"...a waterfall standing many stories high. The water flowing over a facade inscripted with the date and names of those perished and a prayer or poem Symbolizing the collapse, the tears and the continuity of the human spirit. Water gives us life, it's nature relaxes our souls" -- Robert Hoffman

"...a large round pond in the middle of the site which would be filled with tiny fountains representing each life lost. On the night of a person's birth, their fountain would light up...." Debbie Yin

On the morning of September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes flew into the towers of the World Trade Center, and in the heat of the ensuing massive fire, the two towers crumpled.

Between March and May,l 2002, almost 4,000 people participated in IMAGINE NEW YORK: GIVING VOICE TO THE PEOPLE'S VISIONS, a project of the Municipal Art Society (MAS) and a network of civic and community organizations and other concerned citizens who seek imaginative ideas for Ground Zero -- the place where the World Trade Center Towers Once stood.

In 230 public workshops, on an interactive web site, by mail and by email, nearly 19,000 ideas were collected. These ideas -- from two 110-foot high statues, one of a policeman and the other of a fireman; to a place of peace and community gathering where workshops, music, lectures, art exhibits, poetry readings, and gardening create a sense of renewal and life -- have been collected by Imagine New York and presented to the public in three ways:

• The almost 19,000 visions for Ground Zero are all available online in The Idea Gallery, an extraordinary website which allows access to every idea, word and image submitted.

• They are unified in a publication IMAGINE NEW YORK: THE PEOPLE'S VISIONS which found reoccurring threads in the collected suggestions and organized them into 49 visions whose core ideas were consistent threads in the discourse.

• A sampling of the ideas and visions are exhibited in IMAGINE NEW YORK AN EXHIBITION OF IDEAS, an exhibition which opened July 17, 2002 at the Urban Center Galleries. The exhibition also documents the participatory democracy exemplified by the Imagine NY process.

"Just as the scope of Imagine New York was remarkable, so, too, are the results," Kent L. Barwick, President of the Municipal Art Society (MAS) states in his Foreword to the publication IMAGINE NY: THE PEOPLE'S VISIONS. "Not only was there a tremendous interest and enthusiasm from the public, but also the ideas expressed were well planned, sensitive, and eminently feasible. These ideas focused on such critical planning issues as neighborhood livability, access to the waterfront, transportation connectivity, innovative design, and integrated planning for the site, city and region."

"I love what has been done with the 'temporary' lights. I say keep them. It is many things in one. It is a clear remembrance; it is an upward looking symbol; and it is signifies power both literally and philosophically. Europe does not always replace its worn out or even bombed out structures..." - Selma Schwartzbach

Accessible by clicking on "Idea Gallery" on the bar at the bottom of http://www,imagineny.org -- the IDEA GALLERY, contains all of the ideas generated in workshops, submitted online, in the mail, and created on murals. In this extensive documentation of individual and collective ideas for the site of the September 11, 2002 disaster and for the future of the City, Imagine New York has brought a spirit of creative response to the aftermath of destruction.

The project itself, with its combined acknowledgement of individual ideas and organized collective impact, serves as a kind of memorial, an information age response to wanton destruction by machinery and fuel.

The web site allows searching by keyword, by theme or vision or by workshop location. Among the responses it hosts:

A drawing for THE AGONY OF MAN by Neal Borowsky depicts a figure which is three times lifesize and weighs over 1200 pounds. Built from scrap metal salvaged from the streets of New York, this figure personifies endurance, representing "all the pain and suffering that humanity has inflicted upon itself for as long as we have been able to think," the artist writes.

"Rebuild exactly as before, Norman E. Cox urges. He suggests that the two new towers exactly replicate their destroyed predecessors and that they include an on-site memorial. "But the most important thing is to restore the New York skyline, which to me is the equivalent to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone as a national treasure," he states.

Using steel tension cable shroud technology, build the tallest structure in the world, suggests Greg Higgins.

Conversely, Matthew Brojanowski would like to see Ground Zero used "for prayer and remembrance, not real estate gain." He envisions a memorial park with a museum honoring the people and the culture which was lost.

A narrow metal band which follows the outline of the shadows cast by Towers One and Two on September 11, 2001 is woven across the surface of New York City in a drawing submitted by Mark Roth/Janna Olson. "It would offer a seamless silver lining to honor those we lost & to restore the majesty of the towers' presence in New York," they explain.

Andrew B Hurvitz envisions a town square with the red brick buildings of Dutch towns -- a "human-scaled, light-filled area which will also recall the original Dutch beginnings of New York" and which would contain not only memorials but also ongoing human life: "a kinder and gentler place than the old WTC -- one that respects the pedestrian but also provides homes for small businesses such as cafes, restaurants, outdoor performance areas, art studios, offices, etc. Gardens, flowers, trees, lamposts, fountains -- everything should be soothing and reflective."

