the meaning of family through a series of color portraits of her relatives, most of which are complete strangers to her. The work will explore notions of family and the longing as an only child raised by a single father to be a part of something she never had. The creation of this work will be shot on medium format film with a Mamiya 645 camera.
    Award Amount: $1500

    Christine Dixon: Harriet Tubman
    Christine will present an entertaining and educational fifty minute play based on the life and times of Harriet Tubman. Harriet’s harrowing and dangerous life unfolds as she tells her moving story of how she brought hundreds of slaves- and her own family- to Freedom after the Civil War. The performance contains original and reinterpreted music from period spirituals by Staten Island-composer Ralph Martell. The play is based on a series of interviews Harriet gave in 1868 to a New York Sunday school teacher, and writer, Sarah Bradford whom wrote the book Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. A Q&A session follows each play.
    Award Amount: $2000

    Lyle Foxman: App and Snap Photowalk Series
    Lyle will conduct a series of photo walks and workshops through which he hopes to inspire people to present their visions. The project will be broken up into 4 parts: 1)Photowalks, where the aim is to practice and improve one’s own photography skills; cameras of all types can be used, 2) Photo Editing Workshops, where he will teach photo-editing techniques, apps, tricks and styles, and a variety of editing tips will be demonstrated on tablets and smartphones, 3)Blogging and Social Networking,
    where there will be a community workshop photoblog and website for the project, 4) Group exhibit at the Alice Austen House.
    Award amount: $2000

    Lorenzo Hail: Faces
    This grant will support an exhibit of 30 multimedia original works at two locations. The first part of the exhibition, “FACES” will take place at Art at Bay. Lorenzo hopes to show the community the character of faces, the play of light and shadow, and everything from the humor to the sadness of both iconic figures and faces from the community. The second part of the exhibit will be at The Universal Temple of the Arts, where he will show 10 original works based on faces and jazz featuring works that have never been shown in the community. This show will be in collaboration with the jazz festival being held at snug harbor during the month of October.
    Award amount: $2000

    Richard Hayes: Brochure on SI Architecture and Built Environment
    Richard will create a large-format brochure on the island’s architecture and built environment. He will publish a visually engaging brochure–stylish yet accessible–which will be of interest to residents and tourists alike. Copies will be made available at the tourist information booth in the Staten Island Ferry terminal as well as at cultural destinations like Sailors’ Snug Harbor and Conference House. It will bring into focus the contemporary scene through articles on the car culture of Hylan Boulevard, the Mexican-American community of Port Richmond, “Little Sri Lanka” in Tompkinsville, and recent works of civic architecture throughout the island.
    Award Amount: $3000

    Sheryl Humphrey: The Haunted Garden
    Sheryl will write, self-publish, and promote a nonfiction book entitled “The Haunted Garden: Death and Transfiguration in the Folklore of Plants”. The book is not a scientific or scholarly study, but an informal collection of plant folklore, from cultures around the world, pertaining to death and spirits. It will be illustrated with copyright-free antique woodcuts and engravings. Once the book is published, she will give a reading from the book accompanied by a visual presentation at the Every Thing Goes Book Cafe.
    Award Amount: $2000

    Yuki Koike: Duo Nanashi Concerts
    Duo Nanashi was formed with the intent of performing music of many different traditions, especially Western Classical, jazz and traditional Japanese styles. This current project’s aim is to present a concert that balances 19th century works for flute and guitar with freely improvised and composed original pieces influenced by, amongst others, Debussy, Toru Takemitsu, and Morton Feldman.
    Award Amount: $1502

    David Loncle: Student Art Exhibit and Lecture
    David will have an exhibit of his work at the Art Lab gallery, where he experiments with large scale canvases that he has previously used. He will experiment on unconventional ways to display his work, including different forms of framing and lighting. He will also present a lecture at the gallery space for art students and artists to discuss his experiences in art school, and convey what students might expect if they are planning on devoting their time to artistic discipline in the contemporary art world.
    Award Amount: $2000

