ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS
October 2006
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Animating Democracy News and Updates |
Americans for the Arts issues request for proposals for 2007 conventionwww.AmericansForTheArts.org/convention
Americans for the Arts announces a call for session proposals for its 2007 annual convention, Risk & Reward: Balancing Acts in Arts and Community, in Las Vegas, NV, June 1–3, 2007. This is an opportunity to present at an event that draws more than 1,000 leaders from the arts and creative business, as well as partners in community and economic development at the local, state, and national levels.
Creative arts professionals take risks, often piloting partnerships and projects through uncharted territories, suggesting new ideas, and opening space for diverse perspectives. While these balancing acts require courage, persistence, and a sense of humor, the rewards can be great—from the conference room to the classroom, from the studio to the streets.
In addition to other tracks that will be presented at the convention, Animating Democracy is requesting proposals for a track of civic engagement sessions, which will explore how the arts offer fresh sparks, welcoming invitations, needed spaces, and new forms of civic participation. From volunteering to voting, from community building to community healing, from issue awareness to social action—the arts can facilitate participation in community and political life and, by doing so, help people express their citizenship. What are best practices for artists, arts organizations, and arts councils working in the civic realm? How can we focus our civic intent for maximum civic impact?
Americans for the Arts seeks session proposals that take chances with topics, perspectives, and formats. The submission deadline is December 1, 2006. For more details on how to submit, visit the convention homepage at www.AmericansForTheArts.org/convention.
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News from the Field |
Terror? opens at Intersection for the Artswww.theintersection.org
Terror?, a new international interdisciplinary project investigating how each one of us experiences fear and how it affects our lives, opened on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 in San Francisco. Featuring hundreds of works on paper from around the world, the exhibition seeks to develop a collective response to some of the most immediate questions and issues of our times: What is terror? Who perpetrates terror? How does fear control us and the world around us? Who are we taught to be afraid of and why? What does fear cost? Where does personal fear intersect with larger societal and political messages of terror? In addition to the exhibition, Terror? includes a film screening, readings, public discussions, and performances.
National Civil Rights Museum addresses gun violence through Wounded in Americawww.civilrightsmuseum.org
Currently, the city of Memphis is experiencing a record number of homicides, especially among its youth; more than 114 people have fallen victim to gun violence so far this year. With the memory of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination in 1968 ever present, the National Civil Rights Museum is hosting Wounded in America, a traveling exhibit dedicated to documenting the life-altering experiences of individuals who have survived firearms violence. Working with elected officials, criminal justice administrators, educators, grassroots organizations, and the general public, Wounded in America presents programs aimed at reinforcing the goals of the civil rights movement and the relevance and importance of these goals to present-day issues of violence, freedom of speech, and equality. With the input of an education advisory committee, the museum hosted multiple programs throughout the summer, including a forum on gun violence; a signing of pledge cards to help eliminate violence; and the "Peace in the House" theater workshop, which used scenarios and discussions to teach nonviolence.
Wounded in America will close October 24, 2006.
Great Leap presents Collaboratory III: Stories of Democracy and Migration www.greatleap.org
In October, Great Leap presents Round III of Collaboratory, an ongoing mentorship initiative designed to train emerging artists of color in cross-cultural collaborative performance and community-based leadership skills. Featured artists Susan Kanga, Kenneth McKether, Brian Molina, Joe Padilla, Thenmozhi Soundarajan, and Juliet Wong fuse theater, spoken word, dance, and multimedia with collaborative work based on the themes of democracy and migration.
Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation releases 2007–2008 Artists & Communities guidelines www.midatlanticarts.org
The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation has released the 2007–2008 guidelines for its Artists & Communities program. Designed to provide opportunities for professional artists from New Jersey, New York, the District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania, Artists & Communities is a program that offers support for partnerships between visiting artists and nonprofit organizations engaged in community-based creative projects. The program is specifically designed to support artists whose work is informed by or developed in conjunction with community participation. It is not intended to merely support workshops, classes, performances, or instructional programs. Artists & Communities is more than a commissioning program and looks for creative, effective, and sustainable strategies for engaging the public in arts activity.
The deadline for proposals is Monday, December 4, 2006. For more information, program guidelines, and applications, please visit www.midatlanticarts.org/funding/artists_programs/communities/guidelines.html.
