"While many of us have known arts education enhances academic instruction, Critical Links is the first report of the hard evidence that supports this conclusion," said United States Senator Thad Cochran. (R-MS) "This will assist school boards, teachers, and administrators as they make choices about the curriculum and other opportunities our students should have."

The findings in Critical Links, Jonathan Katz, CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, emphasized, "should encourage education decision makers at the state and local levels to ensure that adequate classroom hours of arts teaching are available in all schools to all students, that learning in the arts is assessed, and that both arts specialist teachers as well as generalist teachers have adequate training and budgets to provide excellent instruction in the arts."

In the research-based climate for justifying education programs which the new NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND education bill exacts, Critical Links enhances the need for arts education by documenting concrete examples of research on the impact of programs in dance, drama, music, multiple arts, and visual arts -- which at the same time as they provide an arts curriculum also have an interdisciplinary focus, promoting learning in tandem with reading, mathematics or languages.

In the music section, for instance, one of the documented studies looks at a music program whose methodology is based on similarities between the structures of music and language. It reports on how these similarities reinforce both the learning of music and the learning of a second language in an elementary school second-language classroom. (French for second-graders),

Other approaches reviewed in Critical Links include a report of a Museum of Modern Art Visual Thinking Curriculum program which studied how children aged 9 to 10, who learn to look closely at works of art and reason about what they see, might transfer these same skills to a science activity; and a study of the use of dance to increase positive self perception and social development in at-risk and incarcerated adolescents. In this program, College students (all with dance experience but only one dance major) observed, danced, and interviewed the teens and produced a "collective meta-portrait".

Janice Ross, whose paper "Art and Community, Creating Knowledge through Service in Dance" describes this program, "has defined the best approach this writer has come across to understanding and unpacking what happens in a dance class," Karen Kohn Bradley, the author of the Dance section of Critical Links, writes. "By using self-reflective observations, journaling, rich discussion, interviews, and a consensus-building approach to drawing conclusions, the author fosters understanding of both the value of and the constraints on dance-informed learning. The study is a model for dance education researchers...." Karen Bradley, who is Director of Graduate Studies in Dance at the University of Maryland, College Park, also suggests that "For the future, dance education researchers need to look at other forms of dance (in this case, jazz and hip-hop were the delivery system for dance technique) and to other dance experiences such as choreography, improvisation, and performing."

A major theme of the research documented in Critical Links is that in particular the arts enhance learning and achievement for young children, for students from economically disadvantaged circumstances, and for students needing remedial instruction,

For instance, a program for 5th-grade remedial reading students which utilized creative drama -- where children read stories and then created and enacted relevant scenes -- found that children in the program were not only able to better comprehend what they've read and acted out, but were also better able to comprehend other written material such as the written scenarios encountered on standardized tests.

"This is an important finding that warrants scrutiny and additional research - that drama not only contributes to the immediate subject of a dramatic enactment but also associates with comprehension of written stories unrelated to the drama activity," observes researcher James Catterall who authored the "Research on Drama and Theater Education" section of Critical Links.

In addition to the mutual relationships between arts education and the development of reading and language skills; and the mutual relationships between music instruction and the development of spatial reasoning and spatial-temporal reasoning skills which are fundamental to understanding and using mathematical ideas and concepts, the studies in the report show correlations between arts learning and fundamental cognitive capacities -- such as problem-solving, and creative thinking.

The arts also nurture motivation, self-confidence, self-identity, conflict resolution, collaboration, empathy, and social tolerance, many studies documented in Critical Links found.

And studies have shown that the arts help to create a learning environment conducive to teacher and student success -- fostering innovative teaching, community engagement, increased student attendance and retention, and a positive school identity.

For instance, one report, "Learning In and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer" by Judith M. Burton, Robert Horowitz, and Hal Abeles, studied 4th-, 5th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders in 18 public schools and found that children in arts-rich schools show more creativity and higher academic self-concept than those in arts-poor schools.

"This study is a rich qualitative and quantitative study of the relationship between arts education and creative thinking, academic self-concept, and school climate. It found that students in arts-rich schools scored higher in creativity and several measures of academic self-concept than students in schools without that level of arts. Arts-rich schools also had more innovative teachers, (as measured by teacher self-reports)" Critical Links commentary noted.

Critical Links also looks at problems with research methods and conclusions, observing that results could be impacted by factors such as the greater attention given to students in arts programs. The compendium notes, for instance, (in a review of a study documented in the Multi-arts section) that "In order for this study, and others like it, to have a high degree of significance for schools, it would have to explore in more detail the differences among the arts programs the different groups of students in the study experienced. Such probing might explain better why the researchers saw the results they did and would offer readers a clearer understanding of the researchers' definition of arts integration."

At it's core, arts education introduces youth to the arts as an essential community and communication component. And -- for beginning artists -- arts education provides background, training, and school support -- the nurturing needed to foster all professions which are an essential component in our society.

However, the importance of a many-faceted approach to educating leaders about the importance of arts education was underscored by many of the researchers who participated in the study.

