NASAA guidebook shows ways to engage adolescents in the arts

From NASAA (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies) Notes:

Meaningful engagement in arts education can have a life-changing impact on teens. An initiative and guidebook from the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Engaging Adolescents: Building Youth Participation in the Arts outlines a holistic approach that integrates arts learning with principles of youth development. It is designed to help staff and faculty develop new programs and services for teens or to rethink and strengthen programs they already offer.

Call for applications: Bard Fiction Prize

The Bard Fiction Prize, established in 2001 by Bard College, is given annually to an emerging writer who is an American citizen and under the age of 40 at the time of application. The prize includes a $30,000 cash award and appointment as writer-in-residence at the College for one semester, during which the winner is asked to give at least one public lecture and meet informally with students but is not expected to teach traditional courses. Eligible writers should apply with a cover letter explaining the project they plan to work on while at Bard, a CV, and three copies of the published book (manuscripts are not accepted) that they feel best represents their work. For more information, click here. 

WY Territorial Prison hopes to make Butch Cassidy Days a national tourist destination

Interesting article from the Associated Press about our sister agency in the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. Butch Cassidy Days at Wyoming Territorial Prison just wrapped up on Sunday. The site's superintendent, Deborah Amend, is thinking big for next year's event:

“My vision for this site is to make this a national destination site, a regional intrigue site and an integral part of the community. I want it to become a very important part of Wyoming history and a part of the heritage of Laramie and this county.”

Read more here.

The Wyoming Arts Council provided a grant to Wyoming Territorial Prison Park to defray expenses for a June 2007 Butch Cassidy Days performance by Prickly Pair.

Artists prepare for emergencies using Studio Protector

The CERF Studio Protector Online Guide is the source for emergency preparedness and recovery information for artists. Small measures taken in advance of an emergency, and the right sequence of emergency response actions, can make a huge difference in reducing loss and in the time it takes to rebound from a setback.

Call for entries: Aurora, CO, Art in Public Places program

The city of Aurora Art in Public Places Program is searching for existing sculptures to be considered for a one-year exhibition called “ART 2C on Havana.”

The exhibition is a sculpture-on-the-street project modeled after others around the country that unites the business community and the arts to attract visitors, energize streetscapes and create great public gathering spaces.

A generous donation from the Havana Business Improvement District will fund the $750 artist stipends to transport and install artwork along Havana Street, and will fund cash awards amounting to $1,000 for People’s Choice, $750 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place.

In addition, the Aurora Art in Public Places Program will purchase a sculpture from the exhibit, which will be added to the city’s public art collection and remain permanently displayed in the district.

Interested artists should visit CaFÉ at www.callforentry.org to apply; the deadline is midnight July 6.

Sheridan library one of 65 chosen nationally to host Civil War program

The Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library is one of 65 libraries selected to host a new program entitled "Let's Talk About it: Making Sense of the American Civil War." Here are the details:


The American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that 65 public, academic and community college libraries will receive Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War reading and discussion program grants. A complete list of the selected libraries is available at www.ala.org/civilwarprograms.


Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War follows the popular Let’s Talk About It model, which engages participants in discussion of a set of common texts selected by a nationally known scholar for their relevance to a larger, overarching theme. As a part of the grant, the 65 selected libraries will receive:

• A $3,000 grant from NEH to support program-related expenses.
• Fifty sets of three titles:  including “March” by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, 2006), “Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam” by James McPherson (Oxford University Press, 2002) and a forthcoming Civil War anthology of historical fiction, speeches, diaries, memoirs, biography and short stories, edited by national project scholar Edward L. Ayers and co-published by NEH and ALA.
• Promotional materials, including posters, bookmarks and folders, to support local audience recruitment.
• Training for the library project director at a national workshop, where they will hear from the project scholar, expert librarians and organizers and receive a program planning guide, materials and ideas. As part of the grant,NEH will pay for two nights of lodging in Chicago for the library project director.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from NEH to the ALA Public Programs Office. Let’s Talk About It: Making Sense of the American Civil War is supported by NEH’s We the People initiative, which aims to stimulate and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history and culture.