Anne Samachson, who until September 11, 2002 worked at 2 WTC also seeks a place of peace, reflection and contemplation. In her vision for Ground Zero, she speaks of the disruption, the tearing apart, the loss of reunions, of celebrations, and of memories: "It wasn't just an office building - it was the place we celebrated and cried, the place we made friends and fell in love, the place we danced and sang, watched performances by great singers and dancers, the place we went to the bank and doctor and dentist and pharmacist...."

She speaks also of the small details, vases of flowers and children's drawings in this formerly vibrant urban community. "The tourists who gaze into the now empty pit don't know or understand what was lost. Please make sure that they know, that future generations know and understand," she asks.

"What do you do with 19,000 ideas?" Kent L. Barwick, President of the Municipal Art Society asks in his Foreword to IMAGINE NY: THE PEOPLE'S VISIONS. "The Steering Committee pored over the ideas to identify common themes and visions. Though the ideas came from a notably diverse public, the Committee found that the 19,000 ideas could be captured in the 49 visions that appear in this report."

Subtitled "A Compilation of Themes and Visions for Rebuilding New York and Revitalizing our Neighborhoods, the 20 page summary report -- available in PDF form at http://www.imagineny.org clearly and extensively sets forth the process and its participants.

At the heart of the process were facilitated working groups of 15 people or more at 230 sites. The sites included among many others, AIDS Service Center of Lower Manhattan; American Indian Artists; Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; BRIC / Brooklyn Information and Culture; Bronx Museum of the Arts; Central Williamsburg Coalition; Children's Museum of Manhattan; City College of New York; Flushing Town Hall; Fordham University; Great Neck North High School; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church; Hope Garden Senior Center; Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning; Muslim-American Society; The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership; New Jersey Historical Society; New York City Opera; New York Foundation for the Arts; (staff) Queens Center for Independent Living; School of Visual Arts; Stamford Public Library; Staten Island Children's Museum; The Studio Museum in Harlem; Stuyvesant High School; Teatro Experimental Blue Amigos; Vassar College; (in-class) Video Works Collective; and the White Plains Public Library.

In these groups, during intense three-hour sessions, participants debated the core issues of loss, change, and moving forward.

"Imagine New York not only addressed the physical rebuilding after Sept. 11, but workshops also served as forums for discussion about community, social equity, education, culture and personal healing," said Eva Hanhardt, director of the MAS Planning Center and co-director of Imagine New York. "It is our hope that Imagine New York An Exhibition of Ideas and its companion website, will help further the vibrant dialogue between the public and the decision makers as we move forward to rebuild our lives and our city."

The summary report organizes the resulting visions into five broad categories - PEOPLE, PLACE, SOCIAL EQUITY, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING, and POLICY.

PEOPLE encompasses visions "about remembrance, honor and recovery as individuals and as a community, focusing on social and spiritual rather than physical rebuilding."

PLACE is defined as "Visions that deal with the onsite memorialization of the September 11 tragedy, and the revitalization and physical redevelopment of the WTC site, Lower Manhattan and the region's diverse communities." Within this section are summarized visions for an Onsite Memorial, for the WTC Site, and for City/Region.

Under Onsite memorial, seven composite visions are presented:

• Respect the WTC site as hallowed ground
• Create a peaceful oasis
• Incorporate a spiritual/healing component at the WTC site
• Create a living memorial
• Erect a memorial monument on the WTC site
• Incorporate a memorial museum."

The SOCIAL EQUITY section summarizes visions "that address the far-reaching impacts of September 11, and recognize the importance of a commitment to resolving pre-9/11 problems regionwide.

They include:

• Dedicate resources for victims' families, rescue workers and survivors
• Increase employment opportunities regionwide
• Improve community services citywide";
• Make affordable housing a priority
• Improve the New York City school system.

In PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING, visions which emphasize the value of public participation and inclusiveness in the planning and decision-making process are summarized.

POLICY sets forth a series of visions "which call upon local, state and federal government officials to develop policies that will assist in recovery, guarantee safety and security, and safeguard our future."

"As our leaders begin planning in earnest to shape the city and region in years to come, they should be encouraged by the level of public interest," MAS President Kent L. Barwick states in the report's Foreword. "They have everything to gain by expanding and continuing this public process. In doing so, they would give voice to the unbreakable spirit of civic involvement that emerged after September 11, recognizing the value of community building and the responsibilities of democracy. What better future for the site and city?"

A sampling of the over 19,000 ideas and visions which were generated in response to Imagine New York's questions:

• "What have we lost?"
• "How have we changed?"
• "Thinking about the World Trade Center site, your community, and the New York region as a whole, how can we move forward from September 11th?"