In response to a question from Arts Wire CURRENT about how Critical Links researchers saw the role of arts education in nurturing potential artists as well as in fostering other forms of learning, Richard J. Deasy, Director of the Arts Education Partnership, commented that:

"All of us involved with Critical Links believe that unless the arts are seen as part of the basic education of all students, we will not develop either artists or fully educated students. Most parents and schools don't encourage young people to plan a career as an artist. The role is seen as risky as well as out of reach for most students, requiring talents or gifts you are born with. Our society also doesn't realize that the arts are profound ways of thinking and communicating."

Deasy emphasized that unless we change these views and attitudes, the arts will stay marginal in schools and young people will not have access to the school programs that are the foundation for artistic development.

"Critical Links shows the importance of learning in the arts for all students for those who will one day be artists and for those for whom the arts will make essential contributions to their success in school, life and work," he stated.

Critical Links principal researcher and essayist James Catterall noted that "the arts learning experiences investigated in the compendium studies would be expected, in varying degrees, to increase the likelihood that some children will develop strong interests in the visual and performing arts and go on to be artists as adults -- certainly more so than from schools which have neither quality arts education programs nor programs akin those described in Critical Links."

Catterall is Professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies and Director of the Imagination Group, a collaboration group of academics, students, teachers, and art professionals interested in learning. He added that "And that if expansion of arts programs is a consequence of Critical Links and of the set of ambient beliefs it reinforces, more artists will emerge from the schools in the future."

Musician, researcher, educator, and administrator in music, Larry Scripp, who authored the Music section Critical Links, pointed out that "Our major art schools -- Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music, for example, -- find that over 80% of our graduates become involved with arts education."

Scripp is Chair of the Music Education Department at New England Conservatory where, as Founding Director of the new Research Center for Learning Through Music at New England Conservatory, he is designing and implementing "Learning through Music" School Programs in public schools. Most recently, he became the Founding Director of the National Music-in-Education National Consortium, a coalition of schools of music and education, arts organizations, and school reform organization through the arts. (led by the New England Conservatory of Music and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts)

"The new National Consortium for Music in Education has adopted the Artist-Teacher-Scholar Framework as a way to describe the evolution of the artist in society as a person who synthesizes arts training with education and research interests and skills," he told Arts Wire CURRENT.

"In sum," Scripp said, "the post 20th century artist-teacher-scholar is a role model for the educated artist who is as concerned with the highest standards of artistic skill and literature as he or she is concerned with benefiting public school communities through residencies, teaching, or research on the impact of learning through the arts. With these current trends in mind, I believe Critical Links should be read as an important indication on the value of authentic forms of artistry and arts learning for our nations public schools, and, therefore, to our society as a whole."

"A purpose of this Compendium is to recommend to researchers and funders of research promising lines of inquiry and study suggested by recent, strong studies of the academic and social effects of learning in the arts. A parallel purpose is to provide designers of arts education curriculum and instruction with insights found in the research that suggest strategies for deepening the arts learning experiences that are required to achieve those effects," AEP Director Richard J. Deasy wrote in the introduction.

In the Dance section, Karen Bradley observed that "Clearly defined, discipline-embedded studies in dance need to be encouraged, supported, and disseminated. With good statistics and in-depth studies of the specifics of particular processes, educators will be able to replicate, amend, and develop the best practices dance education can offer. Educators, parents, and administrators will learn just how potent and effective dance can be with children, intrinsically and instrumentally. And finally, educators can design rich, effective dance experiences with the needs of real children in mind."

The importance of further research was also emphasized by Richard Deasy.

"It is imperative that further research be conducted to confirm and deepen the findings in this compendium," he wrote. "These studies suggest that it is a matter of equity that we make high quality arts programs part of the education and development of every young person. Research needs to show the forms of arts instruction that will close the achievement gap for students who are falling behind. Critical Links points to specific directions for this future research."

Sources/resources:

CRITICAL LINKS: LEARNING IN THE ARTS AND STUDENT ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is available in PDF form on the The Arts Education Partnership (AEP) Web site http://www.aep-arts.org
To order printed copies, contact CCSSO Publications at 202- 336-7016.

AEP is a national coalition of arts, education, business, philanthropic, and government organizations that demonstrates and promotes the essential role of the arts in the learning and development of every child and in the improvement of America's schools. The partnership includes more than 100 organizations that are national in scope and impact. It also includes state and local partnerships focused on influencing education policies and practices to promote quality arts education. The Arts Education Partnership is administered by The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies through a cooperative agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education.

Studies cited in Arts Wire Current's coverage of the Critical Links report include:

Anne S. Lowe, "The Effect of the Incorporation of Music Learning into the Second-Language Classroom on the Mutual Reinforcement of Music and Language. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, 1995, Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois

Shari Tishman, Dorothy MacGillivray, and Patricia Palmer, "Investigating the Educational Impact and Potential of the Museum of Modern Art 's Visual Thinking Curriculum," Unpublished Report, Museum of Modern Art, New York , NY, 1999

Janice Ross, "Art and Community: Creating Knowledge Through Service in Dance", Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 2000, New Orleans, LA

Sherry DuPont, "The Effectiveness of Creative Drama as an Instructional Strategy to Enhance the Reading Comprehension Skills of Fifth-Grade Remedial Readers," READING RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION, 1992, 31(3): 41-52

