ART IS CHANGE: Strategies & Skills for Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers

In our last conversation, (Episode 26) we shared Alice Lovelace's tumultuous history as a solo teaching artist and performer working with young writers all across the rural south. What follows is Alice's next chapter. In it she talks about building an extraordinary multi-disciplinary, cross-sector cultural institution that rises up from the funky detritus of the pandemic as a new beachhead of creative change in a small Georgia Community. BIOAlice Lovelace is a cultural worker, performance artist, teacher, poet, organizer, author, playwright, and arts administer. Since 1976 Atlanta has been her home of choice; a fertile ground for artistic growth and activism, and in 1978, she discovered the Neighborhood Arts Center and met Ebon Dooley (Leo Hale) and Toni Cade Bambara. Together, they organized poetry readings and classes while conducting meetings for the Southern Collective of African American Writers (SCAAW). In 1981, Ebon and Alice founded the nonprofit: Southeast Community Cultural Center located at the former Grant Park Elementary School and in 1984 opened the former school as The Arts Exchange – a studio space for artists, a theater, recording studio, two galleries, a dance studio, and home to the Atlanta Writers Resource Center. Between 1998 and 2000 Alice became executive director of Alternate ROOTS, an artists-led southern regional organization; and along with Dr. Lisa Delpit and actress Jane Fonda, she founded and stepped into the role of executive director of the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning (APAL). Currently serving as the president of the board of ArtsXchange, Alice continues to serve the public need through programs implemented at the nonprofit’s newly renovate facility in East Point, GA. Notable Mentions:Change the Story/ Change the World  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/change-the-story-change-the-world/id1687938227ArtsXchange | Community Cultural Center | East Point, Georgia Morehouse School of Medicine - MSM - AtlantaSipp Culture – Telling Our Story, Growing Our FutureMaynard Jackson, first Black Mayor of AtlantaNeighborhood Arts Center History - Community Art in Atlanta, 1977-1987 ...*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

Throughout his career, activist, organizer, educator, and author Harry Boyte. has asked a simple, but obviously challenging question: How can we make democracy an everyday practice for everyone? Given the warnings about the end of democracy, our discussion about role of culture in the labor and civil rights movements, and the inseparable nature of imagination and democracy is timely, to say the least. BIOHarry C. Boyte is a co-founder with Marie Ström of the Public Work Academy and Senior Scholar of Public Work Philosophy, both at Augsburg University. He also founded the international youth civic education initiative Public Achievement and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota, now merged into the Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship at Augsburg University. Boyte’s book, Awakening Democracy through Public Work, Vanderbilt University Press 2018, recounts lessons from more than 25 years of revitalizing the civic purposes of K-12, higher education, professions, and other settings. In the 1960s, Boyte was a Field Secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization headed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and subsequently was a community and labor organizer in the South. Boyte has authored ten other books on democracy, citizenship, and community organizing and his articles and essays have appeared in more than 150 publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Political Theory, Chronicle of Higher Education, Policy Review, Dissent, and the Nation. Notable MentionsPart One: Free SpacesPublic AchievementSabo Center for Democracy and CitizenshipAwakening Democracy Through Public Work, Harry Boyte Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)Judge William HastieSCLC - Citizenship SchoolsBrown V. Board of Education The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and The Politics of The American Way, Larry MayCultural Front, Michael DenningNixon/Khrushchev Kitchen DebateInstitute for Public Life and WorkThird Way Civics: A Cultural Pluralist view of American Democracy and History Trygve Throntveit,Creative Community Leadership, UMass AmherstPart Two: CitizensArtist Proof Studio, South Africa,Kim BermanArt and Upheaval, William ClevelandThe Extended Mind, Annie Murphy PaulThe Capacity to Aspire, Arjun AppaduraiHighlander (Research and Education Center)Dorothy Cotton,Septima Clark,Ella BakerLiteracy Project Documentary, You Got to Move.Bernice RobinsonScandinavian Folk SchoolsTerry Pettus Part Three: “These don't seem like such bad kids.”Beyond the War Metaphor, Harry BoyteBuilding America: The Democratic Promise of Public Work,  Harry Boyte, Nancy Kari Public Achievement in Fridley: Transforming Special Education Part Four: The Dignity and Value of WorkThe Dignity of Labor, Martin Luther KingA New Deal for the Arts ExhibitionRoosevelt Memorial, George SegalBehind the Magic Curtain by T. K. Thorn

