NEA News--The National Endowment has announced recipients of its Summer Schools in the Arts program, an initiative designed to enhance the quantity and quality of arts education opportunities for youth while creating a variety of model programs. Twenty-five grants totaling over $756,000 were awarded to organizations in communities ranging from Lewiston, ME to Sitka, AL to St. Thomas, VI.--More than 800 grants totaling more than $61 million have been awarded to national, regional, state and local arts organizations across the country. This spring round of grants also includes the first grants to be awarded in the Endowment's "American Masterpieces" program. Eleven grants totaling more than $1.1 million will support visual arts touring of exhibitions from the Phillips Collection to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Winner Announced--The Smithsonian American Art Museum has announced that Andrea Zittel is the fifth winner of the museum's annual Lucelia Artist Award. This $25,000 award recognizes an American artist under the age of 50 who demonstrates exceptional creativity and has produced a significant body of artwork that is considered emblematic of this period in contemporary art. Zittel's sculptures and installations have been shown widely in the U.S. and Europe. A major touring exhibition of her work, Andrea Zittel: Critical Space, opens at the Contemporary Arts Museum-Houston in October.

Catalogue Wins Award--The catalogue for Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557), The Metropolitan Museum of Art's landmark exhibition of spring 2004, has received the College Art Association's prestigious Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Award. Published by the Museum and distributed by Yale University Press, the catalogue contains 17 essays on the complex story of the flowering of art and culture among rival claimants to power in the late Byzantine period.

Movie Debuts--Modigliani, a film directed by Mick Davis and starring Andy Garcia, will have its world premiere this September at a gala presentation at the 29th Toronto International Film Festival. This film tells the celebrated painter's life story as well as the story of his rivalry with Picasso. A premiere was held in Los Angeles in May.

Designer Chosen--The U.S. General Services Administration, in partnership with the National Park Service, has announced the selection of Rodney Leon as the designer who will create the African Burial Ground permanent memorial in New York City. One of the most significant archaeological finds in U.S. history, the burial ground stretched more than five city blocks during the 17th and 18th centuries. It is estimated that nearly 20,000 enslaved and free Africans are buried in the cemetery, which has been designated a NYC Historic District and a National Landmark.

Milestone Reached--Joe Grant, an artist and writer for Disney, has died at age 96 while working at his drawing board in his home studio. He created the queen-witch in "Snow White" and worked on "Dumbo," "Lady and the Tramp," "Aladdin," "The Lion King" and "Pocahontas," among other Disney films.

Renowned Painting Auctioned--A Wal-Mart heiress provided the winning bid in a silent auction at Sotheby's for Asher Durand's painting, "Kindred Spirits." The work, which depicts painter Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant standing on a rocky ledge overlooking the Catskill Mountains, was offered for sale by the New York Public Library in order to increase its endowment. Said to have sold for more than $35 million, the painting will be exhibited in a museum being built by the Walton family foundation scheduled to open in 2009 in Bentonville, AR.

Exhibitions:

Miami, FL -- Miami Art Museum -- Robert Rauschenberg consists of new large-scale paintings from the artist's current series, "Scenarios," and is based on photographs taken by the artist, primarily in the environs of his home in Captiva, FL. Through July 3.

Lincoln, MA -- DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park -- The 2005 De Cordova Annual Exhibition presents an exciting round-up of regional talent in the visual arts. The show focuses on the quality and diversity of contemporary art created in the six New England states by 10 artists who create paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, installations, and computer-assisted media. Through July 31.

Los Angeles, CA -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art -- Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs opens June 16 and is the first U.S. venue for a 27-month national tour. Visitors will see 50 major objects excavated from Tut's tomb, including his royal diadem and one of the gold and precious stone inlaid canopic coffinettes. More than 70 objects from other royal graves of the 18th Dynasty will also be showcased. This is a specially ticketed exhibition. Call 323.857.6000 or visit www.KingTut.org. Through November 15 and then travels to Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, in December and The Field Museum, Chicago, in May 2006.

Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 15 No. 8 -- June 2005