Judith M. Burton, Robert Horowitz, and Hal Abeles, "Learning In and Through the Arts: The Question of Transfer", STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION, 2000, 41(3): 228-257

Arts Wire CURRENT's coverage of the new education bill:

"Arts Included as 'Core Academic Subject' in New Education Bill"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur011502.html
January 15, 2002

"NO SUBJECT LEFT BEHIND - Collaboratively Produced Guide Sets Forth Arts Education Opportunities in the 2001 Education Act"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur050702.html
May 7, 2002

"dialogue has been a major voice of visual arts in the Midwest for 24 years," said Ric Petry, Dean of Media Studies at Columbus College of Art and Design and former dialogue Board Member. "I'm confident that the new dialogue will continue to build on this tradition and be a vibrant and important part of the arts community. Our board feels that Bruce has the passion, tenacity and commitment to enable dialogue to not only survive but to flourish."

The new publisher, Bruce M. Bastoky, is president of January Management Group, Inc., a management consulting firms. He publishes THE JANUARY REPORT, a magazine for human resources executives. A native of Cleveland, he has had a lifelong interest in art -- as a writer/director of industrial films and videos as well as a collector and scholar, with interests in painting, sculpture and filmmaking.

Emphasizing that dialogue will continue as "a vital and important source for arts reporting, information and critique," Bastoky told Arts Wire CURRENT that the new dialogue would be having its first meeting this week.

"We'll be casting out story ideas," he said. "Typically dialogue has been very much focused on visual arts, but we also have a tremendous interest in architecture, urban design, and film."

Under Bastoky, the magazine will continue to cover art produced in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Northern Illinois. He is enthusiastic both about the art produced in the Heartland and about reaching out to the local artist community -- not only in Columbus but also in places such as Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Lexington. Every one of these places has a unique and vibrant arts community, he emphasized.

The new managing editor will be Julie Tahara, who is currently a publication designer with a nationwide insurance company in Columbus. The new Executive Editor most likely be Bastoky's sister Linda Bastoky, a free-lance writer who currently teaches English in a Cleveland public high school.

Former Executive Editor Meg Galipault will continue as a consultant and contributor. "I'm working on a 'Best of' edition that will likely cover the 1978-1987 era of Dialogue. (led by John Coplans, Don Harvey, the late Charlie Miller, at various times) Finding some really interesting material in these back issues," she told Arts Wire CURRENT.

The first annual dialogue Writers' Symposium will be held this summer in Columbus to outline editorial direction and expectations. Former contributors to the magazine will be among those attending. The "best of" dialogue issue will come out this summer, and Bastoky plans to feature pieces from the extensive dialogue archives in future magazine editions and on the Web site.

Following the "best of" issue, the new version of the bi-monthly publication will be inaugurated with the September/October 2002 issue.

"dialogue will become a more comprehensive arts publication to serve a wider arts audience," said Bastoky. "In addition to covering Midwest arts and exhibitions, the magazine will offer museum and gallery guides, design features, art travel destinations and profiles of regional architecture and urban planning. Visually, it will be more exciting. I also plan to enhance the dialogue Web site to create a more interactive experience and a place to 'dialogue' with subscribers and get their ideas and comments about the magazine."

The calendar section will be continued and is projected to be an important component of the new dialogue, as well as a significant element of dialogue online.

"That's how I first knew dialogue 25 years ago," said Bastoky who collects American art deco aluminum furniture but also spends a lot of time looking at contemporary art. "I used the calendar, to decide, for instance, if I wanted to go Cleveland or Columbus for a show."

His plans for the magazine also include a greater reliance on features, with segments on people and personalities and on information for collectors. There will be a little less reliance on show reviews -- since typically with a bimonthly the show is over by the time the publication hits the stands. For the magazine's new design, he envisions a lot of color in the interior -- possibly with a black and white cover. A team of graphic designers, photographers, writers and editors are now reviewing the magazine's editorial format and calendar as well as its layout, writing quality and the Web site. Because the new magazine will be for-profit and not dependent on grants, Bastoky said that he expects to have greater flexibility in the magazine's design and content.

For nearly 25 years, the Columbus-based dialogue, has featured insightful in-depth coverage of arts throughout a six-state Midwest region. "The Midwest arts scene is a vibrant part of our regional culture," Bastoky emphasized. "There are world-class museums, artists and schools. I look forward to being a part of the arts community and providing a useful resource for artists and for those who follow the arts."

Sources/resources:

DIALOGUE MAGAZINE -- http://www.dialoguearts.com

"DIALOGUE magazine Ceases Publication After 25 Years"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur042302.html
April 23, 2002

"We are very pleased with the decision," said Judith F. Krug, director of the the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. "If CIPA had remained law, libraries in economically disadvantaged urban and rural areas would have been forced to use their already scarce resources to install expensive and unreliable filtering software, or be stripped of important financial assistance that they need to provide online access to all users."

CIPA mandated blocking or filtering technology software for any library receiving Federal technology funding -- for all library computers connected to the Internet for all users, including children, adults and staff. The law was challenged by The American Library Association (ALA) and the American Civil Liberties Union. (ACLU)

CIPA is unconstitutional, the Court found, because the mandated use of blocking technology on all computers results in blocked access to substantial amounts of constitutionally protected speech. The Court permanently enjoined The Federal Communications Commission and Library Services Technology Act from withholding funds from public libraries which chose not to install blocking technology, and public libraries are no longer required to install filters on their computers in order to receive funds from either agency.

