[CalArts] – The Princess Grace Foundation just announced its 2012 awards and CalArtians Nijla Mumin (MFA-2, Film Directing, Writing), Vincent Richards (MFA-3, Scenic Design) and alumna Miwa Matreyek, (MFA 07, Experimental Animation) are among the honorees. They will receive their awards at the 30th Anniversary Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in the presence of TSH The Prince and Princess of Monaco, on October 22, in New York City.

The Awards for theater, dance and choreography, and film continue the legacy of Princess Grace of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during her lifetime. Since the Foundation’s inception, more than 750 Awards, totaling more than $9.5 million have been made.

“The Princess Grace Foundation has given me a tremendous jump-start with my artistic career,” commented Miwa. “From the original grant that funded my thesis at CalArts to later projects, their support has been an invaluable part of creating my work.”

Over the last 10 years, 23 Calartians have received Princess Grace Awards—with several recognized on multiple occasions. This year marks the third award for Miwa who is receiving a Special Project Award for her groundbreaking (and delightful) work in experimental animation and performance. Other three-time CalArtian awardees include filmmakers Karolina Sobecka and David Chaim Cohen, theater director and media artist Chi-Wang Yang and choreographer Dawn Marie Stoppiello.

Princess Grace Award recipient Miwa Matreyek’s Myth and Infrastructure at REDCAT’s New Original Works (NOW) Festival in 2010.

NEW YORK, NY (August 7, 2012) – The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) and its Chairman, Hon. John F. Lehman, announced today the winners of the 2012 Princess Grace Awards.  The Awards for theater, dance and choreography, and film continue the legacy of Princess Grace (Kelly) of Monaco, who helped emerging artists pursue their artistic goals during Her lifetime. This year’s 25 Awards winners will travel to New York City, where they will receive their Awards at the 30th Anniversary Princess Grace Awards Gala, held in the presence of TSH The Prince and Princess of Monaco, on October 22, 2012 at Cipriani 42nd Street.

PGF-USA is also proud to announce the inaugural year of the Princess Grace JustFilms Documentary Awards, made possible by the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms program. These funds support social justice documentary film projects, which focus on South Asian and Southeast Asian communities.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA, a public charity, was formed after the death of Princess Grace in 1982. They present scholarships, apprenticeships, and fellowships to assist artists at the start of their careers. The Foundation has cultivated a diverse group of nearly 600 artists to date who continue to advance the spectrum of performing arts with innovative, cutting-edge, and vibrant theater, dance, choreography, film, playwriting and design. Since the Foundation’s inception, more than 750 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $9.5 million.

For the fourth year in a row, celebrated artist Alex Soldier, known for his mastery of precious miniatures, has created an objet d’art to symbolize the Princess Grace Awards. The Award symbolically combines the three art forms lauded by the Foundation: theater, dance, and film by using precious metals and Swarovski crystal accents. The sculpture is made for each recipient to wear as a pin, a special reminder of their Award for the world to see.

PRINCESS GRACE STATUE AWARD

Past winners of the Awards who distinguish themselves in their artistic disciplines since receiving their initial Princess Grace Awards are eligible to win the coveted Princess Grace Statue Award. It includes a $25,000 unrestricted cash gift and a special Bronze Statue of Princess Grace created by Dutch artist Kees Verkade. This year’s Statue Award winners are Patrick Page and Darron L West.

PRINCESS GRACE AWARDS

Each year, the Foundation presents the Princess Grace Awards to artists who show excellence and promise in the areas of theater, dance, and film. Students are eligible for scholarships; emerging artists working in companies qualify for apprenticeships and fellowships. A playwriting fellowship is available for individual artists through a residency at New Dramatists in New York City, which includes the opportunity to have the winning play be licensed and published by Samuel French, Inc. In addition to these, the Foundation also gives honorable mention grants to applicants through Honoraria.

