ANIMATING DEMOCRACY E-NEWS
April 2005
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Animating Democracy News and Updates |
Animating Democracy Launches Redesigned Websiteww3.artsusa.org/animatingdemocracy
Animating Democracy is pleased to announce its newly redesigned website. With an enhanced search tool and easier navigation features, the site includes an e-news archive, a collection of arts-based civic engagement tools, and recommended reading for professionals interested in arts-based civic engagement. Look for updates in the coming months, including a directory of professionals working in arts-based civic engagement, a listserv, an improved project profile database, and new tools and resources for the field.
Kohala Kamehameha Day Celebration Committee Announces New Websitewww.kamehamehadaycelebration.org
The Kohala Kamehameha Day Celebration Committee, a community partner organization involved in the King Kamehameha I Statue Restoration Project and supported by Animating Democracy, has announced a new website for this year’s Kamehameha Day Celebration—June 11, 2005. The comprehensive site includes information and resources on King Kamehameha I and the daylong festival.
Perseverance Theater Featured on American Stageswww.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4518657
Perseverance Theater was featured on American Stages, a series on National Public Radio that explores regional theaters. Their new musical, The Long Season, with lyrics written by Chay Yew and music by Fabian Obispo, considers the stories of Filipino immigrants in America, their experiences working in fish canneries, and the struggle of immigrants for a better life. Peter Dubois returned to Perseverance from his position at the Public Theater to direct the piece. The Long Season opened on March 25, 2005.
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News from the Field |
Sojourn Theatre Announces Apprentice Programwww.sojourntheatre.org
Sojourn Theatre—an award-winning, multi-ethnic, ensemble-based company in Portland, Oregon—has announced a new apprentice program. Designed for performer/creators interested in ensemble, community engagement, and devising theatre, participants will work with Michael Rohd to create a new version of Look Away—also participating in the complete development and production process of Campaign, Sojourn’s next major work. Apprenticeship activities with the company may include: performing, production and administration assistance, crew, working with youth, community engagement, and partnering responsibilities. Tuition is $4,000, and the program runs from September 5, 2005–May 8, 2006. For a one-page application or more information, please e-mail sojourntheatre@aol.com or call 971.544.0464. Two letters of reference, a phone interview, and a short videotaped audition will be required. All applications and tapes must be received by May 1, 2005. Decisions will be made by May 15, 2005.
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Articles and Publications |
Jewish Museum Case Study Posted Onlineww3.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/reading_room/case_studies/visual_arts.asp
In 2002, the Jewish Museum in New York City mounted the exhibition Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art. The controversial exhibition featured artworks by 13 young artists, generations removed from the events of WWII, who used images of Nazi perpetrators to provoke viewers to explore the culture of victimhood. The project was also a means for identifying the distinguishing characteristics of evil. Through the art works, extensive interpretive materials, and a program of facilitated dialogues, the Jewish Museum offered a springboard for discussion about complicity and complacency toward evil in today’s society. The museum partnered with the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Facing History and Ourselves, and other organizations to design dialogue opportunities—both in and outside the museum—that connected deeply with the Jewish community, as well as with a broad public of all faiths and cultural backgrounds.
This case study not only examines what happened when the museum ventured into “taboo” subject matter, but also how the use of provocative artwork may reframe the subject of the Holocaust for discussion about manifestations of evil today. The case study analyzes the public reception and intense controversy prompted by the media before the exhibition even opened as it reflects on the effects of the media on public discourse.
Andy Warhol Museum Case Study Posted Onlineww3.americansforthearts.org/AnimatingDemocracy/reading_room/case_studies/visual_arts.asp
The Warhol Museum’s Jessica Gogan explores how museums may creatively operate in the cultural sphere as “civic engager” through the lens of two projects. The Without Sanctuary Project used historic photographic documentation of lynching throughout the U.S. as a springboard for addressing issues of race, bias, and bigotry. The exhibition was the core of a several-month project that focused a collective attention on racial issues and galvanized community enthusiasm in a manner that was rare for Pittsburgh. A subsequent project, Andy Warhol’s Electric Chairs: Reflecting on Capital Punishment in America, featured Warhol’s series of iconic paintings of electric chairs as a focus for dialogue on the issue of capital punishment. Gogan asserts a new role and practice for museums—the museum as artist—that involves experimenting with curatorial, educational, and presentation practices, and uses both the museum’s social space and its traditional position as arbiter of taste in order to focus attention on civic issues.