    Diane Matyas: LOSS, a Book for Grieving Children
    The book LOSS is a new children’s book and website project created for children and families who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Written and illustrated by artist/author Diane Matyas and writer H.P. McKean (Patricia Murphy).The simple prose and delicate drawings of LOSS create an intimate, yet universal, discussion about death–still a taboo subject for many–using honesty and expressive imagery. The book addresses the needs and fears of children who are dealing with death, and the awkward moments, self doubt, and unexpected feelings people experience when bereaved. The project will culminate with a published book, website, and public reading and presentation.
    Award amount: $3000

    KT Pinto: At the End of the Rainbow
    KT’s project is a retelling of ancient myths (some popular stories, and some not) with an LGBT component. Her inspirations for these myths are the Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Norse, African, Celtic and the American cultures, because they all tell tales that transcend the boundaries of the nuclear family. She will write a book entitled “At the End of the Rainbow”, and will do a reading at Bent Pages.
    Award Amount: $1500

    Florence Poulain: Deep Tanks Art Party
    Deep Tanks Studio is a photography/art space located at 150 Bay street. In conjunction with Second Saturday Staten Island, a monthly open studio art walk, Deep Tanks proposes an arts block party to be held on Central Avenue, scheduled for September 8th, 2012. The event will include: artists selling original works; art fence show; stage for live music, performances and spoken word; fashion show sponsored by ETG Clothing; workshops for all ages; mural project;and recycling / green energy workshops.
    Award amount: $3000

    Larissa Schiano: Conversation Pieces
    Conversation Pieces: Moments in time is a debut project of Larissa’s choreography. The pieces will portray the internal and external conversations we have that are developed through life experience. She will portray these conversations through movement which allows the body to be the tool of expression; of thought, emotion, and spiritual connectedness. Each piece will portray life experiences that a person has lived through. The dances will convey celebrations in life as well as the sorrow and heartache one experiences.
    Award amount: $2500

    Sean Simpson: Black Saturday
    Black Saturday is a short video art piece covering historical events leading up to the PS General Slocum disaster of June 15, 1904 and the direct aftermath on the local community. Through the use of live actors shot on green screen which will be composited onto 2D environment plates depicting locations of this disaster, Black Saturday will detail this disaster through direct experiences and written interviews from survivors.
    Award Amount: $2000

    SI Multiple Sclerosis Society: Way to Watercolor
    The SI Multiple Sclerosis Society will offer a watercolor painting program to their members, their families, friends, and the local community. The intention is to help stimulate an interest in painting, so that those with multiple sclerosis can go out into other artistic venues and become an integrated part of the arts community. This program will culminate in a community art show at a local venue.
    Award amount: $2500

    Melissa West: Dance Works
    Dance Works is a modern dance concert featuring the work of Staten Island-based choreographer, Melissa West. The concert program will feature five dances, all choreographed by Ms. West. In addition to each show, Ms. West will host a Question and Answer session, and will give lectures/master classes throughout the year.
    Award Amount: $1700

  • 2012 Art Fund Grantees

    9 awards, total awarded: $29,639
    Funded by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

    Irma Bohorquez-Geisler: El dia de Los Muertos
    El Día de los Muertos aims to bring the growing Mexican immigrant population together, to unify the SI community, to build bridges between generations, and expose the larger Staten Island population to a traditional Mexican celebration. El Día de los Muertos is a family festival with a joyful atmosphere, celebrated with friendly dancing skeletons and sugar skulls decorated with flowers and fruits. El Día de los Muertos will feature participatory workshops in traditional Mexican crafts, the construction of two ofrendas, and a talk about the meaning of the altar, offerings displayed, and traditional music and dance performances. The program is explained in both English and Spanish. Traditional music from different regions of Mexico will be performed live.
    Award Amount: $5000

    Laura Del Prete: Shimmer in Shadows
    “Shimmer in Shadows” will be collage/assemblage art playing with light and shadow, primarily based on memories that stay with us, the visual stories music can tell us, and how often times, music can trigger memories. Del Prete will create pieces that are very small in size, challenging herself as an artist. She will also work to stimulate both positive and negative memories in people in order to create discussion. She will also have a workshop called “Tools and Glue Sticks” where participants will create a collage and learn to frame it using basic tools.
    Award Amount: $2500

