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Bush Signs Bill to Provide Additional $320 M for SBA Disaster Relief Loans
FEMA Extends Disaster Unemployment Assistance Deadline
Elsewhere on the Net:
Bush's Plans to Transfer the Oversight of Media Industry
Mergers from the FTC to the DOJ "would be extremely
detrimental to the public interest and to media consumers"
Consumers' Groups Emphasize
FROM EXIT ART IN NEW YORK CITY TO THE SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE, ARTISTS AND ARTS ORGANIZATIONS CREATE AND FOSTER ART ABOUT SEPTEMBER 11; WORK TO HEAL WOUNDED SPIRITSIn New York City and across the country, September 11, 2001 -- the appalling destruction, the terror, the government response, the lingering and pervasive numbness -- have permeated the work of artists. And the arts community has come together in a shared reaction to incomprehensible events.Displaying over 1,000 works from a global call for responses to the tragedy, last weekend the exhibition REACTIONS opened at Exit Art in New York City. "My name is Marc and my friend Joey worked on the 105th Floor of No 1 World Trade Center. After September 11, I put his 'missing flyer' all over the streets of this changed city, choosing my spots as if I were painting graffiti, looking for the best light, the easiest places to see my friend's face," begins Marc Whalen's contribution to Reactions. The work is about Joey, who he met at age 5, whose father, a Vietnam Vet and a retired FDNY fire fighter helped him learn to ride a bike. "I have cried so much that I have become empty inside. My childhood hero has been stolen from me, and I will miss him forever," the text concludes. Below it is a picture of Joey as a child, standing beside an American Flag, and the dates: 1974-2001. The face of the Statue of Liberty dominates Desiree Alvarez's SCREAMING LIBERTY -- her mouth open, screaming; her jagged broken teeth, the skyline of New York. For REACTIONS, Exit Art invited a worldwide public to respond to how the attacks on the United States have affected their lives. Conceived by Papo Colo and Jeanette Ingberman and coordinated by Jodi Hanel and Bibi Mart, the project sent out over 10,000 emailed invitations and over 8,000 mailed letters. The invitation was also posted as an open call on their website. They asked people to share how the events altered their behavior -- toward others, their city, their daily life -- and now in the aftermath, how these events and all that has happened since the attacks, have changed their perception of reality and the world around them. The only requirement was that the submission had to be something that would fit on an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of paper. "We sensed that people had a need to communicate their feelings and to also see how others are reacting to these events. Therefore we developed a project called REACTIONS, a collective exhibition that will present an international, public response to how the events have changed public and private behaviors," they state. Poetry, musical scores, texts, letters, drawings, paintings, collages, photographs, and many other forms of response were received from children as young as 7 years old and from people all over the world including from Asia, the Middle East, Europe and South America. Every response is exhibited.
"I saw you Empire State Building writes Edwin Torres to begin a page long poem. In Jem Cohen and Kim Maley's BOTH WANT WAR, BOTH UNELECTED The top halves of the faces of George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden (side by side grainy black and white newsprint quality photos) are divided from the bottom halves of their faces by the words "BOTH WANT WAR, BOTH UNELECTED." Also included, among many, many others are works by Sara Abad, Andrea Arroyo, Irene Miller Abramowitz, Garnet Abrams, Steven Dana, Larry S. Frankel, Robert Gober, Melissa Gould, Teresa Hackett, Barbara Hammer, Angela La Rosa Joplin, Richard Kostelanetz, Antoinette LaFarge, Marianna La Rosa, Tom Marioni, Linda Montano, Christy Rupp, Carolee Schneemann, Darryl Sapien, William Wegman, and Mie Yim. On a page divided by two hearts -- red white and blue, the top one torn in half, the bottom one inverted, -- Alex Steinweiss has written "Stop Hate" in white on a field of black. "In my hand, was a laminated sheaf of messages from Vanderbilt: 'POEMS AND RUMINATIONS ON THE EVENTS OF SEPT. 11. TO THE VICTIMS, THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, ALL RESCUE PERSONNEL AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK. FROM VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE'" -- Kate Daniels At the Santa Fe Art Institute -- in a program initiated by New Yorker, Diane R. Karp, who on September 11 had been driving across the country to begin her new job as the Institute's Director -- about 80 artists from New York City are making art in in quiet residence spaces with studios in New Mexico. "Signs of death were everywhere," the NEW YORK TIMES quotes artist Margaret Evangeline, who is currently in residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute, as saying. "I was seeing these heartbreaking funeral processions every day. Even two months later, the smell in my studio was so strong it made me sick. I couldn't work. I was so fragmented that I couldn't focus on anything. When I heard about this program, I started to cry because that was just what I needed." The Times reports that during her residency, in arrangement with the New Mexico Air National Guard, Evangeline, who paints on aluminum sheets which she shapes and grounds, has been taking these aluminum plates to remote fields and firing at them with a variety of weapons. In November 2001, poet Kate Daniels, a professor of English at Vanderbilt University, brought her poetry and poetry by her colleagues and students to New York City and placed it on a shrine of posters, flowers, candles and photographs on the sidewalk in front of St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway. Daniels, is the author of FOUR TESTIMONIES: POEMS (Louisiana State University Press, 1998) and also the editor of OUT OF SILENCE : SELECTED POEMS BY MURIEL RUKEYSER. (Triquarterly Books, 1994) Published in IMAGE, A JOURNAL OF THE ARTS AND RELIGION, her Poem "After Reading Reznikoff" begins