Community Arts Network Launches New Websitewww.communityarts.net
Art in the Public Interest is proud to present the newly re-engineered Community Arts Network website. New features have been introduced to make the site more timely and useful, and information has been re-organized to make it easier to find what you're looking for. New features include the CAN Bookstore, new and more numerous search engines, upgraded interactive forums, opportunities, and Community Arts 101.
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education Adds Blog to Websitewww.capeweb.typepad.com
The Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) has added a blog to its website and is calling for response to questions about the arts and the development of democratic culture. For more information, contact Arnold Aprill at aaprill@capeweb.org.
New Publication: Local Acts: Community-based Performance in the United States www.communityarts.net/bookstore/index.php
Local Acts, a new publication by Jan Cohen-Cruz, presents a long-overdue survey of community-based performance—from its early roots, through its boom during the politically-turbulent 1960s, to present-day popular culture. Drawing on nine case studies, including groups such as the African American Junebug Productions, the Appalachian Roadside Theater, and the Puerto Rican Teatro Pregones, Jan Cohen-Cruz provides detailed descriptions of performances and processes, first-person stories, and analyses. She shows how the ritual side of these endeavors reinforces a sense of community identification, while the aesthetic side enables local residents to transgress cultural norms, to question group habits, and to incorporate a level of craft that makes the work accessible to individuals beyond any one community. The book concludes by exploring how community-based performance transcends even national boundaries, connecting the local United States with international theater and cultural movements.
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Events on the Horizon |
Democracy and the Arts: Voices and Choices
Kent, Ohio
Dates: May 2–3, 2005www.kent.edu/History/may4_1970/democracy/Democracy2005/index.cfm
Through works of art, individuals in a society preserve their memories, give voice to the oppressed, offer protest, and celebrate humanity. To provide a forum for discussion of the role of the arts in the democratic process, Kent State University will host its Sixth Annual Symposium on Democracy, May 2–3, 2005. The symposium will feature a wide range of artistic and cultural programs that support the theme of “Democracy and the Arts: Voices and Choices.” Special attractions will include scholarly papers, gallery talks, poetry readings, dance and musical performances, and interactive sessions. Artist Marty Pottenger will open the conference with A People’s Dialogue, an interactive art experience. Animating Democracy co-director Barbara Schaffer Bacon will lead an interactive session sharing findings of the initiative.
Art of Resistance
Seattle, Washington
Dates: May 14–15, 2005www.riseup.net/artofresistance/
Organizers of this year’s Art of Resistance Conference want to draw artists and activists together to learn from, engage with, and support each other’s efforts to use art and bring it into the struggle to confront injustice, disarm prejudice, and speak truth to and about power. This year’s conference will feature: discussions about history and theory, learning and drawing inspiration from political art created in the past, and engaging in the current discourse of community arts; skill-based workshops and demonstrations, strengthening and broadening our skills and learning new techniques from each other; and time to talk and reflect, deepening our ideas and networks so that we can collaborate more effectively, meet new people, and think new thoughts.
Futuring Diversity: Creating a National Agenda
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Dates: May 17–18, 2005www.diversity.umich.edu/futuring/conference.html
In conversations about diversity, it’s easy to become preoccupied with present-day definitions, statistics, and headlines. At this conference, participants will work toward envisioning the future of our diverse society and toward identifying the next steps en route to an inclusive, productive democracy. Although historical trends and current best practices will be considered, the conference will concentrate on exploratory thinking, innovative and untested approaches, and proactive strategies. The conference will convene a highly accomplished group of experts, with the hope of launching a national movement toward social justice that is empowered by the agenda these conference participants create together. The format will be highly participatory, with every attendee considered a key contributor.