    James Indelicato: Westerleigh Folk Festival
    The 5th Annual Westerleigh Folk Festival is a free all day outdoor music, art and crafts event to be held in Westerleigh Park on Saturday, September 22, 2012. The festival will feature a number of Staten Island musical artists / acts playing a broad spectrum of music including folk, blues, gospel, country and Americana. For this year’s event, they will also seek out traditional dance groups to perform as part of the day’s activities. The festival also provides space and display panels for graphic artists to display their work. And for the little ones, free children’s activities are provided such as pony rides, face painting, and origami.
    Award Amount: $3000

    Dona Kiriela: Melting Pot
    The term melting pot refers to the idea that societies formed by immigrant cultures, religion, end ethnic groups, will produce new hybrid social and cultural forms. Dona’s project is about how Asian immigrant women and their rich cultures transformed into Asian Americans; through printmaking, photography, and mixed media. Comparing these cultural and traditional characters she will create 30 of these mixed-media prints.
    Award Amount: $1500

    Jennifer Lytton: St. George Day Festival
    The St. George Day Festival is a major celebration of the diverse artistic and cultural richness of the St. George neighborhood. The festival includes: all day music, dance, readings and theater performances on 3 stages; a Dragon parade featuring musicians, dancers and huge handmade puppets; a staging of our larger-than-life St. George and the Dragon puppet show written and performed by local artists; a literary fair with readings, journal workshops, bookbinding demos and a book swap; kids’ activities including performances both by and for children and craft workshops led by local artists; Earth Day activities, exhibits and demonstrations; and a drum circle to which all are invited to cooperatively create a communal rhythm.
    Award Amount: $5000

    Ann Marie McDonnell: My Favorite Things
    Ann Marie will create final drawings for a sculpture called My Favorite Things. The grant will also cover the mold and bronze casting of parts of the sculpture. She will give two programs at the Richmondtown Library where they will discuss favorite things, and will make special boxes for those objects. She will also have an artist reception and artist talk,The Lost Wax Technique and the Bronzing Process. My Favorite Things will contain an opened box on a rock. There will be objects inside the box which the viewer will assume to be the favorite things of the unknown owner. The objects will be chosen for their ability to conjure memories or curiosity in the viewer. Ann Marie’s goal is to tap into memories that cross generations and create sculptures that foster dialog between several generations.
    Award Amount: $2539

    Janice Patrignani: Shibori Sensations
    The natural beauty of Staten Island’s Greenbelt will motivate a series of 5 fiber art pieces ornamented with sculpted ceramic forms. Janice will create hand painted Shibori dyed silk to showcase a kaleidoscope of nature’s patterns, shapes, colors and textures. She will also teach silk & ceramic techniques at the Stapleton Senior Center. During this series of 8 workshops the seniors will create beautiful nature inspired pieces for themselves plus components for one of her banners for display. The ornamental textiles will be exhibited at the Greenbelt Nature Center.
    Award Amount: $5000

    Patrick Raftery: A Concert for Staten Island’s Children
    Patrick will perform a concert for children, giving the kids of Staten Island an up-close chance to move and groove to live music. He will perform traditional children’s music but with a twist. “This Old Man” will be played in a classical soul style, while “Five Little Monkeys” will be performed as a reggae song. He will also have egg shakers on hand to get kids to interact with the music.
    Award Amount: $1100

    Wafoo: The Music of Wafoo meets Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble
    This project will be two full-scale music concerts in which Wafoo will perform original compositions and/or their own arrangements of Japanese popular songs, featuring distinctive Japanese instruments such as shinobue (Japanese bamboo flute) and shamisen (Japanese three strings banjo). The project also invites three guest players from Staten Island most well known classical chamber music group, Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble (aka MCCE) to inspire the audience. The concert will have three sets, the first set by MCCE, the second set by WaFoo, and the third set by the collaboration which will be the main set of the concert. New compositions and arrangements written especially for the project will also be performed.
    Award amount: $4000.

