ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS

 Animating Democracy News and Updates

Americans for the Arts announces Exemplar Program award recipients

www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/programs/programs_004.asp
With support from the Ford Foundation, Americans for the Arts has established the Exemplar Program to recognize 12 midsized and small arts and cultural organizations for outstanding cultural work in their communities and the field, based on participation in the Animating Democracy and Working Capital Fund initiatives. The Exemplar Program will provide two-year support totaling $150,000 to be used for operations and programs that sustain and advance outstanding work; build organizational knowledge and/or capacity; or enhance approaches to creative, civic engagement, or organizational work in the long term. It will enable the selected organizations to sustain and advance the kinds of exemplary work for which they were originally recognized, as well as extend the learning from the grantees in a way that is mutually beneficial to them and the field. Americans for the Arts is collaborating with LarsonAllen Public Service Group of Minneapolis, MN—who managed the Working Capital Fund—to implement the Exemplar Program.

The following organizations were selected to participate in the Exemplar Program:

• Arte Público Press, Houston, TX
• Cornerstone Theater Company, Los Angeles, CA
• East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond, CA
• Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN
• Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, NM
• Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Takoma Park, MD
• Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, IL
• National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA
• Sojourn Theatre, Portland, OR
• Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), Los Angeles, CA
• Urban Bush Women, Brooklyn, NY
• Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle, WA

Perseverance Theatre featured in American Theatre magazine

www.tcg.org/frames/am_theatre/fs_am_theatre.htm
The Long Season, a recent production by Perseverance Theatre, was featured in the July/August 2005 issue of American Theatre magazine. The article examines the development and production of its musical concerning the Filipino immigrant experience in Alaska, as well as the progression of a second play, Voyage, which draws specifically from stories from community members. The July/August issue also featured an interview with Native American playwright Willam S. Yellow Robe Jr., written by Critical Perspectives contributor David Rooks, in which Yellow Robe and Rooks explore cultural authenticity and trends in Native American theater and culture.

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 News from the Field

Weaving the Web of Community report available from National Performance Network

National Performance Network, a national network of presenters that provides support to the independent artist community, has released an interactive online report about the Weaving the Web of Community grassroots audience development project. The report explores how more than a dozen organizations—including Douglass Community Coalition, Junebug Productions, Dog & Pony Theatre, Ashé Cultural Center, and the Contemporary Arts Center—pooled their time and resources to change their conceptions about the process of social change. Available both in pdf and via the web, the report demonstrates the tangible benefits of tying community residencies to long-term, locally based education and organizing efforts.

Collaborative art and collective practice study in development

Grant Kester—author of Conversation Pieces: Community + Communication in Modern Art, and art historian and critic whose research focuses on socially engaged artistic practice—is seeking information on artists and collectives that are developing innovative new strategies for working collectively and collaboratively. Specifically, Kester is looking for examples of contemporary groups that employ pragmatic, localized strategies of developing alternative models of collective and collaborative agency based on affinity, shared commitment, and political necessity. He is particularly interested in projects produced in conjunction with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and movements for social justice, both nationally and internationally. For more information, or to submit a project, contact Grant Kester at gkester@ucsd.edu.

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 Articles and Publications

New projects in the Project Profile Database: Margaret Garner, Crossroads Charlotte, The Robert F. Kennedy Performance Project, and more

www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/resources/resources_009.asp
Animating Democracy's Project Profile Database, part of the Americans for the Arts National Arts Policy Database, summarizes success stories and best practices of artists and cultural organizations that have completed projects that engage people on contemporary civic issues. This month—thanks to the extensive contributions of Jamie Haft, Animating Democracy’s summer intern—more than a dozen new profiles have been added to the database. Visit the site for more information about Margaret Garner, a new opera that engages communities in Cincinnati, Detroit, and Philadelphia in discussions of slavery and racism; Crossroads Charlotte, a new civic engagement project that involves the community in Charlotte, NC, in shaping the future of their city through workshops, dialogues, and performances; The Robert F. Kennedy Performance Project, John Malpede’s site-specific project recreating Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 poverty tour through Kentucky; and more.

Animating Democracy welcomes profiles of projects initiated by artists and cultural organizations, as well as organizations in other fields whose efforts significantly incorporate the arts or humanities in achieving civic engagement goals. Visit www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/submit_profile.asp or contact Michael del Vecchio (mdelvecchio@artsusa.org) for more information on how to submit a project profile.

