Deadline: 1 February 2011
Guidelines and Review Criteria
Please note that the residency period in Japan for 2012 is three months
Program Description
Each year leading contemporary and traditional artists from the United States spend up to five months in Japan as part of the United States/Japan Creative Artists Program. The residency period for 2012 is for three months. They go as seekers, as cultural visionaries, and as living liaisons to the traditional and contemporary cultural life of Japan. The outlook they bring home provides an exceptional opportunity to promote cultural understanding between the United States and Japan.
Cultural understanding is at the heart of this program. It provides funds for up to five artists to complete the residency in Japan. Artists are free to interact with Japanese artists anywhere in the country and to pursue activities of greatest relevance to their creative process. While many artists chose to remain in Tokyo, others have undertaken their residencies in Kyoto or other cities, and still others have worked in rural settings or have visited a number of sites relevant to their work.
Upon their arrival in Tokyo, artists will be predominantly on their own during the residency; however, International House of Japan provides in-depth orientation materials, expert advice and professional contacts, as well as logistical support during the residency period.
The Japan-US Friendship Commission works cooperatively with the National Endowment for the Arts to sponsor this program.
Grant Award
Each artist will receive:
* A monthly stipend of 400,000 yen for living expenses, 100,000 yen a month as a housing supplement, and up to 100,000 yen a month for professional support services. (While the yen value may fluctuate against the dollar, applicants should be assured that these funds will cover the cost of living and working in Japan.)
* A total of up to $6,000 for round-trip transportation for the artist, domestic partner and / or unmarried children (up to age 18) and a baggage/storage allowance, and any pre-departure Japanese language study in the United States.
Because of the limited number of awards, only one residency will be supported for artists who apply as a collaborative team. In addition, while artists may wish to apply for other grants concurrently with the application to this program, selected artists may not hold a second award for financial assistance during the period of support of the US/Japan Creative Artists Program.
Review Criteria and Selection Process
The US/Japan Creative Artists Program is extremely competitive; only five artists are selected to go to Japan. Applicants should anticipate a highly rigorous review of their artistry and should have compelling reasons for wanting to work in Japan. Their work must exemplify the best in US arts. Generally this means that only those artists who have demonstrated expertise and established professional recognition (e.g. awards, featured shows, publications, etc.) in their field either regionally or nationally or who have shown truly exceptional promise at the local level are likely to be competitive. Proficiency in the Japanese language is not required.
Preference will be given to those applicants for whom this will be a first-time opportunity for in-depth creative work in Japan. Applicants must be able to begin their residency within the period between January 1 and December 31 of the year following the application deadline.
Applications are judged by the following review criteria:
· The artistic excellence of the applicant's work and artistic merit of the proposed residency
· The extent to which working in Japan is consistent with the applicant's artistic vision and would contribute to his or her artistry
· The applicant's ability to meet cross-cultural challenges successfully
· The availability of resources in Japan that are necessary to the artist's proposed residency
Applications will be reviewed by a panel convened jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Japan-US Friendship Commission. The panel will include previous recipients of the US/Japan Creative Artists Program award, as well as other arts professionals with expertise in Japanese culture.
Eligibility
· Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
· Candidates must be professional creative artists (contemporary or traditional) working as: architects, choreographers, composers, creative writers, designers, media artists, playwrights, librettists, visual artists and solo theater artists who work with original material (including puppeteers, storytellers, and performance artists). Artists who create original work in a multidisciplinary form are also eligible.
· There are additional eligibility requirements for librettists, playwrights, and creative writers (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry) outlined below.
· Librettists and playwrights must have had a full-length work professionally produced and/or published in the United States at least once in the last five years.
Creative writer applicants must meet specific publishing requirements. Self-published work will not satisfy this eligibility requirement. In the last 10 years writers must have published at least one of the following:
· Twenty poems in five or more literary journals
· Five different short stories or essays (of creative non-fiction) in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications
· A book of poems of more than 48 pages
· A novel or a novella
· A book of creative non-fiction
Applicants may use online publications to establish up to fifty percent of their eligibility, provided that such publications have competitive selection processes and stated editorial policies.
The following may NOT be used to establish eligibility:
· Pre-publication material, such as galleys, proofs, and advance reader's copies
· Self-publication including work that has appeared in a publication for which you are the editor, publisher, or staff
· Collaborative work
· Scholarly writing
· Instructional writing
· Journalism
· Book reviews
· Editorials/letters to the editor
· Interviews
· Student publications and publications that primarily print work by persons who are affiliated with a particular academic institution
· Vanity press publication. For the purposes of this category, a vanity press is defined as one that does any of the following: requires individual writers to pay for part or all of the publication costs; asks writers to buy or sell copies of the publication; publishes the work of anyone who subscribes to the publication or joins the organization through membership fees; publishes the work of anyone who buys an advertisement in the publication; publishes work without competitive selection; or publishes work without professional editing.
Application Deadlines and How to Apply
Postmark Deadline: February 1, 2011 for the 2012 program. Residencies for a three month period may begin any time between January 1 and December 31 of 2012. Notification: By June 30, 2011.
One copy of the following material must be postmarked by the deadline. Send to:
Margaret Mihori
Japan-US Friendship Commission
1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 330
Washington, DC 20005
Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-fiction: Submit a manuscript (one copy) containing previously published work, unpublished work, or work-in-progress. Your manuscript should include one of the following:
o 10 typescript, single column pages of poetry or one long poem (or section of a long poem) not to exceed 15 pages in length; or
o 15 typescript double-spaced pages of short fiction, short stories, or creative non-fiction; or
o 15 typescript double-spaced pages of an excerpt from a novel.
On your work sample information sheet, please provide a brief description explaining the context of the sample, if submitting an excerpt.
More information here.