The ALA Public Programs Office promotes cultural and community programming as an essential part of library service in all types and sizes of libraries. Successful library programming initiatives have included Let’s Talk About It reading and discussion series, traveling exhibitions, film discussion programs, the Great Stories CLUB, LIVE! @ your library and more. Recently, the ALA Public Programs Office developed www.ProgrammingLibrarian.org, an online resource center bringing librarians timely and valuable information to support them in the creation of high-quality cultural programs for their communities. For more information about the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities.  NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, exhibitions and programs in libraries, museums and other community places.  Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov.

Follow Cat Urbigkit's blogs from American Library Association conference

Pinedale writer and rancher Cat Urbigkit will be micro-blogging for the Association for Library Service to Children at the American Library Association annual conference June 23-28 in New Orleans. 

She is a trustee for the Sublette County Public Library System, a first time ALA Conference attendee and an award-winning writer & photographer. She will be doing a book signing at the Boyds Mills Press booth on Saturday afternoon (June 25). Check out her page, Welcome to Cat Urbigkit’s Paradise Sheep.

Cat will have a new book out in the fall. 

SNAAP study: Performing and visual arts alumni take many paths to meet career objectives

This report on a study by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project comes to us via NASAA Notes from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies:

The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) at Indiana University's Center for Postsecondary Research addresses the previously unanswered question of what happens to alumni of performing and visual arts in its report Forks in the Road: The Many Paths of Arts Alumni. 

Stereotypes and misconceptions abounded about what these graduates were doing, with one of the most common being that they are unable to find work in their desired field and therefore are forced to take jobs outside of their desired field. After receiving 13,581 responses, SNAAP was able to dispel that myth and provide a clearer picture of the activities of these graduates. 

At the time of the survey in December 2010, only 6% of arts alumni were unemployed and looking for work, compared to 9.6% of the national work force. However, this number is slightly higher than the unemployment rate of 4.8% for those with at least a bachelor's degree.* 41% of graduates are currently working as professional artists, and 17% who previously worked as professional artists are employed in other fields. Among professional artists, satisfaction with their work varies widely among occupation, but satisfaction with income is low across occupations. 

Arts alumni are generally happy with their education, with more than 90% responding that their experience was good or excellent and 76% responding that they would attend the same institution again. More than half of those currently working outside the arts found their arts training relevant to their job. The survey results suggest that career counseling at performing arts schools could be improved. More than half of undergraduates were dissatisfied with their institutions' career advising, and a similar percentage thought their institution did not help them acquire financial and business skills. 

The SNAAP website has more information about the study and six very cool interactive infographics. There is also information for institutions to sign up to participate in future SNAAP surveys. If you would like to speak to a NASAA staff person about this study, contact Henry Clapp.

—Henry Clapp, NASAA Research Associate

Call for entries: Women's Film Institute Shorts Tour

The Women's Film Institute is hitting the road again, and we are inviting you and your peers to submit your film to the the 3rd Annual Women's Film Institute Shorts Tour!

Over the last two years since its launch, the Women's Film Institute Shorts Tour has screened at various galleries, arthouse theaters, universities, and media arts centers all across the country and throughout the world. The diverse selection of shorts at the tour celebrates the exceptional contributions of women in the world of cinema from around the globe. The tour includes a cross-section of socially-conscious films that are a catalyst for connecting communities and fostering discussion through the power of independent filmmaking. The films serve as a quilt of stories meant to invoke and inspire audience-goers long after they leave the screening.

This is a call for entries for this year's tour. The 3rd Annual Women's Film Institute Shorts Tour accepts short films/videos 20 minutes or under in length, and of all genres: narrative, documentary, music video, animation, and experimental works. Films/videos must be directed or co-directed by women.

Regular Deadline: May 28. Entry Fee: $35
Late Deadline: July 15. Entry Fee: $45
Submit your entry via Withoutabox.com
Sign-up for Withoutabox.com is free!

For more information on the WFI and on submitting your film, visit: http://womensfilminstitute.

Call for entries: Lander Art Center juried show

From Dannine Donaho at the Lander Art Center:

At a conference where an artist once spoke about her work in detail, the audience laughed out loud when halfway through she said, "As it turns out, I'm from Pittsburgh." After learning so much about her artwork it seemed perfectly fitting that her large steel sculptures would be influenced by this historically industrial city.