"The exhibit is a final stage in the initial project. Its intention is to show public and decision makers a sample of the type of work collected, the ideas which make up the 49 visions, as well as submissions from artists and architects and a lot of what came out of the workshops," curator Aimee Molloy explains.

The exhibition also documents the Imagine New York project's comprehensive and far-reaching participatory democracy process.

250 people came to the opening of the exhibition which will be on view at the Urban Center Galleries through October 10. "People are really interested in seeing what is presented with the 49 visions," Molloy told Arts Wire CURRENT.

"A lot of the drawings deal with the skyline and the need to restore the skyline -- not necessarily with a typical skyscraper," she observed.

Among the proposals which caught her imagination was one which suggested bringing water from the Hudson river, tunneling water to the site. She also mentioned the many visions which dealt with transportation. "One of the drawings suggests a monorail, for instance," she noted.

For those who cannot visit the exhibition, such images and ideas are available online on the Idea Gallery.

In an idea called "World Peace Lagoon", for instance, John Doswell, John Krevey, and RT Livingston NYC write that "At a INY workshop, several of us came up with the idea of filling the hole with water, cutting a canal to North (Hudson) River and creating a peace lagoon with an island at the center. Much like you see in many European waterfront towns and even in London."

For instance, other visions emphasize connecting the WTC site to surrounding neighborhoods, the waterfront, the rest of the city, and the region -- providing transit links, focusing on accessibility for the disabled, on wayfinding systems and/or on a train station, and/or on rebuilding the subway, people moving systems which integrate with a natural environment, banning automobiles from the area.

In this exemplary project, Imagine NY presents the public with many far reaching creative ideas which reach beyond the six urban design options for the WTC site submitted on July 16 by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the Port Authority (PA) of New York and New Jersey.

These ideas include Julian Jackson's suggestion that a major arts facility be created on the site. "The positive and meaningful expressions of dance, theatre, music, visual arts, and spoken word are reflective of the most hopeful aspirations of the human spirit and stand in stark contrast to the hateful destruction of life, freedom, and property caused by the attacks on the twin towers," he writes.

These ideas include Lisa K. Lowery vision of a "tranquil, pristine 'reflecting' pool -- filled with crystal clear water which not only 'reflects' the refurbished buildings around it, also damaged by the horrific incidents of September 11, but also symbolically 'reflects' the rejuvenation of America's collective 'heart' as a solid, free nation."

They also include Abigail Carter's vision of "a series of evergreen trees planted on a mat of green grass that follows the exact footprint of the buildings. The trees would each be planted exactly the same distance apart and each tree would represent one of the victims (my husband was one of them), perhaps each carrying a plaque commemorating each victim. The trees would be of a species that would grow very tall and straight and would be known for their longevity."

Imagine New York has posted the details of the LMDC plans and an interactive form to respond to them at http://www.imaginenyideas.org/Projects/Imagine/planForm.asp

"The LMDC and PA pledged to listen to the public's response to those plans, and on July 20 were urged to seriously rethink their program by over 4,000 participants at a town hall meeting," Imagine New York notes. "The LMDC may have issued their six plans for rebuilding the World Trade Center site, but there are over 19,000 Imagine New York ideas that can contribute to a better plan for the future of Lower Manhattan, the city and the metropolitan region."

Sources/resources:

IMAGINE NEW YORK -- http://www.imagineny.org

Imagine New York is sponsored by the Municipal Art Society and assisted by ACP Visioning and Planning and the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development

Among the individuals and organizations who are working with MAS on this project are victims' family members; residents and businesses of Lower Manhattan; schools, such as Columbia University and Hunter College; museums, such as the Museum of the City of New York and the National Museum of the American Indian; major downtown institutions, such as Community Board 1 and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; unions, such as the Central Labor Council; arts groups that were severely affected by the disaster; design and planning organizations such as the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association; the National Park Service; and the Asian American Federation.

The visions included in this article represent only a few of many others. Imagine New York has taken an enormous amount of time to collect and thoroughly document these ideas. Visit their site!

THE PRATT INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (PICCED) -- http://www.picced.org At http://www.picced.org/rdot.htm PICCED has provided a "MAP" OF THE CIVIC PLANNING INITIATIVES TO REBUILD NEW YORK, RECONSTRUCT LOWER MANHATTAN AND THE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE. In addition to Imagine NY, these include among others, NEW YORK NEW VISIONS, a coalition of 20 architecture, planning, and design organizations; THE EMPIRE STATE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE, (ESTA) a coalition of more than 30 transportation, environmental and business groups, that is preparing interim and long-range transportation strategies for Downtown and works closely with the Civic Alliance; and REBUILD DOWNTOWN, OUR TOWN. (RDOT)
Visit the site for details about these and other initiatives.

