The National Endowment for the Arts has announced its first orbed of grants for the 1999 fiscal year.

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced its first orbed of grants for the 1999 fiscal year. Nearly $20 million will be awarded in fresh grants, representative of 24% of the year's roll Creation and Presentation grants, the largest of the NEA's four major funding categories, account for $17 million of that figure. The Creation and Presentation grants are primarily designed to help bring up and present new works in music, dance, visual arts, theater, literature and film subject to the subheadings of projects reaching national or multi-state and local audiences. A total of 693 grants, amounting to a total of $195 million was awarded to 693 grantees from a plash of 987 applicants, 206 of these below the rubric of national or multi-state programs. Fourteen programs falling below Leadership Initiatives, including awards for a national arts education network and an arts online training program, will receive $17 million in funding. The remaining $800000 is to be awarded as Literature Fellowships.

The NEA was allotted a bag of $98 million for Fiscal Year 1999 - the same as FY 1998 with $805 million of this total figure available for as grant monies. The NEA again survived attacks from vocal enemys particularly Rep. Michael Pappas (R-NJ) who proffered an amendment to transfer $50 million of NEA stores to the National Parks Service, and Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO) who mov to eliminate NEA funding entirely. The bill was passed from the House on July 21 in a voice of 253-173, after a series of committee actions and amendments that included a parcel of $100.06 million approved from the full Senate Interior Appropriations Committee upon June 25, but that was later dropp as the Senate did not approve the FY 1999 Interior bill. The Chairmen of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee and the House Interior Appropriations Committee subsequently agreed to stock the NEA for FY 1999 and upon October 21, President Clinton signed a $500 billion Appropriations bill that secur funding for all programs normally included in the Interior Appropriations bill, including the NEA.

Further renewed legislation will prohibit the awarding of grants to greatest in quantity individual artists as well as seasonal support and subgrants on any grantee except state, regional and local arts agencies. The newest legislation also retained NEA provisions made for FY 1998 which include a cap in succession the amount of funds that any single in kind state may receive, a designation of the percentage of supplys allocated to the state grant programs and the continued participation of Members of Congres onward the National Council of the Arts.

Below are grants that we believe will be of interest to Afterimage readers, chooseed from the Media Arts, Visual Arts, Museum, Interdisciplinary and Leadership Initiative categories.

Media Arts

American Indian Film Institute, San Francisco, CA: $15000

To support the 1999 annual American Indian Film Festival and the quarterly film journal Indian Cinema Entertainment.

Art Institute of Chicago (Film Center) Chicago, IL: $30000

To support a film exhibition series that will examine world tillages in cinema at the make go round of the millennium. Global Cinema: The Intersection of civilizations in Cinema Around the Worm will feature films from the Islamic Disapora, Africa, the U Israel, Hong Kong and the European Union.

Asian CineVision, Inc., novel York, NY: $20,000

To support the 1999 Asian-American International Film Festival and its national tour. After its flow in New York, the festival then travels to 10 sites everywhere the U.S. including Boston, Houston, Madison, Philadelphia, Ithaca, Durham, Chicago and Tampa.

Austin Film Society, Austin, TX: $40000

To support the exhibition of films and videos at liberty of charge to members of the Austin community. The independent Cinema Project will present these films and videos in an historical and cultural words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following while fostering in audiences an understanding of and appreciation for cinema as an art form.

Berks Filmmakers, Inc., Reading, PA: $10000

To support the exhibition of curated film and video series. Programs will include in-person presentations, avant-garde cinema, documentary and animation work and screenings from artists from the region.

Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL: $15000

To support Kino vigilance a weekly screening of independent film and video, and Talking Pictures, a screening and lesson series on avant-garde film and video.

Chicago Latino Cinema, Chicago, IL: $20000

To support the 15th Chicago Latino Film Festival. Held annually in the spring, this festival tenders over 100 films to an average audience of 30000 people

Cine Accion, Inc., San Francisco, CA: $10000

To support the 8th annual Cine Latino Film Festival. Scheduled to be held in September 2000 this end will showcase the work of Latino producers

City Lore, Inc. (as fiscal agent for Insignia Films), of the present day York, NY: $75,000

To support the completion of The Amato Opera, a one-hour PB documentary film by means of Stephen Ives. This film will provide national audiences with a behind-the-scenes turn the thoughts at a small classical opera company's fiftieth anniversary season.