2027 Program Updates and Virtual Meeting

At Mid Atlantic Arts, we're implementing some changes for the upcoming 2026-2027 program year. As we complete our strategic planning process and are learning the what field wants to see in future support – we are also working to balance what is happening in the current federal funding environment with our goals moving forward.

View the changes on our website here.

Questions? Join Mid Atlantic Arts program staff for a public webinar on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, 2:00-3:30pm ET. We'll cover changes to our National Endowment for the Arts Regional Engagement Program (REP) - funded programs for the 2026-2027 funding cycle and beyond. We will share information about the following programs for the 2026-2027 funding cycle:  

Launching Fall 2025: 

• Jazz Touring Network (JTN)  
• Mid Atlantic Tours (MAT) 

Launching early Winter 2026: 

• Mid Atlantic Presenter Initiatives (MAPI)  
• Folk & Traditional Arts Community Projects (FTACP) 

We will also:  

• Share context for pausing the ArtsCONNECT and Special Presenter Initiatives programs  
• Describe plans for reenvisioning Mid Atlantic Arts' REP-funded programs  
• Answer your questions about changes to Mid Atlantic Arts' programs 

CALT Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships Application is Open!

Calling all Appalachian Foodways Practitioners! We are so excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the 2026 Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships! 

The Appalachian Foodways Practitioner Fellowships honor, celebrate, and support foodways tradition bearers in Central Appalachia who have made significant contributions to sustaining and supporting the foodways heritage of their communities. Each Fellow receives $5,000 in unrestricted funding and a unique physical award created by an Appalachian traditional artist. The Fellows are honored each year at the Appalachian Studies Association Annual Conference. 

Fellows may include, but are not limited to home cooks and bakers, seed savers, farmers, community elders, keepers of recipes and traditional foodways knowledge, hunters, and foragers, who have made significant and long-term contributions to sustaining and supporting the foodways heritage of their respective communities.

Fellowship applications deadline: Monday, October 13, 2025, 5pm EST. 

This program is administered in partnership with Grow Appalachia of Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association.

USArtists International 
Professional Development Webinar

Curious about what it takes to tour internationally as a U.S.-based dance artist? Join this interactive session on Tuesday, October 7 at 4pm ET designed specifically for early- to mid-career dance makers looking to take their work abroad. We’ll kick things off with personal stories and lessons learned from Gaspard Louis of Gaspard&Dancers (NC) and Ariel Grossman of Ariel Rivka Dance (NY), two companies that have recently made international touring a regular part of their work. If you can't make it, no worries! The webinar will be recorded and will be available on YouTube after.

Gaspard Louis is the Founder and Artistic Director of Gaspard&Dancers (G&D). He received a BFA in Dance from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. Following his studies, he joined the New York based company called AllNations where he performed traditional dances from many parts of the world for US troupes across the globe. 

Ariel Rebecca (Rivka) Grossman is a native New Yorker, who trained at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts and Joffrey Ballet School under Gerald Arpino. She earned a B.S. in Dance, with honors, and a Minor in Women’s Studies from Skidmore College, and a masters in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. In 2008, she founded an all-female contemporary company, Ariel Rivka Dance.

Reflecting on the 2025 LEAD Conference

This year, Fern Zaky, our Development Associate, attended the 2025 Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here are some of Fern's reflections on their experience:

“This month, I had the great opportunity to attend LEAD. Bringing together professionals from all aspects of the arts, from all over the country, was an amazing experience. The sense of togetherness in a time of uncertainty sent electricity through the air.

The conference brought us together, especially during the first State Art Agency and Regional Arts Organization meeting. We discussed the ever-changing landscape in the arts and how to advocate for our constituents effectively. We discussed what an inclusive arts space looks like on the state and regional level, and also discussed some of the unique challenges faced by the sector and our position in it.

Anyone interested in accessibility and inclusion within the arts should consider attending LEAD next year. During a time of rapid changes, this conference gave us all space to process and look to a brighter future. On that note, 2026 LEAD will be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - proudly in the Mid Atlantic Region.”

Image: Attendees at the LEAD Conference. Credit: Fern Zaky.

Opportunity Quick Links

• The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University invites applications for its 2026-27 fellowship program. Fellowships of $64,000 will be awarded for research projects focused on any aspect of the 2026-27 theme of survival. Humanistic research that engages or critiques the idea of survival is invited. From environmental challenges (hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, famine, and rising sea levels) to political landscapes (wars, military action, regime change), research is invited that considers survival through questions of poetics, aesthetics, ethics, history, or biopolitics. 
  Deadline: Monday, September 22, 2025. Learn more here.

• Foundwork invites applications for the Foundwork Artist Prize, an annual juried award that recognizes outstanding artist practices. Honorees receive unrestricted $10,000 grants, remote studio visits with each member of its jury cohort, and a published interview as part of the Foundwork Dialogues program. Three artists will also be named to the 2025 Short List. 
  Deadline: Friday, September 26, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Ford Foundation invites applications for New York City Good Neighbor Committee grants program, which aims to strengthen the foundation’s ties and support for local organizations working on issues related to the foundation’s mission. Each year, the Good Neighbor Committee provides unrestricted funding to a small group of community-based organizations working in New York City in the areas of arts and culture, education, and human services. Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Learn more here.

• Vermont Studio Center invites applications for its 2026 Visual Artist and Writer Residencies and Fellowships. The residencies will take place between June 29, 2026 and December 18, 2026. 
  Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC) invites applications for Commonwealth History Fund grants. Eligible projects include but are not limited to restoration, rehabilitation, and other related building and construction projects; preservation projects; research and documentation; publications and exhibitions; acquisition of property, land, and objects; conservation; and landscape or infrastructure improvements. 
  Deadline: Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Learn more here.

• The Adolf Busch Award invites applications from organizations using music to address social injustice. The award will grant $10,000 to one organization each year in support of general operating expenses or specific projects. The award will assist organizations that focus on nurturing the musical and leadership skills of individuals, address systemically disenfranchised segments of the population, engage in grassroots initiatives that promote a pluralistic and equitable society, demonstrate a unique and thoughtful approach to the issues they address, demonstrate a meaningful organizational maturation since inception, and show a rejection of the status quo and a willingness to shape a response to systemic issues in a challenging environment. 
  Deadline: Wednesday, October 1, 2025. Learn more here.

• Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX) invites applications for International Showcases. HKPAX provides a platform for arts practitioners and institutions in the performing arts industry worldwide to showcase their work to international peers, fostering collaboration and touring opportunities. Practitioners of all performing arts disciplines are welcome to apply. Successful applicants will be offered one to two performance opportunities at a designated venue in Hong Kong during HKPAX, where they can present their original work to a global audience. Each selected applicant will receive basic technical support from the performance venue, promotional support from HKPAX, a travel and accommodation allowance of US$10,000, a complimentary spot in the exhibition area to promote their work, and two Full Passes granting access to HKPAX events from 9 to 13 October 2026. 
  Deadline: Sunday, October 12, 2025. Learn more here.

Image: Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass on the Hamilton Auditorium stage at Carnegie Hall West Virginia's Special Presenter Initiative Engagement. Credit: Sheena Pendley.