Chicago Human Rhythm Project Receives NEA Grant

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu announced today that Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP), celebrating 25 years as the nation's premier presenter of American tap dance and international contemporary percussive arts, is one of 919 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. CHRP is recommended for a $20,000 grant to support programming during its 25th Anniversary Season, including the Winter Tap Jamboree (February 2015), Chicago Rhythm Fest (April-May 2015), Rhythm World education programs at the American Rhythm Center (July 2015) and JUBA! concerts at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (August 2015).

More specifically, the NEA grant will support the presentation of award-winning guest artists, including Nicholas Young, Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards and Derick K. Grant; Chicago masters Bril Barrett and Tre Dumas; and emerging Chicago artists such as Zada Cheeks, Martin Bronson and Starinah Dixon.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said, "I'm pleased to be able to share the news of our support through Art Works including the award to Chicago Human Rhythm Project. The arts foster value, connection, creativity and innovation for the American people, and these recommended grants demonstrate those attributes and affirm that the arts are part of our everyday lives."

"The highly prized NEA grant helps CHRP provide affordable, world-class education and performance programs to more people in Chicago, and it helps us attract additional donations because it acts like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," said CHRP Founder and Director Lane Alexander.

Art Works grants support the creation of art, public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA received 1,474 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $75 million in funding. Of those applications, 919 are recommended for grants for a total of $26.6 million.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov. Follow the conversation about this and other NEA-funded projects on Twitter at #NEAFall2014.

For more information about Chicago Human Rhythm Project's 25th anniversary season, visit chicagotap.org.
Chicago Human Rhythm Project Founded in 1990, Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) builds community by presenting American tap dance and contemporary percussive arts in world-class and innovative performance, education and community outreach programs. During the last 22 years, CHRP has produced multiple community-based collaborations involving shared revenue programs, concerts and touring opportunities, including:

• annual National Tap Dance Day concerts, featuring an array of tap and percussive dance artists
• a shared revenue program designed to assist Chicago's budding tap community to build capacity through audience development, created in 2001
• Thanks 4 Giving, another innovative shared revenue program launched in 2005 as part of its annual Global Rhythms concerts at the Harris Theater, through which CHRP has partnered with more than 100 Chicago-based nonprofits to raise funds for a wide variety of service agencies
• participation in the 5th Anniversary Beijing International Dance Festival, assembling 70 artists to represent the United States
• establishment of the American Rhythm Center (ARC), providing a shared, affordable and sustainable education, rehearsal and administrative facility for several leading Chicago arts organizations in the historic Fine Arts Building
• curating the first ever, full-length performance of concert tap dance on a main stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 7, 2012

CHRP's vision is to establish the first global center for American tap and percussive arts, creating a complete ecosystem of education, performance, creation and community in a state-of-the-art facility uniting generations of diverse artists and the public.

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