Artist reflection of the public space in their work.

Three artists discuss the role of public space in their work.  Excellent article - the "Key to the City of New York" is especially brilliant.  

UTOPIAN STRATEGIES: Artists Anticipate their Audiences

*image courtesy of The Brooklyn Rail

Local Learning Network

Wow. What a great resource this is! Local Learning Network is a network of teachers, artists and other individuals who are "interested in engaging young people with their own traditional culture and with the local culture and folklore of their families, regions, and the larger world." It is so important for youth to stay connected with their culture.  We live in a world where it seems everyone tries to assimilate into the dominate culture.  This should concern many of us.  Without different cultures life would be pretty boring.  One of my favorite things when traveling and meeting new people is learning about their culture.  When I was in India in December 2009 the village children showed us a bunch of different dances and songs that they grew up learning. When we tried to teach them similar songs we had a pretty hard time coming up with what was "our culture." We jokingly said, "what is US culture? TV?" Jokes aside, Americans come in all shapes, colors, sizes and backgrounds.  We should celebrate that.  I think it is more a matter of acceptance that others do things differently and understanding that we can all work together toward common goals despite our differences instead of trying to melt into a congealed mess of sameness. 

Anyways, Local Learning Network has a bunch of great summer training opportunities all over the US.  Check to see what's going on in your state!  I hope to see some in Michigan or Illinois soon!

* Image courtesy of Local Learning Network

Rust Belt to Artist Belt Reflection

So last week I attended the Rust Belt to Artist Belt Conference in Detroit. What a great experience! Just hearing people talk about what I'm trying to do was inspirational. Sometimes it can be frustrating being in a program where no one else does exactly what you do, at the same time I learn so much from my peers. This process of learning has made me think of the arts in a totally different way. 

So anywho, the discussions at this conference revolved around the role that artists and other creative practitioners have in revitalizing post industrial cities, specifically in Detroit since this was the setting of the conference. An interesting and important theme came up in several of the panel discussions that I went to: Detroit (or any other community) as a blank slate or frontier. This worries me. Through my research I have read a lot about outside artists coming into Detroit and other "shrinking" cities and doing artwork in communities without consulting anyone who lived nearby. This has generated both good and bad reactions from residents. Whether an artist's practice is solitary or participatory, in an urban or rural area, I think it is VERY important to remember that there are people already there. Those people may have lived there for 5 years or 40 years. They may be teenagers or elders. They have knowledge. They have skills. THEY ARE ASSETS. They probably care very much about where they live. Talk to them- we have much to learn from them. Ask them what is important to them. What they love or dislike about their community. Let them help if they want. Through this type of dialogue with a community, I think artists can empower people to think differently about the neighborhoods that they reside in and together come up with creative ideas to make them great places to live.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I started this as a way to keep track of all the arts-based community development, youth development, education, urban planning and other resources that I come across through the research for my thesis. I figured what better way to keep it all in one place. I thought it might be useful to others, especially since I haven't found any sites that specialize in these topics by combining them.

I'm just getting started and have a whole bunch of stuff to get up here so please check back. You'll probably notice that most of my resources have Midwest slant to them. I was born and raised in SE Michigan, went to school at Eastern Michigan University (love EMU!) for music and I'm finishing up my graduate studies at DePaul University in Public Service Management. I'll be putting a CV up soon if you want to know more about me. I love Michigan and have a particular obsession with the wonderful city and people of Detroit. Even though I'm not a native Detroiter I spread the positives about the city to anyone who will listen- so much so that I know that a few of you out there are tired of hearing about it! Oh well :-P

I just went to the Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference in Detroit. What an inspirational two days! More to come on that later. Got to fill my belly with my fave schwarma at Bucharest Grill (sorry if I breathed on you after), gave some love to Cliff Bells and enjoyed a wonderful meal courtesy of Detroit Restaurant Week and Atlas Global Bistro. Was greeted by almost every person that I passed on the street; something I will never tire of. Thanks for being you Detroit.

I have to go for now. Thanks for checking me out! Keep building creative communities!