The National Endowment for the Arts announced its first round of grants for fiscal year 2009 yesterday. Below, in descending order of grant amounts, are the Massachusetts recipients and the NEA’s descriptions. For my taste, the list is light on theater, and it’s not surprisingly skewed toward the immediate Boston area. Among the Gateway Cities, New Bedford fares best, with three projects (the Working Waterfront Festival, a public mural “inspired” by notable artists who were born in the city, and a production of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Zeiterion Theatre).

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Inc.
Becket, MA
$80,000
To support residencies and performances of dance companies. The project will include a Creative Development Residency, presentation of national and international dance companies, and audience engagement and educational programs.

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
Boston, MA
$70,000
To support the world premiere performances of a new work by composer Gunther Schuller. In celebration of the orchestra’s 125th anniversary, four performances of Where the Word Ends will be presented with related educational activities.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (aka MFA)
Boston, MA
$50,000
To support the publication of an ongoing series of guidebooks highlighting areas of the museum’s world-renowned encyclopedic permanent collection. This project will focus on the Native American collection and on the museum’s conservation activities.

Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute
Williamstown, MA
$50,000
To support the touring exhibition Dove/O’Keeffe: Circles of Influence, with accompanying  education programs. The exhibition of works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Arthur Dove is being organized in association with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and will be presented at both museums.

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc. (on behalf of Tanglewood Music Center)
Boston, MA
$40,000
To support the Festival of Contemporary Music at the Tanglewood Music Center. The six-day concert series, under the direction of American composer Augusta Read Thomas, will feature significant modern works.

Huntington Theatre Company, Inc.
Boston, MA
$35,000
To support Today’s Artists, Tomorrow’s Works, a new play development program. Artistic Director Peter Dubois will lead the project, with accompanying educational activities.

American Repertory Theatre
Cambridge, MA
$30,000
To support a production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. The text will be reinterpreted and staged by renowned Hungarian theater and film director János Szász and designed by his American collaborator Riccardo Hernandez.

Boston Ballet, Inc.
Boston, MA
$30,000
To support the presentation of performances of Jewels, by choreographer George Balanchine. The work will be performed at the Citi Performing Arts Center/Wang Theater.

Cole, Henri
Boston, MA
$25,000
To support a creative writing fellowship.

Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts
New Bedford, MA
$25,000
To support the 2009 Working Waterfront Festival. The festival will present, interpret, and celebrate the occupational culture and artistic traditions of New England’s commercial fishing community and other port industries.

Trustees of Boston College (on behalf of McMullen Museum of Art)
Chestnut Hill, MA
$25,000
To support the touring exhibition The Pamphilj and the Arts: Patronage and Consumption in Baroque Rome at the McMullen Museum of Art, with accompanying catalogue. The exhibition will examine artistic, musical, literary, and theatrical patronage in Baroque Rome through the story of one of the city’s most powerful families.

Aspect, Inc. (aka Zephyr Press)
Brookline, MA
$20,000
To support the publication and promotion of books of international literature in translation by Zephyr Press. Proposed works will be translated into English from Chinese and Romanian, among other languages.

Boston Early Music Festival, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
$20,000
To support the North American premiere of Christoph Graupner’s 1708 opera L’amore ammalato: Die Krankende Liebe, oder Antiochus und Stratonica (aka Lovesick). Performances will include early music singers, choristers, and dancers, and will serve as the centerpiece of the 15th biennial festival and exhibition.

Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Inc. (aka FAWC)
Provincetown, MA
$20,000
To support the Winter Fellowship Program for Emerging Artists and Writers. The program will provide living accommodations, studios, and monthly stipends to selected poets, fiction writers, and visual artists.

Institute of Contemporary Art (aka ICA)
Boston, MA
$20,000
To support the commissioning of a new site-specific work by internationally renowned Polish-born artist Krzystof Wodiczko (b. 1943), with accompanying brochure and education programs. The artist’s work has centered on a life-long investigation of the relationship between art, politics, trauma, and healing.

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc. (aka MASS MoCA)
North Adams, MA
$20,000
To support a series of performances, exhibitions, residencies, and community programs at MASS MoCA. Artists will participate in school presentations, artist talks, and open rehearsals.

