ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS
February 2006
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Animating Democracy News and Updates |
Animating Democracy! Performances & Book Party—February 27, 2006www.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy/ad_bookparty2.htm
Come to the Bowery Poetry Club February 27, 2006, 7:00–9:00 p.m., for a lively program of poetry, spoken word, and theater and refreshment to celebrate the release of seven new books from Animating Democracy that explore the role of the arts and humanities in civic engagement. Animating Democracy artists and authors will perform creative work. Regie Cabico (artist-in-residence, Asian/Pacific/American Institute, NYU) will host as well as perform. Also on the program: John Kuo Wei Tchen (Asian/Pacific/American Studies) and Renato Rosaldo, “anthropoeta” (Latino Studies, NYU), contributors to the anthology Critical Perspectives: Writings on Art and Civic Dialogue, an experiment to explore a multivoiced framework for critical writing about arts-based civic dialogue; Andrea Assaf, artistic director of New WORLD Theater (NYU performance studies and theater graduate); and Bob Holman, poet and participant in City Lore’s Poetry Dialogues project.
RSVP by February 23 by calling 212.992.9653, e-mailing apa.rsvp@nyu.edu, or completing the online RSVP form at www.apa.nyu.edu (Institute Events).
Co-sponsored by Americans for the Arts and New York University's Asian/Pacific/American Institute, Latino Studies and Asian/Pacific/American Studies in the Department of Social & Cultural Analysis; Drama Department and Department of Art and Public Policy at the Tisch School of the Arts; Department of History; Center for Religion & Media; and the Center for Media, Culture and History.
For more information about the seven new publications, visit the Animating Democracy website at www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/reading_room/reading_004.asp.
Animating Democracy announces search for summer internwww.artsusa.org/about_us/internships.asp
Animating Democracy is seeking an undergraduate or graduate student for a summer 2006 internship. Primary responsibilities include research and content development for the National Arts Policy Database and Animating Democracy website, including profiles of arts- and humanities-based civic dialogue and engagement projects. In addition, the intern will provide research, communications, and marketing support and assist Animating Democracy staff with various projects to support the program’s goals. Candidates must have strong writing and research skills and a strong familiarity with Microsoft Office products, including Word and Excel. A student with interest in community arts and/or arts-based civic engagement is preferred. Application deadline is March 1, 2006.
Too busy this summer? Animating Democracy will also be accepting applications for internships fall 2006. For more information, contact Animating Democracy Project Coordinator Michael del Vecchio at mdelvecchio@artsusa.org.
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News from the Field |
Bellevue Arts Museum premiers Thomas Mann: Storm Cycle, An Artist Responds to Hurricane Katrinawww.bellevuearts.org
The Bellevue Arts Museum—a center for the exploration of the fine art of craft and design in the Pacific Northwest—will present the premier showing of Thomas Mann: Storm Cycle, An Artist Responds to Hurricane Katrina set to open to the public on February 17. The exhibition, a set of 20 three-dimensional panels by New Orleans artist Thomas Mann depicting the artist’s interpretation of Hurricane Katrina, features found objects and debris gathered from the streets of New Orleans. Each panel incorporates photos depicting the artist’s hometown scene, and also houses a removable wearable jewelry object. In collaboration with community partners across the area, community programs will be presented that are designed to foster conversations within the region on lessons learned, the concept of artist as chronicler, preparedness, and remembrance. The exhibition will close on May 21, 2006.
Ferocious Beauty: Genome premieres at Wesleyan Universitywww.danceexchange.org
Ferocious Beauty: Genome—a new piece by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange that explores the nature and impact of discoveries in genetics—premiered at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, on February 3, 2006. Ferocious Beauty combines performance arts and multimedia in a two-act structure. Act One merges a series of vignettes from genetic history and folklore—including scenes featuring Mendel and his peas, Thomas Hunt Morgan and his fruit flies, and Nancy Wexler and Huntington's disease carriers. Act Two focuses on the promises and dilemmas of gene research to depict the heart of scientific inquiry and introduces the audience to concrete scientific content—specifically three issues raised by genetic research: aging and death, the market for human perfection, and identity and ancestry.
