ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS
July 2005
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Animating Democracy News and Updates |
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange launches Community Arts Toolbox
http://toolbox.danceexchange.org
The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has launched its online Community Arts Toolbox. The new site is designed for anyone seeking concrete techniques for choreography, community-building, and constructive human interaction and offers step-by-step techniques, guiding principles, valuable links, essays by Liz Lerman, and more.
SPARC launches online public art forum and new partnership with Antioch University
www.sparcmurals.org
The Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) is pleased to announce a new online forum on its website. This forum will provide a space for public discussion concerning issues of the role of art, dialogue, and community; and will facilitate dialogue on current issues in community art.
SPARC has also developed a new partnership with Antioch University through their M.F.A. in Public Art and Community Development. This M.F.A. program will teach artists how to work collaboratively with their audiences to define and rejuvenate their communities and impact public policy, together. Graduates of this program will learn to integrate community development, including social and environmental justice outcomes, into their public art process. For more information, contact SPARC at sparc@sparcmurals.org.
City Lore presents DeAf Jam
www.citylore.org
In May, DeAf Jam, co-sponsored by City Lore and Urban Word, presented several U.S. deaf poets, including the Flying Words Project with Peter Cook and Kenny Lerner, and Ayisha Knight. At the end of the event, building on their Animating Democracy project, Poetry Dialogues, City Lore presented an open dialogue between performers and the audience, moderated by Dirksen Bauman, Associate Professor of Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, about the future of American Sign Language in the U.S.
"Singing the Blue Ridge" performed at The River Concert Serieswww.smcm.edu/rcs
"Singing the Blue Ridge," the original composition, written by Judith Shatin as part of Wintergreen Performing Art Center’s Preserving the Rural Soundscape project, was performed in June at The River Concert Series in St. Mary’s City, MD. Part of a concert called “A Natural Experience,” the program also included pieces by Beethoven and Respighi. Preserving the Rural Soundscape was supported in part by Animating Democracy.
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News from the Field |
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center announces Community Engagement Manager position
http://claricesmithcenter.umd.edu
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park has announced an open position working in Community Engagement. The Community Engagement Manager is a member of the Cultural Participation Department at the Clarice Smith Center and is responsible for developing and managing program initiatives designed to engage participants from the communities within and around the University of Maryland, College Park. The manager will work as an integral member of the Cultural Participation staff to develop new and innovative learning opportunities to increase participation in the arts; coordinate visiting artist engagements and residency activities; coordinate and manage special community events, including Maryland Day at the Center; and develop strategic plans for increased participation and audience development at the Clarice Smith Center. Minimum requirements include a bachelor’s degree in the performing arts or a related field, plus three years’ professional experience in a performing arts-related field, or any combination of education and experience that allows the candidate to successfully complete the responsibilities of the position; demonstrated success developing community-based programs for diverse adult audiences; experience and knowledge of multidisciplinary performing arts programming in music, theatre, and dance; ability to work both independently and collaboratively; strong event management experience; and availability for extensive evening and weekend hours. To apply, please submit a letter of application; a detailed resume; and the names, addresses, phone, fax, and e-mail information of three professional references by August 19, 2005, to: Search Committee, Community Engagement Manager, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Suite 3800, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1625.
Andy Warhol Museum announces Assistant Education Curator position
www.warhol.org/education/youth_programs.html
The Andy Warhol Museum is looking for a dynamic individual to manage, plan, develop, and teach youth programs, including both established and new initiatives. Candidates should have proven experience coordinating and teaching youth programs and ideally be practicing artists (all media and art forms welcome). A bachelor’s degree in fine arts, art education, museum studies, or a related field/experience required. In addition, candidates should have excellent writing, communication, interpersonal, and public speaking skills, as well as knowledge of computer programs e.g., MS Word, Photoshop, Quark, Video editing a plus. Send cover letter, resume, and work samples by July 22, 2005, to: Jessica Gogan, Assistant Director for Education & Interpretation, The Andy Warhol Museum, 117 Sandusky Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 or e-mail employment@carnegiemuseums.org. EOE
Volunteers sought for The Faith Quilts Project
www.faithquilts.org
The Faith Quilts Project is seeking qualified volunteers to assist with the coordination of the project through March of 2006. Duties include meeting with lead quilters or groups to learn about the meanings and symbols of their faith quilt, collaborating with quilters to write a short description to be posted at the exhibition, and to ensure that a high-quality photo exists for each quilt. Applicants must have strong writing, interpersonal, interviewing, and organizational skills, as well as the ability to travel around the Greater Boston area. If interested, send an inquiry to: Maggie Herzig, Senior Associate, Public Conversations Project, Dialogue Consultant, Faith Quilts Project at mherzig@publicconversations.org.
New Arthouse Café to open in St. Paul, MN
In the first week of August in downtown St Paul, MN, Aroma's Arthouse Café will begin by featuring short films and video art on a regular basis. Programmer Myron Berdahl has also expressed interest in arts-based civic engagement film and documentaries. To submit short films, video art, and photo montages, contact Myron Berdahl at 612.267.6259 or waldo@waldofilms.com
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Articles and Publications |
Out North Contemporary Art House available online
www.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/reading_room/reading_002.asp
In 2003, Understanding Neighbors brought together nearly 100 citizens in Anchorage, AK, in a month-long series of dialogues to address one of the community’s most contentious civic questions: “What is the social, moral, and legal place of same-sex couples in our society?” Understanding Neighbors, a collaborative project sponsored by Out North Contemporary Art House in partnership with the Interfaith Council of Anchorage and Alaska Common Ground, aimed to foster respectful dialogue and mutual understanding among community members holding divergent views on this question. Artists Peter Carpenter, Sara Felder, and Stephan Mazurek created eight performance-based video works derived from interviews with community members to serve as dialogue catalysts. Using a dialogue approach based on a Public Conversations Project model, the project trained 25 community volunteers to facilitate dialogues. To engage a mix of Alaskans with socially conservative, moderate, and liberal viewpoints on the topic, the project implemented a broad-based recruitment and media strategy.