Guidelines and Review Criteria
Please note that the residency period in Japan for 2012 is three months
Program Description
Each year leading contemporary and traditional artists from the United States spend up to five months in Japan as part of the United States/Japan Creative Artists Program. The residency period for 2012 is for three months. They go as seekers, as cultural visionaries, and as living liaisons to the traditional and contemporary cultural life of Japan. The outlook they bring home provides an exceptional opportunity to promote cultural understanding between the United States and Japan.
Cultural understanding is at the heart of this program. It provides funds for up to five artists to complete the residency in Japan. Artists are free to interact with Japanese artists anywhere in the country and to pursue activities of greatest relevance to their creative process. While many artists chose to remain in Tokyo, others have undertaken their residencies in Kyoto or other cities, and still others have worked in rural settings or have visited a number of sites relevant to their work.
Upon their arrival in Tokyo, artists will be predominantly on their own during the residency; however, International House of Japan provides in-depth orientation materials, expert advice and professional contacts, as well as logistical support during the residency period.
The Japan-US Friendship Commission works cooperatively with the National Endowment for the Arts to sponsor this program.
Grant Award
Each artist will receive:
* A monthly stipend of 400,000 yen for living expenses, 100,000 yen a month as a housing supplement, and up to 100,000 yen a month for professional support services. (While the yen value may fluctuate against the dollar, applicants should be assured that these funds will cover the cost of living and working in Japan.)
* A total of up to $6,000 for round-trip transportation for the artist, domestic partner and / or unmarried children (up to age 18) and a baggage/storage allowance, and any pre-departure Japanese language study in the United States.
Because of the limited number of awards, only one residency will be supported for artists who apply as a collaborative team. In addition, while artists may wish to apply for other grants concurrently with the application to this program, selected artists may not hold a second award for financial assistance during the period of support of the US/Japan Creative Artists Program.
Review Criteria and Selection Process
The US/Japan Creative Artists Program is extremely competitive; only five artists are selected to go to Japan. Applicants should anticipate a highly rigorous review of their artistry and should have compelling reasons for wanting to work in Japan. Their work must exemplify the best in US arts. Generally this means that only those artists who have demonstrated expertise and established professional recognition (e.g. awards, featured shows, publications, etc.) in their field either regionally or nationally or who have shown truly exceptional promise at the local level are likely to be competitive. Proficiency in the Japanese language is not required.
Preference will be given to those applicants for whom this will be a first-time opportunity for in-depth creative work in Japan. Applicants must be able to begin their residency within the period between January 1 and December 31 of the year following the application deadline.
Applications are judged by the following review criteria:
· The artistic excellence of the applicant's work and artistic merit of the proposed residency
· The extent to which working in Japan is consistent with the applicant's artistic vision and would contribute to his or her artistry
· The applicant's ability to meet cross-cultural challenges successfully
· The availability of resources in Japan that are necessary to the artist's proposed residency
Applications will be reviewed by a panel convened jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Japan-US Friendship Commission. The panel will include previous recipients of the US/Japan Creative Artists Program award, as well as other arts professionals with expertise in Japanese culture.
Eligibility
· Candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
· Candidates must be professional creative artists (contemporary or traditional) working as: architects, choreographers, composers, creative writers, designers, media artists, playwrights, librettists, visual artists and solo theater artists who work with original material (including puppeteers, storytellers, and performance artists). Artists who create original work in a multidisciplinary form are also eligible.
· There are additional eligibility requirements for librettists, playwrights, and creative writers (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry) outlined below.
· Librettists and playwrights must have had a full-length work professionally produced and/or published in the United States at least once in the last five years.
Creative writer applicants must meet specific publishing requirements. Self-published work will not satisfy this eligibility requirement. In the last 10 years writers must have published at least one of the following:
· Twenty poems in five or more literary journals
· Five different short stories or essays (of creative non-fiction) in two or more literary journals, anthologies, or publications
· A book of poems of more than 48 pages
· A novel or a novella
· A book of creative non-fiction
Applicants may use online publications to establish up to fifty percent of their eligibility, provided that such publications have competitive selection processes and stated editorial policies.
The following may NOT be used to establish eligibility:
· Pre-publication material, such as galleys, proofs, and advance reader's copies
· Self-publication including work that has appeared in a publication for which you are the editor, publisher, or staff
· Collaborative work
· Scholarly writing
· Instructional writing
· Journalism
· Book reviews
· Editorials/letters to the editor
· Interviews
· Student publications and publications that primarily print work by persons who are affiliated with a particular academic institution
· Vanity press publication. For the purposes of this category, a vanity press is defined as one that does any of the following: requires individual writers to pay for part or all of the publication costs; asks writers to buy or sell copies of the publication; publishes the work of anyone who subscribes to the publication or joins the organization through membership fees; publishes the work of anyone who buys an advertisement in the publication; publishes work without competitive selection; or publishes work without professional editing.
Application Deadlines and How to Apply
Postmark Deadline: February 1, 2011 for the 2012 program. Residencies for a three month period may begin any time between January 1 and December 31 of 2012. Notification: By June 30, 2011.
One copy of the following material must be postmarked by the deadline. Send to:
Margaret Mihori
Japan-US Friendship Commission
1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 330
Washington, DC 20005
Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Non-fiction: Submit a manuscript (one copy) containing previously published work, unpublished work, or work-in-progress. Your manuscript should include one of the following:
o 10 typescript, single column pages of poetry or one long poem (or section of a long poem) not to exceed 15 pages in length; or
o 15 typescript double-spaced pages of short fiction, short stories, or creative non-fiction; or
o 15 typescript double-spaced pages of an excerpt from a novel.
On your work sample information sheet, please provide a brief description explaining the context of the sample, if submitting an excerpt.
More information here.
