Press Release

Naropa University Archive Project Receives GRAMMY Foundation Award
Award Is The Third Consecutive Grant from The Foundation

BOULDER, Colo. (June 6, 2005) - Naropa University today announced that its Archive Project has received a grant of $39,000 from the GRAMMY Foundation Grants Program to preserve 100 hours of live recordings of leading writers, musicians and other performance artists who have participated in Naropa University's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. This is the third such grant the Naropa University Archive Project has received from the GRAMMY Foundation, bringing the level of its funding for this project to a total of $99,000.

The GRAMMY Foundation Grants Program, with funding from The Recording Academy, provides grants each year to organizations and individuals to support music and recorded sound preservation, to archive this heritage of the Americas for future generations, and to support research projects related to the impact of music on the human condition. Recipients are determined by merit, uniqueness of projects and the ability to accomplish project goals.

Steven Taylor, director of the Naropa University Archive Project, said, "The grant from the GRAMMY Foundation will support our ongoing work in digitizing the legacy of artists, writers and musicians who profoundly affected American culture and who were instrumental in fostering social change. We are working with nationally recognized experts in digital audio preservation and access and library cataloging to provide an index of the archive's holdings to thousands of libraries throughout the United States. Our ultimate goal is to provide public access to thousands of hours of performances, lectures and seminars via the web."

In addition to the GRAMMY Foundation grants, the Naropa University Archive Project has received grant awards from "Save America's Treasures," the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. The project is preserving and providing access to over 2,000 hours of recordings made at Naropa University since 1974. Its mission is to enhance appreciation and understanding of the post-World War II American literary avant garde and its role in social change and cultural criticism by preserving, digitizing and improving access to this exclusive and historic audio collection. Since its inception, the Naropa University Archive Project has adhered to best standards for audio practice and Library of Congress cataloging and works closely with respected experts in the industry.

Accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Naropa University is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. Contemplative education is an approach to learning that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental studies, psychology, religious studies, and creation spirituality. It offers BA, BFA, MA, MFA, and MDiv degrees, as well as professional development training and classes for the community. In addition, the university runs study abroad programs in Sikkim, India and Prague, Czech Republic.

Contact

Sigrid Badinelli
Director, Marketing and Communications
Naropa University
PH 303-245-4822
Sigrid@naropa.edu

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