"When I think of those mothers giving up Daniels lived in New York for several years in her 20's, and she thought about taking one of her poems to the City on a planned trip in November. "As the time neared, the gesture seemed unnecessarily solipsistic, too lonely. And so I decided to ask my students and some of my colleagues to participate," she writes. "On the sidewalk in front of St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway, I found a huge shrine of posters, flowers, candles and photographs from around the world. In my hand, was a laminated sheaf of messages from Vanderbilt: "Poems and Ruminations on the events of Sept. 11. To the victims, their families and friends, all rescue personnel and the City of New York. From Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Almost immediately, I found a large banner from a daycare in Knoxville, covered with the tiny handprints of dozens of children who had sent a message of support even though they could not yet read or write. I decided to post Vanderbilt's contribution beside it," she writes in the VANDERBILT REGISTER. Among the works was Jennifer Casale's "Brushing My Teeth at 2 a.m. after Sept. 11" which begins:
"Silent -- we are silent, eyes down Sources/resources:
EXIT ART --
http://www.exitart.org
Stephen Kinzer
Kate Daniels
Kate Daniels
STORIES FROM THE ARTS COMMUNITYby Barbara Ann Levy
"Let's go to the Broken City -in an e-mail from Scott Ailing in the words of his 5 year old nephew penned by mother Marianne - Today I harvested snap peas, put them in a clay pot and went to The Barbara Ann Levy Gallery to examine 9 murals that became the backdrop and holding environment for residents and visitors to Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York, a gay and lesbian seaside resort area and community. Cherry Grove is located on the Fire Island National Seashore, an unspoiled barrier reef in the Atlantic Ocean off of the coast of Long Island. The murals are spontaneous art productions, expressions of shock, disbelief, rage, and grief ; reactions to "9/11", destruction of the Trade Towers and the new' War on America. The noontime chimes sound on this gray warm November day and I can hear the pulse of the ocean behind me. It is hard to re-live the weekend of 9/11 through the murals. My heart is heavy and my chest is tight as I search for appropriate language to describe the sudden disorganization of a community that struggled fast to make sense of the terror through art making and prayer. Most Cherry Grove community members are gay or lesbian and live in New York City, Manhattan, through the fall and winter months. Gay Pride and Greenwich Village; birthplace of the Gay Liberation Movement were born in lower Manhattan so the Trade Tower bombings had particular significance for this gay and lesbian community . As I examine the murals, words and images vie for my attention. Each participant found an isolated area on which to work. Few interacted. There was one exception. In a corner of one of the murals an angry community member wrote, "Fuck Religion". Another indignant resident wrote the word "Don't" above it to re-right the wrong. A block of text, a memorial to the Windows On The World Restaurant workers reads, "For all my friends at Windows On The World, thank you. Rest in peace." A red mark is drawn from the block of text and seems to be thrown as though it were a lifeline into the south tower. A stylized call for participation on a flyer by a Cherry Grove homeowner, "US Attacked! Day of Terror! It's War!" was word processed in a typeface similar to that used in ads for Reefer Madness, a camp anti drug film; it seemed impossible to believe that the creative center of the United States, NYC had been violated. There are many American flags ; a round one in the shape of a peace symbol, a weeping flag, an "I Love NY" flag with a black image of the Trade Towers that stand in the middle of a heart that seems to fall away from a field of stripes. The Towers become gravestones. A plea for compassion reads, "Don't cash out without facts...Innocent Americans =Innocent Muslims". A young man, hotel guest dressed in a suit and tie came into the gallery which had become a counseling and Art Therapy center the weekend following the attack. He chose to work on a 10 x 3.50' panel of his own which he stretched out on the floor and onto which he drew a painstaking vision of a new Trade Towers, towers that could withstand attack. His artwork is composed of lightly rendered pencil lines that depict structures based on the triangle with a footbridge that attaches one tower to another. The bridge seems to hold the drawn structure to the page and a horizontal bar acts as a visual magnet for a viewer's eye. The towers do not have a ground or groundline but the words, " Stronger than ever" appear as perhaps an attempt to ground them. Participants paid tribute to loved ones who lost their lives in the tragedy; "FDNY Eric T./ Allen "44" Angelica (Wife)", "Pam, watch over us", "Hatred begets hatred, Love Begets Love! For Alan, South Tower, 105th Floor". There are many peace symbols; a peace symbol contains the pledge of allegiance and