Carlton Turner understands that when you can't feed yourself the imagination is the first thing to go And if you can't "see" a different future you can't make change. Sipp Culture is about feeding both the body and the mind's eye. BIOCarlton Turner is an artist, agriculturalist, researcher, and co-founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (Sipp Culture). Sipp Culture uses food and story to support rural community development in his hometown of Utica, Mississippi where his family has been for eight generations. He currently serves on the board of First Peoples Fund, Imagining America, Project South and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Carlton is a member of the We Shall Overcome Fund Advisory Committee at the Highlander Center for Research and Education and is the former Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS and is a founding partner of the Intercultural Leadership Institute.Carlton is a current Interdisciplinary Research Fellow with the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and was named to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts YBCA100. He is also a former Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow and former Cultural Policy Fellow at the Creative Placemaking Institute at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design in the Arts.Carlton Turner is also co-founder and co-artistic director, along with his brother Maurice Turner, of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction). M.U.G.A.B.E.E. is a Mississippi-based performing arts group that blends of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry and soul music together with non-traditional storytelling. His current work is River Sols, a new play being developed in collaboration with Pangea World Theater that explores race, identity, class, faith, and difference across African American and South Asian communities through embodiment of a river.He is also a member of the Rural Wealth Lab at RUPRI (Rural Policy Research Institute) and an advisor to the Kresge Foundation’s FreshLo Initiative. In 2018, Carlton was awarded the Sidney Yates Award for Advocacy in the Performing Arts by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. Carlton has also received the M. Edgar Rosenblum award for outstanding contribution to Ensemble Theater (2011) and the Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre (2015).Notable MentionsSIPP Culture: The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production is an approach and resource for cultivating thriving communities. Based in the rural South, “Sipp Culture” is honoring the history and building the future of our own community of Utica, MS. Sipp Culture supports community development from the ground up through cultural production focused on self-determination and agency designed by us and for us. We believe that history, culture, and food affirm our individual and collective humanity. So, we are strengthening our local food system, advancing health equity, and supporting rural artistic voices – while activating the power of story – all to promote the legacy and vision of our hometown.Octavia Butler: OCTAVIA E. BUTLER was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including PARABLE OF THE SOWER (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.Maurice Turner: Maurice S. Turner, II is co-founder of Turner World Around Productions, Inc. and one-half of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction), an artistic ensemble composing and performing a blend of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and soul music on a totally conscience tip. Maurice works with people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds facilitating workshops, which range from music production to Civil Rights. When not performing with M.U.G.A.B.E.E., Maurice is a trumpeter for hire. He has shared the stage with many great musicians, which include The Wynton Marsalis Septet, Ellis Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Mulgrew Miller, Jon Faddis, Danny Barker, Wallace Roney, Stranger Malone, Donald Byrd, Keeter Betts, Elise Witt, Jimmy Heath, Ray Drummond, Chris “Daddy” Dave, Randy Brecker, and Bobby Rush to name a few. He also served as Musical Director for Uprooted: The Katrina Project, a piece focusing on the displaced citizens of New Orleans and the various struggles that were faced during the catastrophe.Bob Moses: Robert Parris Moses (January 23, 1935 – July 25, 2021) was an American educator and civil rights activist, known for his work as a leader of the Student Nonv