In the opening paragraph of the decision, Judge Becker emphasized the importance of Internet sources of information stating that:

"....The Internet provides easy access to anyone who wishes to provide or distribute information to a worldwide audience; it is used by more than 143 million Americans. Indeed, much of the world's knowledge accumulated over centuries is available to Internet users almost instantly. Approximately 10% of the Americans who use the Internet access it at public libraries. And approximately 95% of all public libraries in the United States provide public access to the Internet."

In its decision the Court cited the unreliability of Internet filtering software, as demonstrated by many witnesses at the trial who testified that filters not only block access to protected speech but also allow access to illegal or unconstitutional speech -- denying access to information for adults and children alike, while failing to block objectionable material for minors.

Additionally, the Court found that public libraries can and do protect children using less restrictive methods such as offering some terminals with optional filters which families can elect to use for their own children at the public library; education, including handouts, online guides, training sessions and recommended web pages; establishing policies for Internet usage that prohibit access to illegal content; and installing wraparound privacy screens to maintain a private Internet environment for patrons.

"The court's decision affirms the importance of local control in determining library Internet policies," said Ginnie Cooper, director of the Multnomah County Library in Oregon, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. "No one wants children to be exposed to pornography on the Internet, on television or anyplace else. What's important is finding effective solutions to this problem."

According to the ALA, any appeal of the decision will go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sources/resources:

MULTNOMAH COUNTY LIBRARY VS. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/02D0415P.HTM

American LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CIPA RESOURCE PAGE -- http://www.ala.org/cipa

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION -- http://www.aclu.org

"American Library Association, ACLU Challenge to CIPA Opens in Philadelphia"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2002/cur040202.html
April 2, 2002

CENSORSHIP IN CAMOUFLAGE NEW ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY PANEL 2 SELF-CENSORSHIP THE CENSOR WITHIN

"Censorship, wrote the noted South African novelist J.M. Coetze, 'looks forward to the day when writers will censor themselves and the censor himself can retire.' The most effective way of imposing censorship is to make citizens internalize the restrictive standards of those in power. We all make choices, speaking out about one issue a"

Confirmed Panelists for SELF-CENSORSHIP THE CENSOR WITHIN, to be held at the new School on June 11, are:

ALAN SCHECHNER
"an Anglo-Israeli artist living in Savannah. His work addresses a range of social issues including the Holocaust, obscenity and memorialization and his contribution to MIRRORING EVIL NAZI IMAGERY/RECENT ART generated widespread controversy."

CHARLOTTA KOTIK
"a Czech-born curator living in Brooklyn. A curator at the Brooklyn Museum since 1983, she specializes in contemporary art. As the US commissioner for the 45th Venice Bienalle, she organized an exhibition of the work of Louise Bourgeois which toured internationally."

JANICE LIEBERMAN
"a psychoanalyst in private practice on the Upper East Side. She is a Faculty member and Training and Supervising Analyst at IPTAR, the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research . She is the author of BODY TALK LOOKING AND BEING LOOKED AT IN PSYCHOTHERAPY and co-author of THE MANY FACES OF DECEIT OMISSIONS, LIES AND DISGUISE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY both published by Jason Aronson, Inc. as well as numerous articles about deception, gender and contemporary art. She has been a lecturer at the Whitney Museum of American Art for 12 years."

LEEZA AHMADI
"an Afghan-born curator living in the US. Ahmady is distinguished as pioneer operator of the concept; 'Parallel Gallery,' the creation of a portable entity that operates along side of and in reaction to conventional arts institutions. She has succeeded largely by welcoming unique and varied art forms through which notions of artistic collaboration and communication are re-charged."

Moderated by SVETLANA MINTCHEVA, Arts Advocacy Project Coordinator at the National Coalition Against Censorship

Organized by The Media Channel, the arts advocacy project of the National Coalition Against Censorship, and Antonio Muntadas' THE FILE ROOM, an interactive archive documenting 500 years of cultural censorship, two panels called CENSORSHIP IN CAMOUFLAGE NEW ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY are intended to initiate an in-depth inquiry into some underexplored socio-economic and political trends as they affect freedom of expression today. The results will be published in briefing papers.

Note that for those who receive Current in time -- moderated by ROBERT ATKINS with panelists RUBY LERNER, MARTHA ROSLER and a member of the RTMARK COLLECTIVE -- Panel 1 looks at FREE MARKETS AND FREE EXPRESSION on June 4 at 7:00 at the New School

Sources/resources:

THE NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST CENSORSHIP (NCAC) http://www.ncac.org

THE MEDIA CHANNEL -- http://www.mediachannel.org

THE FILE ROOM -- http://www.thefileroom.org

LAKE PLACID FILM FORUM ROUNDTABLES

In June in the Adirondack lakes and mountains, the LAKE PLACID FILM FORUM will generate open and informal dialogue about issues of content and the medium -- with screenings of over 60 films, panels and workshops led by over 70 filmmakers including authors Elmore Leonard and Russell Banks, directors John Sayles and Mira Nair, and actors Campbell Scott and Kyra Sedgewick.

