Notable Quotable: John Lloyd Young on Arts Education

June 17, 2013

Actor John Llloyd Young

John Lloyd Young. Photo by Jeff Fasano

“If you give children an escape from their regimentation, if you give them an escape from maybe the ignorance they are raised in at home, and you give them an oasis to come to everyday where not only do they learn important things—math, science and all of that, computers—but they also learn to open up, to dream, to imagine, to innovate, to create, to think outside the box, and you train them in those skills, when they become adults… when they grow up, they will be the type of citizens who can inspire other people, who know how to fashion a message for important purposes and can possibly rescue all of us. ” — John Lloyd Young

Read more from Tony award-winning actor and Jersey Boys star John Lloyd Young in our May 2013 Art Talk with him here.

 

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Alabama Arts: Exploring a Culture

June 14, 2013

by Jamie McCrary

Albert Head in the Alabama Artists' Gallery at the Alabama State Council on the Arts

Albert Head in the Alabama Artists’ Gallery located in the lobby of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Photo courtesy of Barbara Reed

There are better and worse ways of doing things. If we understand and appreciate the better way of doing things—a better way of communicating, a better way of living, a better way of learning, a better way of treating our fellow man—that is an art form.—Albert Head

Whenever I take a trip away from home, I am always curious about what’s going on with the arts in that area. What artists live in that community? How do people celebrate the arts there? How do the arts reflect the culture of that unique region? Visiting my parents last month in Montgomery, Alabama, I couldn’t help but wonder what was happening with the arts in Alabama.

While I have a strong grasp on the arts world where I live (in the Washington, DC metro area), I understand that art is a product of a region’s culture. No two areas’ cultures are exactly the same; every community has unique ways of life that shape how the arts function in that particular society. As a native Southerner with roots in Alabama, I was eager to explore what makes the arts in that state unique.

During my visit, I was fortunate enough to interview Albert B. Head, executive director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Director of the council for the past 28 years, Head provided a perspective seasoned by years of experience in the arts and a deep understanding of the culture of Alabama. Awarded a 2012 NEA National Heritage Fellowship for his work in traditional and folk arts, Head discussed the value of folk arts in Alabama, why it is vital to preserve them, and his future vision for the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

NEA: What do you believe makes the arts in Alabama unique?

ALBERT HEAD: There are many different cultures in the South, not just one. It’s much more diverse than I think people realize. In Alabama, we have some things that are common to the Southern tradition, but then we’ve got some things that have a strong tradition only here.

There are quilters all over the place, but unique to Alabama are the Gee’s Bend quilters. The Gee’s Bend quilters live in a very isolated part of the Black Belt, a region in southern Alabama. They’re a wonderful, marvelous group of ladies who work with materials that are indigenous to Gee’s Bend. Over the last ten or fifteen years, their work has been recognized as being incredibly unique. Many have even compared their work to modernist paintings.

The art and culture associated with Mardi Gras is also very indigenous and specific to Alabama. Most people identify Mardi Gras with New Orleans, but Mardi Gras actually started in Mobile, Alabama. There are artistic expressions and practices and traditions that go along with that that are totally unique to Alabama.

William Christenberry from Hale County, Alabama, is a very famous photographer whose work is associated with a sense of place. He’s been teaching at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC, for a long time. He has photographed the same old church, the same landscape, and really the changing landscape of Alabama over a 30-year-plus period of time. His work is very reflective of a sense of place and where he comes from. One gets a real flavor for Alabama from Bill’s work. You get a feel for what the state is all about.

NEA: You’ve been director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts for the past 28 years. What changes have you observed in Alabama’s cultural landscape during your work with the council?

HEAD: In the context of state government and public support for the arts, there was a long period of time in Alabama where there was a general notion that the arts were a frill. That it was a nice thing that people with a lot of money would do because they could afford and appreciate it. I think the arts were viewed as something you would do after all of the other important stuff has been taken care of. Over the last 30 years, people have increasingly figured out that quality of life is something that government needs to give some attention to. Quality of life means more than just roads or healthcare. Quality of life has a lot to do with the arts and cultural environment within a place. Where do people want to live? Where do they want to bring their families? Where do they want their kids to grow up? And they have a lot of choices these days. If you don’t have a vibrant cultural community, you’re working at a real disadvantage. So, in the eyes of public officials, I think that we have seen the arts becoming part of a much bigger picture in terms of planning and policy. The arts have come to that big table and are part of the conversation in a way that I don’t think existed 30 or 40 years ago.