is surrounded by words from "God Bless America". Another peace symbol cries a tear, has a broken heart. A third seems to explode from a field of red, white and blue. An artist and hotel manager juxtaposes lightly rendered fragile transparent towers with fingers that gesture the 1960's American peace symbol. A list of missing New Jersey residents was collaged next to the words, "Heal, Help". A child from the community contributed a self-portrait with rainbow peace symbol. "And the angels cried" was written with a robin's egg blue pastel that forms an arch above a crying angel who rocks a baby with her wing. The image appears to emerge from black smoke drawn with charcoal. One can see a pool of blood that drips down from a bleeding American flag above it."We shall overcome! Together!! is written and covers an ungrounded Trade Towers. "R.I.P." is written on the south tower and "9-11/01" is written on the north . A severed hand carries the torch of Liberty ablaze in pink, orange and yellow. The flames in comic book sequence become a dancing devil. A Cherry Grove inkjet image of the community's pier at sunset was collaged next to it. The juxtaposition seems to reflect the community's struggle to hold this polarity the Trade Tower tragedy and the natural beauty of Fire Island. "The Bastards", a cut out in ransom note style crowns a photograph of the bombed towers. "Terror", "Attack" flank the towers to their left and right. A crayon drawing of a peace sign like a roulette wheel spins below it. "Pam, watch over us", a friend of a victim pleads with the viewer. Pamela Boyce died. "For those who knew you mourn you now. But your love and the love you gave to those you touched will go on forever, my brother lost a friend and though you are not among us any longer, your spirit will be. For every time we dance we will remember all the good times. May God Bless all those who have lost and those who still have family missing our prayers and strength still go out to you all who are suffering. God Bless, Joey, Bottoms and Friends!!! Dated Sunday, 9/16/01. A graffiti artist, City Queen' signed a panel with her handle and incorporates a drawing of the towers with a halo tied like a bow above them. A miniature set of towers with blue wings is drawn in a corner of the page. Another set of Trade Towers rests on a rainbow ground. Like a high school year book well wishers appeal to God for healing "America Rising. God Bless Us All". "Love to the Highest level for the good of all involved." "For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him shall have everlasting life!! If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, there is no mountain you can't move." "The time now is for unity and love and do away with hate, love conquers! "In his hands...A world is shown with a multicultural theme. People of many colors hold hands. All are held by one hand that rests on a delicate pink cloud. (a work in progress..to be continued)
(c) 2002 Barbara Ann Levy - For permission to redistribute this contribution, please contact her at levyb@earthlink.net Barbara Ann Levy, MFA, MPS-ATR-BC, supervises Art Therapists in the field She is Owner/President, The Barbara Ann Levy Gallery as well as a writer/columnist, volunteer at asthegroveturns.net, a Cherry Grove, Fire Island community online publication. For more information, visit http://www.thebarbaraannlevygallery.com
DISASTER ASSISTANCE UPDATESTHE NEW YORK ARTS RECOVERY FUND RAISES $4.15 MILLIONNEW YORK CITY, NY -- As of January 25, 2002, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) has raised $4.2 million for the New York Arts Recovery Fund. The Fund seeks to help to return New York City artists and small arts organizations at least to the point where they were financially before September 11. Monies raised for the Fund are being used to provide technical assistance to those seeking financial assistance, advocacy efforts with the other 9-11 funds to ensure that the arts and artists receive fair consideration, increasing public awareness of the situation facing the arts, and grants to help artists and arts organizations get back to where they were financially on September 10. Guidelines and grant applications are now available on NYFA's Web site at http://www.nyfa.org/9-11.htm In developing the Fund and awarding grants, NYFA is working in partnership with a consortium of arts service organizations that includes Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York (ART/NY), American Music Center, Asian American Arts Alliance, Arts & Business Council, Association of Hispanic Arts, Harlem Arts Alliance, New York City Arts Coalition, and Nonprofit Finance Fund. In addition to the Fund administered by NYFA, ART/NY and American Music Center also are making grants. Nonprofit theatres should apply to ART/NY -- http://www.offbroadwayonline.com/mellonfund.php or 212-244-6667 x 230 -- and composers and nonprofit musical organizations should apply to Amercian Music Center -- http://www.amc.net or 212-366-5260 x33 NYFA is accepting applications from all other artists and arts organizations. All nonprofit organizations may also apply to the Nonprofit Finance Fund -- http://www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/ or 212-868-6710 x 107. Funders include a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Other major funders include Rockefeller Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the producers of "The Producers the new Mel Brooks musical," and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, with additional support from Nathan Cummings Foundation, Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, Golden Artists Colors, Golden Foundation, Management Consultants for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Town Hall Association Seattle, Thompson Street Association, four anonymous donors, and many individuals. "With the generous support of the philanthropic community, The New York Arts Recovery Fund is working to insure that the arts recover from the devastating impact of this disaster and that the voices of New York City artists and arts organizations continue to enrich our city and nation," said New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Director of Development Waddy Thompson. The primary focus of the program is on those living and working below Canal Street. The next priority will be those located below 14th Street. Depending on the availability of funds, artists and organizations in other areas of the city will be eligible. Sources/resources: NEW YORK ARTS RECOVERY FUND -- http://www.nyfa.org/9-11.htm
