The Chicago-based Joyce Foundation has announced the winners of the fourth annual Joyce Awards, which support Midwest cultural institutions in commissioning works by artists of color.

Grants of $50,000 will be awarded to the Detroit Institute of Arts for City Sitings, an exhibition/installation by African-American visual artist Julie Mehretu; the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for a new play by African-American/Korean playwright Jerome Hairston; the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for a multi-movement piece by Peruvian/Jewish/Chinese composer Gabriela Lena Frank; the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, in partnership with Luna Negra Dance Theater, also in Chicago, for a ballet by Cuban choreographer Pedro Ruiz; and the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University in Detroit to commission a new sculpture and companion exhibit commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Heidelberg Project by African-American visual artist Tyree Guyton.

Launched in 2004, the awards recognize achievement in dance, music, theater, and visual arts and are made to organizations in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Because of the strength of this year's applications, the foundation selected five award recipients rather than its traditional four.

"This year the Joyce Foundation's culture program received an exceptional selection of applicants," said foundation president Ellen Alberding. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to support the creation of new and engaging works by artists of color [and] look forward to the completion of these works by the talented artists and their partnering institutions."

For more information on this year's winners, visit the foundation's Web site.