NEA: What do you think sets the Alabama State Council on the Arts apart from other state arts agencies?

HEAD: Here in Alabama, we have gone through the process of looking at local needs, problems, and opportunities. We’ve tried to shape and mold programs to address these things. If you look at the evolution of the arts in this country, in the last 40 or 50 years there has been an evolution of nonprofit arts organizations who are engaged in arts programming. However, in folk arts you don’t have very many; very few [nonprofit organizations] program folk arts. In most cases, folk artists don’t consider themselves artists. What they’re doing is something that’s been handed down through the family. They don’t necessarily think their pottery or their furniture making is an art form. We have come to appreciate the fact that it very much is. We founded the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, which is part of the State Council on the Arts. We are responding to resources and a culture that is very important to us. We have taken a more proactive approach in terms of supporting and preserving and stimulating folk culture in Alabama, maybe more than some states have. We’re very committed to that and very proud of that.

NEA: In fall 2012 you received an NEA Heritage Fellowship—the Bess Lomax Hawes award—for your work in cultural heritage preservation. Why do you believe preserving folk and traditional art is important?

HEAD: As we are increasingly in the age of high tech, I think conversely we want to have a grip on authentic things from the past that are rooted in tradition. Whether that’s our family, community, or state or region, we want to understand what things in our environments have influenced us. The folk and traditional arts help us do this. They are very much connected to our roots and where we came from. It’s not as though folk art and folk artists don’t have a contemporary element to them, though. They do; the folk arts keep evolving as culture evolves within communities. Folk art is not all old-fashioned. It adapts and moves on, but it is rooted in tradition, culture, family, and community.

NEA: You have started folk arts programs not only in Alabama, but in Louisiana and Florida as well. What impact do you hope these programs have in each of these regions?

Head: We hope the impact will be a deeper sense of appreciation, and that people will value and preserve their folk traditions. If you expose young people to traditional art forms in the right way, we find that there’s great appreciation there. There can be some real casualties if we don’t emphasize or place value on passing these things down. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Gathering and A Weaving: A View from the Rural Arts & Culture Summit

June 12, 2013

by Matthew Fluharty, Art of the Rural

Matthew Fluharty speaks with Michael Strand at the June 2013 Rural Arts and Culture Summit

Matthew Fluharty (left) with Michael Strand at the June 2013 Rural Arts and Culture Summit. Photo by Michele Anderson

Hosted by the University of Minnesota, Morris’ Center for Small Towns and Minneapolis’s Springboard for the Arts, the Rural Arts and Culture Summit took place June 5 and 6. The event attracted more than 300 community development leaders, artists, and advocates to the prairie of West Central Minnesota. The summit’s theme was Leveraging Arts and Culture to Build Thriving Communities; topics included arts-based community development; network weaving and cross-sector partnerships; and rural identity and sense of place, among others.

Often when we talk about the interconnectedness of the arts, culture, and economy, we invoke the metaphor of an ecosystem. Certainly, in our collective moment of environmental consciousness, we understand an ecosystem not only as an abstract and connective network, but also a system of existence under constant threat, a gorgeous and complex design that we can only understand (and protect) by acting responsibly within it. Like many folks, I’ve used the word often; after my time at the Rural Arts and Culture Summit, I realize that I’ve used the word perhaps too freely, as that more complex rendering of the word’s potential has been in action, and around us, every day in rural communities.

The Rural Arts and Culture Summit was as much a gathering and a ‘weaving,’ to use June Holley’s sense of the word, as it was a “conference.” For an event with the most engaging and downright moving keynote speeches I have ever encountered, and with a series of breakouts hosted by national leaders in their fields, it was impressive how those moments of unofficial time were equally charged. Rural artists and practitioners often travel great distances—across well-documented gaps in equity and access—to come together. When the geographical mileage was bridged for a few days in Morris, it was amazing what happened. Folks were sharing their experiences, news from those local ecosystems, and also talking about that larger concept of “the rural arts” itself: what does that ecosystem need to thrive? From rural to urban, where can relationships be built to insure the responsible cultivation of rural arts and culture?