"A Collaborative Partnership of New York's Arts Service
Organizations on Behalf of Artists and Arts Organizations
NEW YORK ARTS RECOVERY FUND"
WASHINGTON, DC - An appropriations bill, signed into law last
week by President Bush, adds $320 million in loan capacity to the
U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) disaster lending effort
on behalf of businesses in New York and Northern Virginia that
suffered losses in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and
Pentagon attacks of September 11. The additional funds raised the
total disaster loan pool available to help these businesses to
$600 million. Since September 11, the SBA has approved more than
$229 million in disaster loans to businesses in New York, Virginia
and the contiguous areas.
"Our legislative partners deserve praise for working so hard to
craft this package that will help business owners who suffered
such great losses in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks,"
said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "This funding will
contribute greatly to the economic revival of these communities."
The loan program has been expanded so that the maximum disaster
loan (physical and/or economic injury) amount is increased from
$1.5 million to $10 million for businesses located in the declared
disaster areas of New York, Virginia and contiguous counties.
Small non-profit institutions located in the declared disaster
areas of New York, Virginia and contiguous counties are now
eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. (EIDLs) Following
SBA's issuance of an EIDL to small businesses in the declared
areas, payments of principal and interest on those loans will be
deferred for two years, and no interest will accrue during that
period.
The application deadline for physical damage disaster loans (New
York City and contiguous counties) has been extended to March 11,
2002. Small businesses in all the declared disaster areas have
until June 11, 2002, to submit the EIDL application.
Sources/resources:
Businesses in New York, Virginia and the surrounding areas
interested in applying for a disaster loan or obtaining further
information can contact the SBA disaster area office in Niagara
Falls, New York at 800-659-2955. To find out more about the SBA's
disaster assistance program, visit the web site at
http://www.sba.gov/disaster
For more information about all of the SBA's programs for small
businesses, call the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800-U-ASK-SBA, or visit
http://www.sba.gov
WASHINGTON, DC -- The deadline to apply for Disaster Unemployment
Assistance (DUA) for those affected by the Sept. 11 World Trade
Center attack has been extended an additional 34 days, until
February 19. This is the third extension of the program.
The DUA program provides 26 weeks of benefits to the
self-employed, business owners and workers who lost employment as
a direct result of the disaster, and to those who are otherwise
not eligible for New York State regular unemployment program
benefits.
DUA is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and administered through the New York State Department of
Labor.
Sources/resources:
To apply for New York State regular unemployment insurance or DUA,
residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut should call the
New York State Department of Labor Telephone Claims Line at
1-888-209-8124 from 8 AM to 6 PM Monday, and 8 AM to 5 PM Tuesday
through Friday. Residents of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and other
states should call the New York State Department of Labor
Telephone Claims Line at 1-877-358-5306 from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday
through Friday. Applicants should have their Social Security
numbers as well as their earnings and employment history
available when they call. For more information, visit
http://www.fema.gov/diz01/d1391n58.htm
WASHINGTON, DC -- On January 22, Michael Hammond assumed office
as the eighth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
(NEA) Hammond was unanimously confirmed by the United States
Senate on December 20, 2001. Upon his confirmation Mr. Hammond
said:
"As Americans, we are all heirs to an incredibly rich and diverse
artistic and cultural heritage. It is essential, particularly at
this difficult period in our history, to draw support and
inspiration from that heritage, and to encourage and support the
finest work of our own time. The Arts Endowment is committed to
these tasks. I shall work to increase its role in making the arts
an ever more valuable part of our lives, connecting us
to the past, illuminating the present, and inspiring our future. I
will advocate especially for policies and practices that enhance
the experience of our young people - by giving them the insights
and skills that lead to understanding and participation in the
arts."