Many of us make an exodus at some point in our lives-- to seek out a life of our own. Those who don't make an exodus might gladly identify with their background. Either way, our roots often appear in subtle and interesting ways even if we don't intend for it to happen or notice until later.

In this exhibition: "As it turns out, I'm from..." The object is to connect your artwork to your roots. The connection may be as simple as the artist mentioned above from Pittsburgh who makes large steel sculptures. Or it may be a connection more direct like painting place related childhood memories or using found objects from your hometown. The interpretation of the connection is in the hands of the artist. Your "home" can be a city, state, country, culture or even a state of mind. 

Whatever the connection, the Lander Art Center wants you to discover it and share it with us. Link for more info: http://www.landerartcenter.com/juriedshow

Michigan researchers find that cuts in arts funding hamper economic recovery

This comes from a story posted yesterday on www.physorg.com

Michigan is hurting its chances at economic recovery by slashing funding for the arts, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers. 

 The study found that arts and crafts activities – such as painting, dancing and filmmaking – are closely related to success of the scientists, engineers and other innovators who create new companies and inventions that stimulate the economy.  

Yet during the past decade Michigan has cut funding for the arts by some 90 percent – from about $25 million in 2002 to $2.3 million this year. In Detroit, officials attempting to balance the budget have proposed large cuts to the city’s arts and cultural institutions. 

 "Politicians often strip funding for arts and cultural assets, assuming they are expendable ‘extras,’ but this may be a serious policy error based on false assumptions,” said Rex LaMore, lead researcher on the project and director of MSU’s Center of Community and Economic Development.

Check out "Elefinger"

Sent to me this morning was an invitation to check out published illustrator David Ostow. After publishing Young Adult graphic novel So Punk Rock (and other ways to disappoint your mother) under the Flux imprint with his author sister, he is back with a blog called 'Your Words Not Mine', a collection of editorial material, and other people's stories that they can submit.

Links take you to the book on Amazon, and to David's blog, where you can peruse his work.


So Punk Rock: http://www.amazon.com/So-Punk-Rock-Disappoint-Mother/dp/0738714712
Your Words Not Mine: http://yourwordsnotmine.com/

Also, from Your Words Not Mine: Go to http://yourwordsnotmine.com/about/ for an interesting proposition for creative writers. 

"Starving" to Successful -- live on-line art marketing workshop

Xanadu Gallery owner Jason Horejs has for the last couple of years, been working at helping artists get into galleries.  Jason is a 2nd generation art businessman; his father was a professional landscape and floral painter. Jason's first job at 17 was at a major art gallery in Scottsdale, Ariz., and he has owned his own gallery for the past nine years. He has worked with hundreds of artists around the country helping them to understand the business side of their careers.

Jason's newest professional development offering, "Starving" to Successful is an on-line marketing workshop. Two 4-hour sessions are available -- Tue, May 10 and Sat May 14. Registration fee is $59. The workshop is designed for artists at every level of their careers.  

Learn how to:

• How to create a consistent body of gallery-ready work
• What you should do to present your work in a manner that will appeal to galleries
• How to price your work
• How to organize your work and track your inventory
• How to best allocate your marketing efforts and dollars with an eye toward getting into galleries
• How to build your resume
• How to pick the best markets for your work and how to find the galleries in those markets that would best suit your work
• How to confidently approach galleries and what to say when you meet the director or owner.

Here is the link for a short course in how to create a powerful portfolio (in windows media player).
For more information, email at  info@xanadugallery.com

"An Evening of Poetry at the White House May 11

From a press release:

The President and Mrs. Obama will host a celebration of American poetry and prose by welcoming accomplished poets, musicians and artists as well as students from across the country to the White House next week. Participants include Elizabeth Alexander, Billy Collins, Common, Rita Dove, Kenneth Goldsmith, Alison Knowles, Aimee Mann and Jill Scott who will read, sing, and showcase the impact of poetry on American culture. The President will make opening remarks at this event held in the East Room, which will be pooled press and streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov starting at 7:00 p.m. ET.

