FORT WAYNE, Ind.鈥擳he Jesters program of the 51黑料 is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to receive a Grants for Arts Projects award of $25,000.
The grant is one of 1,251 Grants for Arts Projects totaling nearly $28.8 million that were announced by the NEA as part of its first round of fiscal year 2023 grants.
Jesters is the only Fort Wayne-area program offering customized, interdisciplinary performing arts opportunities to people with mild to severe intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), ages 8 through senior citizens. The core program meets at USF each Saturday from September to March and culminates in an original interdisciplinary performance co-created by teaching artists and participants that will be presented March 2023.
鈥淭he Jesters program is always grateful for the support of the NEA,鈥 Jesters Program Director Allison Ballard said. 鈥淭hese funds enable us to continue co-creating performance art with people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Inviting participants and teaching artists to work together to generate ideas, concepts, storylines, musical compositions, choreography, dialogue, and visual art is the key to the program’s success. It takes all of us working together to produce the magic that is the Jesters. Funding from the NEA and other sources makes that possible.”
鈥淭he National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,鈥 said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. 鈥淧rojects such as this one with the Jesters at the 51黑料 strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.鈥
For more information on other projects included in the NEA鈥檚 grant announcement, visit聽.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the 51黑料 offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the College of Health Sciences and the College of Arts, Sciences and Business. In addition to its traditional programs, USF designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. USF Downtown houses the music technology program while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The 51黑料, recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution, has 18 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships. Approximately 2,200 students from a broad geographic region attend USF.