A composer, conductor, administrator, and scholar, he was
formerly the Dean of The Shepherd School of Music at Rice
University in Houston.
Sources/resources:
"Michael P. Hammond Assumes Office As Chairman of the NEA"
"Michael Hammond Confirmed as New NEA Chairman"
Susan Sollins, Executive Producer and Curator
"....in an unprecedented look at the shape and direction of art in
the contemporary United States, Art:21 - Art in the Twenty-first Century
invites public television viewers to meet 21 emerging and established
artists, to see how they work, and to William Wegman, and actor, playwright, and comedian Steve Martin.
Filmed in Chicago where the artist lives, teaches and works,
the segment with Kerry James Marshall juxtaposes the artist and his work
with glimpses into the domestic interiors of his immediate family --
interiors which find their way into the artist's paintings.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer Maya Lin is introduced in her studio
in New York City where she is working on a series of sculptures.
"Everything I've done in life is about polarities, about two sides
balancing out," says Lin, who is currently designing an urban park in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. Integrating art and architecture, the park
features a skating rink where fiber optic technology produces an image of
the night sky on the surface of the ice.
Hosted by John McEnroe with artist Barbara Kruger, Program 4:
CONSUMPTION, will air Thursday, February 7 at 10:00 PM. It profiles
Matthew Barney, Michael Ray Charles, Mel Chin, and Andrea Zittel.
"Making art, I think, is not about one track, one method. The diversity
of mediums and techniques is minor. But the diversity of ideas and how
they survive and the methods that are transmitted is very important,"
says Chin. In an area of burnt out buildings on the East Side of inner
city Detroit, Chin's current work, SUSTAINABLE WORKS INVOLVING
NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS, (S.W.I.N.G.) creatively challenges residents,
artists and architects to reshape the buildings into productive
neighborhood environments.
In addition to detailed information about each segment and the featured
artists, the Art:21 website currently hosts a discussion on a World Trade
Center memorial. To access the discussion as well as local schedules for
Art:21, visit
http://www.pbs.org/art21
ARTISTCARES WORKSHOPS PREPARE ARTISTS TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY
IN CREATIVE HEALING WORKSHOPS
ArtistCares, is presenting two day long Artist Preparation
Workshops. They will be held on February 9 and March 1. Both
workshops cover 4 main areas creating 'norms' within Creative
Healing Workshops; managing group dynamics; (including several
learning paradigms) facilitation strategies; and creating the
bridge between healing and the creative process within the
Creative Healing Workshops.
Background
ArtistCares services include events in which creative
artists share their talents in order to reconnect communities with
the arts; collaborations with cultural and other organizations which meet
special community needs in times of crisis; and structured workshops in
which specially trained teams of artists and counselors work with
community members to facilitate a deeper understanding of the experience
of crisis.
Anyone interested in working as a facilitator for ArtistCares
Creative Healing Workshops must attend an Artist Preparation
Workshop. Please RSVP to
art@artistcares.org to reserve a spot.(You must RSVP in order to
attend a workshop.) Workshops are limited to 30 participants, so RVSP
early to assure a spot.
For more information about ArtistCares, visit
http://www.artistcares.org
ART AND ACTIVISM - an Open Dialogue Supporting C. Suriyani's
Work which Explores the Themes of Immigration, Displacement,
Exploitation, and the American Dream -- Avenue 50 Studio
"After September 11, it is particularly important that we not
forget that America is a nation of immigrants, working together
to create a home where rights and liberties are protected. This
open dialogue explores the role of art as a positive and active
force for examination and change."
In conjunction with installations by C. Suriyani, a panel
discussion will explore themes of immigration and the question of
identity and inclusion in American society for people of color.
The real life situation of immigrant garment workers and the
conditions under which they live will also be explored.
Artists Magu and C. Suriyani, along with the Garment Workers
Center, Chinese News Daily, Professor David Diaz, the Asian
Pacific American Labor Alliance, and other special guests will
take part in a discussion centering on positive change for
immigrant American communities and on the role of art in the
struggle for justice.
In the installation (INVINCIBLE), artist Cindy Suriyani, herself
an immigrant from Indonesia, explores the themes of immigration,
displacement, exploitation, and the American Dream. Suriyani
deals with "the duality between the sterilized shopping centers of
a consumer society and the conditions of the Garment Workers in
sweatshops who created the clothes," the gallery states.
"(invisible) exposes the unknown Americans, immigrants struggling
for a voice, for the most basic of human rights. Ultimately, the
exhibit is about the human ability to confound rage with poetry,
and the immigrant and American resilience and spirit in the face
of oppression and ignorance."
