Formerly known as the Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship, the National Artist Teacher Fellowship program offers grants to support the artistic revitalization of arts teachers, offering them the opportunity to immerse themselves in their own creative work, interact with other professional artists, and stay current with new practices. NATF is generously supported by the Surdna Foundation and is a program of the Center for Arts in Education at Boston Arts Academy.
Design Instructor Donna Shank-Major received a National Artist Teacher Fellowship to study in Florence, Italy. She will study with master Italian bookbinder Enrico Giannini, spend time exploring Florence's Oltrarno artisan district and will visit Bologna's museums for inspiration and ideas. Upon her return, she will share these methods with students, colleagues and the community through several workshops and create a new body of work.
Theatre Instructor Teri Parker Lewis also received a National Artist Teacher Fellowship. She will be spending 18 days on the west coast, from San Francisco to Seattle, studying with actress Diane Venora and director Jeffrey Fracé and attending performances at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage and On the Boards. Next fall she will perform a new solo work that will be the focus of the grant. The Fine Arts Center Theatre also has been awarded a complementary grant of $1,500 to support her post-fellowship activities in the school.
Upstate Premiere of Grier Song Cycle
The Emrys Foundation, an Upstate arts support organization, celebrated its 30th anniversary year with a special event April 7 at the Greenville County Museum of Art. The program included the premiere of "Museum Pieces," a song cycle for soprano, saxophone and string quartet by FAC Composer-in-Residence Jon Jeffrey Grier. The songs were set to poems by Emrys-affiliated poets, who were in turn inspired by the whimsical paintings of Spartanburg native Helen Dupré Moseley (1887-1984). The performance was held on the fourth floor of the Museum, surrounded by an exhibit of Moseley’s paintings. The work was performed by Mary Freeman, Connie Frigo and a string quartet from the Strings Chamber Music program at the FAC (Reagan Bachour and Paul Aguilar, violins; Shannon Elliott, viola; and Maria Parrini, cello). Each of the six brief songs features a poem inspired by one of the Moseley works. The entire work will be repeated by the same ensemble at John Ravnan's year-end Strings Chamber Music recital on Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m. in the Sutherlin Recital Hall at the FAC.
