Saturday, December 31, 2011

My Words are My Shelter 2011: Thank You Notes

Dear Beloved Readers,

So I know I said this before (at least I think I did) but in case I forgot: The 2011 My Words are My Shelter Project was a success! We sent over 150 journals, pens and pencils to every woman at my mom’s shelter in Cleveland, the Norma Herr Women’s Center (NHWC). Plus a $300 check and another one for $250 is on the way. I really, really appreciate your generosity because I know these are hard times for so many of you. And even those of you who couldn’t donate wrote really supportive emails to me which meant a lot to me. Below are a couple messages from two women who are movers and shakers at Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons, Inc. in Cleveland, the organization that runs NHWC. I just wanted to share their emails with you and thank you once again. I love you guys!
From Cathleen M. Alexander, LISW-S, Associate Director, Women's Homeless Services, Norma Herr Women's Center:
On Christmas Eve, we distributed 140 brand new journals and pens to each of the 140 women staying with us at the Norma Herr Women's Center over these holidays. Every woman we shelter has a unique and compelling story. In many ways, their stories are not so different from any of our stories as women, mother, sisters, daughters--but they also tell of despair, broken hearts, troubling thoughts and hard times. Thanks to your generosity, our residents have the means to write down their stories and memorialize their experiences. As I walk through the shelter, I see women bent over their journals, writing away with intense concentration. Their words truly are their shelter, and we thank you for making this possible with your gifts.

From Susan Neth, Executive Director of MHS, Inc.:
Mira, my heartfelt gratitude for your continued commitment to the women seeking safety and shelter at the Norma Herr Women's Center. I am so humbled by the resiliency of the human spirit of those we serve. Thank you for touching their lives and for increasing awareness that we can each make a difference. Hugs Mira!
So thank you all again and if any of you wish to contribute to the MHS, Inc. or my mom's shelter (they are tax-deductable donations), you can either go to the MHS website and scroll to the bottom of the page for the donation button or just go here: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=341607734

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!
Love,
Mirabee




Where to Find Grants

Happy New Year everyone!

Just a little note to suggest that you check out this blog post about where to find funding by Julija Sukys on the shewrites.com. Go here: http://www.shewrites.com/profiles/blogs/show-me-the-money-where-to-find-writers-grants and you will find a nice mention of Mirabee as well. It’s technically a writers’s site but the info is really for all disciplines.

Cheers!
Mirabee

Thursday, December 29, 2011

In the Image: a Kickstarter Project Worth Supporting!

Greetings,

I don’t normally post about a kickstarter project unless it is rather extraordinary and I think this one is. Please take a look at the short video below and consider donating to this amazing project. What the filmmakers have to say about their project (which can be found here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/705674251/in-the-image):

IN THE IMAGE: CAPTURING THE STRUGGLE FOR PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS

IN THE IMAGE is a documentary about Palestinian women who film human rights abuses throughout the occupied West Bank. Each woman in our film belongs to the Camera Project, a unique collaboration of Jews and Arabs who use video to fight for justice, equality, and against intimidation by Israeli settlers and soldiers. Most importantly, the film explores the lives of these young Palestinian women as they enter the 21st century: their struggles between tradition and modernity, between invisibility and international media attention. The film also reveals the heartwarming collaboration between Arabs and Jews - a joint effort to achieve a just peace.



Wednesday, December 28, 2011

My Words are My Shelter Project 2011 Was a Success!

Dear Readers,

I just want to say Happy New Year and to let you know that the My Words are My Shelter Project to send every woman at the Norma Herr Women’s Center (a women’s shelter in Cleveland where my mother spent the last three years of her life) a journal, a pen and pencil is now officially over. We made our goal! Those of you who donated to this project: thank you from the bottom of my heart! When I get an official thank you from the Director, I will post it on Mira’s List.

While last year there were under 125 women staying at the shelter at Christmas (normally they have about 80 to 120 or so), this Christmas there were around 150 women there. This was a tough year for the homeless population, given the downward economy and severe cut in social programs. At times this past year, my mom’s shelter had up to 200 women staying there, even though their capacity is full at 150.

Nevertheless, even though the cost for this venture increased, thanks to all of you, we were able to send 160 journls, pens and pencils to the shelter along with a $500 donation ($300 last week and I’m sending out another $200 today that I received in the last couple days!). I will keep this project going each and every year during the holiday season and if any of you are inspired to start your own My Words project, please write to me and let me know! Who knows....this could be a non-profit organization in the making....