Throughout the summit, I was struck by the degree to which cross-sector and interdisciplinary partnerships—so central to the conversations on design and placemaking that the Citizen’s Institute on Rural Design (CIRD) and the NEA’s Our Town program have sparked—not only animated the event, but also created challenging and unexpected new connections. This was no doubt due in part to the vision of conference organizer Michele Anderson and her colleagues at Springboard for the Arts, and their belief in art’s (and artists’) unique abilities to guide the practice of community engagement. In addition, the Center for Small Towns provided a powerful example of how a university partner can engage in long-term dialogue that merges policy considerations with grounded practice, and real conversation in rural communities.

Beyond our sessions, we moved out of conference rooms into active spaces—a farmers’ and artists’ market, a dinner and bluegrass jam in the university’s Horticulture Gardens, an opening night reception for the extraordinary Rural American Contemporary Artists group exhibition. At each turn, the abstract concept of the arts and culture ecosystem was met with tangible evidence of its richly various nature.

For instance, between sessions, it was not unusual to have a conversation with someone like Scott Tedrick, a Granite Falls, Minnesota-based journalist interested in building networks for rural newspapers. Only after we had talked through issues of digital media and storytelling would I learn that Scott is also a lead actor in a series of community-created plays that integrate the life of the Minnesota River with the community of Granite Falls. Scott has portrayed historical figures, led audiences for these interactive pieces up the river in canoes, and, in general, helped both local and regional audiences reimagine their connections to place. As part of the collaboration between Clean up the River Environment and PlaceBase Productions, the local community now has a suite of scripts, as well as educational and multimedia materials, that offer possibilities for further community events.

Upon reflection, such encounters take me back to one of the elements of creative problem-solving that John Davis wove into his keynote on arts and design in rural communities: “What’s more powerful than a vision? A shared vision.” In this respect, there is beautiful symmetry in reflecting on the Rural Arts and Culture Summit as news of the 2013 CIRD workshops are announced.

John also encouraged attendees to think about how to “redefine risk as an investment in your community,” and the notion of the workshop itself approaches that sense—folks from across sectors and [skill sets] gathering together and admitting the possibility of failure and miscommunication as the necessary precondition toward a new, shared vision of a deeply important place.

Perhaps like many other summit attendees, the art and ideas of disciplinary boundary-crosser Michael Strand are still resonating with me. His pottery projects, which merge everything from art history to contemporary social practice to neighborliness and community, are examples of how—with little monetary investment or infrastructure—all of us can go about the work of enacting art as what he would call a “benevolent disruption” in our communities. In that final respect, the summit undoubtedly served that role—to “defamiliarize” us from easy answers—and to invite us into a space where we can better see how our engagement with arts, design, and culture, in the words of James Baldwin, helps “lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.”

Did you know that the NEA supports design in rural areas? Today we announced the 2013 class of the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. The rural companion to the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, CIRD brings art and design experts and resources to communities to help them build upon their existing assets to improve the design, quality of life, and economic vitality of their towns. Four small towns or rural regions are chosen to host a two-and-a-half day community design workshop.

The 2013 CIRD grantees are: Central Appalachia Institute for Research and Development, Inc., Rochester Regional Community Design Center, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Suwannee County Extension, and City of Seguin, Texas. Visit our News Room to learn more.

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The Best Social Media Advice I Ever Received Was….

June 11, 2013

by Paulette Beete

We asked our Facebook fans and Twitter followers to share the best arts social media advice they’ve received to date. Have something to add to the list? Leave us a comment!

Photograph of first-generation desktop computer

One of the first personal computers. Via Wikimedia Commons

Don’t let negative comments/reviews get you down. 9 times out of 10, your community will defend you. — Amanda Bohan

Be a consistent contributor to whatever #socialmedia platforms you select. — Karen O’Brien

No automatic posts without a plan for engaged use of online tools. It’s not free—it costs valuable time. — Virginia Commission for the Arts

Involve and give sincere shout outs to other orgs (include #Arts and other non-profits) in posts. Make friends in #SocialMedia! — Opera Omaha

Make a plan & be consistent. Make sure you have the capacity to do what you set out to do well, every day. — National Guild