Columbia College Chicago launches Critical Encountershttp://web3.colum.edu/press_releases/archives/001708.php
To mark the 25th anniversary of the first diagnosed cases of AIDS, Columbia College Chicago has launched Critical Encounters, a three-year project that will address HIV and AIDS through the lens of arts and civic engagement. With programs implemented through classes, projects, and public events, students will closely examine issues surrounding AIDS and HIV in their first year. In the remaining two years of the project, students will study the complicating factor of poverty, and will search for ways to address the issue. “Art for art’s sake is fine,” says provost Steve Kapelke, “But Columbia has always followed the notion that art generates change. And Critical Encounters will help students tackle the topic of AIDS/HIV.”
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Articles and Publications |
Case Foundation presents webcast of National Conference on Citizenshipwww.casefoundation.org/webcasts/ncoc
In September, the National Conference on Citizenship—a federally chartered corporation whose mission is to encourage a more active, engaged citizenry—held its annual conference. The conference brought together civic leaders to assess the nation's civic health. A webcast of the presentations at the event has been posted to the Case Foundation’s website and features leaders of national and local civic engagement organizations—including social scientist Robert Putnam, Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service David Eisner, and President and CEO of the United Way of America Brian Gallaher. In addition, the conference featured the release of America's Civic Health Index: Broken Engagement, an index of key citizen measures to broaden the way in which America tracks and defines its civic engagement successes.
Foreign Policy In Focus introduces new arts-focused feature to websitewww.fpif.org
Foreign Policy In Focus—a think tank for research, analysis, and action that brings together scholars, advocates, and activists who strive to make the United States a more responsible global partner—has added a new feature to its website called Fiesta. Fiesta will explore foreign policy through the realms of film, theater, food, music, literature, and cartoons. Currently, web visitors can read Pens, Not Swords, a new piece by Sarah Browning that explores how poets have used their distinctive voices to protest wars from the 5th century BC to the ongoing conflict in Iraq. And in Why They Hate US, international pollster Clay Ramsay comments on an exhibition of political cartoons from around the world.
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Events on the Horizon |
Creative Clusters 2006
Dates: November 5–8, 2006
Newcastle Gateshead, United Kingdomwww.creativeclusters.com
Creative Clusters 2006 is the leading global conference on creative economies and culture-led regeneration. Packed with examples of culture and creativity as a force for mainstream economic development across the world, the conference will explore the creative techniques and strategies being used to effect deep transformation of places and to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time. Will Aslop, a prominent architect and artist in the United Kingdom, will deliver the keynote for the event.
Bringing Theory to Practice: Student Leadership and Civic Engagement Conference
Dates: November 10–11, 2006
Washington, DCwww.bringingtheorytopractice.org
The Bringing Theory to Practice Project invites college and university students to attend its second annual student conference, Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. Designed to encourage college students to reflect on their own attitudes and leadership abilities within the areas of engaged and service learning, the conference will feature a series of interactive presentations and discussions in order to provide students with tools to help them grow as leaders.
The Bringing Theory to Practice Project, a partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, is a youth leadership project that is committed to exploring the academic community’s interest in and support of engaged student learning, and its relationship to mental health and civic development of individuals and their communities.
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Institute
Building the Radical Prayer: A Dance-Making Workshop
Dates: November 13–18, 2006
Takoma Park, MDwww.danceexchange.org
Join Liz Lerman, Peter DiMuro, and the Dance Exchange Company as they develop a new work entitled Prayer as a Radical Act, the latest in a series of Dance Exchange projects to examine spirituality both within and beyond traditional settings and belief systems. The project is a unique opportunity for participants to spend five days immersed in the choreographic processes at the heart of the Dance Exchange work—the methodologies, the spirit of exploration, and the craft of movement. The group will build the dance by asking questions and will turn to the participants for help exploring the answers.
The institute is designed as a highly collaborative experience with a multiple choreographer structure. Participants will have a chance to stretch their leadership and “followership” skills in a dance-making context; to find their place in a community; and to advance their own ideas. The process will elucidate methods for building and sustaining an environment conducive to creation, crafting, and ensemble values.
Everyone is welcome—dancers and nondancers alike. All you need is a zest for questioning, an open mind for new processes, and and an interest in exploring prayer and activism. Fee to attend the event is $500.
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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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Share With Us! |
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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