The NEA: Way more than just cowboy poetry. Here are some other NEA-funded gems from FY 2011:

Asolo Theatre, Inc.
Sarasota, FL
$20,000
CATEGORY: Access to Artistic Excellence FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Theater
To support the development and world premiere of Eduardo Machado’s Hamlet: Prince of Cuba, an original bilingual play based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play will be set in present-day Miami during the rehearsals of an American regional theater company’s production of Hamlet which has been set in Cuba during the fall of Fulgencio Batista.

And:

Eldridge Street Project, Inc. (aka Museum at Eldridge Street)
New York, NY
$10,000
CATEGORY: Access to Artistic Excellence FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Folk and Traditional Arts
To support the 12th Annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival. The event celebrates traditions and art forms from the Chinese and Eastern European Jewish communities that have lived side-by-side on the Lower East Side for generations.

And:#more#

Dieu Donné Papermill, Inc.
New York, NY
$20,000
CATEGORY: Access to Artistic Excellence FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Visual Arts
To support residency opportunities for artists in the hand papermaking tradition. The program will offer eight residencies to mid-career and emerging artists through Lab Grant and the Emerging Workspace Residency programs.

And if you’re already missing all things Cowboy . . .

13 Playwrights, Inc. (aka 13P)
Brooklyn, NY
$10,000
CATEGORY: Access to Artistic Excellence FIELD/DISCIPLINE: Theater
To support 13P’s production of Late: A Cowboy Song written and directed by Sarah Ruhl. The “dramedy” about defining and redefining self in the pursuit of happiness portrays second-grade sweethearts who meander into their adult relationship.