The 2012 Princess Grace Awards winners (listed below) represent 25 colleges, universities, and not-for-profit theater and dance companies throughout the United States. The Awards winners exemplify both classical and experimental artistic disciplines and, while still considered emerging talent, already show exceptional promise in their areas of expertise. The Foundation’s support assists their theater and dance studies, helps pay their artistic fees at non-profit theater and dance companies and helps support their thesis film projects. In addition to the Awards, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA extends general operating monies to companies hosting an Awards winner. This year’s Princess Grace Awards winners are:

THEATER AND PLAYWRITNG

Tom Dugdale
Theater Apprenticeship, Grace Le Vine Theater Award
La Jolla Playhouse

Michael Haverty
Theater Fellowship, Gant Gaither Theater Award
7 Stages

Joel Jimenez
Theater Apprenticeship, George C. Wolfe Award
Cornerstone Theater Company

Jared Mezzocchi
Theater Fellowship, Robert and Gloria Hausman Theater Award
HERE Arts Center

Vincent Richards
Theater Scholarship, Faberge Theater Award
California Institute of the Arts

M. Meriwether Snipes
Theater Scholarship, Pierre Cardin Theater Award
New York University

Matthew P. Olmos
Playwriting Fellowship
New Dramatists

DANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY

Jamal R. Callender
Dance Fellowship
Ballet Hispanico of New York

Albert Gordon
Dance Scholarship
The Washington Ballet

Franco Nieto
Dance Fellowship
Northwest Dance Project

Raymond S. Pinto
Dance Scholarship
The Juilliard School-Dance Division

David Schultz
Dance Fellowship
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Beckanne Sisk
Dance Fellowship, Chris Hellman Dance Award
Ballet West

Norbert De La Cruz
Choreography Fellowship
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet

Michelle Dorrance
Choreography Fellowship
Chicago Human Rhythm Project

Bridget L. Moore
Choreography Fellowship
Dallas Black Dance Theatre

FILM

Kathleen Bracke
Undergraduate Film Scholarship
University of Notre Dame

Javier Barboza
Graduate Film Scholarship
University of Southern California

Erick Msumanjie
Undergraduate Film Scholarship, John H. Johnson Film Award
Hampshire College

Nijla Mumin
Graduate Film Scholarship, Cary Grant Film Award
California Institute of the Arts

Fiona Otway
Graduate Film Scholarship
Temple University

Stephanie Spray
Graduate Film Scholarship
Harvard University

Esy Casey
JustFilms Documentary
Center for Asian American Media

Amitabh R. Joshi
JustFilms Documentary
School of Visual Arts

Chao Thao
JustFilms Documentary
University of Southern California

HONORARIA

Henry Wishcamper
Theater Honorarium
Goodman Theatre

Christina Kolozsvary
Graduate Film Honorarium
Massachusetts College of Art

Talibah Newman
Graduate Film Honorarium
Columbia University

Mark Tumas
Undergraduate Film Honorarium
Temple University

Jason DaSilva
JustFilms Documentary Honorarium
Fire Light Media

SPECIAL PROJECT and WORKS IN PROGRESS AWARDS

Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies at the Baryshnikov Arts Center are grants available to past Princess Grace Awards winners and Honoraria recipients for uniquely significant projects that advance their artistic development. This year’s Special Project Awards and Works in Progress Residencies are:

SPECIAL PROJECT AWARDS

Gisela Cardenas
Clove Galilee
Lance Gries
Miwa Matreyek
Andrea Miller
A. Rey Pamatmat
Iva Radivojevic

WORKS IN PROGRESS RESIDENCIES

Rachel V. Tess
Paul W. Warner

ABOUT THE PRINCESS GRACE FOUNDATION – USA

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a not-for-profit, publicly-supported foundation, headquartered in New York City and founded 30 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in honor of his wife, Princess Grace [Kelly].  The Foundation’s mission, that mirrors Princess Grace’s in Her lifetime, is to support emerging artists in theater, dance and film through the awarding of scholarships, apprenticeships and fellowships. Since the Foundation’s inception, more than 750 Awards have been given to recipients, totaling more than $9.5 million. Some notable Princess Grace Awards recipients in Film include: Cary Joji Fukunaga, director of Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre; Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants and Greg Mottola, director of Paul, Adventureland and Superbad. Theater recipients include: 2008 Tony® Award winner for Best Direction of a Play, Anna D. Shapiro; Pulitzer and Tony® Award winning playwright Tony Kushner; and 2006 Academy Award® winner Eric Simonson. Dance/Choreography recipients include: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle; American Ballet Theatre’s Gillian Murphy, Isabella Boylston and Sarah Lane; as well as choreographers Kyle Abraham and Camille A. Brown.