  

As part of this special event, Mrs. Obama will host a daytime workshop for hundreds of students from California to New York on May 11th at 2:00 p.m. ET, where students will work with and learn from many of the evening’s performers.  First Lady Michelle Obama and administration officials will deliver brief remarks to highlight a new study detailing the importance of arts education. This event will be streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov and students all over the country will be invited to watch the workshop. This event is open press but space is very limited so please RSVP to firstladypress@who.eop.gov.

First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the White House Music Series in 2009 with a Jazz Studio, and since then has hosted a celebration of Country Music, Classical Music, Motown, a Fiesta Latina, a salute to Broadway, Music of the Civil Rights Movement and a dance tribute to Judith Jamison. Many of these events included evening performances as well as daytime educational workshops designed to educate and inspire talented young people to use their gifts to develop a future for themselves in the arts community whether as a hobby or as a profession.

Call for artists: ArtCorps in Central America

Calling all artists!

Join ArtCorps and strengthen sustainable development in Central America with your creative talents.  Through theater,storytelling, music, digital media and other creative facilitation techniques, ArtCorps Artists educate and inspire people to participate actively in improving the environmental, health and social conditions in their communities. Each ArtCorps artist works directly with a local development organization that is an expert in its field, strengthening their work through the arts.

Artists will:

• Work and live in his or her host community from January 2012 through December 2012.  Artists have the option to extend their stay for a second year if agreed upon by the host organization. 
• Receive room and board, medical insurance and a small personal stipend.
• Receive training and technical assistance from ArtCorps staff in the region in order to integrate ArtCorps methodology into the host organization.

Apply now for opportunities in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize!  For info and initial application, visithttp://www.artcorp.org/Become-an-ArtCorps-Artist. The early application deadline is May 15, 2011 and the regular deadline is June 20, 2011.

Call for proposals: American Film Showcase

Call for proposals:

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to administer the American Film Showcase's Contemporary Voices in Documentary and Fiction Film program. Full details may be found at: http://exchanges.state.gov/grants/open2.html. The application deadline is May 25, 2011.

The American Film Showcase seeks to bring award-winning independent American documentaries and narrative films to audiences around the world to offer contemporary new insights into American life and culture, as well as issues affecting democratic societies. The films and their filmmakers will be showcased at international venues, including U.S. Embassy-organized events and/or international documentary and feature film festivals. This program will provide for travel by documentary and feature filmmakers and film experts in conjunction with public presentation of the films overseas. Participating filmmakers and film experts will be expected to conduct or participate in master classes, workshops, lectures and other outreach activities designed for a variety of audiences, with a focus on younger and underserved audiences. The classes are expected to include filmmaking workshops and training in digital technology, emergent media, and creative use of social media. The Showcase also will provide for follow-up programming that could include return visits overseas by American filmmakers or visits by young foreign filmmakers to the United States.

Through this solicitation, ECA seeks an organization to identify and select a collection of contemporary American documentary and narrative films that offer a broad overview of the best in current American independent filmmaking. The films should demonstrate high artistic quality, illustrate diverse viewpoints, address a variety of social issues, and reflect the creativity inherent in an open, democratic society. Documentaries are the priority focus of the American Film Showcase. They should address important and compelling themes and represent more than half of the films in the Showcase, with the remainder being narrative/fiction films. The Showcase also should include a small collection of animated shorts.

U.S. public and non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue code section 26 USC 501 (c) (3) may submit proposals for the American Film Showcase. For this competition, all applicants must demonstrate sufficient experience successfully exhibiting, distributing, or otherwise promoting American documentaries and narrative films. They also should demonstrate extensive knowledge of independent filmmaking -- especially the documentary field -- both in the U.S. and overseas.

UW Mulloy Lecture: "Late Capitalism, Gen X & Global Impact of the End of the American Dream"

From a UW press release:

Sherry B. Ortner, distinguished professor of anthropology at UCLA, will present the University of Wyoming's 15th annual Mulloy Lecture at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 28, in Room 306 of the Classroom Building.

Ortner's presentation, "Late Capitalism, ‘Generation X,' and the Global Impact of the End of the American Dream," will focus on how the American independent film scene emerged as a recognizable cultural movement in the late 1980s. Ortner argues that "the end of the American Dream," an idea associated with so-called Generation X also had a global impact, which she explores through the lens of recent independent films made by and/or about immigrants to the United States. A reception in the Anthropology Building follows Ortner's presentation.