Walker Art Center develops art and civic engagement tool

http://learn.walkerart.org/civic.wac
In 2003, the Walker Art Center began to explore the ways that art and contemporary issues of concern to the community can be made more apparent. As the Walker asked questions concerning how a contemporary art center can become a forum for civic engagement, it developed the knowledge map Art and Civic Engagement: Mapping the Connections. This tool incorporates national field research about art and civic engagement, conversations with artists and colleagues, and insights drawn from interviews with 30 Twin Cities community activists and leaders, attempting to bridge two complex ideas—the town square and civic engagement—and to better define what potential these concepts hold for Walker programmers and audiences.

To receive a copy of the knowledge map, e-mail morgan.wylie@walkerart.org, or call 612.375.7610. A complete profile of the tool can also be found on the Animating Democracy website: www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/resources/resources_002.asp.

Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development available for download

www.lulu.com/content/144730
When Creative Community was published by the Rockefeller Foundation in 2001, it was welcomed as an introduction to the theory, historical antecedents, and practice of community cultural development in the United States. Though the original edition is now out of print, authors Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard have made a text-only version available for download. The companion anthology—Community, Culture and Globalization—is still available from the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts available for preorder

www.newvillagepress.net/pub_BegGuideCommunityArts.html
The Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts, a new publication by Mat Schwarzman and Keith Knight, features transformative local arts projects that come alive in a comics-illustrated training manual for youth leaders and teachers. This guidebook demonstrates the enormous power of art in grassroots social change, providing proven models of community-based arts programs, techniques, discussion questions, and plentiful resources.

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 Events on the Horizon

Public Conversations Project announces 2005–2006 training schedule

www.publicconversations.org
The Power of Dialogue: Constructive Conversations on Divisive Issues
Dates: October 20–22, 2005 (Boston) 
            November 4–6, 2005 (Dallas) 
            February 9–11, 2006 (Albuquerue, NM)
During this hands-on, three-day workshop, participants will explore ways to promote the type of meaningful dialogue that is powerful enough to shift communication and relationships, and will also learn the key elements of Public Conversations Project dialogues through the process of designing, facilitating, and debriefing an extended dialogue simulation.

Inquiry as Intervention: Crafting Questions with Purpose and Impact
Date: January 6, 2006
Boston
Participants in this workshop will focus on the power of crafting, asking, and responding to questions, and will explore the power and potential of questions for their own practice and daily lives.

Staying Grounded When on the Spot: A Skill-Building Workshop for Facilitators
Dates: March 24–25, 2006 (San Diego) 
            May 9–10, 2006 (Boston)
This two-day workshop includes presentations, exercises, case examples, and discussions designed to help participants develop skills for staying grounded, even in difficult moments.

The Art of Interviewing: Transforming Stories about Conflict
Date: April 4, 2006
Boston
Through skill-building exercises, interviewing opportunities, presentations, and discussions, participants in this workshop will explore new ways to handle conflicts constructively in both their personal and professional lives.

What Comes After: Cities, Art and Recovery
Dates: September 8–11, 2005
New York City
www.lmcc.net
This September, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council will host the first of two international summits focused on the role of the arts and culture after catastrophe. Artists, performers, writers, scholars, activists, and community and political leaders from a range of contexts that have been directly affected and transformed by violence, will gather in downtown Manhattan to exchange stories, strategies, ideas, and memories. Over three days of roundtable discussions, performances, films, and arts installations in all media, Cities, Art and Recovery will consider how people remember and rebuild after tragedy, as well as how the arts have been crucial to such recovery.

Interdependence Day 2005: Arts and Culture at the Heart of Interdependence
Dates: September 10–12, 2005
Paris, France
www.civworld.org
Interdependence Day 2005: Arts and Culture at the Heart of Interdependence will include three days of intense intellectual, political, and cultural events that aim to call attention to the realities of interdependence and reflect on the civic implications of those realities. Featured speakers include Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, former French Culture Minister Jack Lang, Novy Mir Editor Andrei Grachev, Nouvel Observateur Editor Jean Daniel, former Slovenian President Milan Kucan, and performance artist Sonia Sanchez.

Motivate! Participate!
Dates: October 14–19, 2005
Portland, OR
www.iap2.org
The International Association for Public Participation is an association of members who seek to promote and improve the practice of public participation in relation to individuals, governments, institutions, and other entities, which affect the public interest in nations throughout the world. The 2005 conference, Motivate! Participate!, will explore issues of public participation in relation to energizing and engaging communities, connecting to underrepresented community members, overcoming local challenges, and examining new ideas in research.

Towards an Inclusive Society
Dates: October 21–23, 2005
Belfast, Ireland
www.caf.ie
Towards an Inclusive Society, Northern Ireland 2005, will bring together arts and community activists, policymakers, artists, and other experts to examine the role of the arts in bringing about meaningful social change. Delegates will visit communities in and around Belfast, and will participate in workshops to explore community arts processes and practices with particular emphasis on issues of access, participation, authorship, and ownership.

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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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