National Society of Arts and Letters
Encyclopedia
The National Society of Arts and Letters, known as the NSAL, is a non-profit group founded in 1944 that assists promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career
opportunities.
, drama
, literature
, music
or musical theater. Participants in the National Career Awards Competition compete at the local chapter level for a series of monetary awards. First-place winners of the Local Chapter Competitions are sent to the NSAL National Competition, which is held each spring during the Society’s annual meeting. Participants in the National Competition compete for a first place award of $10,000, and a series of other awards that can total another $10,000 or more.
The competitions are designed to offer exposure for young artists who want to be heard and seen by professional critics, managers, producers, teachers, the media, and patrons of the arts.
During its history, the competitions organized by the NSAL have benefitted Oscar winning actress and dancer Shirley MacLaine
and international opera star Jessye Norman
among others. In l998, non-citizens were permitted full membership privileges, thereby extending a more inviting, inclusive image to the organization.
All competitions are adjudicated by nationally recognized men and women in the arts. A master class
is conducted by judges for the National Career Awards Competitions. Opportunities for one-on-one sessions and individual critiques are also encouraged.
On October 21, 1944, they met at the home of the future first National President, Mollie Davis Nicholson, to found a group that specified it was non-partisan, non-political and non-profit-making. The Chevy Chase
, Maryland
Chapter was organized that year and became the Washington, D.C. Chapter on March 31, l945, with Dorothy Nicholson Bates Stabell as its first President and Founder.
A second chapter, the Chicago
Chapter, was started by Francesca Falk Miller Nielsen, also in October l944. In l945, both chapters awarded scholarships: one in piano, three in voice (Washington) and one in pipe organ (Chicago).
On June 30, l945, the first national conference of the National Society of Arts and Letters was held in Chicago. By this time, eight chapters had been formed: Washington, D.C.
, Chicago, Florida
, Colorado
, North Dakota
, California
, Texas
and Kentucky
. The bylaws provided membership to women qualified in the arts who were U.S. citizens. Artist member Emma W. Slack designed the insignia. Young artists were to be encouraged by receipt of donor gifts, chapter prizes, scholarships and exhibitions of their work or talent arranged by a chapter.
By 1946 four more chapters had started: Arkansas
, Indiana
, Ohio
and New Jersey
. A convention was held in Washington, D.C., between April 15–16 of that year, at the Mayflower Hotel
in Washington, D.C. President Harry S. Truman
's, wife, Mrs. Bess Truman
, initiated the festivities with a reception at the White House
.
As growth continued, Francesca Falk Miller Nielsen, the second National President, introduced and edited the newsletter. It was planned to issue it three times a year. A Certificate of Incorporation
, was issued July 29, l949 and tax-exempt status, was recorded November 7, l949. By l949 both dance and drama categories had been added to the competitions. By 1951, 25 chapters had been started.
In October 1994 members gathered together for a gala celebration of the Societies' 50th anniversary. The Central Illinois
Chapter hosted the 60th Anniversary celebration in 2005 with performances by former contestants from 1959-2002. There was also a video featuring Dorothy Nicholson Stabell, daughter of one of the founders.
Today there are 20 NSAL Chapters in 17 states.
The National Society of Arts and Letters classifies the arts into six different categories: Art, Dance, Drama, Literature, Music and Musical Theatre; various sub-categories exist within each category. The annual National Competitions rotate among these six categories with the particular sub-category selected by the membership.
Master classes have been conducted in all the arts categories beginning in 2000. They have been conducted for NSAL by their judges and guest teachers including:
Early on in the history of NSAL, The Nicholson/Nielsen Trust Fund was established to provide permanent support for awards to be given annually to ranking finalists in the National Career Award Competition. The principal of the Fund remains intact while the income is used to provide awards each year in one of the six rotating art categories which NSAL highlights in its National Competition.
