Grant proposals from Penn State faculty to integrate multimedia opera into curriculum due by 5 p.m. April 25

Penn State faculty members are invited to submit proposals for ways to increase curricular arts-based engagement using grants offered through the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State.

Mini grants are available for “The Reflection Project: Looking at Who WE ARE,” which provides opportunities for faculty to integrate the arts into their existing curriculum through supplemental activities, including bringing classes to performances, inviting guest speakers to campus or research travel. The performance highlighted for the fall is the multimedia opera “A Marvelous Order.”

The core mission of the project, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, states that by engaging students with the arts, students can more fully discover their identities, understand other points of view, be able to confidently tell their own and others’ stories and recognize how they fit into the world.

Proposal applications are due by 5 p.m. Monday, April 25, 2022. Awards will be announced Friday, April 29, 2022. Learn more and apply online. 

“We are very excited that the funding provided to us by the Mellon Foundation allows us to offer this unique opportunity for faculty members to consider new ways of opening their curricula to the possibilities the arts can bring,” said center Audience and Program Development Director Amy Dupain Vashaw.

“A Marvelous Order” is a contemporary opera that tells the story of New York City master builder Robert Moses and his epic clash with academic and activist Jane Jacobs, who is described in the opera as “the self-taught oracle of unparalleled urban insight.”

The work features a libretto by former U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith, music by Judd Greenstein, and innovative direction by animator and artist Joshua Frankel. Members of the creative team will be at University Park for two weeks before the world premiere at Penn State and will be available for in-class engagements pending production schedules.

The project is accepting proposals for as much as $2,000 to fund the following activities related to the Mellon Foundation-sponsored performance of “A Marvelous Order” during fall 2023 semester:

·       Purchase of tickets for students to attend the performance;

·       Transportation to and from Commonwealth Campuses to attend the performance;

·       Research travel as part of the course development process in support of pre- and/or post-performance engagement activities;

·       Materials planned for classroom use to support pre- and/or post-performance engagement activities;

·       Stipends to invite complementary artists/speakers into classes to enhance students’ performance experiences.