In her installation ANGEL ISLAND, "the immigrant experience is
reinterpreted in its symbolic context. Many Asian immigrants,
instead of going through Ellis Island, were harrowingly detained
on "Angel Island," off the coast of San Francisco. These
prisoners wrote poetry on the walls and every other open
surface they could find; the poetry is buried like half submerged
scriptures. They are decorative from a distance" and sometimes
painful in its macroscopic realm."
The work is on view until February 1, 2002.
A Reception and Asian Techno Pop Music will follow the panel
discussion. The exhibition runs until February 1, 2002.
Contact May Wang at may@apex.org tel:
323-258-1435 for further
information
VOICES FROM THE ARAB WORLD
Following the success and community-wide interest in the October
2001 film series VOICES FROM THE ARAB WORLD, filmmaker and
curator Pia Cseri-Briones, the Rochester Contemporary, and the
Visual Studies Workshop present another series of screenings from
and about the Arab and Muslim culture.
Upcoming are:
January 31, 2002
Simone Bitton
The February 7 program will feature Tania Kamal-Eldin's COVERED:
THE HEJAB IN CAIRO, EGYPT and Fatima Jebli Ouazzani'S IN MY
FATHER'S HOUSE.
The screenings are free and open to the public and presented in
hope of furthering cultural understanding and in response to the
events of September 11th.
For more information, visit:
VISUAL STUDIES WORKSHOP --
http://www.vsw.org/exhibitions/current.html
ROCHESTER CONTEMPORARY --
http://www.pyramidarts.org/sched.html
Oberon Theatre Ensemble presents the premiere of
I, UNSEEN by Marika Mashburn
"In 1986, to win the cold war with the Soviet Union, the United
States and NATO gave aid to a small radical Muslim group called
the Taliban. Although the Taliban promised freedom and reform,
they imposed strict laws on their people, imprisoning, torturing
and murdering those who did not comply with the new 'religious'
code. Most oppressed became the women, who could no longer work,
get an education, or even leave the house without a close male
relative. Commanded to wear the traditional bhurka, which covers
the entire body, women literally disappeared from Afghan society.
In Ms. Mashburn's original play, I, UNSEEN, this human tragedy is
examined through the lives of four women under the Taliban regime.
These 'unseen' women face desperate life-and-death choices as they
search for the smallest piece of what used to be."
Featuring Alison Caldwell, Lora Lee Ecobelli, Linda Hetrick, Dan
Hicks, Jennifer Larkin, Nina Millin, Grace Pettijohn, Ryan
Tramont, Adria Woomer
Selected for production before the events of September 11, the play
weaves together the lives of four women living in Afghanistan
under the Taliban regime with documented events occurring in
Afghanistan -- symbolizing their subjugation with the use theatrical
choreographed movement.
In an interview on the Oberon web site the writer Marika Mashburn,
whose background is in music and dance, tells Director Donovan
Johnson: "This subject came to me after seeing a speech given by
Mavis Leno to the United States Senate about gender apartheid in
Afghanistan. She noted the contributions of the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), and after learning
more about the situation from their website, I knew I wanted to
bring the stories of these women to the public"
The Oberon Theatre Ensemble, based in New York City, is a
not-for-profit theatre group organized in 1993 and committed to
"cultivating and invigorating a diverse theatre community by
confronting contemporary issues through classic and original works
and by employing non-traditional casting and supporting the
process of developing original material."
For more information and the complete interview, visit:
http://www.oberontheatre.org/IUnseen.htm
Tickets a can be ordered online at :
http://www.theatermania.com/ny/shows/iunseen/
Miami Contemporary Dance Company: COMMENTING AMERICA
"Our vision is to bring to the stage contemporary
dance of the highest level, exposing our audience here
at home to dance with different contemporary
influences from around the world. In turn we will grow
to tour nationally and internationally representing
Miami and celebrating our rich cultural and artistic
diversity with the world."
In SIGNS OF LIFE, media accounts from Sept. 11 and its aftermath are used
to study the expressions and gestures as captured by the photographers.
The work is performed to Bela Bartok's VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 2.
According to the SiouXLand Weekly, the performance integrates three
narratives: the globally observers of events unfolding on television, the
people in New York City who observed the devastation firsthand, and those
who were trapped in the buildings or on the planes.
"It was important for me that I capture abstractly the emotions and the
feelings that were going on, especially within that first week," the
Weekly quotes choreographer and dancer Ray Sullivan, as saying. "The
piece deals with both the terror and the anger, as much as it does the
transformation to hope."
The company's Artistic Director-Resident Choreographer
Ray Sullivan has performed ballets by more than forty
choreographers in North America, South America, Asia and
Europe. He danced five years with El Ballet Contemporaneo Del
Teatro San Martin in Argentina where he also
danced as a guest soloist with ABT principle Julio Bocca.
