Grants to support Southeast arts, literary programs

The Missouri Arts Council recently awarded five grants totaling $23,717 to support a variety of arts initiatives in the coming year at Southeast Missouri State University.

n $7,700 -- Jazz Dance Residency Program: The grant supporting the Jazz Dance Residency Program will allow the Southeast dance program to host the works of Paula David of Big Muddy Dance Co. and Nan Giordano of Giordano Dance Chicago. Both artists are nationally recognized and are Midwest dance companies.

David, artistic director of Big Muddy Dance Co., was named one of the most influential St. Louisans of 2011, and the company recently was awarded Readers' Choice-Best Local Dance Company by Go Magazine of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Giordano Dance Chicago was featured in the March 2013 issue of Dance Magazine and earned positive reviews from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

Each guest artist will work with students for an intensive one-week residency. They will teach two master classes for Southeast students and community members. Each master class will be free to the public.

In addition, both guests will set an acclaimed piece of choreography to be performed in a main stage dance concert. The choreographers will hold open auditions for the choreographic work to the dance community and lead rehearsals for the work, which will be performed during the Department of Theatre and Dance's 2014-2015 season.

n $2,000 -- University Press' 'Big Muddy: Journal of the Mississippi River Valley: The grant will support the printing and distribution of two semiannual issues of the University Press' "Big Muddy: Journal of the Mississippi River Valley," including the printing of extra copies to be distributed at no cost to higher-education libraries throughout Missouri. Funds also will help cover the cost of a guest speaker during the fall semester. The speaker will be a past contributor to "Big Muddy" in a venue open to the public.

n $3,920 -- Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra Concert Series: The award will help support the 14th annual Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra Concert Series, which provides Southeast Missouri with five orchestral concerts in 2014-2015. Highlights of the upcoming season include a Spanish/Latin American-themed opening concert with guest artist Viviana Guzman. The season will conclude with Beethoven's iconic Ninth Symphony.

n $4,525 -- Crisp Museum: MAC awarded this grant to assist the museum in two exhibits -- "Sparky Campanella: Horizon" and "Crystal Wagner: Immersion" -- during the 2014-2015 exhibition series Modern Directions. The series consists of six exhibitions that consider contemporary art from different artistic viewpoints and media.

"Sparky Campanella: Horizon" is scheduled from Sept. 5 through Oct. 26. In his latest series, called simply "horizon," Campanella's large-scale photography presents a world of sharply defined horizon lines, splits in nature or between the natural and the man-made, with the division situated in the middle of the photo. Fifteen 40-by-50-inch photos from this series will be in the exhibit.

"Crystal Wagner: Immersion" is scheduled from Nov. 7 through Jan. 25. Wagner's installation combines two- and three-dimensional forms, alternative use of materials and hybrid approaches to printmaking. Using items such as police caution tape, chicken wire and tablecloths, the artist crafts multilayered and complex forms that occupy walls, floors, and everyday spaces. Wagner will create a site-specific installation encompassing the gallery.

* $5,572 -- Production of "Macbeth": This award to Southeast's Department of Theatre and Dance will help cover production costs for "Macbeth," scheduled for Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 and Nov. 6 to 8 in the Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. The award will assist in hiring a guest costume designer, Christina Marullo, for this performance. Marullo will give the community access to her talents, teaching and performance abilities. She will present master classes, rehearsals and a performance to the public.