SHEARWATER FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES HOLOGRAPHY GRANTS FOR 1999

FT. Lauderdale, Florida, December 31st 1999 - - The Shearwater Foundation announced today that its Board of Directors has awarded $98,500.00 in grants through its Holography Program this year. The Shearwater Foundation Holography Program provides funding to institutions and associations that contribute to the understanding and appreciation of art holography world-wide. The Foundation also recognises individual creative excellence within the field by providing an annual Holography Award.

The MIT Museum, of Cambridge, Boston, USA, received a grant of $10,000.00 as matching funding for an archive project in their holography collection. This will enable them to complete their inventory, establish an accurate and up-to-date database for holograms in the collection as well as photographic images and videos relating to the works.

Urs Fries, Cologne, Germany received $16,500.00 towards the upgrade and further development of HoloNet, the web site dedicated to providing information on creative holography and related three-dimensional imaging systems. The service provides a home for a diversity of 'mini' sites and provides artists with server space to publish their own work and comments.

The Royal Photographic Society Holography Group, Bath, UK, received $2,500.00. This is the first payment of a two year grant to assist with research and development costs for their forthcoming creative holography conference and to establish an electronic journal for international distribution on the World Wide Web.

Editorial Arte, of Caracas, Venezuela, received a grant of $4,000.00 towards the cost of purchasing and distribution of the Spanish/English Book and Catalogue "Ruben Nunez". This is part of a two year grant which will allow Editorial Arte to make this publication available to a wide international art and media audience. The book documents the work of Venezualen artist/holographer Ruben Nunez from his early kinetic work in the 1950's through his exploration of glass sculpture to his pioneering development of holographic art in the 70's, 80's and 90's.

Alan Rhody of Sebastopol, California, USA, received a grant of $3,000.00 towards the cost of recording an oral history of creative holography. This experiment will explore the possibilities of making digitally recorded interviews with key individuals in the field, which will then be 'published', via the Internet, to a global audience.

The German Society for Holography, Halle, Germany, received a second payment of $2,500.00, as the final part of a two year grant to assist in the production and distribution of their English/German publication "Interferenzen". This grant will enable them to extend the scope and distribution of the publication and make it available to a wide international audience.

The Center for the Holographic Arts, Long Island City, USA, received their second payment of $50,000.00 in a three year grant to further assist with the development of the Center's international Artist-in-Residence program. Several artists were selected from open submissions, to receive an A-I-R placement at the Center. Studio time, materials, access to equipment as well as technical and aesthetic support were provided resulting in the production of new works. These new pieces have been exhibited at the Long Island Center as well as being included in a number of international exhibitions. There are plans by the directors of the Center, Ana Nicholson and Dan Schweitzer, to arrange travelling exhibitions of the work to make the results of the A-I-R program accessible to a wider public.

The 1999 Shearwater Foundation Holography Award was presented to Susan Cowles-Dumitru, New York, USA, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of creative holography. British-born Ms Cowles-Dumitru, who now lives and works in the States, received a cheque for $10,000.00. The Directors of the Board are delighted to honour artists of outstanding talent and in doing so provide recognition for this developing medium. Nominations for the Holography Award were provided, as in previous years, by a confidential group of international advisors selected by the Foundation for their expertise in the field.

On a final note the Directors of the Board are pleased to announce that a new, provisional, category for grant applications is to be established in 2000.

Registered museums and public galleries will be able to apply for a grant towards the purchase of creative holography for their collections.