The nationwide search for the five Fellows is conducted in three stages, beginning with the naming of 50 nominators, 10 in each of the artistic disciplines represented within the Awards Program. Nominators are chosen for their aesthetic, ethnic, geographic and gender diversity as well as their integrity, and their knowledge of contemporary art practices. They are selected by the Director in consultation with the President of CalArts. Nominators recommend two outstanding artists whom they feel meet the spirit of the guidelines of the Award. They describe the aesthetic content and intention of the work and why they think it is important to support at this time, in terms of its development and relevance to the world we are living in now. The five Award categories reflect the five major fields of investigation at CalArts. Within each of these disciplines lie many investigative paths. Choreographers, choreographer/performers and performance artists may be candidates for the Award in Dance while the Award in Film/Video honors independent media artists working in film, video, multimedia, and installation. In Music, the Award recognizes composers and musician/composers while the Award in Theatre is given to playwrights, directors, significant collaborative ensembles as well as performance artists. The Award in Visual Arts honors people working in painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, book art, crafts, mixed media, installation, performance and conceptual art. Nominators in each discipline are advised to consider all aesthetics and genres and to use as their measure the quality and impact of the work. Shortly after the nominations have been submitted, nominees are advised of their candidacy and invited to send work samples and written materials. Applications are reviewed by a panel - Dance, Film/Video, Music, Theatre, or Visual Arts - each made up of three distinguished artists and arts professionals. The fifteen Awards panelists are selected yearly by the Director in consultation with the President of CalArts. In addition to looking at work samples provided by the artists, which are the prime basis for evaluation, the panelists will read artists' statements and biographies and may choose to review nominators' descriptions of candidates. In the next Award cycle, the two-day panels will take place in January and February, 2006. Recognizing that the interactive process of artmaker and audience takes many forms, the panelists will assess the manner in which the nominees have demonstrated an awareness of the world outside the studio. They will do so by evaluating the work, the past and future trajectories indicated by the resume, the artists' commentaries and description of goals. Anonymity and Privacy In order to insure that the selection process remains focused on the work itself, the following guidelines regarding privacy are being observed: Whether serving for one or more years, nominators remain anonymous. While nomination narratives are available for viewing by panelists, the nominators names are deleted. Panelists names will be made public at the same time that the Awards recipients are announced. Nominated artists may choose to reveal their candidacy at any point; nominators, panelists and the Awards staff are expected to maintain confidentiality. The information contained in the nominating statements and the applications is confidential and is read only by panelists, the Awards staff and its immediate advisors. Terms of the Award The Award is a prize based upon the recognition of both past performance and future promise. Recipients may use the Award stipend in any manner they deem useful; to realize unproduced or nascent visions, to buy time for investigation, experimentation, focusing and dreaming, to have more ease. Award recipients are required to submit an end-of-year report, to attend the Awards ceremony, and to grant permission to CalArts and The Herb Alpert Foundation to use their name, likeness, voice, biography and examples of their work for the purpose of publicizing the Award. Awards recipients are also encouraged to take part in a short residency at CalArts. An individual may receive the Award only once, and cannot receive it in more than one category. No nominator or member of the Awards panel, and no present employee, officer, director, trustee or relation of the aforementioned categories of The California Institute of the Arts or The Herb Alpert Foundation is eligible for an Award while acting in these capacities. Recipient artists need not be U.S. citizens but they must currently maintain their prime residency in the United States. The Alpert Award in the Arts is subject to California witholding tax unless the recipient (or his/her booking agent) is a resident of the state of California. The awardee will be responsible for any Federal and/or State taxes (if a resident of the state of California) for the Award and residency stipend (if applicable.) Residency Working in conjunction with the Director and a member of the CalArts faculty, each Award recipient will be asked to design and take part in a short residency to be conducted at CalArts, in Valencia, California, during the year of their Award. The residency might include a workshop, production or concert, seminar, series of lectures and/or critique of student work. If a recipient chooses not to serve as an Artist-in-Residence, or a Residency cannot be arranged, the amount of their fellowship will be reduced by $5,000 to $45,000. Application Guidelines Applications, instructions, and guidelines are sent to nominated artists. Copies may be mailed to other interested parties, for informational purposes, upon written request to the Director. Irene Borger, Director Matthew S. Sterenchock, Program Associate