The development of the piece initiated an unprecedented collaboration between dance and science, as the Dance Exchange partnered with a group of scientist and humanities scholars from institutions such as Columbia, Michigan, and Stanford universities, as well as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Institutes of Health, and the Genetics and Public Policy Center. Many of these advisors appear in the performance in videotaped interviews, representing viewpoints on the uses of genetic research that range from curing disease to maintaining biodiversity to fighting terrorism. Ferocious Beauty: Genome will tour the United States throughout 2006. Each performance residency, including the Whiting Auditorium in Flint, MI, a co-commissioner for the work, has planned an array of community-based events scheduled to occur in conjunction with each performance including symposia, panel discussions, public dialogue, and exhibitions.
Ballet Austin receives Humanitarian Award for Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Projectwww.balletaustin.org
The Anti-Defamation League recently honored Ballet Austin with the prestigious Audrey and Raymond Maislin Humanitarian Award for the outstanding education and community-building accomplishments achieved through Stephen Mills' Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project. The Audrey and Raymond Maislin Humanitarian Award is given to an individual or organization for work in furthering greater harmony and cooperation in our communities. In 2005, Ballet Austin embarked on a unique Holocaust education partnership with The University of Texas at Austin, The Holocaust Museum Houston, Austin Independent School District, The Naomi and Martin Warren Family Foundation, and Jewish Community Association of Austin to promote tolerance and the protection of human rights against bigotry and hate through arts, education, and public dialogue.
Joyce Foundation announces recipients of Joyce Awardswww.joycefdn.org/joyceawards.html
In January 2006, The Joyce Foundation announced the recipients of its third annual Joyce awards, which support Midwest cultural organizations commissioning works by artists of color. “This year’s recipients of the Joyce Awards present a diverse and socially conscious group of projects,” said Joyce Foundation President Ellen Alberding. Each award supports the work of the individual artist as well as significant community engagement efforts. Grants of $50,000 will be awarded to: American Composers Forum in St. Paul, MN, to support the commission of a new concerto for guitar and orchestra by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate; the Chicago Cultural Center Foundation, to support the commission of 20 new works for Nick Cave: Soundsuits, a visual art exhibition/installation by African-American artist Nick Cave; DANCECleveland (Cleveland Modern Dance Association), to support the commission of a new dance by African-American choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar; and the Indiana Repertory Theatre, to support the commission of a new play by African-American playwright Charles Smith. Launched in 2004 as an annual competition, the Joyce Awards target cultural organizations in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and St. Paul/Minneapolis.
Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum opens The African Presence in Méxicowww.mfacmchicago.org
The African Presencein México, a new project being organized by The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago, exploring cultural relations between Mexican Americans and African Americans today, will open the second week in February. Among the cultural events happening in conjunction with the event, three exhibitions will be presented at the museum. The first, The African Presence in México: From Yanga to the Present, illustrates the nearly 500-year history that Africans and Mexicans have shared in México—from the time of the transatlantic slave trade and the founding of the first town of freed slaves in the Americas in México to the Afro-Mexicans of the present day. Who Are We Now? Roots, Resistance, and Recognition discusses the complex relationship between African Americans and Mexicans in the United States since the domestic slave trade, as well as the ways in which African Americans have related to and continue to relate to México. Common Goals, Common Struggles, Common Ground addresses local ideas about current events with an imaginative, multimedia approach. In addition, the project will feature multiple educational opportunities, community events, and opportunities for civic dialogue. The African Presence in México runs through September 3, 2006.
