ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS
January 2006
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Animating Democracy News and Updates |
Living in the questions of Animating Democracy: Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture reviewed on Community Arts Networkwww.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2006/01/living_in_the_q.php
New on the Community Arts Network, community arts scholar Kate Collins reviews Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy by Pam Korza, Barbara Schaffer Bacon, and Andrea Assaf—one of seven new volumes published by Americans for the Arts in 2005. Through the lessons learned via the Animating Democracy Initiative, a four-year project funded by The Ford Foundation, Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture explores the power of the arts and humanities to foster civic engagement while advancing possibilities for arts and humanities organizations to be vital civic, as well as cultural, institutions. Calling it "an excellent balance between theory and practice," Collins says, "When you read a book and feel recharged; when you find pages in every chapter dog-eared, highlighted and underlined for insights and apt questions you want to revisit, as well as practical examples of concepts that before now seemed all but tangible; when you’re tempted to photocopy and fax entire sections and send them to all the naysayers with a Post-It exclaiming, ‘See, see!’— then you know you’ve found an important text. "
All seven publications, including Civic Dialogue, Arts & Culture: Findings from Animating Democracy, are available through the Americans for the Arts bookstore: www.AmericansForTheArts.org/bookstore.
Cornerstone Theater Company announces new Artistic Directorwww.cornerstonetheater.org
Playwright/Director Michael John Garcés has been chosen to succeed founder Bill Rauch as the artistic director of the community-based Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles. Garcés served as the co-producing artistic director of INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center in New York City and is currently an artistic associate there. His community-based experience includes working with African-American and Somali residents for a show at the Children’s Theatre in Minneapolis, as well as repeated residencies with a consensus-run collective in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, collaborating closely with the extensive Mayan community there. Garcés will begin working closely with Cornerstone's Founding Artistic Director Bill Rauch to transition into the company and will assume the position full time in April 2006.
New WORLD Theater and National Black Arts Festival selected to participate in Mid-Size Presenting Organizations Initiativewww.nonprofitfinancefund.org
New WORLD Theater and the National Black Arts Festival—both participants in Animating Democracy programs—have been selected to participate in the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s new collaboration with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation: the Mid-Size Presenting Organizations Initiative. The grants, ranging from $360,000 to $500,000 over four years, will help recipient organizations meet their long-term goals, maintain their financial health, and sustain or increase opportunities for artists to create and perform their work. For a full list of organizations selected to participate, visit the Nonprofit Finance Fund website.
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News from the Field |
South by South Africa: Crafting Cultural Understanding launched in Charlotte, NCwww.southbysouthafrica.org
The Levine Museum of the New South, in coordination with nine other cultural institutions in Charlotte, has launched a new project—South by South Africa: Crafting Cultural Understanding. To launch the project, the Levine Museum of the New South will present From Apartheid to Democracy: The Struggle for Liberation in South Africa, recounting the story of the first 10 years of South Africa as a democracy. Throughout the exhibit, the Levine Museum will explore highlights and similarities between the American South and the South African experience. South by South Africa will also include programs that engage the community in civic dialogue around local social, political, and racial issues.
Santa Cruz Diversity Center presents Transfigurations: The Making of a Manwww.diversitycenter.org
With the increased visibility in recent years of transgender persons also comes an increase in discrimination and violence directed at transgendered, intersexed, and gender variant people. The Santa Cruz Diversity Center, a community center dedicated to advancing the causes and priorities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning (LGBTIQ) individuals and their allies in Santa Cruz County, will present Transfigurations: The Making of a Man, January 5 - February 26, 2006. Transfigurations is an exhibition exploring female-to-male transsexuals and their notions of masculinity. In large black and white images with text by women who have transitioned into men, artist Jana Marcus’s photographs focus on what it means to be a man today blurring the line on gender separation and stereotyping. As part of the programming, Marcus will host a dialogue event on February 2, 2006, to promote trans awareness. Marcus’s full exhibit, which includes her new work on transwomen, will premiere at Santa Cruz’s Institute for Contemporary Art—The Attic in May 2006.