  • 2012 Encore Grantees

    9 awarded, total awards: $30,600
    Funded by the New York State Council on the Arts

    Century Dance Complex: From the Diary of a War Child
    “From the Diary of a War Child” is a full-length dance and theater production combining traditional African and modern styles of dance and music to tell the true story of Rose Kingston. Miss. Kingston survived civil war in her home country of Liberia, escaping to a refugee camp in Ghana as a child and ultimately relocating to New York City. While “From the Diary of a War Child” depicts survival, dislocation and immigration in the context of the West African, and specifically, Liberian experience, these themes are common to the many new immigrant groups that call Staten Island home.
    Award amount: $5,000

    Friends of Westerleigh Park: Young Artists in the Park
    Young Artists in the Park will be a program occurring on 5 consecutive Tuesdays in July 2012. The program will run for 2 hours each day. The project takes place in the center of Westerleigh Park on the patio around the gazebo. Children (and sometimes adults) are provided with an easel, a palette of watercolors, brushes and a cup of water. They create pieces of art based around a theme.
    Award Amount: $750

    Harbor Lights Theater Company: The King and I
    Rogers and Hammersteins’, “The King and I”, makes for a dramatic, richly textured and ultimately uplifting tale. The Harbor Lights production of “The King And I” will feature 8 Broadway veterans and 25 of Staten Islands’ finest performers – adults, youth and children. This production will afford local artists and children within Staten Island the unique opportunity to work alongside professional Broadway actors under the direction of a Broadway Director and choreographer.
    Award Amount: $5000

    Mighty String Demons: Stories without Words & Spooky Creatures in the Night
    The Mighty String Demons will present two concerts on themes that relate to the venues where they will be held. The concert at the Dongan Hills Library will be titled “Stories Without Words”. They will present carefully chosen pieces that should evoke a certain feeling or drama, and invite the audience to imagine what kind of story or idea the composer was trying to communicate. The concert at the Greenbelt Nature Center will occur during the weekend before Halloween. They will their violins creatively to creak, squeak, growl and screech, creating an orchestra of spooky creature sounds such as owls, crows, bats, crickets and ghosts.
    Award Amount: $1800

    Raja Rajeswari: Natural Rhythm: Mahabharatha, The Mystical Journey
    “Mahabharatha, The Mystical Journey” is revered in Indian literature as one of the greatest treatises ever written in Sanskrit. Rajeswari will shape the central theme of this vast epic into a comprehensive dance that depicts man’s eternal struggle in life. She will choreograph the final battlefield scene between two warring royal factions. For the project, she will translate several verses to English and compose and record music with Indian musical and war instruments, design authentic costumes for Krishna and Arjuna for maximum visual effect, and create fliers that will be given out with the translations. The performance will take place at the Staten Island Zoo.
    Award Amount: $2050

    Richmond Choral Society: Spring Concert
    Richmond Choral Society’s 2012 Spring Concert, featuring the “Great Mass in C Minor,” K. 427, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a large-scale work requiring a double chorus. RCS Music Director, Marina Alexander, will once again bring her Arcadian Chorale from Matawan, NJ and approximately 40 musicians from Staten Island Philharmonic (SIP) to collaborate with RCS on this great work of the Classical period.
    Award Amount: $5000

    Seaview Playwrights Theatre: The Taming of the Shrew
    The project, a 1920s version of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” will be staged in June 2012 at Sea View Playwright’s Theatre. This 1920s version will include period music and costumes. Their aim in producing this play is to expose the audience to classic literature. They plan on working with the English departments in high schools on Staten Island, to encourage student attendance. They hope to enlighten younger audiences on how classical pieces can be relevant today.
    Award Amount: $2500

    Staten Island Creative Community: Art by the Ferry
    Funding will go towards the continuation of “Art by the Ferry,” a fun-filled weekend of art, literature, performances, crafts, and music, based at the Staten Island Ferry and surrounding area. The goal is to attract not only the Staten Island community, but tourists and passengers traveling across from Staten Island to Manhattan.
    Award Amount: $3500

    Staten Island OutLOUD: Staten Island OutLOUD 2012
    Staten Island OutLOUD strengthens community and fosters cross-cultural understanding by gathering neighbors to explore global literature aloud and share ideas. Staten Island OutlOUD will do 45+ events throughout 2012 in historic sites, galleries, libraries, parks, the SI Ferry and on SI streets. These events will include Staten Island artists and musicians.
    Award Amount: $5000

  • 2012 Original Work Grantees

    4 awards, $2,500 each
    Funded by the New York State Council on the Arts

    Carolyn Clark: Same as You
    Same As You will be a collection of fifteen essays on disability that address the subject from the author’s own experience, through a number of different lenses. The essays will look at becoming disabled, creating a “normal” life in spite of disability, remaining a part of the community in spite of disability, what people with disabilities need from the community, how people with disabilities create our own community, people with disabilities helping each other, parenting with a disability, and more. She will publish the essays as a book, and create a website to promote the book and provide a place for people with and without disabilities to discuss disability issues. Project will culminate in book readings and discussions.

