Wesleyan Wins $50K National Endowment for Arts Dance, Poetry Grants

Wesleyan University is among four local organizations that received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to support its dance and poetry programs. 

The Middletown-based liberal arts college was given $30,000 to support the Center for the Arts’ Dance Presenting Series and $20,000 to support the publication and distribution of books of poetry.

Other grantees are:

• Yale University $35,000 to support the exhibition “Being Roman: Identities in the Provinces” and $30,000 to support the premiere of “These Paper Bullets”

• Connecticut Players Foundation, Inc. $10,000 to support the development and world premiere of “Table,” a new musical by composer David Shire and writer Adam Gopnik

• New Haven International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Inc. $40,000 to support Arts & Ideas: Cornerstone Projects

“I congratulate these organizations on their prestigious awards and thank the NEA for their role in making vital creative work part of life in Connecticut," says U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

"The artists bringing these works into our lives fill the vital need to engage our imaginations and expose people to experiences they may otherwise never have had. I look forward to the success of their continued contributions to our community,” she said.

NEA Art Works grants supports the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. 

The four organizations were among nearly 900 nationwide to receive grants totaling over $23 million, including $1.6 million for arts education. Recipients came from 47 states and the District of Columbia.