“A Community Portrait of Durham”

Photo by Jeremy M. Lange

From Idea to Event

The idea for the portrait came from the documentary Waste Land. In the movie, New York-based Brazilian artist Vik Muniz worked with garbage sorters in the world’s largest dump on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Each day these workers picked out the recyclable materials from the dump and Muniz worked with them to transform these materials into works of art that told their stories.

In Durham, we’re fortunate to have the incredible creative reuse center the Scrap Exchange, which has just launched a capital campaign.   After seeing Waste Land, Chris Chinchar, a longtime Durham resident, and several others made the connection between the documentary and the Scrap’s new initiative, and called a meeting of Durham residents to see if there was interest in creating something similar to Muniz’s project.  The first meeting was open – a small group gathered to explore the question “What is Durham?” People shared their personal stories about the city, generating energy and excitement that was channeled into the mission of the project.

After this initial meeting, it was apparent that there was enthusiasm to create a community portrait. Sarah Bingham, one of the organizers, called it a “magic moment.” So, the group took a leap of faith.  With the artistic vision of environmental artist Bryant Holsenbeck and the leadership of Chinchar, they started envisioning “A Community Portrait of Durham” and with the goal of creating the “community portrait” in just a few short months.

On October 3, photographer Jeremy Lange was lifted in a cherry picker and captured around 300 people in a mosaic of the Durham city flag. A lot of planning, outreach and creative energy went into the October 3rd event and, as a result, we have a portrait that is uniquely Durham.  More importantly, it launched an ongoing effort to capture the stories of Durham and will hopefully motivate more people to contribute their voices.

Art’s role in community building

Recently, I sat down with several of the organizers to reflect on how far the project had come since that first July meeting and asked them to share some insight on organizing an ongoing community art project. This conversation included project organizers and participants Johnetta Ruth Alston, Sarah Bingham, Chris Chinchar, Suzanne Clark, Darius Goins and Beth Palmer. One key point these organizers stressed, was that this was A Community Portrait not The Community Portrait, an important distinction that calls for a response from more Durham citizens. Chinchar believes that although there are already multiple stories that are a part of CPOD, there is room for more stories to be woven in.

Johnetta Ruth Alston, executive director of JRuth, Inc., shared a random connection she made at the event.  “When we moved from the farmers market area down to the flag area, a man stopped to talk to me. He was homeless and needed a place to stay. He’s currently living at JRuth Manor”, a transitional home that Alston’s non-profit offers.

Rather than trying to define our city with a single image, the ongoing collection of stories will hopefully inspire people to share more stories and allow for small contributions from everyone. Beth Palmer reflected, “To me the beauty of this is that it’s a catalyst, it’s an ongoing conversation.” She added that the project could continue to grow and change – “Who do you know yourself to be that you didn’t know yourself to be before.”

Darius Goins was thinking along the same lines when he began participating in the project. Goins provided much of the video and photography of CPOD events, helping people share their stories and creating positive images of Durham, something that he views as important for Durham. “It’s out of balance. The media here portrays more of the negativity, crime and things like that, versus embracing the arts and positive events.”  Much of our conversation that morning at Scrap Exchange focused on this idea. Art can help us communicate, providing a space for the positive conversations that help us grow both as individuals and as a community. The starting point for CPOD involved an action that we can all take part in and then offered a platform for presenting ourselves as a community in dialogue.

Beginning in 2011, A Community Portrait of Durham will travel to venues throughout Durham and Chinchar and other CPOD participants are planning discussions to keep the conversation going. For more details about upcoming events, or to get involved, visit the CPOD blog or go to facebook.  For further reading on COPD, click here.

This article was written by Guest Blogger Jessica Moore.  Jessica recently became a Durhamite and is always looking for opportunities to talk about her new hometown

Have something to say of general interest to the Triangle Creative Community?  Want to contribute to this blog? Contact info@triangleartworks.org.

Copyright November 2010/Triangle ArtWorks, Inc.

The Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge website is back up and totally revamped.  Kennedy Center started ArtsEdge in 1996 to “as its educational media arm, reaching out to schools, communities, individuals and families with printed materials, classroom support and Internet technologies”.  This month, however, ArtsEdge launched a totally revamped site, expanding its content “to serve a new definition of educators, encompassing classroom and out-of-school teachers, with the single-minded goal to support arts-based student learning, whether in the classroom or an informal learning environment, like the home.  We’re focused on ways to support innovative teaching with the arts, and meet changing trends in education and to accommodate the ever-evolving impact of technology in our lives. Our collection of free digital resources—including lesson plans, audio stories, video clips, and interactive online modules—has been streamlined for easier browsing and upgraded to leverage best practices in educational media and multimedia-supported instruction.”

The ArtsEdge website is an incredible resource for both arts teachers and STEM teachers, with standards-based lesson plans integrating arts into all types of lessons, providing  kids new ways to learn, and including videos and other media downloads for classroom use.  It also has tons of information for parents to use with their kids and for students to access themselves.

Check out this great new resource here.

ArtWorks will store this link, and be adding others, in its new Resources for Teachers section, under Resources.

So, far, the lists include art galleries, film, theatre, dance, arts organizations, indie/rock music, traditional (classical, bluegrass, jazz, etc) music, design, arts calenders, visual arts groups/collectives/writers, visual artists, and fashion.  Follow your favorite discipline, or follow them all.

Do you know someone that should be on a list, but isn’t?  Just let us know…  will add them!

And be sure to follow us on Twitter under the username, TriArtWorks!

Thanks!

The North Carolina Arts Council provides fellowships in the amount of $10,000 for songwriters, composers and writers.  The deadline for applications is November 1, 2010.