Designer Jorge Gallardo is also resident designer for Ballet
Biarritz in France and Ballet Florida. He has designed for
American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Ulysses Dove,
Ballet De Nancy, Miami City Ballet among others.
Dancers include Soledad Centurion Yedro; (Chaco, Argentina) Lara
Murphy; (Miami) and Tara York; (Leeds, England)
Sources/resources:
MIAMI CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY --
http://www.miamicontemporarydance.org
Miranda Leitsinger
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) provides national
recognition and support to significant projects of artistic
excellence, thus preserving and enhancing our nation's diverse
cultural heritage.
Upcoming categories and deadlines are:
Assistance is available to nonprofit organizations of all sizes,
and for projects in all arts disciplines.
For complete details including how to get application forms, visit
http://www.arts.gov/guide/Orgs03/OrgIndex.html
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has recently committed $50 million
to assist arts organizations with financial losses suffered as a
result of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, (A.R.T./New York) a
service organization for New York City's not-for-profit theatres,
has been asked to distribute a portion of these funds to the
theatre community.
The fund is intended to aid New York City not-for-profit theatre
companies with budgets under $4 million who have been directly
affected by the events of September 11, 2001. It is anticipated
that the majority of the grants will range between $1,000 and
$50,000.
Grants will be made in two phases: $2 million will be awarded to
theatres at the end of February and $500,000 will be awarded by
April 15. Applications for February are due on January 31, 2002
and for April on March 6, 2002. A.R.T./New York notes that this structure
has been designed to ensure that all affected companies have the
opportunity to apply for funding. Companies can only apply once and there
is no advantage to applying for one cycle over the other.
For eligibility and application details, visit
http://www.of-
fbroadwayonline.com/mellonfund.php
"Increasing the intelligibility of the Web is a compelling vision.
Imagine how the utility of local data could be enhanced if they
were Meaningfully linked to data posted by strangers far away. The
Web could evolve into a comprehensive meaning system, a universal
encyclopedia or 'world brain,' as prophesied by H.G. Wells."
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is actively promoting the
Semantic Web as an extension of the current Web, but one in which
information will be given well-defined meaning thus facilitating
the cooperation between computers and people. The crucial first
step is to increase the functionality of Web machines to
"understand" the data that they merely display at present.
THE SEMANTIC WEB, a special issue of INFORMATION RESEARCH, an
international electronic journal -- http//informationr.net/ir/ --
is calling for papers that discuss the challenges of transforming
the current Web into a meaning space. The scope of discussion
extends from technical challenges, such as affixing meaning to an
Extensible Markup Language (XML) source, to linguistic and
cultural barriers, such as the development of semantic tags that
will be widely accepted and validly used.
Questions and proposals for papers should be sent to the editor of
the special issue: Dr. Terrence A. Brooks, The Information School
University of Washington, Box 352840, Seattle, WA 98195-2840
voice 206 543-2646 fax 206 616-3152
email
tabrooks@u.washington.edu
website:
http://faculty.washington.edu/tabrooks/
Completed papers should be received by May 31 2002, but
questions about the suitability of proposed papers may be sent to
the Issue Editor at any time. The style guide for Information
Research is found at
http://informationr.net/ir/author1.html
The College Art Association (CAA) has announced an Access to
Resources Fund to underwrite CAA membership dues and
registration/travel expenses for CAA's 90th Annual Conference in
Philadelphia on Feb. 20-23, 2002, for 75 New York City-based
visual arts professionals who have experienced a change in
financial circumstances in the wake of 9/11.
Applicants are asked to submit a c.v. and a two-page statement of:
(1) financial need, with reference to the impact of the events of
9/11; (2) their history of involvement in education and outreach;
and (3) their career goals, with reference to the visual arts
and/or art scholarship.
Submissions must be received by 5 PM on Friday, Feb. 1, 2002, at:
College Art Association, Dept. ATR, 275 Seventh Avenue, NYC 10001.
(No telephone calls or email messages, please.)
