NEFA receives $200K from Robert Sterling Clark Foundation

The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation has awarded $200,000 to the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) in support of the U.S. Department of State’s Center StageSM effort, a pilot program that will bring performing arts ensembles from Haiti, Indonesia, and Pakistan to the U.S. in 2012.

“Center StageSM exemplifies the foundation’s effort to promote global understanding through international arts engagement,” said Margaret C. Ayers, president of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. “Our support of public-private partnerships with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Department of State gives us the opportunity to acknowledge, promote, and enlarge the Foundation’s role in funding international arts and cultural engagement on behalf of our country and its artists. We are extremely proud of our partnership in support of the Center StageSM program developed by the New England Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and hope that our participation will encourage other private foundations to become involved in international cultural engagement.”

A total of 10 ensembles, to be announced in summer 2011, will embark on month-long tours in small to mid-size cities across the U.S. in 2012, with a focus on engaging youth and fostering cultural awareness and appreciation. 

Center StageSM is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administered by NEFA in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. General management for Center Stage tours is provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc. Visit centerstageUS.org.

About the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation
The objective of the Foundation’s international program is to promote global understanding through the arts.  The Foundation has initial plans to support international engagement involving U.S. visual and performing arts organizations and their counterparts primarily in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. www.rsclark.org

About the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, private-sector, professional, and sports exchange programs.  ECA exchanges engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and emerging leaders in many fields in the United States and in more than 160 countries. Alumni of ECA exchanges comprise over one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 300 current or former heads of state and government. 

About NEFA
NEFA creatively supports the movement of people, ideas, and resources in the arts within New England and beyond, makes vital connections between artists and communities, and builds the strength, knowledge, and leadership of the region’s creative sector.  NEFA is a 501 (c) 3 that operates with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New England state arts agencies, and from corporations, foundations, and individuals.

NEFA currently administers grantmaking programs of regional, national, and international scope that support the performing arts, public art, and Native American artists. NEFA also leads projects and initiatives that range from the analysis of the impact of the creative economy to the creation of online tools which link and advance the cultural community. For more information on NEFA’s grant programs and services, please visit www.nefa.org or call 617.951.0010.


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