Divide & conquer as much as possible. — Undercroft Opera

Don’t sell…provide. Don’t advertise…inform. Don’t market…pique interest. Social Networking sites, although accessible to so many, are not the place to look for revenue dollars. The mere presence of your arts organization within the world of Facebook/Twitter or other sites is in itself a productive and worthwhile opportunity. Talk to your friends and fans about life, world events (best when they relate to your particular industry niche)—post photos not only of what’s happening at your venue, but at others. Think “COMMUNITY!” Through this simply philosophy you’ll find your total reach expand and engagement grow. TAG TAG TAG…don’t be afraid to tag your pictures and add your location. Think of each SHARE as x1000. Ask your fans to ask their friends to join your conversation. It’s amazing the response you’ll receive when your friends and fans TRUST you! — Arizona Broadway Theatre

#Socialmedia should be part of customer service. If the phone rings, you answer it. So if someone comments, do the same. — Amanda Bohan

Don’t be afraid to fail! It’s all about testing what works to get your audience engaged.— City of Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs

Chad Weinard, Manager of New Media at the North Carolina Museum of Art reminds us that, “Everyday is a social media event for your visitors.” Museum visits are special for most visitors and they are sharing as part of their visitor experience. — Joseph Gonzales

Engage. — Deborah Kerr

So many to choose! One of the best: Be consistent in your timing & content. Programs that schedule posts are life-saver tools for that. — SparkAction

Try and make your posts like little gifts to your audience. — Ford Theatres

It’s called “social” media for a reason. Engage with your audience but also be sure to engage with other organizations. Comment/Share/Like/RT/Tag/Favorite, etc… It can help create conversations and it’s good karma. — Steve, Los Angeles County Arts Commission (signing post from your organization is another good tip!)

“You are nobody until you are somebody on social media!” Numbers are what the agents and managers are looking for. — James K. McCully

Try something new! Not everyone wants to know the same information; variety is key! — Arts Council for Long beach

Social media is blurring the lines between individuals and organizations—people become brands and brands acquire personalities. — California Arts Council

Have a consistent voice that is intelligent, approachable, playful, and passionate. — Theresa Knopf

Compelling photos tell the best stories. Particularly children engaged in the arts. — Arts for All

Give your audience something to tweet about. — George Patrick

Social media is “social!” Listen to your fans, respond to their questions, & leave comments as opposed to just posting content and never engaging with your audience. — The Portland Ballet

Never say anything you wouldn’t say to a person, and the more human organizations will always win. — Amanda Woolwine

Share the awesomeness! (In other words: accept that you don’t and won’t always have control over the content and what is said about you. Share it anyway, because it’s gonna happen regardless, and you might as well be part of the conversation.) — Sarah Schmitt

Inform. Entertain. Promote. Connect. Do good. Be discreet. Be positive, not negative. — Robin Landa

A picture is worth somewhere between 100 and 1,000,000 words depending on the picture. — Insight Pho Tography

Keep your brand consistent!!! And, as much as you try and push conversation out, also try to bring it in! —Maggie Hendricks

 

 

 

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NEA Arts: Composing Enlightenment

June 10, 2013

Michael Begay (second from left) working with the ETHEL String Quartet as part of the NACAP activities to bring musical education to Native-American communities. Photo courtesy of NACAP

“When I was a teenager, I felt stuck on the reservation. It felt like I was ten years behind the whole world. I had no idea what to do with my life and I wanted to quit school. I could feel this whole void opening on top of me.” —Michael Begay, composer

As we learn in “Composing Enlightenment: Bringing Musical Education to Native Communities” by Michael Gallant, Michael Begay—who is now pursuing a career in music composition—no longer feels that way. What changed his mind? Begay is one of many students who has taken part in the Native American Composer Apprentice Project. A project of the Grand Canyon Music Festival, in 2011, the 13-year-old program received a 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Project Award for helping Native youth find their own voices by composing classical music. Click here to read more about this transformative program and the other innovative arts education programs featured in this issue of NEA Arts.

Want to learn even more? Revisit our November 2011 Art Works post on NACAP.

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Taking Note: How Cultural Policy Works (and a Goodbye)

June 7, 2013

By Joanna Woronkowicz, PhD, Office of Research & Analysis

Worktop Abstract by flickr user bixentro

[From the director of the NEA Office of Research & Analysis: Joanna Woronkowicz joined the NEA in early 2012 as Senior Research Officer. In her time at the Office of Research & Analysis, she gave considerable thought---working with the rest of our staff---as to how we should structure and administer our Research: Art Works grants program, how we can track NEA research accomplishments more effectively, and how we can enrich our analytical skills with curiosity and knowledge about theory and practice in social sciences research. She’ll be missed greatly---and her colleagues wish her well at Indiana University.]  