As described on NCAC’s website,

Artists may submit only one fellowship application per year. For collaborations, only one member of the collaborative team should submit the application on behalf of the group; however, the names of all collaborating members must be included in the application and collaborators must all meet the eligibility guidelines.

Criteria

Fellowship applicants must certify on the application form that they:

• are at least 18 years old;
• are a U.S. citizen or holder of permanent resident alien status;
• have been a year-round resident of N.C. for at least one year immediately prior to the application deadline;
• will remain a N.C. resident during the grant period and be physically present in the state for the majority of the grant period;
• are not enrolled at the time of application and will not be enrolled during the grant period in an academic or degree-granting program.

These fellowships support can be used to:

• Set aside time to work
• Pursue projects that further artistic development and support the realization of specific creative ideas
• Buy supplies and equipment
• Fund expenses related to the activities listed above: for example, costs related to studio construction or improvements
• Fellowship funds may not be used to support academic research or formal study toward an academic or professional degree.

Another round of fellowships will be available in 2011.  The 2011 round will be open to choreographers and visual, craft and film/video artists.  For more information, visit the NCAC website here.

To find out more about these grants, a list of past grantees and projects, or for a copy of the 2010 application, click here.

As they move closer to their  Marketing Conference in San Jose in November, Americans for the Arts is having an “Arts Marketing Blog Salon” on its website now through October 12.  For this event, they are bringing together online, many of the country’s best arts marketing experts, who are blogging on such varied subjects as how to engage new audiences, how to deal with the new “citizen critics”, as well as how to use new technology, including new apps available for the arts.  You can jump to the blogging here, but be sure to check back for new additions up until October 12.   I have been enjoying these blogs because they contain great information and insight, and appreciate that they are short, easy to read and free.

If you are not an arts marketer, but are perhaps marketing your own work, or are associated with an arts group in another role, I still commend these blog entries to you.  Like many webinars and seminars I have attended, or received information about lately, most of the entries are  focused on new media and new technology, but some of these entries are taking apart the technological issues in a new way.  Both Ron Evans and Dave Dombrosky discuss the issue of “citizen critics” and the plethora of online reviewers and critics, but taking fairly different views of the issue.  I particulary liked the blog posts by Brian Reich and Deborah Obalil, because they discuss how to not get caught up in all the new technology and what it can do, without keeping in mind the artistic product itself, or losing sight of how you or your organization are reorganizing and retraining to move along with the new technology.

We in North Carolina are lucky to be living in the “writingest state” and our writers are lucky to have a strong writer’s support organization in NC Writer’s Network.  For those that aren’t aware, NCWN website is an incredible resource for writers, and the organization provides a broad range of programs and services, such as competitions, critiques and courses.

NCWN is hosting its 25th annual Writer’s Conference from Nov. 5-7  in Charlotte.  This conference, which is one of the largest in the country, is a great opportunity for writers at all levels to come together to learn and network.  As stated on the NCWN website,

“Naturally, we’re excited that our organization has reached this milestone,” said NCWN executive director Ed Southern. “We’re more excited, though, about what this milestone shows: writing in this state is still going strong, and North Carolina’s literary tradition remains vital and vibrant.”

The 2010 Fall Conference will feature a keynote address by novelist Michael Malone, a reading and discussion by North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers, and a presentation on Literary Trails of the North Carolina Piedmont by author Georgann Eubanks.

The conference will also offer more than twenty-five workshops and panel discussions for registrants, including three Master Classes for more advanced writers: a Poetry Master Class led by Bowers, a Creative Nonfiction Master Class with author Judy Goldman, and a Fiction Master Class with novelist Robert Inman.

Agents and editors will again participate in the conference’s Manuscript Mart and Critique Service, in which registrants have one-on-one sessions with publishing professionals who will discuss their manuscripts’ strengths and weaknesses.

“Our most important offering,” Southern said, “is the chance for writers to get to know one another, and trade advice, ideas, and encouragement. We have a number of writers who come to the conference year after year, first as registrants, and then—as their careers progress—as instructors.”

To find out more information, and to register, click here.

Part One: NUTS & BOLTS: TAKING YOUR ART FROM HOBBY TO BUSINESS
October 13, 7-9pm

• Seeking Gallery Representation. Speaker: Adam Cave, Owner,Adam Cave Fine Art
• Pricing & Presentation of Artwork. Speaker: Mary Kay Kennedy, Manager, The Mahler Fine Art & The Collectors Gallery
• Taxes & Accounting for Artists. Speaker: Alex Lehmann, Accountant, McMillan, Pate & Company, L.L.C.

Part Two: MUSEUM PRACTICES
October 20, 7-9pm

• Archival Materials. Speaker: Gillian Suss, Masters of Museum Professions from Seton Hall University
• Conservation. Speaker: Perry Hurt, Associate Conservator, North Carolina Museum of Art
• Installing Artwork in a Museum Setting. Speaker: Warren Hicks
• Curating Contemporary Artwork. Speaker: Jennifer Dasal, Curatorial Assistant, North Carolina Museum of Art

Part Three: THE ARTS IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY
October 27, 7-9pm

• How to Lobby for Arts Funding. Speaker: Karen Wells, Executive Director & Registered Lobbyist, ARTS NC
• Arts Writing. Speaker: Dave Delcambre, Founder & Writer, nc artblog
• Arts & Economic Development. Speaker: Paul Reimel, Economic Development Manager, Downtown Raleigh Alliance

The event is free for VAE members & college students, $5 per evening for non-members.  For more information, click here.