Sierra Club airs 9/11 Forgotten Heroeswww.sierraclubtv.org
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many firefighters, police officers, and construction workers risked their lives in the call of duty. While the EPA deemed the air and water at Ground Zero safe, many of these workers have fallen victim to a variety of respiratory illnesses. Since the attacks, the Sierra Club teamed up with filmmaker Robert Greenwald (of Outfoxed, and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price Fame) and a variety of organizations, including the ACLU and the Ford Foundation, to record the everyday struggles of the "forgotten heroes." The film, 9/11 Forgotten Heroes, follows four of these men as they petition Congress for $125 million in aid promised to New York and then rescinded. The documentary is the first of seven in the Sierra Club Chronicles series, giving voice to individuals fighting for community and environmental justice.
Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford opens at Institute for Community Researchwww.incommunityresearch.org/news/news.htm
Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford is part of a new exhibit and event series at The Institute for Community Research that explores the spread, use, and consequences of drugs for young adults (ages 16–30) in the Greater Hartford area. Findings from two ICR studies over the last 10 years, focusing mainly on MDMA (Ecstasy) and Dust (PCP), are portrayed through comic book characters. The information is displayed on over a dozen large vinyl panels, which feature quotes, survey data, and interpretations. The panels were created through collaboration between ICR and the Hartford Animation Institute. Rollin’ and Dustin’ in Hartford: Pathways to Urban Lifestyles will open February 16.
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Articles and Publications |
School of the Museum of Fine Arts launches Institute for Art and Civic Engagementwww.smfa.edu/Student_Life/Professional_Development/Institute_for_Art_Civic_Engagement.asp
The Institute for Art and Civic Engagement (IACE)—a new initiative based in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Artist’s Resource Center and founded in partnership with Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service—has been launched to serve as a resource for students, faculty, and community members interested in art and its potential to impact contemporary issues in public life. The institute will also provide a place for research, dialogue, and program development in order that artists may serve as catalysts for change and that communities may pilot innovative strategies to facilitate greater civic participation. Visit the institute website for examples of innovative partnering that led to the establishment of the center.
Fund for Women Artists features Telling The Stories We Need To Hear: Artists Explore Reproductive Freedom www.womenarts.org/news/January2006News.htm
The Fund for Women Artists, a Massachusetts-based grantmaker that works to challenge stereotypes and increase opportunities for women artists, presents Telling The Stories We Need to Hear: Artists Explore Reproductive Freedom in the January issue of its online newsletter. With interviews from three artists whose work tell the stories of the one in three American women who have abortions over the course of their lives, the article explores the personal within the political on the issue of reproductive freedom.
Irvine Foundation announces new evaluation resourcewww.irvine.org
With rising interest in nonprofit effectiveness, and increased public scrutiny of the sector, foundations are looking to evaluation to achieve greater organizational impact and promote accountability. At The James Irvine Foundation, evaluation activities comprise between 2 and 5 percent of their grantmaking dollars and provide the most direct source of information about program impact. To share findings with colleagues and to help contribute to the knowledge base and dialogue in the field, the foundation has launched a new evaluation section on their website. This new section includes comprehensive information about their approach (including goals and principles that guide evaluation), program evaluations (including design, process, findings, products, and evaluators of current and former programs), foundation wide assessment (including an overview of how Irvine assesses it’s own progress towards institutional goals and priorities), and tools and resources that help promote the effective use of evaluative techniques by nonprofits and other foundations.
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Events on the Horizon |
Intersection IV: Re/Generations
Dates: April 7–9, 2006
Amherst, MAwww.umass.edu/fac/nwt/Intersection-Conference.htm
Intersection is New WORLD Theater's biennial conference and festival examining new work practices by artists of color and showcasing multidisciplinary theater pieces on the cutting edge of new aesthetics. Intersection IV: Re/Generations will convene a truly intergenerational, cross-cultural gathering to investigate historical models and new directions in multicultural performing arts and activism in response to current political conditions. Begun in 1998, the conference is a diverse national gathering of artists, educators, organizers, activists, scholars, theater professionals, and presenters.
