Congratulations, Poetry Out Loud Champions!

After two days of competitions from April 28-29, 11th grade student Jayda Dawn of Carmel, Indiana was named the 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion! Dawn recited poems by Langston Hughes, Alice Duer Miller, and Albery Allson Whitman during the national finals competition.

The second-place champion Poetry Out Loud winner is Damien Deen, a 12th grade student from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The third-place winner is Jaden Conley, a 12th grade student from Skokie, Illinois.

The other six national finalists were Cassie Lumba (Alaska), Mallory Lott (Louisiana), Hadas Frish (New Mexico), Astrid Santos (Rhode Island), Oona Borovicka (South Carolina), and Joeltica Rogers (U.S. Virgin Islands).

The first, second, and third place winner receive cash prizes of $20,000, $10,000, and $5,000, respectively. The remaining finalists receive cash prizes of $1,000. The schools or organizations representing the top nine finalists each receive $500 to purchase poetry materials.

Web casts of the National Finals, interviews with the finalists, and the program book from 2026 Poetry Out Loud are all online.

Images: 2026 Poetry Out Loud National Champion Jayda Dawn; Second-place winner Damien Deen; Third-place winner Jaden Conley. Credit: James Kegley.

State Arts Agency Gathering

From April 20 – 22, Mid Atlantic Arts welcomed 8 of our 10 state/territorial partners to Wilmington, Delaware for our annual SAA Gathering. The Delaware Division of the Arts hosted the gathering at Winterthur - we thank them for their hospitality! The State Art Agency Gathering is a space for SAA leaders to meet with each other, discuss issues affecting the region and their states, and brainstorm solutions while sharing effective models. We also welcomed staff from the National Endowment for the Arts for a collaborative session regarding the future of the arts in the Mid Atlantic from a federal level. We look forward to continuing our conversations in the weeks and months ahead.

Credit: Fern Zaky.

Think!Chinatown: Growing Roots

MAA Stories

Through arts festivals, workshops, and gatherings, Think!Chinatown celebrates the vibrancy of New York City's Chinatown. Our latest illustrated Cultural Sustainability grantee feature explores how Think!Chinatown addresses neighborhood issues with an artful, intergenerational approach.

Read the latest feature by Yao Xiao on our MAA Stories page.

Western Arts Alliance 2026 Annual Conference

Early Bird registration for the Western Arts Alliance 2026 Conference is open! The conference will take place from September 8-11, 2026 in Oakland, California.

Experience the next great performance through Juried and Independent Showcases, engage in professional development and networking, and connect with your colleagues in The Commons to get business done.

Circle Up with Keynote speaker W. Kamau Bell! With his mantra, “Who’s With Me?”, and celebrated work across stages, screens, and streets advocating for justice and lifting up connection and community, we can’t think of a better way to kick the week off than with this renowned Oakland native.

To register, or to find more info, including the conference schedule, can be found on the WAA website. Early Bird pricing runs until Friday, July 17. 

Some of our Mid Atlantic Arts team will be there too! If you're there, come connect with us!

Accessibility Self-Assessment Survey Group
Interest Form Open!

Mid Atlantic Arts invites arts & culture organizations located in our funding region to participate in a virtual accessibility self-assessment study group.

As a participant in the study group, you will move through Open Door Arts’ Arts & Culture Accessibility Self-Assessment tool. Participating organizations will benefit from the collaboration and accountability that comes from doing this work among peers. Mid Atlantic Arts will provide stipends of $325 for up to 12 organizations that commit to participating in this study group, to help organizations prioritize time to do this work. In addition to this financial incentive, participating organizations will benefit from consultation with facilitator Dani Rose, an award-winning accessibility advocate and certified ADA Coordinator with a decade of experience championing radical inclusion.

Learn more here. 

To be considered for participation in the Study Group, submit your interest form by Friday, June 12, 2026.  

Opportunity Quick Links

• The Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes. Inc. is accepting letters of intent for its Community Grant Program. This program is for for nonprofits that reside in and serve the residents of Chemung and Southeastern Steuben counties. Grants are made in the summer in the areas of the arts, culture, education, youth, environment, animals, human services, and capacity building. Program grant awards range from $2,000-$20,000. Deadline: Monday, June 1, 2026. Learn more here.

• The First Community Foundation of Partnership of Pennsylvania is accepting applications for the 2026 Community Grant Program. This program supports nonprofit organizations with missions relating to arts and culture, education, health and human service, youth, environment, and economic development. One $110,000 grant will be awarded for Greater Susquehanna Valley counties (Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union). One $110,000 grant will be awarded for Lycoming County. Deadline: Monday, June 1, 2026. Learn more here.

• Your Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia and the Arts Council of Greater Morgantown are accepting applications for the Organizational Arts Grants program. Organizations in Monongalia County, WV who serve the arts, or organizations executing a project serving the arts, are eligible to apply. Deadline: Monday, June 15, 2026. Learn more here.

• The Cafritz Foundation is accepting proposals for grants offering general operating support in the following areas: Arts & Culture, Community Services, Education, Environment, and Health & Wellness. Nonprofit organizations serving the Washington, DC metropolitan area with an emphasis on making the region more equitable fore residents are eligible to apply. 
  Deadline: July 1, 2026. Learn more here.

• The William Talbott Hillman Foundation is currently accepting proposals for November funding cycle in the areas of: Visual arts with an emphasis on photography (New York City; Pittsburgh, PA); and Safety nets for working visual artists, visual art education, and regional visual arts museums in under-resourced communities (New York City). 
  Deadline: Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Learn more here.

• The Pollock -Krasner Foundation is accepting applications from visual artists who are painters, sculptors, and/or artists who work on paper, including printmakers. These unrestricted grants range up to $50,000. Artists must be actively exhibiting their current work in professional artistic venues, such as gallery and museum spaces. Deadline: rolling. Learn more here.

• The Rochester Area Community Foundation is accepting applications for the Brockport Arts Fund. This grant supports performing arts events and public art installations in and around the Village of Brockport, NY for the benefit of residents and visitors. Grants range from $1,000 to $5,000. Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) organization within the 14420 zip code. Deadline: rolling. Learn more here.

• The Craft Emergency Relief Fund is accepting applications from craft artists who experienced a recent and substantially disruptive emergency or disaster. Applicants must be craft artists who are 18 years of age or older, and must have been living and working in the U.S. or U.S. Territories for the past two years. Deadline: rolling. Learn more here.

Image: New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow Evelyn Tejeda performing her award-winning choreography "0.4mm" (created in 2023) at EDANCO festival in the Dominican Republic. A dance work where a simple shirt is the analogy of the skin, and becomes a deep exploration of the self. Credit: Mika Pasco.