Culture. Commerce. Community
Dates: May 20–21, 2005
Denver, Coloradowww.coloarts.state.co.us/CCC_conferenceMay05.asp
Political and cultural leaders in Colorado are increasingly using art as both an economic engine and a way to foster active and engaged communities. Culture. Commerce. Community—a collaboration between the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs, the Colorado Council on the Arts, the Lab at Belmar, University of Colorado at Denver, and Colorado Business Committee for the Arts—will bring together leading thinkers and practitioners from a variety of fields. These participants will all share the belief that the arts are central to regional and urban vitality and explore the role of the arts in strengthening Colorado’s regional economy and civic communities. Attendees will explore cutting-edge ideas and debates about the role of culture and about strategies for turning cities and regions into dynamic, creative hubs. Animating Democracy’s Barbara Schaffer Bacon will participate on a panel titled, “Art and Engaged Citizenship.”
Pedagogy and the Theatre of the Oppressed
Dates: May 29–31, 2005
Los Angeles, Californiawww.ptoweb.org/conference/index.php
Pedagogy and the Theatre of the Oppressed, a global forum based on the ideologies and actions of Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal, will present its 11th Annual Conference this May in Los Angeles. Each of the three days of this event will focus on the themes of Amnesia, Witness, and Intervention through sessions, workshops, and trainings.
Public Engagement and Intercultural Practice: New Democratic Spaces for Scholars and Artists
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Dates: September 30–October 1, 2005www.ia.umich.edu
The world around the campus is changing rapidly, even as colleges and universities seek to expand their civic commitments and partnerships. Cities and regions are shaped by layered histories of migration, encounter, translation, and contest. These changes converge on campus, too, manifesting in the cultures of different generations, diverse faculties and student bodies, and multiple forms of imagining, knowing, speaking, and affinity.
At the intersection of campus and community are networks of public scholars who are developing the skills and strategies for a new approach to public engagement. These scholars are uniquely positioned to help guide the public purposes that follow from affirmations of diversity. Through intercultural practice, their work has nearby consequences and global reach. The conference will showcase their accomplishments and provide a forum for their debates, featuring John Kuo Wei Tchen of New York University, co-founder of the Museum of Chinese in America; Robert Weisbuch, President of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; and President Richard McCormick of Rutgers University.
National Ensemble Theatre Conference
Blue Lake, California
Dates: June 21–26, 2005www.dellarte.com/news.php
Ensemble theater today is a vast, diverse, and vital force in American theatre. It is known for its unique experimentation and artist-driven dynamic. Hosted by Dell‘Arte International, fourteen critically acclaimed ensembles from across the United States will gather to participate in the first National Ensemble Theater Conference. Lab presentations—from groups including A Traveling Jewish Theatre, Theatre Grottesco, NaCl, Cultural Odyssey, Playback Theatre NYC, Sojourn Theatre, and Coatlicue Theatre Company—will explore essential questions, processes, and experiments at the heart of the work of ensemble companies through performance, demonstration, and conversation. Additionally, full productions of new work will be presented from companies including: SITI Company, Universes, The San Francisco Mime Troupe, Campo Santo, Rude Mechanicals, About Productions, and the Dell' Arte Company.
Creating Democracy: Teaching and Learning about Social Justice Issues through the Arts
New Paltz, New York
Date: July 8, 2005The arts can be powerful teaching and learning tools. The goal of this highly interactive conference is to engage educators and other human service providers in direct experiences with the arts as a way to discover their potential for in-depth student engagement with issues of social justice and democracy. Through visual art, theater, dance, video, music, creative writing, etc., participants will examine such themes as power, uncovering inequity, silence and silencing, inclusion and exclusion, allies, speaking out, multiple perspectives, and taking individual and collective action. Practical arts-based teaching and learning strategies for the classroom will
also be offered. For more information, contact the Mid-Hudson Teacher Center at MHTC212@aol.com.
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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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