NEW YORK, NY.- FACE (The French American Cultural Exchange), an American nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting contemporary cultural exchanges between the United States and France, has recently announced the artistic projects it will fund in the upcoming 2008-2009 season. FACE, which works principally in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, will support 72 projects�representing a combined total of $761,000�via its five artistic funds: Etant donn�s: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, Etant donn�s: The French-American Fund for Performing Arts, the French American Fund for Contemporary Music, the French-American Jazz Exchange and FUSED (the French-US Exchange in Dance program).

All five funds seek to promote contemporary creative work that generates and strengthens transatlantic cultural links, by covering or contributing to the costs of commissions of new works or exhibits, of collaborations between French and American artists, of translations of new works and of residencies. A particular emphasis is placed on projects that involve reciprocity, in which both countries are equally involved. In each case, independent committees of highly respected professionals, half American, half French, select which projects to finance during an annual meeting. The funds are provided by American and French benefactors, both private and public. Major sponsors include the Florence Gould Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, CulturesFrance, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and SACEM.