North Shore Community Arts Foundation, Inc.
Beverly, MA
$20,000
To support the New Works Festival at North Shore Music Theatre. Previously unproduced musicals will be featured in readings and staged workshop productions, and new works will be evaluated for a mainstage production in an upcoming season.

Tufts University
Medford, MA
$20,000
To support Carl Pope: Narrative Spaces/Contested Places. The exhibition and public art installation will explore the idea of free speech.

Handel & Haydn Society
Boston, MA
$17,500
To support a free outdoor performance of Franz Joseph Haydn’s The Creation on the Boston Esplanade with related educational activities. In observance of the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, the period-instrument performance will feature soloists Elizabeth Watts (soprano), Shawn Mathey (tenor), and Eric Owens (bass).

Underground Railway Puppets & Actors, Inc. (aka Underground Railway Theater)
Arlington, MA
$15,000
To support a production of The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, with accompanying educational and outreach activities. Playwright/puppetry artist Andrew Periale and director/playwright Jon Lipsky will be commissioned to create a new translation of the play.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Inc. (Consortium)
Roslindale, MA
$12,500
To support the Creation Festival. In partnership with the Providence Singers, joint performances of choral and orchestra music that depict creation narratives will take place in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island.

Cantata Singers, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
$12,500
To support a celebration of music by composer Benjamin Britten. Chamber, orchestral, solo voice, and choral performances will take place along with the 15th-anniversary performance of Classroom Cantatas, a music composition and performance program in Boston public schools.

ArtWorks (aka Artworks! Partners for the Arts & Community)
New Bedford, MA
$10,000
To support the creation of a public mural. Local artist Severin Haines will lead youth in the design and creation of a mural inspired by notable artists who were born in or lived in New Bedford, such as German American painter Albert Bierstadt.

Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School (aka BArT Charter Public School)
Adams, MA
$10,000
To support Music, Dance, and Stories: A West African Celebration. Artists from Senegal and Mali, as well as regionally-based world music musicians, will participate in public workshops and perform for audiences from northern and central Berkshire County.

Boston Academy of Music, Inc. (aka Opera Boston)
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support a new production by Opera Boston of The Nose (1928) by Dmitri Shostakovitch. The Russian community will be targeted through educational and outreach activities related to the production.

Boston University (on behalf of Agni Magazine)
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support the printing and promotion of AGNI Magazine. The organization will automate its Web site, continue a direct-mail campaign, place advertisements in a national publication, and print issues.

Concord Academy (on behalf of Summer Stages Dance)
Concord, MA
$10,000
To support the Summer Stage Dance Festival’s Meet-the-Artist Performance Series. In existence since 1999, the festival has helped to revitalize the Boston dance community by bringing in dance artists of high caliber from around the United States.

Emmanuel Music, Inc.
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support performances of Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion and related educational activities. The performances will be a tribute to the memory of founding music director Craig Smith.

Ploughshares, Inc.
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support the publication and national distribution of Ploughshares. The fall 2009, winter 2009-10, and spring 2010 issues will feature new work by as many as 35 poets and 20 fiction writers.

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, Inc.
Boston, MA
$10,000
To support a concert featuring violinist Irina Muresanu under the conductorship of NEA Jazz Master Gunther Schuller. Related activities will include a rehearsal at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, a pre-concert recital, and a post-concert question and answer session with the artists.

World Music, Inc. (aka World Music/CRASHarts)
Cambridge, MA
$10,000
To support the presentation of contemporary dance companies. Residency activities will include master classes for dancers and activities at local schools.

Yard, Inc.
Chilmark, MA
$10,000
To support a company residency, the Bessie Schonberg Choreographers Residency, and the Yard Arts Festival. The residencies provide a supportive environment for the creation and premiere of a new work.

Zeiterion Theatre, Inc. (aka The Z)
New Bedford, MA
$10,000
To support performances of Montanta Repertory Theatre’s production of To Kill A Mockingbird by Christopher Sergel, based on the Harper Lee novel. Dramatist and education specialist Stacy Coates will address issues of tolerance and diversity during school and community dialogues.

Zeltsman Marimba Festival, Inc.
Dorchester, MA
$7,500
To support ZMF New Music Commissioning for marimba. The works will be premiered during the Zeltsman Marimba Festival to be held at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.