Over the past four decades, this episode's guest, Cynthia Winton-Henry, and the worldwide community, she and her collaborator, Phil Porter, have helped to grow, have sparked a reconvening of the pre-historic circle of dance and song, and story that animated and nurtured the nascent human community. For more inspiring change maker stories also check out the Change the Story CollectionBIOCynthia Winton-Henry, M.Div, co-founded InterPlay (www.interplay.org) with Phil Porter in 1989. They mentor teachers around the world in best practices to build community and unlock the wisdom of the body using movement, story, stillness, and voice. Cynthia hosts weekly Online Dance Chapels at the Hidden Monastery at www.cynthiawinton-henry.com and teaches the initiations needed by gifted and sensitive bodies using her Self-Care Playbook in the Art of Ensoulment. She’s taught at Holy Names University’s Sophia Center and the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, and at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, where she received the Distinguished Alumni Award. Her books include Move: What the Body Wants by Woodlake Press, Chasing the Dance of Life published by Apocryphile Press and Dance: A Sacred Art by Skylight Press, and wrote the concluding essay "Grace Operatives: How Body Wisdom Changed the World" in Phenomonlogies of Grace edited by Marcus Bussey and Camilla Mozzini.Notable MentionsInterplay: InterPlay is an active, creative way to unlock the wisdom of the bodyPhil Porter: Phil is one of the founders of InterPlay. He is a teacher, performer, writer, and organizer. With Cynthia Winton-Henry he is the co-founder of WING IT! Performance Ensemble, and has written several books, some in collaboration with Cynthia, including Having It All: Body, Mind, Heart & Spirit Together Again at Last and The Slightly Mad Rantings of a Body Intellectual Part One. Phil is particularly interested in the use of InterPlay in organizational life and believes that InterPlay can be a powerful tool to create communities of diversity and peace.African Art in Motion: The exhibition was based on a concept of Robert Farris Thompson, associate professor of art history at Yale University, that African art can only be understood through a grasp of African dance and ritual and in the special language of body motion: implied, arrested, or expressed. TRuth St. Dennis: was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art and paving the way for other women in dance. She was inspired by the Delsarte advocate Genevieve Stebbins. St. Denis was the co-founder in 1915 of the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. She taught notable performers including Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. In 1938, she founded the pioneering dance program at Adelphi University. She published several articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body.Doug Adams: (1945 April 12 - 2007 July 24) was professor of Christianity and the Arts at Pacific School of Religion for 31 years and member of the core Graduate Theological Union faculty. Adams was an international scholar in religion and the arts, worship, dance and humor. He authored hundreds of articles and a dozen books, inspired and mentored thousands of students, and lectured and conducted workshops throughout the US.God Sex and Power A 1992 completely improvised performance directed by Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, cofounders of InterPlay, with Beth Hoch Scott Galuteria, Amar Khalsa, David McCauley, and Debra Weir. This performance, part of San Francisco's Edge Festival, happened in the Mission District.Masankho Banda is an accomplished dancer, drummer and choreographer from Malawi. Using performing arts, Masankho motivates and inspires people of all ages to work together for peace, social justice and cultural understanding. He has personal experience of living under a totalitarian government where his father was imprisoned in 1980 for his efforts to maintain democracy and economic stability in Malawi.  Coke Tani is a movement and literary artist, spiritual companion, and teacher/facilitator. In addition to having co-led the Secrets of InterPlay & Life Practice Program, Coke served as InterPlay's first Liaison to Leaders of Color, where she introduced the expansion of InterPlay forms for embodied anti-racism education, and co-created InterPlay's first BIPOC Daylong Retreat. She holds an MSW, MFA and MDiv.Kira Allen: This Certified InterPlay leader is an author, collage artist, activist, advocate, and facilitator who specializes in working with Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Queer communities. She holds an M.A. in Transformative Arts from John F. Kennedy University, and a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from Mills College. Bearing witness to her own traumas and triumphs through a wide variety of modalities inspires her work with participants of all ages in: classrooms, homeless