This year special guests are Independent filmmaker John Sayles whose works include RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS 7, THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET, PASSION FISH, MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT, THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH, LONE STAR, and MEN WITH GUNS -- "a Spanish language political road movie"; and special effects artist Ray Harryhausen. (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD)

Sayles will be screening his new film, SUNSHINE STATE, at the Lake Placid Film Forum with "A Conversation With" post-screening interview and reception immediately afterwards. Ray Harryhausen will be showing JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, after which he will discuss techniques and the evolution of his art -- which begain when he was twelve years old and saw King Kong. "He was so amazed by the scenes of a giant ape interacting with people, buildings and planes that he began experimenting with a movie camera and puppets in his family's garage," the Film Forum notes.

Roundtables include: THE ART OF ADAPTATION; (Susan Charlotte, moderator; Elmore Leonard) FILM FINANCING IN TODAY'S WORLD; (Raphael Silver, moderator, Jay Craven, Ira Deutchman, Johnnie Planco, Linda Reisman, Karen Robson) THE ART OF COLLABORATION; (Susan Charlotte, moderator, Mason Daring, Timothy Hutton, Maggie Renzi John Sayles) FILMS AND THE INTERNET; (Gary Glenn Hartwick, moderator, Terry Byrne, Rick Godin, John V. Pavlik) and BLADE II: SCRIPT TO SCREEN. (Guillermo Del Toro, David S. Goyer)

On June 8th, the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) will be sponsoring a lead Forum: STAYING INDEPENDENT IN AN AOL, TIME-WARNER, MC WORLD. The panel will explore the current landscape of Independent Film, including how filmmakers manage to get their films made outside the studio system, whether they find themselves compromising their visions more than in the past, whether alternatives exist or can exist to working within the system. (Ira Deutchman, moderator, with Eamonn Bowles, Ray Silver, Campbell Scott, and Mark Urman)

Master classes include two in producing, one led by Ben Barenholtz and the other by Lloyd Kaufman.

Among the over 60 films which will be screened during the Forum are:

• Sherman Alexie's THE BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING in which childhood friends who lived on the "rez" are brought together as adults for a funeral after the suicide of a childhood buddy

• Karl Slovin's ON EDGE, "an hilarious, off-the-wall, brazenly funny send-up of the high-stakes world of (almost) professional figure skating. We are introduced to three unlikely but passionate Olympic hopefuls..."

• Mira Nair's HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS in which two women search for Mr. Right at a New Jersey beer joint

• Deborah Dickson's (Co-producer: Sandra Butler) RUTHIE AND CONNIE: EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE, "Back in 1950's, Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz were typical housewives, living in a cozy Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn. Then the unthinkable happened. They fell in love -- with each other....Displaying far more gusto and wit than TV's Golden Girls, Ruthie and Connie quickly endear themselves as they tell how they risked everything to be together."

For complete details, visit http://www.LakePlacidFilmForum.com or call 518-523-3456

AIVF -- http://www.aivf.org

NATIONAL SHOWCASE OF NEW PLAYS

"At InterAct Theatre Company and the National New Play Network we believe that playwrights are the true chroniclers of our time. Across the country, playwrights are continually responding to our changing world - reexamining the past, commenting on the present, and imagining the future.

So, it is with a tremendous feeling of excitement and anticipation that we present the National Showcase of New Plays, featuring the work of eighteen dynamic new voices."

-- Seth Rozin Vice Chair, National New Play Network, Producing Artistic Director, InterAct; and Kevin Moore Chair, National New Play Network Managing Director, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Thirteen theatres from across the U.S. and Canada will present eighteen plays in the 2002 NATIONAL SHOWCASE OF NEW PLAYS. They include:

THE WHY
by Victor Kaufold, Directed by Seth Rozin
InterAct Theatre Company (Philadelphia)
"A highly theatrical black comedy satirizing the causes of, and responses to, violence among disaffected middle-class teenagers in our post-Columbine, media-driven culture."

CENTRAL AVENUE
by Stephen Sachs, Directed by Shirley Jo Finney
The Fountain Theatre (Los Angeles)
"In this lyrical tale of racism and revolution in 1940's Los Angeles, be-bop asserts itself as the new musical frontier, black and white musicians embrace a union merger, and the L.A. police department grapples with integration."

HAPPY NEW CENTURY, DR. FREUD
by Sabina Berman, translated by Kirsten Nigro Directed by Michael Johnson-Chase
The Lark Theatre Company (New York) /Borderlands Theater (Tucson, AZ)
"A contemporary examination of Freud's most famous patient (Dora) and most infamous diagnosis (sexual repression), and its resonance at the dawn of the new millennium."

HOW HIS BRIDE CAME TO ABRAHAM>BR> by Karen Sunde, Directed by Ken Marini
Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey (Madison)
"Emotions run high in this parable about the limits of love in an environment of hate, as an injured Israeli soldier is harbored and nursed to health by a strong-willed Palestinian girl."