I have a couple new things to post this week...maybe later today if you are lucky. Things to look out for in 2012:

** a little facelift on Mira’s List, along with my now official new website address: www.miraslist.com (same site as this, but if you pass on my web address, please use the miralist.com one).

** I will be posting info in January about an art contest coming up with two amazing curators as judges. The entry fee will be low and there will be a cash prize.

** If you run a retreat center or residency and do not offer financial aid or scholarship assistance or at least free housing and studio, you will now have to pay a small fee to post your announcement or pay for advertising on my site. I will be posting a fee scale for advertisers soon. Unfortunately, I can’t keep doing this site without a tiny bit of income since I am on disability. If you run a retreat or residency center and offer aid, etc. you will continue to be able to make announcements for free.

Thanks and stay tuned!
Cheers,
Mirabee

Friday, December 16, 2011

New Grants & Residencies for International Artists of All Disciplines

Greetings everyone! Your response to the My Words are My Shelter Project to send a journal, pen and pencil to every woman in the homeless shelter my mother lived in in Cleveland was overwhelming! I made my goal and then some. I will still be taking in donations until December 23rd but know that I have made enough from all of you loyal and generous readers to send out 160 journals, etc. to the Norma Herr Women’s Center in Cleveland (named for my mom!) and to also send a check for....so far counting....at least $300 but maybe and most likely more. To find out more about this project, go here: http://miraslist.blogspot.com/2011/12/my-words-are-my-shelter-project-2011.html

Now on to some opportunities coming up in the new year....

(ALL) 2012 Artists in Residence Program at I-Park, Application Deadline: January 30, 2012—I-Park announces its twelfth season hosting its multi-disciplinary residency program. Self-directed artists’ residencies will be offered from May through November 2012. Most sessions are 4-weeks in duration and are offered to those working in the Visual Arts, Music Composition, Creative Writing, Moving Image and Landscape/Garden Design. Except for the $30 application fee, the residency is offered at no cost to accepted artists and includes comfortable private living quarters, a private studio and meal program. International applicants are welcome. To defray the cost of travel, four $750 grants will be awarded in 2012 to international artists.

For details and to apply, visit http://www.i-park.org/residency.html or contact the office: [email protected] or 860-873-2468.
--
(WRITERS, PERFORMING ARTISTS, EMERGING FIELDS)
On February 1, 2012, Creative Capital will begin accepting online Letters of Inquiry for grants in Emerging Fields, Literature and Performing Arts. The Inquiry Form will be open until March 1. Visit creative-capital.org/apply to read the grant guidelines and learn more about the application process, or attend an in-person or online information session.

Creative Capital provides integrated financial and advisory support to artists pursuing innovative and adventurous projects. Acting as a catalyst for the development of exceptional and imaginative ideas, we support artists whose work is provocative, timely and relevant; who are deeply engaged with their art forms and demonstrate a rigorous commitment to their craft, yet are also boldly original and push the boundaries of their genre; who create work that carries the potential to reshape the cultural landscape. Selected grantees receive up to $50,000 in direct support and a suite of services valued at more than $40,000.

To be eligible to apply, an artist must be:
* A U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident
* At least 25 years old
* A working artist with at least five years of professional experience
* Not a full-time student
Questions? Visit creative-capital.org/apply or email [email protected].

(ALL) haNorth Artist Residency in Pine Plains, NY announces a 2012 call for applications.

Website: chanorth.org

Winter Residency

chaNorth is happy to announce a new Winter Residency Program. Individual artists and groups of collaborators are invited to send project proposals. Artists will be provided with studio space and living space on a weekly basis and are able to specify the amount of time they would like to be in residence.

There is not a formal application process for our winter session. If interested in off-season residency, please email [email protected] with a project proposal, artist bio, links to related work, contact information and the residency dates you are requesting. Available dates: February 19-April 28.

More information: http://chanorth.org/?page_id=90

Summer/Fall Residency

Our summer/fall residency session is comprised of five one-month sessions. Selected artists will be given a four-week residency that includes a private bedroom and studio, a fully stocked kitchen and one communal meal per day. As part of the residency artists are also given an “organic internship,” where they complete one four-hour work shift per week at McEnroe Organic Farm, allowing a deeper connection to the land and the food it produces.

Artists are responsible for travel costs and supplies. Collaborative teams of artists are invited to apply. The residency fee for one month is $875. Five artists will receive fully subsidized residencies at chaNorth.

2012 Summer/Fall residency dates:
Session 1: May 4-June 1
Session 2: June 4-July 2
Session 3: July 6-August 3
Session 4: August 6-Sept 3
Session 5: Sept 7-Oct 5

Applications are due February 21, 2012.