IMAGINE NEW YORK AN EXHIBITION OF IDEAS is on view at The Urban Center Galleries, 457 Madison Avenue at East 51st Street in New York City, through October 10

In Jupiter, Florida, the community will be invited on September 11, 2002 to place a single flower on the green at Hibel Museum of Art, with the goal of accumulating 5,000 flowers as nationwide tribute to those who lost their lives on September 11. An associated exhibition will feature floral art by Edna Hibel and other artists.

Beginning on September 6, 2002, The Chicago Historical Society will present the exhibition, NEW YORK SEPTEMBER 11 BY MAGNUM PHOTOGRAPHERS. In concurrent programs, local journalists and Magnum Photographers, (a cooperative of about 60 photographers) will share their thoughts about the power of images -- how images shape impressions of the past and how photojournalism affects the understanding of history. On September 11, 2002, The Chicago Historical Society will also host A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE with music, an Ofrenda sponsored by the Resurrection Catholic Academy, and a "Wall of Remembrance" which will ask visitors to contribute their reflections on the anniversary of the tragedy.

These and other programs -- such as 9/11: LANDSCAPES OF SORROW, Baldwin Lee's panoramic digital photographs of people visiting Ground Zero, hosted by The Knoxville Museum of Art -- are being documented by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, (IMLS) in CELEBRATE AMERICA'S FREEDOMS: A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE. The initiative will highlight the role of museums in collecting and hosting the images and words which portray contemporary histories as well as the role of museums as special places where communities can reaffirm and discuss the freedom to assemble, the freedom to create, the freedom to worship, the freedom to inquire, the freedom to express ideas, and freedom from fear.

Organizations and museums who have joined in the initiative currently include Association of Art Museum Directors; Association of Children's Museums; Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums; Texas Association of Museums; U.S. Conference of Mayors; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; Georgia Museum of Art; Jersey City Museum, Jersey City; Mason County Museum, Maysville, Ky; Smithsonian's National Museum of American History; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

The IMLS and AAM have issued a Call to Action to all museums to honor the remembrance of September 11 with programs, exhibits, and activities that support their communities and serve as forums for remembrance and understanding. Their project will provide OBSERVING SEPTEMBER 11: A TOOLKIT. It will support a national communications campaign, and it will also encourage museums to mark the day in a way that best suits their missions, resources, and the needs of their communities.

"Museums are centers of community life with programs and services for families, lifelong learners, schools, and others," the project states. "Their responses to the September 11 attacks were as diverse as the communities they serve and underscored the central role these institutions play in people's lives. Now museums seek to unite with their communities once again, this time to mark the anniversary of the attacks and celebrate the freedom's that sustain the nation's strength."

Sources/resources:

INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES (IMLS) -- http://www.imls.gov

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS (AAM) -- http://www.aam-us.org
To find out how to participate on Celebrate America's Freedoms: A Day of Remembrance and/or tell the project about other Museum hosted remembrance programs, visit http://www.aam-us.org/mcaf

LEHMAN COLLEGE ART GALLERY -- http://ca80.lehman.cuny.edu/gallery/web/AG/

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND'S FINE ARTS CENTER GALLERIES -- http://www.uri.edu/artsci/art/gallery/

HIBEL MUSEUM OF ART -- http://www.hibel.org

THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY -- http://www.chicagohistory.org

THE KNOXVILLE MUSEUM OF ART -- http://www.knoxart.org

YAHRZEIT: SEPTEMBER 11 OBSERVED

To commemorate the first anniversary of September 11, The Museum of Jewish Heritage -- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present YAHRZEIT: SEPTEMBER 11 OBSERVED. Commemorating "the yahrzeit of our collective loss."

In this yahrzeit -- a Jewish observance of the anniversary of a death -- "In keeping with the Museum's narrative approach, the exhibition will examine ways in which some responses to September 11 have been framed within the structure of traditional Jewish rituals, the involvement of communal organizations, and the outpouring of individual volunteerism, and social action," the Museum writes on its website at http://www.mjhnyc.org/new/fr_exhibit.htm "Our proximity to the site of the tragedy, our identity as a downtown cultural institution, and our mission of remembrance compels us to reflect and remember with the community and our neighbors."

The Museum of Jewish Heritage -- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is located on Battery Park City, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Last year when the museum reopened after being closed in the wake of the September 11 attacks, KOSHERFINDER quoted museum chairman Robert M. Morgenthau as saying: "The Museum represents the ability of human beings to rebuild after catastrophe and is a symbol of remembrance and renewal. This is why it is so important that we reopen now."

