CETA Artists Project:
The NYC Cultural Council Foundation’s CETA Artists Project supported me as a dance artist in New York City from 1978-1980. The project was supported by the US Department of Labor through its Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA). As in the1930s Federal Artists Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the CETA project acknowledged artists as important members of the work force. I was one of the approximately 300 artists selected for the project in NYC, out of whom 134 were designated as performing artists. Under the auspices of this two and a half year program, I received a salary of $10,000 a year plus benefits from the federal government to work 35 hrs/week as a performer, choreographer and teacher in a variety of settings. The bulk of the work week was to be spent in public service, with one day a week allotted to one’s own art projects. Public service could take the form of such activities as presenting lecture demonstrations and performances, and teaching in community settings. Under the auspices of CETA, I had several community service assignments, including teaching creative movement for pre-schoolers in Jamaica, Queens; teaching weekly classes for adults at the Association for the Help of Retarded Children on Union Square; and offering lecture demonstrations and free concerts at several locations throughout the city. Having just graduated from college, this program was a godsend to me and launched my career. The ability to work full-time as a dancer/choreographer in this program led me to form my own non-profit dance company. All of the dance works I created from 1978-1980 were made under the auspices of CETA, and the program enabled me to present several evening-length concerts in NYC as well as several lecture demonstrations of my work. The links to articles and letters below describe the CETA project and refer to some of my work within it.
Dance Magazine June 1980 article and photo
Laine, Barry. "CETA Helps Them Work at Their Art,” The New York Times, July 22, 1979
Dunning, Jennifer. “Queens Gets a Weeklong Festival,” The New York Times, 3/21/1980
Dance Magazine review March 1980
Lecture Demonstration program New Lincoln School
Program free performance Fogel works for AHRC students January 1979
Portrait of Jessica Fogel by Sarah Wells for the CETA Artists Project 1978. Taken in my apartment at 610 W. 110th St., NY, NY.