As part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Robert Gard’s Arts in the Small Community, the Robert E. Gard Foundation, along with the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread and the Wisconsin Arts Board, is sponsoring a gathering of thought leaders in arts-based community development (and related fields) at the Wingspread Conference Center in Wisconsin September 7-9. While due to the size of the Wingspread facilities this is a by-invitation-only event, the Gard Foundation board wants the public to be aware of the event in advance. We will be providing written and video documentation of the event in hopes of creating even stronger arts-community connections around the country. I will be blogging about the symposium here.
Titled “Our Communities: A Symposium on the Arts,” will explore the past, present, and future of community arts development. The event is described as follows:
Amateur and professional artists transform lives and inspire change in every aspect of American life. We celebrate, experiment, learn, and mourn through the creativity of music, visual art, dance, theatre, film, opera, video games, public art, graphic design, poetry and other ways that American’s express their culture and the human condition. This Symposium celebrates the 50th anniversary of “The Arts in the Small Community: A National Plan” by Robert E. Gard. The vision and spirit of this publication and its author are reflected in the community and neighborhood arts movements of all peoples. A small group of arts leaders from rural and small communities, urban neighborhoods, Native tribes and immigrant populations will be invited by the Johnson Foundation, in conjunction with the Gard Foundation, the Wisconsin Arts Board, and the Racine Arts Council to acknowledge the past, understand the present and envision a future where the power of human expression through art defines and transforms our communities.
[Funding and in-kind contributions for Our Communities: A Symposium on the Arts come from Americans for the Arts, The Robert E. Gard Foundation, Grantmakers in the Arts, The Johnson Foundation, The Racine Arts Council, the Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Friend of the Arts]
The following are scheduled to participate:
Lulani Arquette, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
Savannah Barrett**, Art of the Rural (S)
Roberto Bedoya*, former Executive Director, Tucson Pima Arts Council (S)
Vickie Benson, McKnight Foundation
Janet Brown***, Grantmakers in the Arts (S)
Jane Chu, National Endowment for the Arts (S)
Bill Cleveland, Center for Arts and Community (S)
E’vonne Coleman Cook, retired National Endowment for the Arts (S)
Maria de Leon, National Assn of Latino Arts and Cultures, NEA National Council (S)
Maryo Gard Ewell***, Gard Foundation (S)
Tatiana Hernandez, Hemera Foundation, Boulder
Mark Lefebvre**, Gard Foundation
Robert Lynch*, Americans for the Arts (S)
Denise Roberts McKee***, Racine Arts Council
David O’Fallon***, Minnesota Humanities (S)
Michael Rohd*, Center for Performance & Civic Practice (S)
Barbara Schaffer Bacon, Animating Democracy (S)
Rosy Simas, Rosy Simas Danse
Erik Takeshita, The Bush Foundation
Carlton Turner, Alternate Roots (S)
George Tzougros***, Wisconsin Arts Board (S)
Roseann Weiss, Regional Arts Council of St. Louis
Ginger White-Brunetti, Denver Arts and Venues
Laura Zabel*, Springboard for the Arts (S)
Other Attendees
Hilary Amnal **, Utah Arts Commission
Jennifer Armstrong***, National Center for Arts Research/SMU
Caroline Beadle**
Doug Borwick**, ArtsEngaged
Ann Brusky***, John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Karen Geoschko***, Wisconsin Arts Board
Anne Katz, Arts Wisconsin
Clay Lord***, Americans for the Arts Gerald McKenna**
Mitch Menchaca**, incoming Executive Director, California Association of Symphony Orchestras
Barbara Strauss**, Moravian Music Foundation
Harv Thompson**
(S) = Speaker/Presenter
* Recent Gard award winner
** Gard board of directors
***Wingspread planning committee members
For updates and more information, see the Gard Foundation website.
Engage!
Doug