Since arriving at the NEA, I’ve had a hand in dozens of projects, some of which have produced tangible results and others that require more thinking and planning.

In regard to the former, I’m especially proud to have been part of managing the Research: Art Works grants program for which the NEA distributed $350,000 this year to various nonprofits. I had always just heard about NEA panels and the process by which grants are awarded, so it was enlightening to see just how it all unfolds.

In regard to the latter, my colleagues and I in the Office of Research and Analysis have devoted a lot of time to figuring out what makes sense, both for the office and the field. We’ve spent hours discussing everything from how to write a survey question to the usefulness of big data. It is through these discussions that I’ve updated my thoughts about where research in the arts is heading.

A Way Forward

There’s a reason why in the first three paragraphs of this blog post I’ve tried to refrain from using the words “arts” and “culture”; it’s because I believe if we are to move research about arts-related topics forward, then we must invite a new cohort of researchers to the table, ones who don’t necessarily know much about the field of arts research and who don’t use the same type of jargon. These can be established researchers in other disciplines or other federal agencies, or those just starting out. The point is that we need fresh perspectives if we are to gain insight into some of the questions that researchers have struggled with for decades (e.g., the economic impact of the arts).

Establishing an interdisciplinary network of researchers (a topic of this column’s previous post) is one mechanism by which we can encourage idea-generation. An avid supporter of research networks, the MacArthur Foundation states that networks “… bring together highly talented individuals from a spectrum of disciplines, perspectives, and research methods [to] examine problems and address empirical questions that will increase the understanding of fundamental social issues and are likely to yield significant improvements in policy and practice.”

An effective network comprised of an influential group of researchers also has the potential to bring recognition to the field of cultural policy. For example, a subset of a field of survey methodology dealing with the cognitive aspects of recalling information (CASM) emerged in the 1980s through a series of meetings that brought together statisticians with social psychologists to talk about how to bridge disciplines. Building on these same ideas about the benefits of networks, Norman Bradburn proposes an arts and culture research network made up of a group of interdisciplinary researchers (note that Bradburn was also a key participant in the network that created CASM).

Those familiar with the term “cultural policy” most likely know that the U.S. is known for not having one. This is made evident by our decentralized funding mechanisms and the absence of a cultural ministry. Yet those of us who have an interest in the ways in which culture plays a role in society understand that by implementing cultural initiatives in tandem with other types of policy, we are in effect creating a cultural policy.

Take, for example, the practice of building cultural facilities to aid in community development  (a topic I focus on in my work on cultural facility development). Cities across the U.S. continue to invest billions in cultural facilities with the hopes of spurring regional economic growth. Local governments also provide subsidies to private enterprise to help achieve this goal, such as tax-abatement programs to incentivize arts-related businesses to set up shop in certain areas. While such “policies” don’t stem from the federal government, they are still policy, in that they’re government-run programs that affect the everyday lives of people. Denying that these types of programs are indeed policies prevents us from committing to fully understanding their potential impacts.

But for cultural policy research to have impact, we must also use methods that help us unequivocally communicate the effects of cultural programs. In economics, we understand the difference between “positive” and “normative” as being analogous to the ideas of “what is” and “what ought to be.” As opposed to positive economics, which promotes research that is “value-free,” research in normative economics is based upon assumptions of what is fair and what policy goals should be. For example, rather than assuming that “arts education should be implemented in schools to foster positive youth development” (a normative statement), we could say, “youth who participate in arts education programs have higher test scores, better grades, and are less truant than youth who do not participate” (a positive statement). The latter states the facts and moreover, supports these facts with evidence. A good counter-argument will also include facts, supported by evidence. Therefore, not only is an argument against the fact that arts education relates to positive youth development harder to make, but the statement has greater influence upon policy-makers since there’s real evidence to support it.

An arts and culture research network comprised of a highly trained interdisciplinary group of researchers can have two aims: offering fresh perspectives and promoting the field. Furthermore, a network can continue to produce and encourage research that deals with the investigation of facts, as opposed to that which emphasizes value-based statements unsupported by evidence. While the latter certainly has a place in the arts and culture field more generally (particularly for building support of programs) the former has the potential to have real, long-standing effects on cultural policy.

