Yesterday Dewey Schott and I co-presented the advance workshop “Personal Evolution: Peer Coaching Circles” attended by 12 inspirational arts managers from across the country. Dawn Ellis, one of the attendees, noted that Personal Evolution was a nice parallel to American Evolution, the theme of this year’s convention. For the workshop attendees we witnessed many personal evolutions. It was an excellent way to launch the convention—getting in touch with our own development—both personal and professional.
Coaching is a fantastic resource for the arts. Learn more by stopping by the Career 360 on Saturday.
Tagged with: EventsLeadership
June 20th, 2008 at 06:41am
Amy Kweskin
I always look forward to Convention, but this is especially interesting because of the host city—Philadelphia. Last year I applied to a several graduate programs in urban planning, urban design, and historic preservation. Among my primary criteria was the opportunity to live in a city that could serve as an interesting urban lab, one that was experiencing a great cultural renaissance and recognized the value of art and culture within their urban infrastructure. It’s no surprise that I spent a good portion of the year highly considering life in Philadelphia. (more…)
Tagged with: ConventionEventsLeadershipPolicyPublic-Art
June 20th, 2008 at 06:35am
John Arroyo
I arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon to be sure that I was well rested for the 8:30 Council meetings on Thursday morning. I wanted to see as much of the city as I can so when I arrived at the train station I decided to walk to the hotel, all the while scoping out the public art along the way. As I rounded the corner of 17th Street and JFK Boulevard, a Jonathan Borofsky in the Comcast building lobby caught my eye so I went to investigate. While admiring the sculptures overhead, the wood-paneled wall behind me came alive with images and sounds. What I thought was wood is actually “the world’s largest 4mm LED wall.” For the next few minutes I, and about 20 other people, were entertained by video, poetry, and 3D animation in what I considered to be a beautiful marriage of art, architecture, and technology. It is indeed a fitting start to a conference about “Art in the New Civic Life.”
Tagged with: EventsPublic-Art
June 19th, 2008 at 02:15pm
Kendal Henry
Tuesday, June 16: I leave on Thursday for the conference and I am so excited.
Lots of interesting and exciting activites going on and I’m volunteering at the conference so my schedule is NUTS!
I’ve been checking and double checking my schedule to make sure everything is accounted for. One thing we have done is to tag team the conference (my co-workers are also attending, Alicia Oddi and Bryan Knicely) so we get to bring back the most we can from the presentations.
I’m super excited about the Career 360 session I’ll be hosting with Jennifer Wijangco on Saturday—Resume Review/Interview tips from the for-profit perspective. Having spent some time in corporate community relations and human resources, then migrating to the nonprofit arts sector has given me a unique perspective on the dynamics between the two. It’s been culture shock to say the least.
Has anyone else come to the arts by way of the for-profit world? How have you coped with the differences?
Would love to have folks say HI, so make sure to sign up for the dine-around on Friday night—I’ll be hosting Nodding Head Brew Pub. The Eemerging Leaders Council are a friendly and dynamic bunch, so make sure to introduce yourself. Mitch Menchaca and I are hosting a dialogue on Creative Conversations and networking at the local level on Saturday morning for you early birds.
See you at conference!! Safe Travels!!
Ruby Classen
Tagged with: ConventionEvents
June 18th, 2008 at 11:21am
Ruby Classen
Arts professionals are using survey software to traverse distances and harvest data to validate the work of art in our left-brain society. As a result, we are now able to make a few claims about what the arts provide, what the arts need, and what the arts can do next.
I am looking for answers and connections when I come to a conference, and this year I am heading into the Americans for the Arts Arts Education sessions with some very specific questions based on a bundle of surveys that have been completed this past year about teaching artistry.
A comprehensive table of these surveys will be shared in the next few days, so we will circulate it after the conference. But, a sneak preview of the questions that are bubbling up is offered here. I reference ideas from Judith Tannenbaum in 2007 when she left the Anericans for the Arts conference and wrote “What Have We Got to Lose? Preserving the Important Qualities of the Teaching Artist Profession, While Still Moving Ahead with Its Professionalism.”
How will we preserve vision and cultural democracy as we urge leaders to centralize and institute regular support for our work? The surveys do share a vision for pooling resources and distributing power.
What will we do to prevent social justice from fading into service for the underprivileged? Many artists are being employed to tackle No Child Left Behind mandates instead of addressing causes and issues that generated the justification for NCLB.
Who will champion community arts work that is done in places other than formal institutions? Most of the surveys have a significant participation from organization administration.
What will happen to individual values and style? The surveys that address individuality require long narrative responses, and are more time-consuming to analyze.
How will we preserve the kind of learning that can only happen through trial and error? Most surveys reveal an abundance of methods embracing trial and error, yet a desire to move forward more effectively.
How will we be able to nurture and capture opportunities? Perhaps this conference will be one way.
Who will champion the understanding that teaching artists are artists? If this is a conference of arts-centered vision, we hope to find these answers in the outcomes.
Tagged with: Arts-EducationConventionEvents
June 18th, 2008 at 11:17am
Laura Reeder
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