Past Grants Awarded

Given the profound demographic changes that will be evident in the year 2050, these seminars and workshops are designed to generate artistic responses to themes that include personal and ethnic identity, injustice, and power relationships.

The planning of an exhibition intended to increase the public's understanding and appreciation of the significance of the handmade lace production in the New England Town of Ipswich, Massachusetts between 1750 and 1840 as a social, economic, and cultural phenomenon and to provide insight into the lives of the women who made the lace, some of the nation's first entrepreneurs.

Pre-performance lectures and post-performance discussions led by Resident Pillow Scholars. The talks will lead audiences through art criticism, historic and cultural interpretations, as well as live discussions with Festival artists and other people of note.

An exhibit and related programming centering on a 17th century wood-fired kiln at the museum's craft center.

An oral history project on the histories of Italian families who settled in the greater Fitchburg and Leominster area. The project will culminate in a public presentation that will include some of the recorded oral histories with contextual historical and social material as well as photographs.

A lecture series focusing on the impact of Moby Dick in the twentieth century.

CANE summer institute for teachers.

A four part series exploring the ways in which modern Americans, as individuals and as a society,have worked with the traditions of the past and searched for new values in a disappearing wilderness.

A public celebration of the success of the 1960's grass-roots preservation efforts at an important American communal site, and to examine changes in historic preservation practices and cultural perceptions of this museum and beyond.

A public lecture followed by two more informal discussions that will include the audience members of the lecture. The main goal of this three-part preamble is to introduce TBS and WEIU members to the project, a five-week installation/ exhibition and to also aid both members of the TBS and WEIU in understanding why the two organizations are sponsoring " Women's Work" and how this production connects to and builds up the missions and activities of both organizations.

An exhibit featuring photographs and capsule biographies of fifteen senior citizens born and still living in Lowell, Massachusetts. The photographs, along with biographical excerpts, will be displayed in the windows of the downtown Lowell building. This project will produce a free chapbook with the complete stories of those interviewed, a website with photos and stories, and archival materials for the center for Lowell History.

A series that will include a talk about the ethical and scientific ramifications of Nazi medicine that will take place during late April of 2001. The second portion will consist of lecture coinciding with a conference organized by several academic and community groups in the Pioneer Valley Five College Area.

A program to launch the center and a bookmaking workshop for the general public in Amherst, MA.

A symposium and musical event that will focus on women in Jewish music.

A discussion of Bill T. Jones' influence on contemporary performance and visual communications, honoring the uniqueness of his legacy via the celebration of the next generations of artists. The objectives of the panel discussion will be to recognize Bill T. Jones as one of the dance world's most important, creative, and challenging voices; to examine the impact Bill T. Jones's unique artistic process has had on the development of his dancers finding their own creative voices; and to provide the Greater Boston community with a greater understanding of Bill T. Jones's influence on the artistic world.

A one-day symposium in honor of poet Richard Wilbur's 80th birthday. The day will consist of two 90 minute sessions with 3 panelists each, as well as lunch for participants and audience.

A scholar led reading and discussion series on the work of Robert Frost.

A library reading and discussion series.

A day-long conference for 70 K-12 teachers that features two scholars (Jamphel Gyatso and Rowland Abiodun) . The conference will include workshops that will explore cultural traditions of regions such as Tibet and Nigeria and will explore the issue of modernization and how it has affected these cultures.

An exhibit and public lecture focusing on the use of feminine images in contemporary art.

Two interactive audience lecture-workshops focusing on Chinese and Arabic calligraphy in order to connect and highlight its influences with the performing and fine arts of these cultures.

A historical role-playing portion of a semester long research project for 10th graders that focuses on the women's roles in U.S. history and literature.

An exhibit, "Business and Industry-North Adams" is being transported to a new location at the Western Gateway Heritage State Park. The North Adams Museum will like to have a grand opening for this exhibit in its new location in the spring of 2001.

A production grant for a one-hour documentary film on the "Ioanid Gang" bank heist of 1959 in communist Romania.

A public art project designed to create dialogue and reflection about the distinct and varied ways that people live in the city of Boston. Colorful images and live audio will originate from 16 Bostonians wearing "live cams" from diverse class, race and age backgrounds.

A one-hour documentary film production about the little-known side of Springfield's own Theodor Seuss Geisel. This film will discuss his life and work as an editorial cartoonist, political lampooner, and passionate advocate of causes. It will examine this critical aspect of Dr. Seus' persona and expose audiences to a number of important themes that relate not only to his life and work but to United States history, as well.

The development, publicity, and promotion of the third annual World History Symposium which will include the creation of support materials and selected completed lesson plans on the Internet and the development of follow-up activities in designated school.

A one-hour film about Earl Tupper and Brownie Wise and the creation of Tupperware. The film will be broadcasted nationwide, it will be available on video for home and schoolroom use, and its chances for overseas broadcast.

A program series on topics in American vernacular music ranging from ballads to blues, based on genres found and performed in the Commonwealth. The purpose of the series is to examine traditional music's contribution to the region, past and present, offering insights into the forces that created the cultural landscape. Each program will include performances and will be moderated by a specialist in the genre.

Interviews with approximately 20 culturally diverse artists who live or work in Holyoke, Massachusetts; short profiles will be generated about each person for dissemination in various local media.

A lecture that is directly connected to an exhibit entitled "Home is Where the Hearth Is" that will present the evolution of domestic architecture in Massachusetts over the last 300 years, focusing on the hearth as the center of the home. The exihibit will examine the evolution of construction methods, floor plans and decorative elements, as reflected in the changing roles of mothers, fathers, children, and other household members.

A public forum and discussion series designed to explore the ways in which informal gathering places build and sustain the life of a community, the conditions that make them successful or unsuccessful, the ways in which local public policy decisions, such as zoning bylaws and purchases and use of publicly-owned spaces, can affect such places and the community they serve.

The development of a dramatic script for pre-teen to adult audiences which illustrates the mid-nineteenth century social realities of gender roles, education, courtship, marriage, work, and economics.

Part of an ongoing series of tributes to some of history's most interesting and influential women, featuring a reading of "Angel of the Battlefield," the story of Clara Harlowe Barton.

A reading and discussion program emphasizing the pleasure and knowledge that can be found in books.

A series of six presentations of three different lectures. These lectures will introduce audiences to concerts perspectives and information drawn from disciplines of music theory, theory and criticism which will broaden and deepen their understanding of Baroque and Classical music.

A series of lectures exploring how the landscape ecologies of Massachusetts changed as Worcester and other industrial cities and towns grew.

A book discussion series that focuses on themes that surround the American Civil War and biographies that were written during this period.

A scholar-led book discussion series for short stories from _Fiction: A Longman Pocket Anthology_.

A play that was written and produced by the members of "Stages Theatre Company". It provides a vivid picture of the early nineteenth century, a critical period in history when young America's life and liberty was threatened.