In the fall of 2003, it will open its new East Wing, with multimedia classrooms, a theater, exhibition galleries, a living center, a memorial garden, a cafe and Museum offices. The architect is Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates.

Sources/resources:

THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE -- http://www.mjhnyc.org

Amy Sara Clark
"With new wing, Jewish museum demonstrates life amid the ruins" KOSHERFINDER -- http://kosherfinder.com/KosherFinder/Features/F01.asp?FEATURE=1424
October 7, 2001

GROUND ZERO

"Political art is the force of gravity to which all surrounding life converges. GROUND ZERO would reassert this art of intelligence and intensity into our lives, to reaffirm its obsession to penetrate and to conquer by all means the sense of the moment. The power of political art has always forced itself on us, yet it would be hard to imagine living without it. After all, the final goal of any artistic activity is the understanding of its subject, the world we live in - without which the arts lose all vitality and even their reason for being." - Jef Bourgeau, director The Museum of New Art (MONA)

Organized by artists Frank Shifreen, Daniel Scheffer, and Julius Vitali, GROUND ZERO, an exhibition of post 9/11 art, features the work of over 50 artists. Artists from all over the country have created works in many styles, in varied media and with many reactions to the world since last September and to the drama of cultural clash.

In Douglas Fishbone's CAGED ARAB, a young Arab-American man sits in a cage in the middle of the museum. During the opening of the show, he sat "in a small dog pen, completely inexpressive, dressed in traditional Arab dress -- a long, flowing robe and a skullcap," Fishbone said. "The intention of the piece was to examine the increasingly problematic relationship between Americans and the Arab world, the absolute terror that Arabs inspire in the mainstream population, now that they have assumed the mantle of US public enemy number one. By placing my performer in a cage, I was alluding to that sense of menace, the threat that needs to be penned in, or removed from our reality." with a baseball bat and machete in a glass case capturing the implicit violence of the situation," said Shifreen, whose own work in the exhibition is a photoshop montage of the second plane about to fly in to the second tower flying over the Statue of Liberty. (as it must have done, he notes)

Among other artists in the ground Zero exhibition are Lance Winn, Eve Stuart, Rozalinda Borcila, Mariella Bettineschi, Travis Hanmer, Francoise Doherty, Steven Haigh, Cynthia Greig Matthew Gebhardt, Kristin Anderson, Robert Nielsen, Meryl Meisler, and Bob Dombrowski.

In a statement-in-progress about the exhibition, Frank Shifreen writes:

"I believe in the importance of political art exhibitions that can explore topics of relevance to us. Many artists and critics disagree. They see politics as an intrusion, that propagandizes and muddies art. Walter Benjamin , and later in another context, the Situationists believed that all art is political. That fascism in any form creates a aestheticization of politics (hollywood, hype, constructed narratives, demonized enemies ) that can be countered by art that expresses the truth of these relationships. Art that conceals it's political nature allows for the smooth functioning of the dominant order. The Situationists critique is that our society is a mediacracy, where all the media, politics and business create a soap opera story. The celebrities, politicians are the actors and stars, the people are passive consumers living through the media. Art can create a space which breaks the spell of the soap opera. In this case I am talking about the narrative by the Bush administration that has created a story that has become the gospel of September 11th."

He adds that "We need more political art exhibitions, theater, dance, poetry because the beauty of art also counters the repression of spirit in our society."

Jef Bourgeau, director of MONA, which was founded in 2000, hopes "that the exhibition can help in healing, and also examine our present and future."

"The events of Sept 11 were an overwhelming visual experience that demanded a visual response ... In the midst of chaos and destruction, art stands witness to the creative soul," the exhibition's organizers write in the catalog.

Sources/resources:

THE MUSEUM OF NEW ART (MONA) -- http://www.detroitmona.com
A complete list of the artists in the exhibition is available on the site

"Pontiac MI Dismisses Obscenity Ticket for FEAR NO ART"
Arts Wire CURRENT -- http://www.artswire.org/current/2000/cur070400.html#news3
July 4, 2000

BLURRED

Confronting what blurs architecture's boundaries, BLURRED is the Center on Contemporary Art's (CoCA) inaugural architecture show. "It explores the breadth and depth of architectural possibility, expanding the traditional definition of architecture in the Northwest," the gallery states. "The participants, who represent Portland and the Puget Sound, will engage CoCA's gallery space to express their thoughts and hone their research through site-specific installations. Participants include landscape architects, game designers, sole practitioners, artist architects, and graphic designers. The show features newcomers to the profession, as well as elders who focus on the subtle nuances of the field."

blurred includes: ABBP, Iole Alessandrini, Michelle Arab,Mike Barrette, Michael Culpepper, Marc Dombrosky, James Harrison, John Jenkins III, Mark Johnson, lead pencil studio, r-b-f architecture, Alex Schweder, SHED, and Philip Thiel.

