Just Announced! Northrop to Receive $30,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

Regents of the University of Minnesota for Northrop is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for Arts Projects award of $30,000. This grant will support the dance performance and audience engagement activities as part of the Northrop Dance Series. This grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects such as this one with Northrop strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.”

The arts are a cornerstone of the human experience and everyone should have access to meaningful participation,” says Northrop Executive Director Kari Schloner. “When that ideal is achieved, we as individuals and as a society at large are strengthened. Northrop is grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for their support. Through this Grants for Arts Projects award, the NEA and Northrop are ensuring that communities right here in Minnesota have access to world-class artistic experiences along with the hope, joy, and connection that those experiences provide.”

This award will support the presentation of dance performances and audience engagement activities as part of the Northrop Dance Series. In the spring of 2023, Northrop will present The Joffrey Ballet in Serenade—the first ballet George Balanchine created in America in 1934, and the Northrop Centennial Commission Of Mice and Men adapted by choreographer Cathy Marston; Ashwini Ramaswamy and Kevork Mourad: Invisible Cities; Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón with choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, including a student matinee; and Pilobolus celebrating their 50th Anniversary in BIG FIVE-OH!, including a student matinee. Northrop will create outreach and audience engagement activities in partnership with local organizations and artists, within its own venue, virtually, and at community venues. Activities include family programming, student matinees, community classes, workshops and pre/post-performance discussions with artists, and reduced ticketing for families, students, and under-resourced community groups.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.