"We've got everything from capitalism to communism, inner-city Los Angeles to the Gaza Desert, teenage angst to mid-life crises, Queen Elizabeth to Rosemary Kennedy, Gloria Swanson to Leni Riefenstahl, Sigmund Freud to Spanish conquistadors. We hope you'll join us for an engaging, entertaining, and eclectic festival where the play's the thing," the Festival states.

Founded in 1988, InterAct is "a theatre for today's world, producing new and contemporary plays that explore the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. InterAct's aim is to educate, as well as entertain, its audiences, by producing world-class, thought-provoking productions, and by using theatre as a tool to foster positive social change in the school, the workplace and the community." Located in Philadelphia, InterAct seeks, through its artistic and educational programs, to make a significant contribution to the cultural life of Philadelphia and to the American theatre -- striving in particular to cultivate new voices for the theatre.

For more information about the National Showcase of New Plays and a complete schedule, visit http://www.interacttheatre.org/programs/showcase/plays.html

The deadline for submission of stories to be considered for InterAct's WRITING ALOUD program is June 30, 2002. They are looking for fiction which conveys especially well when read before a live audience. For complete information, visit http://www.interacttheatre.org/subguidelines.html

"Millions of books, serials, manuscripts, documents, still and moving images, sound recordings, and objects of material culture are at risk because of their fragility and the manner in which they are stored," the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) notes to introduce a description of NEH Preservation and Access Grants.

Preservation and Access grants support projects that preserve and make available humanities collections which are important for research, education, and lifelong learning. Grants are also given for the creation of research tools and reference works, for national and regional preservation training programs, and for research and demonstration projects that may explore the use of digital technology.

This granting category is founded on the core premise that "Work in the humanities is hampered by inadequate intellectual access to many significant collections and by the lack of reference works and research tools that organize and interpret complex bodies of information. Professionals who care for humanities collections at institutions in every region of the country need education and training programs and research and demonstration projects that can establish a permanent infrastructure of knowledge for preservation and access activities in the United States."

For instance, in the last round, in New York City, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY, received funding for the creation of a cold storage vault to house and preserve the museum's photography, film and video collections and for the purchase of storage furniture for a climate-controlled preparation and viewing room for works on paper.

And in Elkins, West Virginia, Davis and Elkins College received funding for reserving and creating access to audio collections of Appalachian music and oral history documenting West Virginia history and culture.

The next deadline is July 1, 2002.

For complete information, visit http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/preservation.html

HERE Art Center's Supported Artists Program, curated by Executive Director Kristin Marting, is currently accepting submissions for the 2002-2003 season. The program sponsors over 900 performances each year in all three of their performance spaces and has provided a home base for countless independent artist and upstart performance companies.

Artists are chosen by application and on the merit of current or former projects. HERE provides supported artists with services such as subsidized rehearsal and performance space, marketing opportunities. (such as their web site, fax-back service, and bi-monthly program, technical expertise and equipment, box office staff and development assistance)

Since its beginning in 1993 as a shared project between Home for Contemporary Theatre & Art and Tiny Mythic Theatre Company, HERE located at 145 6th Avenue in New York City - has served over 7,000 artists and 300,000 young audience members, presented over 600 original works including 93 exhibitions, and created a home base for 40 core member artists and 23 emerging performance companies.

For details about the application process, visit their web site http://www.here.org (under the working @HERE section) or email julien@here.org or call 212-647-0202 x 310 with questions or to have application materials mailed.

Opportunities for Artists

AFTERNOON FOR ARTISTS

Working artists not affiliated with a nonprofit organization; artists who need to raise funds for a current project in the visual or performing arts; artists who would like to learn about grants, fiscal sponsorship, and entrepreneurship are invited to join fellow artists at the Foundation Center's new training program, GRANTSEEKING BASICS FOR INDIVIDUALS IN THE ARTS -- followed by a presentation on funding and technical assistance for individual artists. Light refreshments will be served after the presentation.

The panelists are:

TED BERGER, Executive Director, New York Foundation for the Arts

KEN CHU, Program Officer, Visual Arts and Emerging Fields Creative Capital Foundation

SUSAN SCHEAR, President, ArtIsIn

Sponsored by the Creative Capital Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts, the program is free, but advance registration is required. Please register early by sending an email to mor@fdncenter.org

Note that presenters will not discuss funding or marketing for arts organizations. Representatives of nonprofit arts groups and arts consultants are invited to attend their June 17 technical assistance breakfast or their June 25 Meet the Grantmakers panel.

Visit the New York library home page of the Foundation Center's http://www.fdncenter.org/newyork/ny_calendar.html for details, or pick up a calendar in the library.

JUNE IS FUNDING FOR ARTS MONTH AT THE FOUNDATION CENTER! -- http://www.fdncenter.org

Throughout June, artists get free access to their new FOUNDATION GRANTS TO INDIVIDUALS ONLINE database at http://gtionline.fdncenter.org

Deadline: June 14, 2002, Artists, all media - black and white artwork, MAXIMILLIAN CAFE'S SUMMER EXHIBIT, Sarasota, FL

Deadline: July 15, 2002, Artist in Residence, THE ARTS & HUMANITIES ALLIANCE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA, Shepherdstown, WV

Deadline: August 20, 2002, Public Artists - design qualifications for Fred Waring Strip Park, CITY OF PALM DESERT PUBLIC ART PROJECT, Palm Desert, CA

Deadline: ongoing, Artists - artwork for WORKS ON THE WALL, exhibition, SPOKE THE HUB, Brooklyn, NY

Deadline: Ongoing, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer artists - 2-D works, SEATTLE LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER ART GALLERY

Deadline: Ongoing, Public Artists, all media - slides, PUBLIC ART PROGRAM OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CA

An issue brief produced by the National Governors Association (NGA) delineates the role of arts education in building the workforce of tomorrow. The report, THE IMPACT OF ARTS EDUCATION ON WORKFORCE PREPARATION, provides examples of how arts-based education can build skills, increase academic success, and lower the incidence of juvenile crime.