This case study reveals project organizers’ discoveries about employing art with a “point of view” in dialogues, as well as about tensions between creative autonomy and civic intent in creating the artistic work. In addition, given Out North’s activist-oriented leadership and previous work, the case study also examines the benefits and pitfalls of Out North’s effort to position itself as a more neutral space in order to encourage diverse participation, and explores the key questions that this prompted about civic dialogue as a means to achieve Out North’s vision for social change in its community.
Two new books available from Eastern Mennonite University
www.emu.edu/ctp
Two new publications are available from Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Transformation through Peacebuilding. First, The Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding by Lisa Schirch, explores conceptual frameworks for strategic peacebuilding, including long-term planning, working at all levels of society, careful decision-making, and coordination of different actors and approaches to peacebuilding. Also by Lisa Schirch, Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding underscores the importance of incorporating symbolic tools into traditional approaches to conflict. Schirch further explains how ritual assists in confirming and transforming worldviews, identities, and relationships.
Einstein on Race and Racism released by Rutgers Presshttp://165.230.98.36/acatalog/__Einstein_on_Race_and_Racism_1196.html#1716
Einstein on Race and Racism, a new publication written by Rodger Taylor, a contributor to Animating Democracy’s Critical Perspectives—to be released this fall by Americans for the Arts—and Fred Jerome, has been published by Rutgers Press. This unique volume, exploring Einstein’s connections with the African American community, brings together a wealth of writings by the scientist on the topic of race. Combining the scientist's letters, speeches, and articles with engaging narrative and historical discussions, this publication also provides insight into the complexities of anti-racist culture in America.
New Deliberative Democracy Handbook available through Jossey-Basswww.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-078797661X.html
The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the Twenty-First Century brings together best practices on various citizen participation processes. Written by civic innovators, scholars, and public officials who have organized and observed engagement techniques, each chapter begins by exploring the origins, purpose, and method of a particular deliberation program, and presents a case study of a single event or set of meetings using this program. Individual chapters explore what does and does not work for the program, guide readers in deciding if the method is appropriate for their needs, and help them implement appropriate methods.
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Events on the Horizon |
Telling the Story of Democracy
Dates: October 7–8, 2005
Northbrook, ILwww.studycircles.org
At the Study Circles Resource Center’s National Conference, Telling the Story of Democracy, participants will meet study circle organizers, public officials, funders, and researchers who are committed to strengthening the role of public engagement in democracy. Participate in an exciting line up of workshops on topics, such as effective strategies for organizing and sustaining study circle programs, innovations in applications of study circles, study circle results, tough public issues addressed in study circles, and other leading civic processes that work for community change.
Folklore, Equal Access, and Social Action
Dates: October 19–23, 2005
Atlanta, GAFolklore, Equal Access, and Social Action—the theme of this year’s American Folklore Society’s annual meeting—will examine how folklore and folklore study can provide access and give voice and power to peoples of every cultural heritage, determine and dispel stereotypes in light of ethnographic realities, and work towards social equity. The program will include panels, forums, poster sessions, and other activities which will explore subjects central to the discipline of folklore, or that are interdisciplinary and/or collaborative in nature, including folklore and activism, grassroots struggles for self-determination, the role of folklore in the civil rights movement, hip hop and other community-based arts as tools of resistance, and an ever-changing definition of diversity.
National Association of Artists Organizations
Dates: October 20–23, 2005
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MNwww.naao.net/index_2.html
The National Association of Artists Organizations (NAAO) is organizing a national convening for artists’ organizations (staff and boards), arts funders, and affiliated individual artists interested in exploring challenges of scarce resources, emerging models of organizing artists (ad hoc, DIY, collaborative, collectivized, entrepreneurial, unincorporated, online), and the interdependence of arts organizations of all types to nurture strong, active working relationships throughout. This conference will provide an opportunity to shape and augment those essential relationships during the first stages of these field-wide changes.
Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation
Dates: October 27–30, 2005
Ottawa, CANADA
www.c2d2.ca
Join a growing international network of deliberative dialogue leaders, community organizers, public officials, and researchers for workshops on the use of dialogue and deliberation in public policy-making, field research, skill building on conducting face-to-face and online dialogues, and more.
The Power of Dialogue
Dates: Newton, MA, October 20–22, 2005
Dallas, TX, November 4–6, 2005
Albuquerque, NM, February 9–11, 2006www.publicconversations.org/pcp/index.asp?page_id=123&catid=51
The Power of Dialogue, a hands-on workshop, explores ways to promote meaningful dialogue that has the power to shift communication and relationships. Participants will learn the key elements of Public Conversations Project dialogues through the process of designing, facilitating, and debriefing an extended dialogue simulation. To register, contact Manda Adams at training@publicconversations.org or 888.727.8326, ext. 13.
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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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