My Epilogue

That all being said, the time I’ve spent at the NEA has taught me a great deal about how the arts can contribute to our daily lives. In my new role as an assistant professor at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs in Bloomington, I’ll have the unique opportunity to integrate the study of cultural policy into the broader realm of research through collaborating with researchers across an array of disciplines. I look forward to spending my time gathering the evidence that can show us how art, and cultural policy, really works.

It’s been a pleasure.

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Meet the 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellows

June 6, 2013

“From the Native-American art forms that can be traced to our country’s origins to the artistic traditions introduced by our newest immigrants, the National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support and celebrate all of our country’s folk and traditional arts and the artists who have dedicated their lives to protecting, celebrating, and sharing them with the next generation.”—Joan Shigekawa, NEA Acting Chair

The nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, the NEA National Heritage Fellowships recognize folk and traditional artists for their artistic excellence and efforts to conserve America’s culture for future generations. Whether it’s teaching the Numu language of the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe at local schools or performing a ballad that dates back to the mid-17th century, the 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellows all share a passion for perpetuating and imparting to others the traditional art forms to which they have devoted their lives and careers. Meet this year’s fellows and don’t forget to join us for our September 27 NEA National Heritage Fellows Celebration Concert in person or online at arts.gov.

2013 NEA National Heritage Fellows Sheila Kay Adams, Carol Fran, and Chunky Sanchez

from l-r: Sheila Kay Adams, Carol Fran, Ramón “Chunky” Sánchez

A seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and musician, Sheila Kay Adams was born and raised in the Sodom Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina, an area renowned for its unbroken tradition of unaccompanied ballad singing that dates back to the early Scots/Irish and English settlers in the mid-17th century. Adams learned to sing from her great-aunt Dellie Chandler Norton and other notable singers in the community, such as Dillard Chandler and the Wallin family (including NEA National Heritage Fellow Doug Wallin). In addition to ballad singing, Adams is an accomplished clawhammer-style banjo player and storyteller. Learn more about Sheila Kay Adams here. (Photo by Garius Hill)

Carol Fran‘s distinct voice and piano-playing style mark her celebrated career that spans more than six decades. Featuring artists associated with the Excello record label, the swamp blues genre is characterized by slow laid back vocals combined with Cajun and Zydeco rhythmic elements. Carol Fran performs in both English and the native Creole French language that her parents and grandparents taught her in the bayous of Lafayette, Louisiana, where she was born in 1933 into a family of seven children. Learn more about Carol Fran here. (Photo by Gene Tomko)

A musician, songwriter, educator, and activist, Ramón “Chunky” Sánchez has become a cultural icon and leader of the Chicano community. Born to Mexican immigrant parents in the California desert town of Blythe, Sánchez was taught traditional Mexican music by his mother and uncles who sang and played guitar. Both of his parents were farm laborers, and he himself worked in the fields, so Sánchez learned early on in life about the struggles in the farm labor movement. As he listened and learned, he began to compose his own music—with a bicultural influence and often socio-political messages—and he was frequently asked to play by César Chávez at rallies and marches for the United Farm Workers Union. Learn more about Ramón “Chunky” Sánchez here. (Photo by Vito Di Stefano) Read the rest of this entry »

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Art Works Podcast: Manil Suri

June 6, 2013

By Josephine Reed

Manil Suri

Manil Suri. Photo courtesy of W.W. Norton

This week’s podcast introduces you to the talented and multifacted Manil Suri, who manages to excel at two careers: he’s both a professor of mathematics and a best-selling, critically acclaimed novelist. His trilogy, The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva, and now, The City of Devi, is bound together by its use of Hindu gods as metaphor, and the central role played by the city of Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. The City of Devi, the recently released third leg of the triangle, is a love story/sex comedy set in an apocalyptic future; it’s a book as rich in Hindu myth and as it is in Bollywood lore. India and Pakistan are in a countdown to nuclear war, India is reeling from internal Muslim/Hindu violence, people are fleeing a battered Mumbai in hopes of finding safety in the countryside, and dirty bombs explode with regularity throughout the country. Loyal wife, Sarita, is looking for her husband Karun who has mysteriously vanished before the craziness began. She’s joined in her wanderings by Jaz, who’s a flamboyantly gay nominal Muslim. In this excerpt from the podcast, Suri discusses the reaction in India to the portrayal of Jaz’s sexuality. [3:34]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

[transcript]

After you listen to the excerpt, check out the video of Suri performing his Bollywood dance at the 2008 Brooklyn Book Festival.