Film Your Issue opens second round of competitionwww.filmyourissue.com
In 2003, the American Democracy Project was formed as a collaboration between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the New York Times as a way of focusing and engaging younger people’s involvement with public issues and dialogue. Film Your Issue, a project of the American Democracy Project, has begun its second round of competition—engaging undergraduate college students to create 30- to 60-second live action or animated "issue films" on any topical social issue. The number one finalist will be broadcast on mtvU, and will receive a 10-week paid internship at Paramount Pictures. The deadline for submissions is April 7, 2006. For full submission technical requirements, to view the finalists from round one, or to participate in the message boards, visit the Film Your Issue website.
Academy for Educational Development announces next grant roundhttp://newvoices.aed.org/home.html
New Voices, a national leadership development program of the Academy for Educational Development, has announced its next grantmaking round to support nonprofits and new leaders committed to social justice. Grant awards take the form of salary support to small nonprofits demonstrating a commitment to cultivating and strengthening the leadership potential of creative and diverse "new voices" in the field. The submission deadline is February 13, 2006. For a complete list of previous awards, as well as application guidelines, visit the New Voices website.
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation invites applications for ArtsCONNECTwww.midatlanticarts.org/home.html
The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation—an organization providing leadership for artists and arts organizations in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia—is now accepting applications for the ArtsCONNECT Program, which supports collaborations between presenters and artists in all performing arts disciplines. The purpose of ArtsCONNECT is to strengthen the presentation of performing artists by supporting artist/presenter collaborations and partnerships in the mid-Atlantic region. The program will support a limited number of touring projects conceived by presenter consortia, networks, or partnerships in the mid-Atlantic region that involve public performances, educational activities, and audience outreach strategies for underserved populations. Visit the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation's website for complete program information and application guidelines. The deadline to submit an application is March 24, 2006.
Race Museum prepares for spring tourwww.racemuseum.org
The Race Museum, a new traveling exhibition that aims to demonstrate the social significance of race through art, theater, and scholarship, will launch a tour of the east coast in March 2006. Throughout the tour, the museum will hold complimentary workshops designed to give participants tools to analyze institutional and cultural racism, as well as understand how their identities have been shaped by white supremacy. From their website: “We believe education about race is not enough, but that people require an encounter with their identities that no longer allows the fictions of race to seem consistent and truthful. We deny ourselves the opportunity to truly understand the purpose and meaning of our lives when we believe in race.”
Peace Tiles Project exhibits murals on World AIDS Day, 2005www.peacetiles.net
The Peace Tiles Project, a worldwide project designed to raise awareness about the vulnerability of youth to HIV/AIDS, exhibited the three murals on December 1, 2005, reflecting the contributions of more than 1,200 children in over 15 countries who participated in Peace Tile Workshops. The tiles were produced in structured 1- to 2-day workshops designed to engage participants emotionally, intellectually, and creatively in a process of “arts advocacy.” During workshops, children are encouraged to bring artifacts from their lives that speak to a personal experience with HIV/AIDS or their knowledge of the pandemic. These artifacts (photos, letters, scraps of cloth, newspaper clippings, etc.) are then integrated into their personal collages. The International Peace Tiles Project hopes to replicate this process as an ongoing initiative for 2006.
Civic Ventures announces Purpose Prizewww.civicventures.org
Civic Ventures, a think tank and an incubator for generating ideas and inventing programs to help society achieve the greatest return on experience, is accepting nominations for the Purpose Prize—five $100,000 awards to Americans over the age of 60 who are combining their skills to tackle issues of social significance. Candidates may be working in nonprofits, government, or for-profit organizations devoted to tackling difficult social challenges, including homelessness, social justice and human rights, violence, poverty and hunger, health, education, and the environment. The nominee must be at least 60 years old, a U.S. resident, and currently working in a leadership capacity in an organization or institution to address a major social problem. In addition to the $100,000 cash prize, winners will receive substantive assistance in developing their personal and organizational capacity to move their work to the next level. Self-nominations are accepted. The nomination deadline is February 28, 2006; announcement of awards will be made in June.
