AGBU Press Office 55 East 59th Street New York, NY 10022-1112 Website: www.agbu.org PRESS RELEASE Tuesday, CREATIVE ARMENIA AND AGBU LAUNCH FELLOWSHIPS TO CHAMPION INNOVATIVE TALENTS Creative Armenia and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) are delighted to announce the launch of the Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships, which will discover, nourish and promote creative talents across the arts. Through a year-long program of funding, mentorship and tailored promotion strategies, Creative Armenia and AGBU will empower innovative artists to achieve a career breakthrough, both locally and globally. “As a nation, we take great pride in a heritage of visionary writers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists. But what are we actually doing to discover and empower our future creative visionaries?” said filmmaker and writer Garin Hovannisian, founding director of Creative Armenia. “The Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships are our answer to this question.” The Fellowships represent the first collaboration of AGBU and Creative Armenia, which entered into a strategic partnership in May. Creative Armenia, a global arts foundation for the Armenian people, pursues a mandate to discover, develop, promote, and produce innovative talent. A trusted bedrock of the Armenian diaspora, AGBU has been creating opportunities for Armenian artists for decades to extend their education and showcase their talents to diverse audiences across the globe. The organization formalized its support for the arts with the establishment of the Performing Arts Departments in the United States (in 2012) and France (in 2016). “The synergy of this partnership opens up unprecedented opportunities for artists to expand their reach and make their work known locally and internationally,” said producer Eric Esrailian, who is a member of the AGBU Central Board and a founding member of Creative Armenia’s Board of Advisors. “This fellowship will help advance Armenian arts and culture on the global stage.” The Creative Armenia-AGBU Fellowships are open to innovative talents in all creative fields—including film, music, literature, visual arts, theater, design, and photography. During the course of one year, fellows will gain access to industry connections and tailored strategies to develop, pitch and promote their projects through one-on-one mentorship meetings and workshops. A $5,000 grant will also be provided. The fellowships are open to artists of Armenian origin and those who have a demonstrated interest in Armenian culture. The presence of fellows in Armenia is not required. Applications are accepted now through September 15 on creativearmenia.org/fellowships and agbu.org/creativearmenia. For inquiries, please contact Alec Mouhibian at [email protected] and Hayk Arsenyan at [email protected]. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__youtu.be_dG-5F1wswpHv8&d=DwIF-g&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=j4Q7DXV1LUXziS2bW_SvRzomYOJLnSaJiEKvAcAk5Pk&s=SWavnVqUMa7CxCULhS0JdMhQgJgrmjSuVFzbm2kZiNw&e= Founded in 2017, Creative Armenia is an innovative arts foundation that develops – and realizes – the strategies of a cultural awakening. Its founding advisory board includes Serj Tankian, Eric Esrailian, Arsinée Khanjian, Eric Bogosian, Carla Garapedian, Simon Abkarian and Michael Aram. For more information, please visit www.creativearmenia.org. Established in 1906, AGBU is the world's largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs, annually touching the lives of some 500,000 Armenians around the world. For more information about AGBU and its worldwide programs, please visit www.agbu.org.