Associated events include architects lecturing about their work, films, and a tour of Capitol Hill artists and architects.

CoCA serves the Pacific Northwest "as a catalyst and forum for the advancement, development, and understanding of contemporary art." It provides opportunities for the art audience in the NorthWest to view new and experimental artwork firsthand in exhibitions, which show the work of international, national, and local artists in work which includes site-specific installations, performance art, multi-media, and multi-disciplinary programs, and gallery exhibitions of visual arts.

For more information, visit http://www.cocaseattle.org

O'NEILL MUSIC THEATER CONFERENCE CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY WITH THREE NEW MUSICALS

In a time when art's many roles include setting forth the message that the details of our lives are still to be cherished, artists who show us the importance of life; artists who in dark hours raise spirits with song and or laughter or who explore the ways in which the difficult processes of their craft parallels life experience, are showcased at the O'NEILL MUSIC THEATER CONFERENCE. During the three-week conference, a community of writers, composers, directors and performers will support bringing music theater to life on the stage.

Featured works are:

EMBARRASSMENTS
Book by Laurence Klavan
Music by Polly Pen
Lyrics by Laurence Klavan and Polly Pen
"Henry James, one of the greatest of all prose writers, always wanted to be a playwright. His experience in the theater is one of the arts most ironic and painful tales, and one explored in a new musical."
Actors: Tamra Hayden, Lauren Mufson, Peter Samuel, Erica Schroeder, Henry Stram, Steven Sutcliffe, Marc Vietor and Lynne Wintersteller.

AVENUE Q
Music & Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Book by Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
"Singing puppets and their human neighbors tackle life's most vexing issues including love, money, race, and what to do with a jury duty summons. The place is New York City and the street is Avenue Q, the only place you can afford to live when you're just out of college, or out of a job, or just plain broke."
Actors: Stephanie D Abruzzo, Jordan Gelber, Amanda Green, Ann Harada, Rick Lyon, Lara MacLean and John Tartaglia.

LIL BUDDA
Book & Lyrics by Stephanie Jones
Music by Janice Lowe
Story by Janice Lowe and Stephanie Jones
"Lil Budda depicts a music-video dancer's desperate, poignant and comedic journey toward stardom and, ultimately, personal enlightenment. Against the surreal backdrop of an American entertainment wasteland, Lil Budda satirically examines contradictions of female self-exploitation, race, celebrity, and individual happiness."
Actors: Robert Scott Daye, Matt Farnsworth, Nathan Lee Graham, Anika Larsen, Jillian Lindsey, Anika Noni Rose and Jason Wooten.

Special Events include panels with the creator's of the works and a behind the scenes look at what goes into making musicals. In addition to the public readings and discussions, writer Stephen Tomac, Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist and composer Joshua Z. Kant will be in residence developing an as-yet-untitled musical.

Founded in 1964 and based in Waterford CT, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center is dedicated to the advancement of new work for the theater. It creates and operates programs which complement that goal, including the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute, a college-accredited training program for theater artists. The O'Neill also owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, childhood home of America s Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill, and holds an annual celebration honoring the life and works of its namesake every October.

For more information, visit THE EUGENE O'NEILL THEATER CENTER at http://www.oneilltheatercenter.org/

SANTA FE, NM -- Three American composers -- Bright Sheng in 2003; Theodore Shapiro in 2004; and Aaron Jay Kernis in 2006 have been commissioned to write full-scale operas for the Santa Fe Opera.

"Beginning with our very first commission in 1957, (THE TOWER by Marvin David Levy) The Santa Fe Opera, under the leadership of founder John Crosby, has become widely known for its support of composers and the performance of their works," said General Director Richard Gaddes. "The presentation of new works has been a hallmark of The Santa Fe Opera, and one that we plan to continue vigorously," Gaddes emphasized. "We hope to present works that will enter the standard repertory, as a result of their musical excellence, their compelling subjects and the artistic standards achieved in their premieres."

The first of the new commissions, Chinese-American Bright Sheng's MADAME MAO, is scheduled for performance in the 2003 season. Bright Shen's work includes NANKING! NANKING!, an orchestral work; THE SILVER RIVER, a music theater work; (Libretto: David Henry Hwang) and H'UN (LACERATIONS): IN MEMORIAM 1966-76, an orchestral portrait of the Cultural Revolution.

Schirmer describes H'un: In Memoriam 1966-76 as "emphatically an angry and grieving cry of historical experience, music that vividly recalls the terrors of China's Cultural Revolution while mining the fertile resources of Chinese folk tradition." The work was premiered by the New York Chamber Symphony (Gerard Schwarz, conductor) and commissioned by the 92nd Street Y.

