News from the Delaware Division of the Arts

Information reposted courtesy of The Delaware Division of the Arts Arts E-News Email.
New Deputy Director at Division of the Arts
The Division of the Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Kristin Pleasanton as the new Deputy Director of the Division of the Arts, replacing Susan Salkin who retired at the end of October.

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DelawareScene.com: 5 Years of Promoting Delaware Arts
The Division’s website of arts and cultural events launched in October 2008. The site provides search options by date, discipline, location, and key word for events happening state-wide. Sign up to receive the Scene Stealers e-newsletter published every other week featuring highlights happening over a two-week period.

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Updated DDOA Artist Roster Now Available
We invite Delaware performing, visual, literary and media artists to join the artist roster by visiting http://www.delaware.gov/artistroster/ and applying to this free marketing tool. Artists can add their biographies, resumes, artist statements, documents, and links to YouTube videos, articles, social media, and websites.

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State of Delaware Employee Art Exhibition
DDOA is working with The National Arts Program to exhibit the artwork of State of Delaware employees and their families. This year the exhibition will be held at the Arts Center/Gallery at Delaware State University in Dover from February 24-March 15, 2014.

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Sussex Arts Organizations: Dogfish Head Offers Awards
Dogfish Head’s Beer & Benevolence program is accepting entries from nonprofits in each of three categories – art, community, and the environment.Organizations must be nonprofits based in Sussex County, and provide an executive summary along with a one-minute video. Entries are due by November 15, 2013. For details and how to apply, read more at Dogfish.

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Tourism Office’s Video Contest: Great Way to Showcase Delaware Arts!
Amateur and professional videographers alike are invited to enter the Delaware Tourism Office’s inaugural Video Contest, a competition to highlight Delaware’s appeal. Entries accepted  through December 31, 2013. For more information, go to www.visitdelaware.com/videocontest.

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NEA Funding Opportunities Available
Our Town Grant Program
Organizations may apply for creative placemaking projects that contribute to the livability of communities and place the arts at their core. Matching grants range from $25,000-$200,000.
Deadline: January 13, 2014
Notification: July 2014
Earliest Start Date: September 1, 2014
See more at: http://arts.gov/grants/organizations-apply#sthash.8179exld.dpuf

The Big Read, 2014-2015
The Big Read is accepting applications from non-profit organizations to develop community-wide reading programs between September 2014 and June 2015. Organizations interested in applying should visit The Big Read website for guidelines and application instructions. Application procedure: Submit applications electronically via eGrant
Application deadline: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. (CST)

The Delaware Symphony Chamber Series

The Saint Paul’s Suite is a joyous collage of folk tunes which Gustav Holst wrote to express his gratitude for a soundproof studio provided by his employers at Saint Paul’s Girls School. The string chamber ensemble of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra (DSO) made it a glorious celebration of sound — from the dancing Jig to the exciting dance of the second violins in the Ostinato, the popping pizzicato of the Intermezzo and impressive first violin solos by Erika Miller to the resounding echoes of Greensleeves against the Dargason in the Finale. A great piece in the hands of great musicians is a treat.

Jeffrey O’Donnell was in top form playing the Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Concerto in A minor for oboe and strings.  Although I heard many recordings in preparing for this review, I felt Mr. O’Donnell produced the most rounded tone, smoother than any of the recordings I found. Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote the piece for oboe virtuoso Leon Goosens and left little space for the oboe to rest.  Mr. O’Donnell seemed to have no trouble with the demanding part and even made his sound have a punchier and more reedy character for the Minuet and Musette, calling to mind a bagpipe. The seventeen-member chamber orchestra was perfect for the balance, the room and the piece. The ensemble and soloist had plenty of energy and power left for the effervescent Finale.

The Serenade in E Major for string orchestra, op. 22 by Antonin Dvorak was yet another style of composing with folk inspiration. The composition is a wonderful canvas on which to illustrate the great strings of the DSO. The audience could experience the fine bass playing by Daniel McDougall and Arthur Marks and get the full thrust of the viola section as rarely heard so clearly in full orchestra. The high notes of the three celli alternating with the violins seemed effortless. The flexible response to Maestro Amado’s ritardandi in the Scherzo and the sheer joy of the performance convinced me that the donations by those who would save the DSO have been well worth the investment — and the large audience indicates the investment will benefit us all.

See delawaresymphony.org.

Celebrating the Spooky Holiday with Shakespeare & Poe

By Guest Blogger, Bradford Wason. Brad is the Founder and Director of 23rd & 5th Design Group and currently works with DMG Marketing in Greenville. He is also on the faculty of Delaware College of Art & Design, and is an ardent Wilmington Arts & Culture supporter.

DSF's actors add the appropriate "flair" to
the macabre tales by Shakespeare & Poe.

As fall fast approaches, the nights grow colder, and with it we enter the Halloween season. Traditionally, Halloween means ghosts and ghouls, masks and candy, or hayrides. But if you're looking to experience an intimate evening in the dark side of theatre, the Delaware Shakespeare Festival (DSF) has all the mirth and matter you'll need this season. Ghosts, spirits, witches and haunting stories are included, in this mash-up of William Shakespeare plays and poems and short stories of Edgar Allen Poe. This format uniquely blends the two together in one fascinating macabre journey, as narrated by DSF veterans Caroline Crocker (A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Gentleman of Verona), Adam Darrow (The Two Gentleman of Verona), James Kassees (A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Two Gentleman of Verona), and a newcomer to DSF, Clare O'Malley.  

After its debut hit in 2012, The Shakespeare/Poe - A Night of Readings from The Dark Side returns, traveling to the gothic halls of Rockwood Mansion, the galleries of the Newark Arts Alliance and the grandeur of the Read House & Gardens in Old New Castle. As DSF Producing Artistic Director David Stradley said, "Our summer Festival audiences come from all over the area; so this year, we decided to share this fun evening in venues throughout New Castle County. I think each will bring its own interesting energy to the night."

I couldn't agree with him more, having thoroughly enjoyed the 30-seat, sold-out performance Saturday night at the Read House. The evening of readings runs just over an hour, which made for a excellent late dinner and conversation to follow.

The readings are compiled and directed by Stradley, who does a masterful job weaving the works into a continuous piece. The evening ebbs and flows, from dramatic delivery by James Kassess in The Fall of the House of Usher (Poe) to the "excited sensations" narrated by Clare O'Malley in The Masque of the Red Death (Poe). Not to be outdone by the dark short stories and poems of Poe, Adam Darrow and Caroline Crocker bring to life the juxtaposition of Poe's The Masque of the Red Death in an excerpt of Macbeth (Shakespeare), Act 3, Scene 4, where the tortured Macbeth is visited by the ghost of Banquo.

I appreciated the narrative notes and short quips added by the cast to lighten the mood and provide background. Although the evening is rooted in macabre storytelling — such as an excerpt from Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, or Poe's The Raven — it provides more humorous moments, such as the Hamlet/Raven Mash-up read by the Ensemble. The audience gave a good chuckle to fill out the room as the evening ended with Caroline Crocker's narration of the Caliban Monologue – Act 3, Scene 2, from The Tempest (Shakespeare).

"Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises,

Sounds and sweet aires that give delight and hurt not."

If you're looking to enlighten and indulge your senses, this short, intimate evening by the Delaware Shakespeare Festival is not to be missed! ONLY at www.delshakes.org.