PAE Postcard March 2008

Register for CommonGround

You can register now for CommonGround, the New York State arts-in-education conference, this year April 9 – 11 in Albany. It’s your best opportunity to connect with other teachers, artists, cultural organizations, and more for information and inspiration. Registration is entirely on line and takes just a few minutes.  First check out the schedule to see which of the many workshops and events you’ll attend, then sign up.  (Remember, hotel bookings are made separately.)

You can get the latest information on what’s happening at this year’s conference, including workshops, keynotes, special performances, and more, on our website. We’re looking forward to seeing you!

Artist-Activist Marty Pottenger to Speak
Award-winning solo performance artist, playwright, and union activist Marty Pottenger will host a public demonstration and discussion of her work on Friday, March 7 at 7 pm at SU's Warehouse (350 W. Fayette St.). Pottenger currently works out of City Hall in Portland, ME, where she uses theater, media, and oral histories to encourage people to think about issues, ask questions, and engage in dialogue with others in their communities. This free event features excerpts from her solo performances as well as a discussion of her current work, which addresses long-standing issues of discrimination and perceived prejudice within Portland's city government and the school system, with the objective of increasing equity.

Pottenger’s current work in Maine is in partnership with the city’s Department of Equal Opportunity & Multicultural Affairs and the School District's Multicultural Affairs Department. One of their programs trains local artists for long term residencies in city, school, and community agencies to both make art & lead workshops – attaching a poet to the fire department, a painter to the school board, one photographer to the teachers union and another to the Department of Public Health, and a musician to the mayor's office.

Pottenger’s visit is part of the Hyphenated Artist Series, sponsored by PAE and Imagining America, a national consortium of colleges and universities based at SU committed to public scholarship in the arts, humanities, and design. The series enhances and promotes the region’s cultural activity by exploring expanded opportunities for artists in combinations such as artist-educator and artist-organizer. You can read more about the series at http://sunews.syr.edu/story_details.cfm?id=4687  or at PAE’s website.  For more information, call 443-8590.

Arts in Mind in the News
There was a wonderful article in the March 1 Post-Standard about the Grant Middle School Arts in Mind partnership, in which social studies teacher Ken Miller and video artist Tim Brachocki are helping students create a video about their community to share with students in Israel.  The video will be shown, along with others made as part of this international project, at the Syracuse Film Festival in April. If you missed it in the paper, you can read the article online (minus the great pictures) at:http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-13/120436559796860.xml&coll=1

There was also a piece on WSYR-TV about the partnership with Danforth Middle School and African drummer Biboti Ouikahilo. To see the piece, go to http://www.9wsyr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?navcatid=820, and on the left menu, click on "Good News: African Drum Lessons 2/28/08."

Opportunities
BOCES Arts-in-Ed Showcase
Friday, May 16th , 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Roxboro Road Middle School in North Syracuse
Here’s a preview of the artists in the Oswego-Madison-Oneida BOCES Showcase, open to students, teachers and administrators. Photos and performance descriptions will be available on their website soon.  This year there is an especially high quality and diverse variety of artists:
Ronnie Leigh’s “Blues Shout” – world-renowned jazz vocalist
Karen Montanaro – “Imagination in Action” - dance, mime, storytelling
Lyle Cogan, Pint Size Productions – musical theater, “Sticks and Stones”
Samite Mulondo –  “Journey into the Soul of Africa”  - music and photography from Uganda
Bart & Kevin – “What a Wonderful World it Would Be” uplifting songs with a Character Ed message
Dan Duggan and Peggy Lynn – “Green Up” songs, guitar, banjo and hammered dulcimer with a nature and ecology message
Rennie Harris Pure Movement – “The History of Hip Hop”
Nana Kwasi Anim – West African dance, drumming and storytelling
“Backstory!” Syracuse Stage – first-person theater performances of historical characters
Tom McCabe – “Improving Reading and Writing Through Interactive Activities and Storytelling”
“Through the Eyes of a Friend: The World of Anne Frank”
“Aesop’s Fables” puppet performance
The Magic of Robert Tarry
Freedom Bells Connection – Patriotic songs, hand bells, piano, violin

March is Youth Art Month
Here are some resources you can use to promote the arts in your school/neighborhood/ home:
Keep Arts in Schools: http://www.keepartsinschools.org/Advocacy_Day/index.php
Americans for the Arts: http://www.americansforthearts.org/get_involved/advocate.asp
Education World: http://review.educationworld.com:8080/a_special/art_month99.shtml
Music in Our Schools Month: http://www.menc.org/guides/miosm/MIOSMFront.html

SCSD Stage Productions in Full Swing
The Syracuse City School District’s high school drama productions offer award-winning dramas like For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, an interactive murder mystery, classic musicals like The Pajama Game, and much more. You can also purchase a season’s pass that gives you admission to all productions this year. For information on the plays, check http://www.scsd.k12.ny.us/~finearts/performances.htm, or call the Fine Arts Department at 435.4181 for more info.

Resources
Free Art Books for Schools, Libraries
The Distribution to Underserved Library Program (DUC) is a nationwide program based in NY State that distributes brand-new books on contemporary art to rural and inner-city schools and libraries completely free of charge.  If you are a teacher in a public institution in an underserved community, you are eligible to receive these free materials.

You may learn more about the program, browse the selection of titles from a long list of publishers, and place an order for books on the website, www.ducprogram.org.  All orders are shipped completely free of charge. If you place an order now, you will be added to the email list for the new catalogue announcement.  You may also visit the website and complete a profile without placing an order.

The program offers nearly 500 titles by more than 90 different publishers. A new catalogue of books will be launched in June, but there are a variety of materials available now. 

If you have questions about the program or the ordering process, contact DUC by email or at (212) 255-2919.

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Partners for Arts Education
Delavan Center Suite 221  501 W. Fayette St.  Syracuse, NY  13202
315.234.9911  info@arts4ed.org  www.arts4ed.org

State of the Arts

NYSCA