Episode 76: Alice Lovelace: How to Thrive as a Creative Change Agent (Reprise)Lately, we have heard from many artists and arts organizations who are joining the creative change movement. In response, we are revisiting Alice's story of creativity, chutzpah, and courage as a peaceful disrupter making serious change across the deep south under the most challenging conditions. For more inspiring change maker stories also check out the Change the Story Collection: Threshold Questions & Delicious QuotesWhat is "This Poem" really about?This poem is a cultural hybrid Travelin' everywhereBelongin' nowhereIrresponsible, Irreverent And totally irrelevantWhat do you mean by Peaceful Disrupter?I am never happy with the status quo. So, I'm always looking for ways to disrupt the status quo and to move it in a more progressive [way] or [by] empowering those who I see are being left behind.And that has to happen a lot, they have to be those who make other people uncomfortable, so that in their discomfort they actually deeply contemplate change. Because when we are comfortable, we don't contemplate change.... I'm a peaceful disruptor. I don't get loud. I don't, I definitely look for opportunities to shift power and to shift the conversation...What does "asking permission" mean in a classroom?When I walk into a classroom, the first thing I say to my class is I asked permission to be there. And often the teachers don't understand that, but I will say to the students, “this is your community, and I am an interloper, and other adults have made a decision that I should be here, but the rightful decision-makers are you because you were the one who had the power to make this a success or to make it a failure”. So, I always ask their permission.How can you fight the power of the false narrative?I've never forgot the lesson of. Standing up to bullies, not getting into the stories people are telling about you, ...the moment that you try to speak to that story, all it's going to do is keep that story spinning. So, I would never address it.Music AttributionVariations on a theme 1 » The Rush (w/ drum) - Variations 1 (c) by PodcastACThis work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.You should have received a copy of the license along with thiswork. If not, see <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

Spending time with the Breaking Ice theater based diversity, equity, and inclusion program gave rise to a question: How might new insights about how the brain works might help us better understand the how and why of our continuing struggle with difference? Here is what ensued. LISTEN TO Breaking Ice Chapter 1LISTEN TO Breaking Ice Chapter 2Change the Story / All Episodes Change the Story Collections - Our full catalogue of Episodes in 12 Collections: Justice Arts, Art & Healing, Cultural Organizing, Arts Ed./Children & Youth, Community Arts Training, Music for Change, Theater for Change, Change Making Media, Creative Climate Action, Art of the RuralNotable MentionsBreaking Ice is the award-winning program of Pillsbury House Theatre that for over 20 years has been “breaking the ice” for courageous and productive dialogue around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. A diverse company of professional actors portrays real-life situations that are customized to meet the goals, needs and culture of each unique organization we serve.Pillsbury House and Theater is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognized and named the psychological concept of "flow", a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.[1][2] He was the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He was also the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.[3]SourcesQuestion 2: How does our environment influence what we think and believe? 1.Lobel, T. (2014) Sensations: The New Science of Physical Intelligence, Simon & Schuster.2 Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 105, Vintage Books, 2017Question 4: Why are stories important? 3.Hamlin, JK, Wynn, K & Bloom, P (2007) “Social evaluation by preverbal infants.” Nature, 450(7169), 557-59.Question 5: What is empathy and what does it have to do with artmaking?4 Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 143, Vintage Books, 20175 Ibid.Question 11: If human cooperation and connection are so important, why do we struggle so with difference? 6. How do children develop a sense of self? - The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/how-do-children- develop-a-sense-of-self-56117. Toddler | Preschool & Daycare | The Montessori Centre St Lucia. http://www.themontessoricentre.com/toddlers/8. Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 143, Vintage Books, 2017Question 13: Why is play so important to human development? 9 Asma, Steven The History of Imagination, pg., 84, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 201710 Asma, Stephen, The Evolution of Imagination, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2017Question 15: How Can human creativity help us out of this mess?11 Boyd, Brian, On the Origin of Stories, Harvard University Press, Boston, 2010*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

Breaking Ice - Chapter 2Fear of judgement, the courage of sharing pain, or guilt, or confusion, owning that not knowing is not an excuse for hurting, that humility is hard, that learning hard things is harder, and accepting responsibility is a daily struggle. This is the rocky relational landscape being explored by five BreakIng Ice performers on a bare stage at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. louis, Missouri in the winter of 2019.LISTEN TO Breaking Ice Chapter 1Change the Story / All Episodes Change the Story Collections - Our full catalogue of Episodes in 12 Collections: Justice Arts, Art & Healing, Cultural Organizing, Arts Ed./Children & Youth, Community Arts Training, Music for Change, Theater for Change, Change Making Media, Creative Climate Action, Art of the RuralBIO'sNoël Raymond holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities. Noël is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts, to name a few.Kurt Kwan has been creating performances and facilitating dialogues around issues of Diversity and Inclusion with the Breaking Ice company since 2001. He also manages the Late Nite and Naked Stages programs. As an actor he has performed with Ten Thousand Things, The Walker, Childrens Theatre Company, Mu Performing Arts, New York Asian American Writers, The History Theatre, and Theatre La Homme Dieu.Notable MentionsDEI programs: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (usually abbreviated DEI) refers to organizational frameworks which seek to promote "the fair treatment and full participation of all people", particularly groups "who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination" on the basis of identity or disability.[1]Barnes Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of the Washington University Medical Center. In 2022, Barnes-Jewish was named one of the top twenty hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in its annual ranking.[1][2]Pillsbury House and Theater.  is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” This is the first of two PH+T chapters. Here are links to Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 of our episodes on Pillsbury’s history a and a Bonus Episode: Lorraine Hansberry at Pillsbury House - Theatre - Gifted & Black Pillsbury United Communities Beginning in 1879 with Minneapolis’s first settlement house, Pillsbury United Communities co-creates enduring change toward a just society. Built with and for historically marginalized and underinvested groups across our community, our united system of programs, neighborhood centers, and social enterprises connects more than 55,000 individuals and their families each year. We are guided by a vision of thriving communities where every person has personal, social, and economic power.*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating

This episode and next will tell the story my time with Breaking Ice and share what I learned about the program's evolution and history, its impact, and its innovative approach helping workplaces large and small "cultivate courageous dialogue around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. BIO'sNoël Raymond holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities. Noël is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts, to name a few.Kurt Kwan has been creating performances and facilitating dialogues around issues of Diversity and Inclusion with the Breaking Ice company since 2001. He also manages the Late Nite and Naked Stages programs. As an actor he has performed with Ten Thousand Things, The Walker, Childrens Theatre Company, Mu Performing Arts, New York Asian American Writers, The History Theatre, and Theatre La Homme Dieu.Notable MentionsDEI programs: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (usually abbreviated DEI) refers to organizational frameworks which seek to promote "the fair treatment and full participation of all people", particularly groups "who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination" on the basis of identity or disability.[1]Barnes Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of the Washington University Medical Center. In 2022, Barnes-Jewish was named one of the top twenty hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in its annual ranking.[1][2]Pillsbury House and Theater.  is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” This is the first of two PH+T chapters. Here are links to Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 of our episodes on Pillsbury’s history a and a Bonus Episode: Lorraine Hansberry at Pillsbury House - Theatre - Gifted & Black Pillsbury United Communities Beginning in 1879 with Minneapolis’s first settlement house, Pillsbury United Communities co-creates enduring change toward a just society. Built with and for historically marginalized and underinvested groups across our community, our united system of programs, neighborhood centers, and social enterprises connects more than 55,000 individuals and their families each year. We are guided by a vision of thriving communities where every person has personal, social, and economic power.*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

In Episode 71, Dominic Campbell talked about the community building power of Caribbean Carnival and working with cutting edge brain science at the Global Brain Health Institute. In this episode, Dominic Campbell explores questions like: What roles can artists can play at the intersection of science, healthcare, and policymaking? What conditions support radical collaborative thinking and design? And how can artists help scientists communicate with the real world, or as Dominic puts it “lab to table.”BIODominic Campbell is the originator and co-leader of Creative Aging International. As Ireland's Bealtaine Festival’s Director he steered the festivals growth and expansion over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration, St Patrick’s Festival, he transformed its three shows into ninety within four years growing production and managerial teams alongside the financial support required. Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” marking EU expansion, he devised and produced 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.He mentored festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and has developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins. In 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University College Southern California an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia.Recognized by The Irish Times as one of the top ten key cultural influencers in Ireland he seeks strategic and business partners to develop Creative Aging International.Notable MentionsChange the Story Collection: Creative Aging: In the rapidly growing creative care field, the arts are increasingly seen as a powerful and effective prescription for reducing isolation, healing, trauma, promoting vital and essential social connections, mitigating, and delaying the symptoms of dementia, and also changing the way we all think about aging. The artists in this collection are working communities, healthcare facilities, and laboratories to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neuroscientists, public health professionals, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artistsGlobal Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. “We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. “The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at GBHI provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia in their local communities and on a global scale. It is one of seven global Atlantic Fellows programs to advance fairer, healthier, and more inclusive societies.Veronica Rojas: Veronica was a guest on Change the Story / Change the World in April of 2023. She has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.Barbara Steveni: was the co-founder and director of the Artist Placement Group (APG), which ran from the 1960s to the 1990s. The APG's goal was to refocus art outside galleries and museums. It instead installed artists in industrial and government organizations to both learn about and to have a voice in these worlds and then, where possible, organize exhibitions of work related to those experiences. Its work was a key precursor of the now widely-applied artist in residency concept.Kunle Adewale is an artist by profession and a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nialegeria with specialization in painting and art history. He studied Civic Leadership from Tulane University, New Orleans and Arts in Medicine, from University of Florida. With over a decade experience as an artist and educationist, Kunle founded Tender A