    Brendan Coyle: The Mass of Expenditure
    The project is a solo conceptual assemblage sculpture exhibition that explores and addresses themes of mass neglect, overproduction, and growing waste in proportion with a growing world population. The concepts are a critique on our level of waste production and accumulation of excess. The mass being saved from a landfill is an infinitesimal fraction of our ever increasing waste, but the intent powerfully reinforces the virtues of recycling and condemns overproduction and municipal neglect i.e. the ubiquity of polypropylene bottle caps and the excessive packaging of tea.

    Kazuo Nakamura: Composition of Princess Kaguya Overture
    This project is to compose a new orchestral piece inspired by the oldest extant Japanese narrative, “The Tale of Bamboo Cutter” (aka Princess Kaguya). The instrumentation will include strings (1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos and basses), winds (2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons) and French Horns. The composition will then be performed by a live orchestra.

    Sean Simpson: Burning Bay
    Burning Bay is a series of paintings that depict maritime disasters occurring in the New York harbor throughout the development of New York City’s social and economic power in the Industrial Revolution. The paintings will use stylistic traits reminiscent of the Hudson River School, bringing into discussion those changes which these painters feared and reacted against. Burning Bay will be presented together with American Gothic (Xiamen China: Brooklyn NY) in an exhibition of 8 paintings as well as prints and photographs of archival footage documenting those historical events that have specific local significance. The exhibition will take place at the Alice Austen House Museum.

  • Staten Island Foundation: Arts Investment Regrants

    6 awards, $32,000 awarded
    Funded by the Staten Island Foundation

    Port Richmond High School with The Staten Island Philharmonic: Professional Musicianship Intensive
    In a program coordinated by The Staten Island Philharmonic, students in the string, brass, woodwind, and percussion sections of the Port Richmond music department will have 12 intensive, small group instructional sessions with experienced teaching artists/professional musicians, each of whom is an expert in one of the instrument families.
    Award amount: $6000

    P.S. 1 with Janice Patrignani: Art Garden
    Students will research the unique local flora and fauna of Staten Island, and then, with the help of teaching artist Janice Patrignani, use their newly learned skills and art techniques to depict their observations in mosaic and ceramic murals. These will become permanent installations in the school’s newly created outdoor classroom and art garden.
    Award amount: $7000

    P.S. 3 with Sundog Theatre: The History of New York City/State
    Students will learn to understand history and the events that shape today’s society through historical reenactment. Students will re-enact a different event or highlight from New York City or New York State’s history. This residency with Sundog Theatre will have a final performance for friends, family, and the community.
    Award amount: $4500

    P.S. 31 with Emily Ellison: I Hear America Singing
    “I Hear America Singing”, has teaching artist Emily Ellison employing some of America’s greatest heroes to help teach students songs and stories of pre-Colombian America, the Dutch Settlements, the underground railroad, patriots during wartime, the railroad, immigrants’ songs, peace songs, freedom songs, silly songs and classic American folk songs that educate, entertain, and inspire.
    Award amount: $4500

    P.S. 58 & The Alice Austen House: Community through Photography: Documenting the World Around Us
    Teaching artist Ann Marie McDonnell leads a literacy program for special education students where they will be introduced to photographer, Alice Austen, stage their own photographs, put together books of their writings and photographs, and visit the Alice Austen Museum.
    Award amount: $5000

    P.S. 373 with Todd Woodard: The Works of Eric Carle
    Teaching artist Todd Woodard will work with special needs students and their teachers to create a theatre piece based on the works of author Eric Carle. Students with limited verbal skills will use movement to portray characters such as animals and wind while students with more advanced verbal skills will participate in dialog. Woodard will concentrate on incorporating theatre techniques such as movement, voice projection, role-playing, and teamwork in the context of preparing for a final performance.
    Award amount: $5000

