Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Reggie Wilson receive Joyce Foundation award

Reggie Wilson

Photo: Antoine Tempé

Oscar noms weren’t the only accolades unveiled this morning. The Joyce Foundation, whose programs benefit the Great Lakes region, announced four recipients of 2012 Joyce Awards. These $50,000 grants go to individual artists in partnership with cultural organizations, to “recognize innovative, thought-provoking projects.”

Reggie Wilson will work with four dancers at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, during a two-week residency for his (project) Moseses Project. The award will also help fund research and production costs for the forthcoming, evening-length work. Although the choreographer and his Fist & Heel Performance Group are based in NYC, Wilson, a Milwaukee native, has made several recent trips to the Windy City. The Good Dance – dakar/brooklyn, made with Congo-born, Senegal-based artist Andréya Ouamba played the Dance Center last spring, and he created one of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago’s latest premieres, SHOUTing rings. The first performances of (project) Moseses Project are slated for 2013.

Other 2012 Joyce Awards–supported projects are in Cleveland, Indianapolis and Minneapolis–St. Paul.

The foundation also announced expanded eligibility for the tenth anniversary of the awards next year. Learn more at a meet-up with senior program officer Angelique Power, from noon–1:30pm on February 2, in the fifth-floor Washington Room at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St, 312-744-6630, explorechicago.org).