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Articles and Publications |
Community Arts Network posts “Cornerstone’s Faith-based Theater Cycle: How Does Faith Unite and Divide Us?”www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2006/01/cornerstone_the.php
New this month on the Community Arts Network, Jan Freya, former managing editor of High Performance magazine, looks back at Cornerstone Theater Company’s four-year Faith-Based Theater Project. Through interviews with writer James Still and community and ensemble actors, the article examines the structure of several collaborations between Cornerstone and different faith groups in Los Angeles. Including a look at the 2005 bridge show, A Long Bridge Over Deep Waters, the piece further explores Cornerstone’s approach to cultural diversity through the lens of community theater. Cornerstone Theater Company’s Faith-Based Theater Cycle case study is published in Dialogue in Artistic Practice: Case Studies from Animating Democracy—on sale in the Americans for the Arts Bookstore, www.AmericansForTheArts.org/bookstore. Creative City Network launches “Making the Case for Culture”www.creativecity.ca/resources/making-the-case/index.html
Creative City Network of Canada, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts, has officially launched “Making the Case for Culture”—an original collection of web profiles and resources exploring the impacts and value of culture in communities and cities. Topics featured include culture as an economic engine, urban renewal and revitalization, building community identity and pride, quality of life/quality of place, and the personal and social development of youth. AmericaSpeaks distributes “A Manager’s Guide to Citizen Engagement”www.americaspeaks.org
AmericaSpeaks, a nonprofit organization that engages citizens in the public decisions impacting their lives, has recently completed “A Manager’s Guide to Citizen Engagement.” The guide, which includes discussions of face-to-face and online deliberation techniques, is intended to serve as a practical starting point for Federal managers looking to bring citizens into decision-making and to stimulate greater discussion about the role of citizens in governance. For a copy of the report, e-mail Lars Hasselblad Torres at lhtorres@americaspeaks.org. Letters from Young Activists released by Nation Bookswww.lettersfromyoungactivists.org
Edited by Dan Berger, Chesa Boudin, and Kenyon Farrow, Letters from Young Activists comprises letters written by youth addressed to their parents, to past generations, to each other, to the youth of tomorrow, and to their future selves. The authors articulate their vision for the world as they work toward racial, economic, gender, environmental, and global justice. Back to Top
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Events on the Horizon |
12th Annual Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed International Conference
Engaging Community: Creating Critical Praxis
Dates: May 18–21, 2006
Chapel Hill, NCwww.ptoweb.org
The 12th Annual International Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed Conference will bring together a community of theorists, educators, theater workers, artists, and others to explore libratory education and social justice. The theme, Engaging Community: Creating Critical Praxis, will challenge participants to reflect deeply and critically on their own assumptions, their ways of thinking and knowing, and their actions and impact on local and global communities. Workshops will focus on many aspects of critical pedagogy and theater for change. Featured speakers include Dr. Augusto Boal, Dr. Geneva Gay, Dr. Lilia Bartoleme, Linda Parris-Bailey, and Michael Rohd.
The conference is seeking session proposals on theoretical understanding and exploration, as well as best practices that relate to and build upon the theories and practice of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal, and other critical educational theorists and artists. The deadline for proposals is January 23, 2006. Movement and Stillness: An Art Culture Nature Retreat
Dates: July 26–30, 2006
Van Etten, NYhttp://faculty.uwb.edu/kkochhar/ACN/05conf.htm
This summer, Art Culture Nature, an organization dedicated to the exploration of connections between environmental and artistic practice, will gather ecologists, activists, artists, academics, and others to examine art making, scientific method, ecological politics, and their relationships to contemplative practice—focusing on practical exploration. A call for proposals to present has been issued; the shape of the retreat will take form through these proposals. Note: Space is limited. Cultivating Creative Communities: Local Solutions, Global Success
Dates: October 24–27, 2006
Charlotte, NCwww.creativeconf.org
The Cultivating Creative Communities conference will bring over 400 arts, civic, and community leaders together to build a new framework to understand how we can make cities and regions more livable, equitable, and sustainable places. The four themes—amenities, creativity, equity, and sustainability—together represent a mix that has not yet been discussed in tandem. Through a series of plenary sessions, breakout workshops, and off-site tours, we will foster new combinations of dialogues and equip as many people as possible with the tools to create success and opportunity in their own communities all over the world. Back to Top
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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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