"Born in China, Mr. Sheng's life was affected by the Cultural Revolution and his music is very much an expression of his life and experiences in China," the Santa Fe Opera notes. "Madame Mao, with a libretto by Colin Graham, focuses on the extraordinary life of the young actress Jiang Ching, the second wife of Mao Zedong. She became the most powerful and feared woman in the country and leader of the Cultural Revolution that destroyed much of China's artistic and intellectual heritage. Two singers will portray Madame Mao; one, the young actress, the other, the older Madame Mao."

Theodore Shapiro's opera, his first, will be premiered in 2004. His concert pieces include a piano concerto for Awadagin Pratt, premiered by the Seattle Symphony, a chamber work, CITY OF WINDOWS, also performed by Mr. Pratt; and a work for soprano Lauren Flanigan.

Aaron Jay Kernis' opera for Santa Fe is also his first opera. It will be based on the novel, BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett. "The story describes a gala birthday party being given to honor a Japanese industrialist in an unnamed South American country, rebels enter the house and take the guests hostage. As the story unfolds, what happens to both the guests and the terrorists in their ensuing days of captivity is revealed," the Santa Fe Opera notes.

Since 1957, in the high desert of Northern New Mexico. the Santa Fe Opera has presented 118 operas, including 9 world and 39 American premieres. Among other composers who received early visibility in Santa Fe are Carlisle Floyd, Peter Lieberson, Tobias Picker, Hans Werner Henze.

In 2002 during Santa Fe's summer season, five operas will look at love. In addition to Tchaikovsky's EUGENE ONEGIN; Mozart's LA CLEMENZA DI TITO; Rossini's THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS and Verdi's LA TRAVIATA, they include L'AMOUR DE LOIN, a new work by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (Text by Amin Maalouf) which explores the meaning of idealized love through the love of troubadour Jaufre Rudel for Clemence whom he has never met.

In 2003, THE LITTLE PRINCE, by composer Rachel Portman, will premier as a Showcase Production. Based on the children's book of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupry, the opera is a co-production with Houston Grand Opera.

Sources/resources:

SANTA FE OPERA -- http://santafeopera.org

G. SCHIRMER, INC. AND ASSOCIATED MUSIC PUBLISHERS -- http://www.schirmer.com/composers/sheng_hun.html

PLANNING AN ARTS-CENTERED SCHOOL A HANDBOOK was released last week as part of the Dana Foundation's new arts education program. The book, published by The Dana Press, is available free in a print copy and downloadable online at http://www.dana.org

The Handbook consists of eighteen essays by artists and educators highlighting best practices and offering approaches from their own varied experiences in the development of arts- centered schools. The publication was designed to guide organizations in curriculum and development, governance, funding, assessment, and community participation. It is being distributed free to schools, school boards, arts agencies, and other organizations interested in arts and education.

Essays include:

"Developing the Drama Curriculum at the NewWorld School of the Arts" by Jorge Guerra-Castro

"A Public-Private Partnership for Training Young Talent: The Special Music School of America" by Lydia Kontos

"A Model for Drama in Education from the American Place Theatre" by Lisa Richards and David Kener

"Pointers and Pitfalls in Creating a Visual Arts Curriculum" by Emanuelle A.Kihm and Odili Donald Odita

"A Prescription for an Effective Dance Program" by Nasha Thomas Schmitt

and "Finding the Money for a School Focused on the Arts" by Lauren Katzowitz and Susan Cahn

In addition to the essays, there is a "prolegomenon" from William Safire, chairman of the Dana Foundation, and an opening commentary from Janet Eilber, principal arts consultant to the Foundation. The book was edited by art education expert Dr. Carol Fineberg.

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization with particular interests in science, health, and education. The Dana Press is the publishing division of the Foundation. The arts education grants program supports innovative programs leading to improved teaching in the performing arts in public schools.

More information about the Handbook, including how to order a print copy and a click to the PDF version is available at http://www.dana.org/books/press/artshandbook/

BOSTON, MA -- The National Dance Project, (NDP) a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, (NEFA) has announced $825,329 in touring grants for the performing season which begins this summer and runs through May, 2003. Nonprofit presenting organizations in thirty-nine states will receive NDP funding to present the work of twenty-four contemporary dance companies in communities across the U.S.

NDP grants to nonprofit presenters will fund over 170 engagements featuring dance pieces that range from cutting-edge to classical, performed by dance companies from the U.S. and abroad.