Individuals and corporations may also endow a named award by contributing to the Fund. Current awards available from tax-exempt gifts to this Fund totaling $10,000 or more include:
NSAL First Place Award of $10,000 or more is in memory of Mollie Davis Nicholson and Francesca Falk Miller Nielson, founders of the Society. The Estelle Campbell Award is presented to the second place winner. The Mary Peery Fife Memorial Award is given in the category of Dance. The Catherine A. M. Cavanaugh Award is given in the Literature Category. Other awards include the Dorothy and Bruce Strong Award and the Mollie Davis Nicholson Award
A second important activity of NSAL is the annual Winston Scholarship Program for visual artists and vocalists. Each year, scholarships totaling $18,000 - $20,000 are awarded to artists in these fields who are sixteen to twenty-two years of age. Supported by an endowment from Shirley Rabb Winston, these scholarships are used for special study in the recipient’s field.
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
opportunities.
National Career Awards Competition
The National Career Awards Competition, organized by the NSAL is held each year in one of the following categories: visual arts, danceDance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
or musical theater. Participants in the National Career Awards Competition compete at the local chapter level for a series of monetary awards. First-place winners of the Local Chapter Competitions are sent to the NSAL National Competition, which is held each spring during the Society’s annual meeting. Participants in the National Competition compete for a first place award of $10,000, and a series of other awards that can total another $10,000 or more.
The competitions are designed to offer exposure for young artists who want to be heard and seen by professional critics, managers, producers, teachers, the media, and patrons of the arts.
During its history, the competitions organized by the NSAL have benefitted Oscar winning actress and dancer Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
and international opera star Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman
Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...
among others. In l998, non-citizens were permitted full membership privileges, thereby extending a more inviting, inclusive image to the organization.
All competitions are adjudicated by nationally recognized men and women in the arts. A master class
Master class
A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also painting, drama, or any of the arts....
is conducted by judges for the National Career Awards Competitions. Opportunities for one-on-one sessions and individual critiques are also encouraged.
History
Begun by a group of civic-minded women who wanted to encourage young talent in the arts, The National Society of Arts and Letters determined from its inception that the best way to accomplish that goal was to sponsor competitions and offer scholarships in the categories of art, music and literature.On October 21, 1944, they met at the home of the future first National President, Mollie Davis Nicholson, to found a group that specified it was non-partisan, non-political and non-profit-making. The Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
Chapter was organized that year and became the Washington, D.C. Chapter on March 31, l945, with Dorothy Nicholson Bates Stabell as its first President and Founder.
A second chapter, the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Chapter, was started by Francesca Falk Miller Nielsen, also in October l944. In l945, both chapters awarded scholarships: one in piano, three in voice (Washington) and one in pipe organ (Chicago).
On June 30, l945, the first national conference of the National Society of Arts and Letters was held in Chicago. By this time, eight chapters had been formed: Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Chicago, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. The bylaws provided membership to women qualified in the arts who were U.S. citizens. Artist member Emma W. Slack designed the insignia. Young artists were to be encouraged by receipt of donor gifts, chapter prizes, scholarships and exhibitions of their work or talent arranged by a chapter.
By 1946 four more chapters had started: Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. A convention was held in Washington, D.C., between April 15–16 of that year, at the Mayflower Hotel
Mayflower Hotel
The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, known locally as simply The Mayflower, is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, DC located on Connecticut Avenue NW, two blocks north of Farragut Square . It is the largest luxury hotel in the U.S. capital and the longest continuously operating hotel in the...
in Washington, D.C. President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
's, wife, Mrs. Bess Truman
Bess Truman
Bess Truman , was the wife of Harry S. Truman and First Lady of the United States from 1945 to 1953.-Early life:...
, initiated the festivities with a reception at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
As growth continued, Francesca Falk Miller Nielsen, the second National President, introduced and edited the newsletter. It was planned to issue it three times a year. A Certificate of Incorporation
Certificate of incorporation
A certificate of incorporation is a legal document relating to the formation of a company or corporation. It is a license to form a corporation issued by state government. Its precise meaning depends upon the legal system in which it is used, but the two primary meanings are:* In the U.S.A...
, was issued July 29, l949 and tax-exempt status, was recorded November 7, l949. By l949 both dance and drama categories had been added to the competitions. By 1951, 25 chapters had been started.
In October 1994 members gathered together for a gala celebration of the Societies' 50th anniversary. The Central Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Chapter hosted the 60th Anniversary celebration in 2005 with performances by former contestants from 1959-2002. There was also a video featuring Dorothy Nicholson Stabell, daughter of one of the founders.
Today there are 20 NSAL Chapters in 17 states.