  • ABC (Arts Bring Change) Regrants

    6 awards, $11,600 awarded
    Funded by the New York State Council on the Arts

    The Hungerford School with Carolyn Clark:The Hungerford Big Band
    Students who are non-verbal adolescents will use wind instruments to perform songs that will help them build communication and community living skills, such as learning to recognize signs often found in every day life, like “EXIT,” “DANGER,” and more. Since the students are not verbal, playing instruments while learning the songs will engage them as active participants in the process, and may help them learn more effectively. The Big Band will be led by teaching artist Carolyn Clark.
    Award amount: $1900

    P.S. 18 with Ashekia Hall-Alexander:The Art of Theatre Making
    Teaching artist Ashekia Hall-Alexander will work with two 5th grade classes who will participate in a theater making and literacy project. Students will study selected works from one author and as a response to literature, will participate in a theatrical event.
    Award amount: $2500

    P.S. 19 with the Alice Austen House:Alice Austen and Immigration: Connecting the Past to the Present through Photography
    Two 5th grade classes will analyze Alice Austen’s immigration and quarantine photographs by comparing them to the photographs of social reformers, Lewis Hines and Jacob Riis and then stage their own photographs, with the help of teaching artist Ann Marie McDonnell. The project will culminate with a photography exhibition of their own photographs as well as photographs taken by Alice Austen, Lewis Hines and Jacob Riis that they will share with family and other classes.
    Award amount: $2200

    P.S. 20 with Sarah Yuster: Immigration Nation
    Teaching artist Sarah Yuster will guide students in creating a gallery of artwork, display book or mural based on their various cultures and national origins. This will be comprised of individual efforts of writing, portraits, and images related to immigration or family background.
    Award amount: $1500

    P.S. 26 with Sundog Theatre: Masters as Mentors
    This project coordinated by Sundog Theatre provides seven introductory lessons to students to learn about the life and work of four famous artists (Picasso, Van Gogh, Mondrian, and Monet). Students will learn artistic skills, enrich vocabulary, gain insight into the world of visual arts, and create their own works to be displayed in a museum-like setting
    Award amount: $1500

    P.S. 74 with Ron Chironna: Telling Our Stories
    Teaching artist Ron Chironna’s illustration project where students will use illustration to bring their standards based stories to life. Illustrated stories will be published and shared with the school and community members.
    Award amount: $2000

  • 2012 JPMorgan Chase Arts in Our Communities Grantees

    9 Awardees, Awards ranging from $1,300 – 3,000
    Funded by JPMorgan Chase

    Bob Wright: Sailing to Staten Island: A Study of Cultural Synthesis Through Song at Sea
    Staten Island, the last working waterfront in New York City, harbors one of the great resources of maritime and immigrant data, Sailor’s Snug Harbor’s archives. Snug Harbor’s history helped lay the foundation for today’s immigrants on Staten Island and it has been largely overlooked. Mr. Wright plans to study the unique microcosm of immigration provided by the records of the residents of Snug Harbor and to produce a concert of new and old music that represents the melding of cultures produced by immigrant sailors. Sailors who made Staten Island their last port of call brought their traditions and skills with them, same as any immigrant group, but it is in the songs that you find the true story of their immigrant experience.
    Award amount: $1300

    Community Concert Network: “An Island of Hope” The Cross-cultural Songs That Changed The World
    Community Concert Network will curate concerts/workshops by the Trio Tatiana Plus. The Trio will use musical performance as a form of civil integration and awareness – the tradition of creating and performing socially relevant songs in different cultures, now and yesterday. The Trio Tatiana Plus is dedicated to performing these songs, continuing the tradition by performing socially relevant songs of today, each time helping us discover songs coming from different countries and written in different languages. The workshops will be family-oriented and include cross-cultural chanson in Russian, Spanish, English, French, Gypsy, Ladino, instrumental music, flamenco, classical Russian and Gypsy romance.
    Award amount: $3000

    The Egyptian American Arts and Cultural Organization: Egypt at the Staten Island Children’s Museum
    This program from the Egyptian American Arts and Cultural Organization will include 3 dancers that will perform many dances from Egypt, including the “Wings of Isis” (from ancient Egypt), the saheedi dance (a dance from northern Egypt), the whirling dervish, and many more, including the Water Pipe dance that reflects the tradition common across North Africa of balancing freestanding objects to show off the dancer’s dexterity. The performance will also include other Egyptian music and artwork. The music will be performed by George Mousa from Pharaoh’s Entertainment. He will play several Egyptian and American instruments for children and their parents. There will also be an Egyptian art exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
    Award amount: $3000