"We're thrilled with the quality and range of work that NDP is supporting in this year's touring season." noted NEFA Executive Director Sam Miller. "NDP funding helps enable artists to work with presenting organizations to show progressive, high-quality work that audiences in their communities may never have the opportunity to see otherwise. Creating that kind of access to new experiences, and building understanding and appreciation for contemporary dance are what we strive for with NDP."

The 24 projects which will tour in the U.S. with NDP funding this season include several pieces that fuse dance with other art forms. Poetry, video, theatre, percussion ensembles, and live D.J.'s are some of the elements woven into many of these cross-disciplinary projects that cause them to push the boundaries of classification.

Funded projects include:

ChameckiLerner (New York, NY)
VISIBLE CONTENT
"Since 1994 ChameckiLerner has used movement to reveal emotional images with raw and brutal honesty. "Visible Content" delves into a fearful person's state of panic. Daring, precise physicality is coupled with surrealistic film projections to expose the interior world of the psyche. Art direction is by James Chinlund, production designer for the film REQUIEM FOR A DREAM."

Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble (Denver, CO)
ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE
"ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE draws inspiration from the soulful sound of Motown. The piece examines the love for liberty, equality and change that was generated by the music that dissolved aspects of de facto segregation in more profound ways than judicial decrees. One Nation Under a Groove is a testament to the critical ability of art to feed the vision and memory of a deeply democratic society."

Living Dance Studio (Beijing, China)
REPORT ON BODY
"a multimedia exploration that incorporates film, dance, and theatre; documenting intimate acts of life in modern China, focusing on the lives of women."

North Carolina Dance Theater (Charlotte, NC)
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
"A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE has been a play, a movie and an opera: now it's a ballet inspired by the Tennessee Williams drama. Choreographer Mark Diamond has translated this masterpiece into 70 minute, two act ballet where love and lust collide. Designer Alun Jones designed the 1950's New Orleans setting incorporating fragments of Belle Reve, the DuBois sisters' lost plantation, and David Mills arranged the score that is a combination of jazz, contemporary and classical music."

Rennie Harris PureMovement (Philadelphia, PA)
FACING MECCA
"a celebratory, interdisciplinary piece that includes 17 dancers, two DJ's, live percussion, and fuses elements of Hip-Hop with traditional African and aboriginal dance."

Sara Shelton Mann (San Francisco, CA)
MONK AT THE MET
"Drawing on Buddhist philosophy, MONK AT THE MET is the story of one person's journey lived through different bodies, memories, and experiences - selected memories of a soul over the last 2000 years. Staged as a multi-disciplinary evening of dance, film, music, video and text, the work is an exploration of the essence of the mind that travels from one life to the next."

Souloworks/Andrea E. Woods & Dancers (Brooklyn, NY)
LOVE LETTERS
"LOVE LETTERS uniquely reflects the hearts of African American people through a collection of written love letters and dance. Personal stories and letters inform a work recounting how generations of African Americans and our ancestors have expressed affection, tenderness, romance and love. Souloworks, Bessie award winning composer David Pleasant, and visual artists George Larkins combine original music, video/slide imagery, and recorded oral history to create a passionate, spirited, and moving exploration of the heart."

Yin Mei Dance (Port Washington, NY)
ASUNDER
"a collaboration with composer Robert Een and visual artist Cai Gui-Qiang that explores notions of love and the struggle of opposites to reconcile with one another."

Among the many presenters who will host these companies are Paramount Center, Rutland, VT; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, MA; Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY; Wheel Production, Washington, DC; Appalachian Summer Festival, Boone, NC; Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL; Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA; Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH; Columbia College, Chicago, IL; Black Liberated Arts Center, Oklahoma City, OK; Dance St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ; Chautauqua Association, Boulder, CO; Lone Star Ballet, Amarillo, TX; and University of California, Riverside Dance Center.

Now entering its seventh year of operation, NDP has distributed over $8 million in support of the creation and presentation of contemporary dance since its inception in 1996. Touring grants are awarded to U.S. presenters to support engagements with dance projects that have received NDP production support and a limited number of projects that receive "tour-only" support.

National Dance Project is administrated by New England Foundation for the Arts. Funding for National Dance Project comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Phillip Morris Companies.

For more information about National Dance Project, visit http://www.nefa.org or call 617-951-0010.

For a complete list of 2002-2003 NDP touring grant-funded projects, visit http://www.nefa.org/creation/recent.html

"The Fund for Creative Communities makes the arts accessible to all residents of Manhattan, especially to local neighborhoods and underserved communities. It creates new opportunities for support; strengthens the capacity of community-based arts and cultural organizations; provides high quality local arts programs; and stimulates new arts activities and programs in communities where the need exists."

The Fund for Creative Communities is an annual, competitive, Decentralization regranting program supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's (LMCC) Community Arts Initiatives.

The next Deadline is September 24, 2002.

This competitive grant is for