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NEA Arts: The Art of Turning Things Around

June 5, 2013

Batiste Cultural Arts Academy Marching Band Rehearsal

The Batiste Cultural Arts Academy Marching Band practicing for its performance during Mardi Gras. Photo courtesy of PCAH

“Our mission is to build a compassionate community of creative thinkers, leaders, and lifelong learners who are prepared for success in all future pursuits…. If we’re going to train our kids to just be somebody else’s employee, that’s fine. We can teach them the basics. But to teach them to be those creative thinkers and leaders, we have to teach them the arts.” — Ron Gubitz, Principal, Batiste Cultural Arts Academy

In “The Art of Turning Things Around,” the NEA’s Rebecca Gross takes a look at a new arts education program by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. This “public-private partnership, which counts the NEA as one of its partners, is designed to help close the academic achievement gap with high quality and integrated arts education programs. In addition to professional training, leadership summits, and funding for arts specialists and supplies, each school is paired with a well-known artist such as Yo-Yo Ma, Kerry Washington, and Alfre Woodard, whose work with students have helped Turnaround Arts garner national attention.”

Visit arts.gov to read the full story and check out the other features in the arts education issue of NEA Arts.

Want to see a Turnaround School in action? Visit the NEA Facebook page for a photo album from a visit by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to Washington, DC’s Savoy Elementary School.

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Art Talk with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

June 4, 2013

by Paulette Beete

Today we are celebrating the 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellows with an interview with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley who spoke with us about the importance of the folk and traditional arts and his own career as a traditional Irish musician.

Maryland governor Martin O'Malley

Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland. Photo courtesy of the State of Maryland.

“A community united by the ideals of compassion and creativity has incredible power. Art of all kinds—music, literature, traditional arts, visual arts—can lift a community.” — Martin O’Malley, Governor, State of Maryland

NEA: What do you remember as your earliest experience of the arts?

MARTIN O’MALLEY: Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest—and fondest—childhood memories were walking home from school to hear the sounds of Clancy Brother records my mom had been playing on her record player. In high school I participated in school plays, and started playing in a band.

NEA: In addition to your political career, you’ve also had a parallel career as a musician and songwriter. Can you talk about that—how you became involved with Irish music, what it’s like to write songs and be a public performer, etc?

O’MALLEY: I started playing in the band during high school—I actually started it with a group of guys who were all ten years older. We came into the market at the right time. There were seven Irish bars that were in demand for full-time music, and there were only about four full-time bands.

I’ve been playing music ever since. It’s a part of who I am, and in a sense it’s a part of who we are as Marylanders with such a strong musical and artistic heritage.

NEA: How has your career as a musician informed your career in public service, and vice versa?

O’MALLEY: Marylanders are at heart a creative and forward-looking people. Our heritage is shaped by a diversity of musicians and artists, from Cab Calloway to Toni Braxton to Billie Holiday, Phillip Glass, Nils Lofgren, Lisa Loeb, Frank Zappa—and then you include other creative Marylanders like Barry Levinson, John Waters, Matthew Weiner. The list goes on and on.

I do not believe it is a coincidence that the same people—the people of Maryland—who would be willing to make record investments in public education in times when other states were firing teachers to plug recessionary budget holes, would also be a people who have historically embraced the creative arts.

Dividing the space on a canvas, studying meter and rhythm, learning from the great works of literature—these things are all inherently connected to process information or solve complex equations. It’s all connected.

NEA: This morning we announced that New England-based Irish fiddler Seamus Connolly is a 2013 NEA Heritage Fellow. Can you say a little about Connolly’s importance as a traditional musician?

O’MALLEY: Seamus Connolly is one of the world’s most respected Irish musicians. From being inducted into Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann’s Hall of Fame to founding the Gaelic Roots Lecture Series at Boston College, Seamus has kept traditional music alive for a new generation to discover and love.

NEA: We’ve had several Heritage fellows from Maryland, including bluesman Warner Williams, and decoy carver and painter Lem Ward. Can you talk about the importance of the folk and traditional arts?

O’MALLEY: The traditional arts are a vital part of our culture, keeping us connected to our heritage and enhancing awareness of Maryland’s unique folk artists. In Maryland, we have Maryland Traditions, a program where living legends can share their skills with an apprentice. The Maryland Traditions program nurtures living traditions, forges bonds to history, and inspires young people to be a critical part of this chain of humanity. Read the rest of this entry »

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