Ortner received her A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.  Before going to UCLA in 2004, Ortner taught at Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University.

The annual Mulloy Lecture is sponsored by the UW Department of Anthropology in memory of the university's first professional anthropologist, William Mulloy. Starting in 1948 he fostered at UW what is usually called the "four field approach," integrating archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology into a unified program.

For more information call Keith Kanbe at (307) 766-5136.

UW alum Sarah Garlick presents multimedia "Climbing the Unclimbed" April 27

"Wild Stone: Climbing the Unclimbed, from the Arctic to Arabia," a multimedia presentation by renowned climber and University of Wyoming alumna Sarah Garlick, will be presented Wednesday, April 27, at 7 p.m. in Room 222 of the Classroom Building.

With professional photography, audio clips and short videos, Garlick tells stories from her latest two expeditions: A journey to the granite big walls of south Greenland and an exploration of the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan.

Garlick's presentation focuses on the common core of both expeditions: A quest to find -- and climb -- untouched cliffs in some of the world's wildest locations.

"Wild Stone" shares stories and images of Garlick's 2010 expedition to Greenland, where she and her three teammates established a new, 2,000-foot free route up a remote granite wall. This expedition was supported by the prestigious Copp-Dash Inspire Award. 

The presentation also premieres new photography and video footage from an expedition to the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan this winter, where Garlick and fellow climber Caroline George established a new sandstone adventure route called Uprising.

An avid rock, ice, and alpine climber from the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Garlick received an M.S. degree in geology from UW in 2007 and is now a science writer and educator. She is the author of an award-winning book, "Flakes, Jugs and Splitters: A Rock Climber's Guide to Geology," and her climbing adventures are supported by Outdoor Research and La Sportiva.

Photo: Sarah Garlick

People First Language offers humane ways to refer to members of the nation's largest minority group

This article comes from the spring 2011 Wyoming Arts Council Artscapes newsletter set for an April 29 pub date. It was contributed by WAC staffer Marirose Morris. As Arts Access Specialist, Marirose oversees several grant programs and 504/ADA guidelines. Contact her at the WAC at 307-777-7742.

A person’s self-image is tied to the words used about him/her. People First Language was started by individuals who said, “We are not our disabilities!”

People First Language puts the person before the disability, and describes what a person has, not who a person is. Are you “cancerous” or do you have cancer? Is a person “handicapped/disabled” or does he/she “have a disability?” Using a diagnosis as a defining characteristic reflects prejudice, and robs the person of the opportunity to define him/herself.

People with disabilities comprise the nation’s largest minority group. It is also the most inclusive: all ages, genders, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic levels are represented, and anyone can join it, at any time.

Say:	Instead of:
Children/adults with a disability	Handicapped, disabled, special needs
S/he has a cognitive disability	S/he is mentally retarded
S/he has Down syndrome	S/he’s mongoloid/Down’s
S/he has autism	An autistic person
S/he has a learning disability	S/he is learning disabled
S/he is deaf	The deaf
S/he has a speech disorder	Mute
S/he is blind, has a visual impairment	The blind
S/he has epilepsy	An epileptic
S/he uses a wheelchair	Wheelchair bound
S/he walks with a assistive device	A cripple
S/he is a little person	Dwarf or midget
People without disabilities	Normal or healthy people
Accessible parking, hotel rooms, etc.	Handicapped parking, hotel rooms, etc.

Take Back the Night at UW features entertainment by Patti Fiasco and The Bettys

Patti Fiasco and The Bettys will provide the entertainment for the Take Back the Night rally on Tuesday, April 12, 4-7 p.m., at the University of Wyoming Union in Laramie. All ages free. More info here

Take Back the Night is the annual community march and rally that encourages community members to come together and take a stand against sexual violence. We march through the streets as a way of reclaiming that territory as a safe space for both women and men.

Sponsors of the event include: Women’s Action Network, SAFE Project, STOP Violence, ASUW, Soroptimist, Queer Advocacy Network, Interfraternity & Panhellenic Councils, Rainbow Resource Center, Women's Center, & the Gender & Women’s Studies Department.