    Jose Ocasio: Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba Rhythms on Staten Island
    This project will share, preserve, and revive the history, sounds, and rhythms of the Bomba Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms and dance in Staten Island parks. Just like the compact disc is becoming obsolete, so is the Bomba rhythm and community style drum circles are becoming obsolete in New York City. Through two public presentations of the music, dance, and history of Afro-Puerto Rican music style called Bomba Mr. Ocasio will educate and entertain about the important cultural history of Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythm and dance and how it shows the African heritage of Puerto Rico. As more Puerto Ricans came to New York City, the Bomba rhythms became an important symbol of their heritage and connection to Africa.
    Award amount: $3000

    Matt Travers: Celtic Cross – Ceile At The Crossroads
    Mr. Travers’ project, entitled ‘Celtic Cross’, is a collaboration of traditional Scots and Irish tunes played on the pipes. This project attempts to combine the “Ceile at the Crossroads” with the Highland festival and the folk concert. Before Irish independence, in order to keep the Irish culture and language alive, neighboring towns would get together and everyone would dance alongside traditional pipers. This gathering was called “Ceile at the Crossroads.” The highland pipes have drifted out of that in America and you only see pipes in military situations or in parades. This project would expose the diverse expressions and functions of Pipe Band music. The concert will feature four bagpipe bands, a traditional group, an Irish Dance troop, and one Scottish dancer. The performance will have an overlapping format with bands playing slow airs and traditional marching tunes. Also, there will be a combination of different groups playing together. For example, Highland pipes with Galatian pipes, Highland pipes with dancers, and Highland pipes with traditional group.
    Award amount: $2000

    Taller Folklorico: Get To Know Peru
    Taller Folklorico: Mi Peru is a dance group that does traditional Peruvian dance. The project will be a performance of twenty four dances from the different regions of Peru. Peruvian dance talks about the history of the country from the Incas to the Spanish invasion. All costumes are significant to the region. All the dances have different emotions: in the North it’s more Romantic, in the South, it’s more about parties and playtime with Carnivals, the Jungle regions have a mixture of happiness and sadness due to the changes in weather, and the Amazon dances represent excitement with the assortment of animals that they co-exist with, and they are also the most sensual.
    Award amount: $3000

    Sauti Yetu Center for African Women and Families: Liberian Women’s Folklore Project
    The Liberian Women’s Folklore Project is a community arts project to collect and document folktales and folklore from Liberia by interviewing older Liberian refugee women living in Park Hill in Staten Island. The project started in 2010 in response to the growing concern by Liberian refugee parents about the lack of positive cultural traditions for the children from their country of origin Liberia. The project has gathered 12 stories in five different Liberian languages. They will produce these stories in dance which will be performed for the public in the fall of 2012.
    Award amount: $3000

    Susan Grabel: El Centro of Creativity
    The aim of this project is to work with the Port Richmond community to transform the three storefronts that comprise El Centro del Inmigrante through art and art-making. El Centro offers many services to the community – legal aid, language classes, worker support, food pantry and after school tutoring. Through interaction with art, the space can become a better reflection of the community and its traditions. A workshop series, led by two experienced teaching artists will add a cultural component to the host of services provided by the center. The artists want to create opportunities for parents to connect with their children in making art and giving voice to their experiences and traditions. The resulting work will become part of a permanent exhibition that reflects the diverse community that resides in Port Richmond.
    Award amount: $3000

    Tamara Geisler: Flowers, Art, & Ofrendas: Sharing How We Remember (Workshops on the Day of the Dead)
    The goal of this project is to help enrich cultural diversity by sharing Mexican heritage and traditions of The Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos), a celebration where families gather to honor and remember their deceased loved ones. This project will comprise a series of workshops at elementary schools, community centers for disabled students, senior centers, and libraries, accessing a cross-section of the underserved on Staten Island. The workshops will include a lecture on the cultural traditions of The Day of the Dead, demonstrate an altar and discuss the meaning of the artifacts, foods and flowers placed upon it. The workshops will culminate with hands-on arts and crafts so that students can learn to make traditional Mexican folk art. These workshops will help to generate a more meaningful understanding of Mexican traditions while providing a positive environment for appreciating different cultures and may encourage a broad community to participate in the annual festival of The Day of the Dead led by Irma Bohorquez-Geisler.
    Award amount: $2700