More information and applications: http://chanorth.org/?page_id=80


(MA WRITERS, POETS & CHOREOGRAPHERS) The Massachusetts Cultural Council is pleased to announce that we are now accepting 2012 Artist Fellowships applications in the categories of Choreography, Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.

The deadline for Artist Fellowships applications in Choreography, Fiction/Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry is January 30, 2012. Read the program guidelines and apply online. The Artist Fellowships are competitive, anonymously judged fellowships of $7,500 and finalist awards of $500, direct support to individual artists in recognition of artistic excellence. For more info, please go to: http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/programs/artistfellows.asp


(ALL) Artist Residency in Paris—Semapa, an urban development company of the Paris Rive Gauche area in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, is launching an international call for applications open to all forms of artistic creation. Open to all forms of artistic creation and artists from all over the world, located in Paris, Rive Gauche

Selection criteria The provisional budget, including fees and production costs, amounts to 600.000 euros, excluding taxes.

The selection will take place in two steps.
The first part will be open to all applicants; a maximum of five artists will be selected to participate in the second phase. Each of these artists will have until the final trimester of 2012 to produce sketches on the basis of the contract specifications. Each of these proposals will be compensated in the amount of 15.000 euros, including taxes.

Further Information and Application
http://www.commandeartistiqueparis13.com/en/index.php

Deadline: 03 March 2012

Friday, December 9, 2011

My Words are My Shelter Project, 2011

Dearest Readers,

Many of you know that my book, The Memory Palace, came out last January and that I have been on the road since then, doing readings and book events. For those of you who don’t know what the book is about, it’s about my relationship with my beautiful and brilliant mother who was tragically afflicted with schizophrenic and who became homeless the last seventeen years of her life. My mother spent her final three years in a women’s shelter in Cleveland, Ohio that has since been named for her: The Norma Herr Women’s Center.

Now wait a minute, you might be asking...what does this personal story have to do with Mira’s List’s mission, which is to help artists find “money, time and a place to create”? Well...here’s what I wrote last year when I was asking people to help out and donate a small amount for the MY WORDS ARE MY SHELTER project:
Recently, the shelter where my mother lived, the Community Women’s Center of Cleveland, was rebuilt and renamed in her honor. It is now called The Norma Herr Women’s Center and is sponsored by the Mental Health Services, Inc. of Cleveland. It is a safe haven for women who have fled domestic abuse, substance abuse, homelessness and poverty. There they can receive food and shelter, friendship, counseling and assistance in employment.

One of the things the shelter does is encourage the women to keep a journal. They also hold poetry workshops when they can get funding or a writer to volunteer his or her time. This writing process is key to their empowerment. When I found my mother at the end of her life, I discovered that she kept a storage unit at U-Haul all those seventeen years. When I opened it up, I found seventeen years of diaries.

My mother wrote each and every day to help keep her imaginary voices at bay. She wrote descriptions of flowers in the park, she wrote poems, screenplays and soaring lyric prose. I read each and every one of these diaries and was blown away at their beauty and power, and yes, their sense of tragedy, delusion and loss. But ultimately, I realized how much keeping a journal helped my mother navigate through the world. I believe that she found a certain strength in writing every day—it gave her a different kind of sustenance than the food she received at shelters and from strangers. It gave her a voice.

This is why I am starting a project this year called My Words Are My Shelter. I am sending a box of hardbound journals made from 100% recycled materials, along with a pen and a pencil, to each and every woman at my mother’s shelter in Cleveland. The cost of sending that box is more than I can afford right now so I am asking you if you would be willing to help me out and be a part of this process. That said, I realize that everyone is asking for money these days, so please do not feel pressured. But if you do feel so inspired, here is what you can do to participate...

1. To send one woman one journal, one pen & pencil, plus postage, it costs $5. You can click the donate here button on my blog (right hand side bar) and use your paypal account or credit card. Please write that it is for the “My Words” project because it is not a Mira’s List donation.

2. Or you can send a personal check made out to me, Mira Bartók, or to Mira’s List, and mail it to my post box address: Mira’s List, P.O. Box 273, Athol, MA 01331.

3. OR...if you don’t feel like donating, please consider donating something to your own local shelter or donating your time. Or buy a sandwich for someone on the street or a cup of hot chocolate, and tell them where the nearest shelter is. Do you know where the nearest shelter is?