Master Classes
Part of the National competitions are the master classes conducted by judges in each art category. One-on-one sessions are also offered and encouraging critiques of each contestant are provided by the judges.The National Society of Arts and Letters classifies the arts into six different categories: Art, Dance, Drama, Literature, Music and Musical Theatre; various sub-categories exist within each category. The annual National Competitions rotate among these six categories with the particular sub-category selected by the membership.
Master classes have been conducted in all the arts categories beginning in 2000. They have been conducted for NSAL by their judges and guest teachers including:
- Larry Leichman (co-owner of Arbor BooksArbor BooksArbor Books is a ghostwriting, self-publishing and book marketing services provider founded in 1997. Formerly known as The Floating Gallery and located in New York City, the firm moved to Ramsey, New Jersey, in 2004...
), literature - Joel Revzen, Nathan GunnNathan GunnNathan Gunn is an operatic baritone from the United States.He has appeared in many of world's well-known opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera,...
and Gayletha Nichols, singing - Robert and Louise McCall, art
- Brian Palmer, assistant professor of dance and Chair of the Division of Theatre and Dance at Jacksonville UniversityJacksonville UniversityJacksonville University is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida, on the banks of the St. Johns River. The school was founded in 1934 as a two year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until 1958, when it shifted its focus to four-year university degrees and adopted its...
, dance - Terence KnappTerence KnappTerence Richard Knapp is an English actor, director, educator, and author. He is an Emeritus Professor of Theatre, University of Hawaii at Manoa, a Churchill Fellow and a Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Associate....
, acting and theater - Mark Hoebee, Associate Director of Paper Mill PlayhousePaper Mill PlayhousePaper Mill Playhouse is a regional theatre with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey, less than 25 miles from Manhattan. Due to its location, it can draw from the pool of actors who live in New York City. Its location, as well as its focus on producing large-scale shows, makes...
, theater - George Pinney co-creator of Blast!
- Jane Alderman
- Karen Azenberg, choreographer, dance
- Marek Cholewa, dance
- Lucine AmaraLucine AmaraLucine Amara is an American soprano who was largely based at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.-Biography:Amara was born Lucine Armaganian in Hartford, Connecticut, of Armenian heritage, before moving to San Francisco where she was raised.She studied at the San Francisco's Community Music School...
of the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, music - Sarah Caldwell Dramatic SopranoDramatic sopranoA dramatic soprano is an operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually mean less agility than lighter voices but a sustained, fuller sound. Usually this voice has a lower tessitura than...
, Maestra, opera - Alfonso Montecino, concert pianist, music
- Lori Belilove, modern danceModern danceModern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
- Cynthia Bringle, pottery
- Professor Josip NovakovichJosip NovakovichJosip Novakovich is a Croatian American writer.His grandparents had immigrated from the Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Cleveland, Ohio, and, after the First World War, his grandfather returned to what had become Yugoslavia...
, writing.
Awards
Since the first national competition in 1951, NSAL has presented more than 4,000 awards to young artists. Chapter competitions are usually held in various artistic categories including the one special category specified for the National Competition for that year; only the first place winners from the chapter competitions in this category advance to the National Competition.Early on in the history of NSAL, The Nicholson/Nielsen Trust Fund was established to provide permanent support for awards to be given annually to ranking finalists in the National Career Award Competition. The principal of the Fund remains intact while the income is used to provide awards each year in one of the six rotating art categories which NSAL highlights in its National Competition.
Individuals and corporations may also endow a named award by contributing to the Fund. Current awards available from tax-exempt gifts to this Fund totaling $10,000 or more include:
NSAL First Place Award of $10,000 or more is in memory of Mollie Davis Nicholson and Francesca Falk Miller Nielson, founders of the Society. The Estelle Campbell Award is presented to the second place winner. The Mary Peery Fife Memorial Award is given in the category of Dance. The Catherine A. M. Cavanaugh Award is given in the Literature Category. Other awards include the Dorothy and Bruce Strong Award and the Mollie Davis Nicholson Award
A second important activity of NSAL is the annual Winston Scholarship Program for visual artists and vocalists. Each year, scholarships totaling $18,000 - $20,000 are awarded to artists in these fields who are sixteen to twenty-two years of age. Supported by an endowment from Shirley Rabb Winston, these scholarships are used for special study in the recipient’s field.