"The NGA brief underscores the positive effect that arts education can have on preparing children and youth for success in the workforce," said Eileen B. Mason, Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. "In addition to contributing to cognitive, emotional, and social development, participation in the arts gives children an appreciation for the skill, discipline, and sacrifice necessary for achievement."

Emphasizing that the non-profit arts industry, with $36.8 billion in annual revenue, is a potent nationwide force in economic development and that communities have successfully integrated the arts in economic development programs, the report states that:

"The arts provide one alternative for states looking to build the workforce of tomorrow - a choice growing in popularity and esteem. The arts can provide effective learning opportunities to the general student population, yielding increased academic performance, reduced absenteeism, and better skill-building. An even more compelling advantage is the striking success of arts-based educational programs among disadvantaged populations, especially at-risk and incarcerated youth. For at-risk youth, that segment of society most likely to suffer from limited lifetime productivity, the arts contribute to lower recidivism rates; increased self-esteem; the acquisition of job skills; and the development of much needed creative thinking, problem solving and communications skills."

The report cites research studies showing the positive effects of arts education on student learning, school attendance, communications abilities and higher-order thinking skills.

For instance, New York's Empire State Partnership (ESP) -- an interagency initiative uniting the New York Department of Education's strategic plan for raising standards for all students with the New York State Council on the Arts' (NYSCA) goal of integrating and reasserting the arts into all New York classrooms -- fosters school use of the state's many cultural resources, including artists, museums, music companies, nature centers, community organizations, and writing and literacy programs; builds long term partnerships between classrooms and cultural institutions; and augments teachers' capacity to use the arts as a classroom resource.

Preliminary evaluation indicates that not only is ESP providing students with more sustained learning experiences than traditional approaches to the curriculum can provide, but also in some cases improved school attendance and gains in reading skills have been observed.

In 20 schools in Mississippi, the Whole Schools Project has expanded regular classroom instruction to include the arts and has promoted collaborations between arts and classroom teachers to create arts-infused instruction. "All members of the school community play an important role in this initiative: superintendent, principal, arts and classroom teachers, students, parents, community organizations, and businesses," the report states. "....The measured results of Mississippi's arts-infused instruction include enhanced curriculum assessment practices (as measured schoolwide); increased student engagement (as measured by lower absenteeism rates and fewer discipline problems); and increased student achievement (as measured by classroom grades and higher test scores)."

Among the approaches which governors can consider to initiate programs which utilize the arts as a workforce development strategy, the report suggests:

• including arts education as an element of comprehensive education reform legislation;

• encouraging artists to participate in community development programs including artist-in-residence programs, assistance to youth in primary and secondary schools, neighborhood centers and programs, and detention centers;

• leveraging the willingness of the private sector to contribute to the arts by providing seed funding and starter grants to innovative arts-based education programs.

It is available at

ALLEN LEE HUGHES FELLOWS PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, DC - Arena Stage's Allen Lee Hughes Fellows Program offers an opportunity for people of color and ethnic minorities who are in the early stages of their theater careers to develop apprentice/mentor relationships with Arena's staff of administrators, technicians, and resident artists, and to work alongside guest directors and designers.

Named for Arena's Artistic Associate and highly acclaimed African-American lighting designer, the Fellows Program offers specialized training in Directing, Casting/Production, Communications/Marketing/Media Relations, Costumes, Development(Fundraising/Special Events), Dramaturgy, Education, Executive Director, External Affairs, Finance/Personnel, Information Systems, Lighting Design, Properties, Set Construction/Paints, Sound Design, Stage Management, Ticket Operations, and in Administrative Management and Production with Living Stage. (their improvisational/social change theater)

Fellowships are full-time positions that require a 40-44 week commitment. There is a $11,600 stipend.

Deadlines for the 2002-2003 Fellowships in Communications, Public Relations, Development and Lighting are still open and will be open until filled.