Public Conversations Project announces Spring Workshop Schedule
The Art of Interviewing: Transforming Stories about Conflict
Date: April 4, 2006
Boston, MAwww.publicconversations.org/pcp/index.asp?page_id=205&catid=51
Staying Grounded When on the Spot: A Skill-Building Workshop for Facilitators
Date: May 5–6, 2006
San Diego, CA
Date: May 9–10, 2006
Boston, MAwww.publicconversations.org/pcp/index.asp?page_id=239&catid=51
Reflective Leadership in Frenzied Times
Dates: May 19–20
Boston, MAwww.publicconversations.org/pcp/index.asp?page_id=206&catid=51
Sojourn Theatre's Devising Performance/Facilitating Dialogue
Dates: June 18–23, 2006
Evanston, IL
Dates: July 24–29, 2006
Portland, ORwww.sojourntheatre.org
Now in its seventh summer, this national five-and-a-half day workshop/training offers participants from around the nation an opportunity to explore the techniques and strategies Sojourn Theatre Artistic Director Michael Rohd uses in collaborative work with groups in a variety of settings. The training includes strategies to devise performance material, build community, examine the potential of site-specific activity, and investigate social and political issues through arts-based dialogue. The week will include a variety of approaches to performance and facilitation, including theater of event: story, metaphor, action, and architecture; improvisation; documentary theater; inquiry and dialogue activities; and movement and group composition work.
For information or registration for Sojourn Theatre’s institutes call 971.544.0464 or e-mail sojourntheatre@aol.com.
Cornerstone Theater Company’s Institute Summer Residency 2006
Dates: July 9–August 6, 2006
San Francisco, CAwww.CornerstoneTheater.org/institute
Cornerstone Theater Company’s Institute is a unique, hands-on, collaborative experience. In a departure from the previous two rural Institute Summer Residencies, Cornerstone Institute will be an urban residency in 2006. In partnership with University of San Francisco's (USF) Performing Arts and Social Justice program, Cornerstone Institute is collaborating with Seniors and Their Caregivers in San Francisco. While living, studying, and working with Cornerstone artists and staff for four weeks, participants will create theater and explore strategies for community engagement, gaining an understanding of the community collaboration process from beginning to end.
Applicants may include theater artists of any discipline (performers, writers, directors, designers, administrators, etc.), as well as educators, community organizers, activists, artists, or anyone else interested in the intersection of theater and community. Application deadline is March 15, 2006.
Engaging Through Place
The 2006 Imagining America Conference
Dates: October 6–8, 2006
Columbus, OHwww.ia.umich.edu
Place has many dimensions for individuals and institutions committed to public scholarship and art, active citizenship, and engaged learning. The 2006 Imagining America Conference, Engaging Through Place, will explore the many dimensions of public engagement in higher education through new programs and civic collaborations. Imagining America is making a call for session and panel proposals. Submissions are due March 1, 2006.
Imagining America is a consortium of 80 colleges and universities committed to public scholarship and public culture-making through the humanities, arts, and design. Imagining America’s mission is to strengthen the public role and democratic purposes of the cultural disciplines and interdisciplines.
Homelands and Diasporas
American Folklore Society 2006 Annual Meeting
Dates: October 18–22, 2006
Milwaukee, WI
www.afsnet.org/annualmeet/index.cfm
Homelands and Diasporas, the theme of the American Folklore Society’s 2006 Annual Meeting, will explore the various ways that members of culturally diverse communities have moved from place to place while still maintaining a connection with their homes. The American Folklore Society is making a call for panels, forums, poster sessions, and other activities that illuminate the experiences of particular individuals and communities—and any part of the world—as they rely on folklore to express the dialectic between notions of homelands and diasporas. The deadline for proposal submissions is March 15, 2006.
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About Animating Democracy |
Animating Democracy is a four-year initiative of Americans for the Arts and is made possible with support from the Ford Foundation.
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Do you have news you would like to share with Animating Democracy and the broader world of art and civic engagement? Send an e-mail to adi@artsusa.org with "Animating Democracy E-News" in the subject line. Please be sure to include full contact information.
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