Thanks for reading this. I’d love to raise $500 by December 20th and put a lot of names on the card I am sending out. Any money I receive above and beyond this amount will just be donated to the shelter for other much-needed items or put into an account for next year’s My Words Project. Please spread the word about this project and if you get inspired, why not start a My Words Are My Shelter Project of your own for your local shelter next year?
That’s the scoop everyone. Last year when I wrote the above post, I raised enough money to send not only a box of journals and pens to every woman at the shelter but I also was able to send them a substantial cash donation too. I am starting this way later than I wanted to because of being on book tour but better late than never. Let’s see if I can get enough money to send a big box of journals this year too!

Thanks so much for your help. Please pass this post on. And if you cannot contribute the $5 or more, thanks for at least passing the message on to others who can afford to help. Please try to send your donations to me by December 22nd. Anything I receive after that date will be sent in as a financial donation to the shelter to use as they see fit. Thanks.

Love,
Mirabee

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Colorado Residency for Artists, Writers and Composers

(ARTISTS, WRITERS & COMPOSERS) ART342 is now accepting artist-in-residence applications for 14 week and 6 week residencies in 2012.

On-line application: https://art342.slideroom.com/

Deadline for all Summer and Fall 2012 residencies: February 1, 2012

ART342 offers 14-week and 6-week residencies to emerging and established artists, writers and composers. Studios, a kiln and basic equipment are available for most visual artists, including ceramicists. Quiet spaces exist for creative or scholarly writers. The composer’s studio is outfitted with a Steinway B, computers and software for writing and recording.

Awards for accepted applicants include 24-hour access to free studios, living space and a modest stipend. Residents are responsible for personal expenses and travel to and from the site. Situated in a semi-rural area, ART342 is just 6 miles north of Historic Old Town in Fort Collins, Colorado. Up to 7 studios and 5 living spaces are maintained as private places for creative work. Pets, children, visitors and partners are strongly discouraged.

$30 application fee

For more information regarding application and residency details, visit: www.art342.org

Romanian Visual Arts Residency

Hi Everyone,

If anyone is interested in finding out more about the residency in Romania that I mentioned here: http://miraslist.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-artist-residency-testimonials.html, I found the website and contact info. Go to: http://arthouse-visualarts.blogspot.com/

Or call or email: ELISABETH L. OCHSENFELD visual artist TEL-FAX 0049 6221 25232 [email protected]


Cheers,
Mirabee

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Chicago Winter Artist Residency Fellowship Deadline Extended to Dec. 10th!

Chicago Winter Artist & Writer Retreats and Writer Residencies Fellowship Deadline NOW EXTENDED UNTIL: December 10, 2011

Writers and artists of all disciplines are welcome to participate this winter in 6 day residencies in the accessible and vibrant Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Each day will offer time to write, research and an opportunity to communicate your experiences and challenges of being a creative individual with others. Chicago has one of the most vibrant and cultural communities in the country and we would like you to experience it firsthand.

The Writer's Residency provides six days focused on writing without major distractions; we encourage writers to visit the city for research, but encourage use of this time to concentrate on a specific writing project. The Artist's Retreats are an invitation for artists of all disciplines to discover Chicago and be inspired. Unfortunately, we cannot provide studio space, but these 6 days with other artists will encourage discussion, forge lasting friendships and hopefully spark new ideas.

We encourage all to apply for a fellowship to reduce the cost of participation. Fellowships of up to $300 are awarded based on your letter of intent or writing samples and are not based on financial need. Costs are $750 without fellowship and $450 with a fellowship. Private accommodations with bath, writing desk, continental breakfast and light lunch are provided daily. Salons are held on Friday and/or Saturday evenings to foster discussion and interaction with Chicago artists and writers.

For more information contact:
Kapra Fleming 773-354-1239
www.chicagoartretreats.org

Hosted in cooperation with the House of Two Urns B&B, 1239 N. Greenview Avenue Chicago, IL 60642 www.twourns.com.

Welcome to Mira's List

This blog provides information on upcoming grants, fellowships and residencies for artists, writers, composers, and media artists. It is for serious professionals only, from emerging to mid-career to established. I also publish information for graduate students from time to time. However, I do not publish information on exhibition or publishing opportunities, nor do I advertise artist retreats and workshops that charge money. At least that is my current policy. For more info on where to exhibit or publish, please see my links section which I try to periodically update. I sift through hundreds of search engines and websites to find opportunities for YOU dear artist. In return, I ask you to pass the information along to those who need it. Also, since this is a free blog, I don't always have the time to weed carefully through everything. If you find a grant or website or residency that is not up-to-date, is dodgy in some way, or is no longer in existence, please let me know! Also, if you stay somewhere at one of the residencies I suggest and have a good experience, I want that feedback too. Please check my FAQs at the top right side bar if you have questions before starting your search. Best wishes and happy hunting!