For more information, visit http://www.arenastage.org
Email: Maya Robinson - mrobinson@arenastage.org
ARENA STAGE is located at 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. tel: 202-554-9066

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@nyfa.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, Springfield Art Association, (Springfield, IL)

FACULTY - THEATRE GENERALIST, Theatre & Media, Marymount College, Fordham University, (Tarrytown, NY)

PART-TIME INSTRUCTOR, (DANCE) Department of Music, Theatre , Dance, Plymouth State College, (Plymouth, NH)

INSTRUCTOR/MANAGER, Dansville Dance Academy, (Danville, NY)

HIP-HOP DANCE TEACHER, Spoke the Hub, (Brooklyn, NY)

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, Providence Black Repertory Company, (Providence, RI)

EDUCATION DIRECTOR, The Children's Theatre Company, (Minneapolis, MN)

MUSEUM EDUCATION PROGRAM MANAGER, CA Center for the Arts, (Escondido, CA)

PROGRAM DIRECTOR, ConjunctionArts, (Brooklyn, NY)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Perkins Center for the Arts, (Moorestown, NJ)

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS MANAGER, CA Center for the Arts, (Escondido, CA)

AMERICAN PAINTINGS FELLOW, New York Historical Society, (New York City, NY)

ASSISTANT CURATOR/COLLECTIONS MANAGER, The Cartoon Art Museum, (San Francisco, CA)

CURATORIAL ASSISTANT, Department of Drawings, The Museum of Modern Art, (New York City, NY)

MUSEUM STORE MANAGER, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, (New Brunswick, NJ)

RETAIL CRAFT GALLERY MANAGER, The Society of Arts and Crafts, (Boston, MA)

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER, Minnesota Opera, (Minneapolis, MN)

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS, The Institute of Contemporary Art, (Boston, MA)

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, Artspace, (Raleigh, NC)

DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, American Federation of Arts, (New York City, NY)

MANAGER OF INDIVIDUAL AND MUSEUM MEMBERSHIP, The American Federation of Arts, (New York City, NY)

MEMBERSHIP AND CONFERENCE REGISTRATION ASSOCIATE, AIGA, (New York City, NY)

MEMBERSHIP ASSISTANT, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, (New York City, NY)

DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH, High 5 Tickets to the Arts, (New York City, NY)

GROUP TOURS AND WORKSHOPS COORDINATOR, Art in General, (New York City, NY)

VISITOR ASSISTANT, The Museum of Modern Art, (New York City, NY)

OUTREACH, The Independent Film & Video Monthly, (New York City, NY)

ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT, New 42nd Street, (New York City, NY)

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT/ADMINISTRATOR, High 5 Tickets to the Arts, (New York City, NY)

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT, (New York City, NY)

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE/OFFICE MANAGER, (art book publisher), (New York City, NY)

BOOKKEEPER, Engine 27 - non-profit sound art gallery, (New York City, NY)

INTERN, New York Foundation for the Arts, (New York City, NY)

INTERNS, Japan Society Gallery, (New York City, NY)

PROPERTIES & TECHNICAL DESIGN INTERNSHIPS, American Conservatory Theater, (San Francisco, CA)

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

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- This past year, ten High School students who don't fit in are "flourishing in a school that offers them lessons in creating peace and justice in a world that has rarely offered them any," notes The Esperanza Center's Artescuela Project.

Using art, media and dialogue, teacher and performance artist Vicki Grise is taking her students through an eight-week vanguard curriculum that teaches the history of the civil rights movements in this country and in San Antonio using an in depth reading list and bibliography.

Chicana artist Santa Barraza will host the students for a week-long intensive camp at Texas A&M at Kingsville culminating with an exhibition at the Esperanza in June 2003 alongside her work.

"The teaching is about reflecting their own lives, so the students include lesbianas, poor youth, brown youth. All are very smart but they are not the ones who are at the top of the class because they have 'attitude' -- they question, they challenge. So we want to bring in the people who are true leaders in our communities who can challenge them," Vicki Grise explained.

During the eight-weeks of summer school, "the youth study the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, power, stereotyping, etc., in their lives so that the students can better understand their historias. And not feel hopeless, but hopeful about changing the world," she emphasized.

Sources/resources:

ESPERANZA PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER -- http://www.esperanzacenter.org
922 San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, Texas 78201
tel: 210-228-0901

Located in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains in north-central Wyoming on 70 acres of rolling hayfields, creeks, a pond, aspen and cottonwood trees, near the canyon of the Little Big Horn River, near working cattle ranches, The Kerns Wildlife Habitat and the Cloud Peak Wilderness Area, the Bauen Camp is not-for-profit residential camp, teaching youth how the arts can be used to respond creatively to social challenges.

This summer's sessions are:

CATCH THE FIRE: Building a Community Arts-Based Project
Susan Hill Guest Artist and Program Director
"In the first days of Session One, campers will be immersed in the landscape and traditions of the West; we'll attend a rodeo, hike in the terrain, study the night skies, and listen to stories of indelible local history," the session description begins.

Using improvisational techniques in writing, theater, and visual arts, "Ideas sparked through sharing stories and dreams, through knowledge brought by visiting artists and local historians, and by interviews and artistic collaborations with community senior residents, will be shaped into a public event requiring the skills and labor of all campers and participating seniors." Each young artist will also accumulate a body of individual work in the process of generating the public event.

Visual artist Susan Hill has been Executive Director of UCLA's Artsreach Program since 1983.

FANNING THE FLAMES: Making the School a Creative Community
Bill Cleveland Guest Artist and Program Director
This session will provide teachers, educ writing, movement, and the visual arts.

Musician and writer Bill Cleveland is Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Art and Community, Minneapolis. Guests will include dancer/choreographer/playwright Sandy Augustin, musician Ben Krywosz, and painter/musician.educator Armando Gutierrez.

For complete information, visit http://www.thebauencamp.com