  • 2012 JPMorgan Chase Acheive Your Mission Grants

    8 Awardees, Awarded $3,000 each
    Funded by JPMorgan Chase

    Art Lab
    Art Lab received $3,000 for the rebuilding of our website for the purpose of marketing. This will involve engaging a graphic designer, photo manager, and a data entry person. Art Lab wishes to be able to continue to provide services with the utmost efficiency. The rebuilding of their website is crucial to their ability to reach new students and to maintain ongoing connections with those relationships that have already been established. The new website can expand their services to their faculty and students while simultaneously promoting their educational and exhibition offerings.

    The Conference House
    The Conference House received $3,000 for a variety of marketing efforts that will enable them to improve their website, gain higher visibility through their social media sites and inform the public about their offerings such as free tours, events and educational programs. Their goal is to increase the visibility of the museum to ultimately increase visitation to the Conference House through expanded marketing and outreach.

    Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble
    Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble received $3,000 to provide training and development for MCCE’s Board. Specifically to create a fundraising action plan with a coherent, compelling message that their Board and staff can use to create an ongoing fundraising infrastructure. They seek to work with a professional consultant that will train/coach the Board how to more effectively fundraise and make the “ask” with potential donors, patrons and local businesses. The consultant will identify fundraising strengths and weaknesses, and develop a detailed 12 month fundraising plan and strategy to be implemented and followed long term. The plan would outline fundraising initiatives, a timeline for implementation, as well as potential language/approaches board members could use during meetings with potential donors/sponsors.

    Richmond Choral Society
    Richmond Choral Society received $3000 to expand its capacity in marketing in order to fulfill its mission of bringing the masterpieces of choral literature to the Staten Island community. The grant will help pay for ads for recruitment, programming, designing/ printing of flyers/programs/journal ad and solicitation letters; for both adult and youth choruses. RCS envisions more outreach to garner not only name recognition, but the many things RCS has done in its long history to promote the arts, specifically choral music, and to ensure its survival on Staten Island.

    Sandy Ground Historical Society
    Sandy Ground Historical Society received $3000 to begin the digitization process of their collection, which is the largest documented collection of African American history on Staten Island. The group will take many of their photos, digitalize them and display them using a TV and DVD player. The funds will be used to purchase a Flat Screen TV with wall mount, scanner and DVD player, and a video camera. These items will be able to display other photos and scan-able items that are part of the collection, freeing up wall space that can then be used to display other items in the collections that would attract additional audiences. Visitors will be able to take a video tour of the museum. The video camera will be used to document their activities for their archives and share them with visitors, as well as allowing visitors to receive a video tour in the absence of the executive director.

    Seaview Playwright’s Theatre
    Seaview Playwright’s Theatre received $3,000 to upgrade their sound system. The grant will allow them to upgrade their sound equipment to produce more professional results, greater capabilities translating into increased enjoyment for patrons and less frustrations for the board operators and creative staff. Their plans are to upgrade to a computer capable sound board and new speakers. By bringing their sound equipment into the 21st century, they can couple it with their newer lighting equipment and deliver higher quality productions.

    Staten Island Philharmonic
    Staten Island Philharmonic received $3000 to maximize their online marketing efforts. Partnering with Bliss Design, the SI Philharmonic will update their website with additional photos, video and audio clips, the capacity for streaming video, the ability for patrons to donate and buy tickets by credit card on the site, opportunities for patrons to communicate with them through the site, create an area specifically for kids, be able to track the number of users they get on the site, and learn to make simple website updates themselves.

    Universal Temple of the Arts
    Universal Temple of the Arts received $3,000 for a knowledgeable information technology intern and communications consultant to improve marketing through their advertising, website and social media platforms. Improved marketing will provide them with the technological sophistication to expand their exposure outside of their traditional North Shore Staten Island geographic boundaries to reach prospective supporters and recruit more festival attendees.