Due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we are extending our April 1st Deadline to April 15th. RISCA Program Directors have added additional, virtual grant support options to assist you in completing your application.
One-on-One Virtual Meetings
Fellowships and Project Grants for Individuals: sign up for a time with Mollie Flanagan here.
Arts Access Grants: sign up for a time with Todd Trebour here.
Folk Arts Apprenticeships and Fellowships: email Elena Calderon Patino at elena.patino@arts.ri.gov to schedule a time.
As of Monday, March 16th, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts is fully operational but all staff are working remotely. We will follow guidance from the Center for Disease Control and the Rhode Island Department of Health in the coming days and weeks, and will update via social media and email as things change. For now, the best way to reach RISCA staff is by email, our phones are not forwarding to us at home. We are also conducting all meetings by phone or Zoom, contact the staff member you are meeting with for more details.
If you have questions or want updates about the Coronavirus in Rhode Island or nationally, both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health have robust and frequent updates and information on their websites: https://health.ri.gov/, and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. Additionally, The Rhode Island Department of Health has launched a 24-hour hotline for anyone with questions about the Coronavirus. Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm, call 401-222-8022, at all other times call 211 for assistance.
RISCA announces the state finals for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. On Sunday, March 8th, eleven high school students from eleven Rhode Island high schools will participate in the Poetry Out Loud state finals in the James P. Metcalf Auditorium, at the RISD Museum.
Poetry Out Loud is a national arts education program that encourages the study of great poetry by offering educational materials and a dynamic recitation competition to high schools across the country. Poetry Out Loud uses a pyramid structure. Beginning at the classroom level, winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to the state competition, and ultimately to the national finals in Washington, DC. Since its inception, 3.6 million students from 14,000 high schools nationwide have participated in Poetry Out Loud.
At the Rhode Island State Finals in the Metcalf Auditorium at the RISD Museum, contestants will recite works they selected from an anthology of more than 900 classic and contemporary poems. Students participating in the Poetry Out Loud program have benefited from educational materials created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. These standards-based curriculum materials include an online anthology, a teacher’s guide, lesson plans, and video and audio on the art of recitation. Schools are welcome to download these free resources at www.poetryoutloud.org. The competition included over 2700 Rhode Island High School students and involved 44 teachers.
2020 POETRY OUT LOUD SCHOOLS AND CHAMPIONS
Portsmouth Abbey School
Sarah Machado
Bishop Hendricken High School
Jacob Rademacher
Barrington Christian Academy
Emily Klassen
St. Patrick’s Academy
Taelyce Dipina
Chariho Regional High School
Laura Donnelly
Classical High School
Mariama Bandabaila
Central Falls High School
Brazilea Simone Schenck
Central High School
Deiondre Teele
North Kingstown High School
Julia Lefebvre
East Providence High School
Sienna Adams
Scituate High School
Charlotte McInnis
Our community partners include RISD Museum, The Providence Athenaeum and the Rhode Island Center for the Book.
Poetry Out Loud Awards
The winner of the Poetry Out Loud Rhode Island finals will receive $200, and the winner’s school will receive a $500 stipend for the purchase of poetry materials. The first runner-up will receive $100, with $200 for his or her school library. The state champion of the Poetry Out Loud Rhode Island final will receive an all-expenses-paid trip (with an adult chaperone) to compete in the national finals in Washington, DC, on April 27–29, 2020. The Poetry Out Loud national finals will present a total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends, with a $20,000 award for the Poetry Out Loud National Champion.
Rhode Island Poetry Out Loud finals at James P. Metcalf Auditorium in the Chace Center of the RISD Museum
The Poetry Out Loud Rhode Island finals will take place on March 8, 2020 at 1 pm in the James P. Metcalf Auditorium in the Chace Center of the RISD Museum. The event is free and open to public. For more information on the state finals, visit https://www.facebook.com/Poetryoutloudri/.
About the National Endowment for the Arts
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. For more information, visit arts.gov.
About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative partnerships, prizes, and programs. For more information, visit poetryfoundation.org.
RISCA announces the state finals for Poetry Out Loud: National Recitation Contest. The competition, presented in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, is part of a national program that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry through memorization, performance, and competition. On Sunday, March 8th, eleven high school students from eleven Rhode Island high schools will participate in the Poetry Out Loud state finals in the James P. Metcalf Auditorium, at the RISD Museum.