Deadline: February 18, 2002, Audio works, COLLECTIVE JUKEBOX
Deadline: March 1, 2002, Artists - Photography, artists' books,
digital video and multimedia, 8 and 16mm film and analog video,
ARTISTS' RESIDENCIES AT VISUAL STUDIES WORKSHOP
Deadline: March 25, 2002, Artists and producers working in analog
and digital electronic media -- films and videos of their work,
NO-TV & MOVIES #21, VISUAL STUDIES WORKSHOP MEDIA CENTER
Deadline: March 22, 20002, Public artists, "ALL WARS MEMORIAL",
HENRY LAY SCULPTURE PARK, Louisiana, Missouri
Deadline: ongoing, Massachusetts artists, WBUR INTERNET-BASED
EVENT CALENDARS
Details about these and other jobs are available on Arts Wire's
Web Site at
http://www.artswire.org/current/jobs.html
To submit jobs to Arts Wire, email them to
joblist@artswire.org
Please send a text file in the body of the message. (ie no attachments
and no HTML) There is no fee for posting job listings. The deadline is
Friday for the next week's listings. (which usually are posted on
Monday) For the most part, job listings are not edited. The contents of
the postings are the responsibility of the originating agency.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, No Name Exhibitions @ the Soap Factory, (Minn,
MN)
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, New Jersey State Council on the Arts,
(Trenton, NJ)
EDUCATION DIRECTOR, (part-time) Dancing in the Streets, (New York
City, NY)
CURATOR OF EDUCATION, The John Michael Kohler Arts Center,
(Sheboygan, WI)
COMMUNITY OUTREACH COORDINATOR, Boston Landmarks Orchestra,
(Boston, MA)
PER DIEM TEACHING ARTISTS, The American Craft Museum, (New York
City, NY)
LEAD THEATER TECHNICIAN, Harlequin Productions, (Olympia, WA)
THEATER TECHNICIAN, (Part-Time/Intermittent) Dublin Municipal
Building, (Dublin, OH)
DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION, New York Foundation for the Arts, (New
York City, NY)
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, Dance Forum-New York, (New York City, NY)
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, International Sejong Soloists (ISS)
(New York City, NY)
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, Trisha Brown Dance Company, (New York City,
NY)
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT, Trisha Brown Dance Company, (New York
City, NY)
MARKETING CONSULTANT, The Educational Video Center, (New York
City, NY)
CURATORIAL ASSISTANT, Private Collection, (New York City, NY)
BUSINESS MANAGER, Battery Dance Company, (New York City, NY)
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, Brooklyn Academy of Music, (Brooklyn,
NY)
OFFICE MANAGER, MCC Theater, (New York City, NY)
OFFICE MANAGER, (performing arts P.R. office) (New York City, NY)
OFFICE ASSISTANT, Poetry Society of America, (New York City, NY)
INTERNSHIP ASSISTANT, The Kitchen, (Boston, MA)
SPECIAL PROJECT INTERN, The Kitchen, (New York City, NY)
SOUND ART EDUCATIONAL INTERN, Creative Arts Charter School, (San
Francisco, CA)
INTERNSHIP, Kouros Gallery, (New York City, NY)
INTERNSHIPS, Arts International, (New York, NY)
INTERN/VOLUNTEER, WOW Cafe, (New York, NY)
INTERNSHIPS, The American Craft Museum, (New York City, NY)
INTERNSHIP, De Chiara Gallery, (New York City, NY)
SUMMER 2002 INTERN PROGRAM @ MASS MoCA, Massachusetts Museum of
Contemporary Art, (North Adams, MA)
INTERNS, Insignia Films, (NYC and Garrison, NY)
A growing list of links to job resources for artists and arts
administrators is available on Arts Wire's Web Site at
http://www.artswire.org/current/jobres.html
WASHINGTON, DC -- In an open letter to Senator Ernest F. Hollings,
(D-SC) Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, The Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of
America state:
"We are writing to express our deep concern about the Bush
administration's plans to transfer the oversight of media industry
mergers from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the Department
of Justice (DOJ). While we understand the desire for expeditious
review of mergers, this jurisdictional gerrymandering seems to
have been motivated more by politics and ideology than a desire to
better serve the public. Such a move would be extremely
detrimental to the public interest and to media consumers. We urge
you to continue to do your utmost to persuade the administration
to abandon its plans."
Noting that: "The largest cable merger in U.S. history
(ATT/Comcast) is pending while the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) is rewriting the structure of media ownership
law, Mark Cooper Director of Research Consumer Federation of
America and Gene Kimmelman Co-Director, Consumers Union Washington
DC Office state that "Rigorous antitrust oversight is more
critical now than ever. The FTC's track record of independence and
minimization of partisan influences has meant that diverse points
of view are brought to these complex issues."
They conclude:
"We have deep concerns about the ability and willingness of the
Department of Justice to vigorously administer the antitrust laws;
the DOJ has shown more susceptibility to the influence of whatever
administration is currently in power. As you may be aware, after
winning a unanimous ruling in the case against Microsoft under the
previous administration, the new leadership of the Department of
Justice agreed to an extremely weak settlement. In recent
testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, we made the case
that the settlement not only fails to serve the public interest,
but strengthens the hand of the monopolist as well. We fear that
this same lack of vigor will pervade all media ownership reviews
if the DOJ is allowed to usurp the FTC's role."
Sources/resources
THE CONSUMERS UNION --
http://www.consumersunion.org
CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA --
http://www.consumerfed.org
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