In this episode international arts and aging leader Dominic Campbell will share his thoughts about some intriguing questions: Can an active creative culture change the scary stories we tell ourselves about getting older? Can large scale festivals help communities find common ground in their work with older citizens? What is creative aging and why is it being embraced by gerontologists, and brain scientists across the planet?BIODominic Campbell is the originator and co-leader of Creative Aging International. As Ireland's Bealtaine Festival’s Director he steered the festivals growth and expansion over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration, St Patrick’s Festival, he transformed its three shows into ninety within four years growing production and managerial teams alongside the financial support required.Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” marking EU expansion, he devised and produced 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.He mentored festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and has developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins.In 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University College Southern California an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia.Recognized by The Irish Times as one of the top ten key cultural influencers in Ireland he seeks strategic and business partners to develop Creative Aging International.Notable MentionsGlobal Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. “We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. “The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at GBHI provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia in their local communities and on a global scale. It is one of seven global Atlantic Fellows programs to advance fairer, healthier, and more inclusive societies.Chuck Feeney is an American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of the Hong Kong based Duty Free Shoppers Group. He is the founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world. Feeney gave away his fortune in secret for many years, until a business dispute resulted in his identity being revealed in 1997.[2] Feeney has given away more than $8 billion.[3]Veronica Rojas: Veronica was a guest on Change the Story / Change the World in April of 2023. She has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.Caribbean Carnival: is the term used in the English speaking world for a series of events, held annually throughout almost the whole year in many Caribbean islands and worldwide.[2]The Caribbean's carnivals have several common themes, all originating from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival also known as the Mother of Carnival , whose popularity and appeal began well before 1846, and gained global recognition in 1881 with the Canboulay Riots in Port Of Spain.[3] #Trinidad Carnival is based on folklore, culture, religion, and tradition (thus relating to the European use of the word, not amusement rides, as the word "carnival" is often used to mean in American English.St. Patrick's Festival parade in Dublin, Ireland: The iconic National St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns to the streets of Dublin every March 17, with pageants, marching bands and over a million participants. Through contemporary and traditional Irish arts, culture and heritage, the Festival connects families, friends and communities across Ireland, and Ireland’s glob

In this episode Veronica Rojas talks about working to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neurologists, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artists as a Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. It's quite an adventure. BIOVeronica Rojas: Veronica Rojas (b. Mexico City, 1973) was born into a multi-cultural family; her father is Mexican and her mother Swedish. Veronica grew up in Mexico City where she was exposed from very early on to the art of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo. These artists have ever since remained a big influence in Veronica’s artwork. In 1995 she came to San Francisco, USA, to get a BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and later an MFA at the California College of the Arts. She currently lives in Oakland, California. Veronica has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.Notable MentionsGlobal Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: program provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia.Creative Growth Center:  Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is a leader in the field of arts and disabilities, establishing a model for a creative community guided by the principle that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication. From the first day Creative Growth started in the East Bay home of Elias Katz and Florence Ludins-Katz, the vision was clear. Art would be the path forward for people with disabilities to express themselves and a professional gallery would exhibit their work.Art With Elders: Founded in 1991, AWE engages older adults in fine arts classes and shares their work and life experience through public exhibits. Through classes and exhibits, the AWE program provides older adults with a vehicle for self-expression, social connection, and a presence in the larger community. Classes are taught in person and online by professional artists and are available in 5 languages. Exhibits engage artists and audiences through the power of creativity, deepening connection between cultures and generations.Creative Minds UCSF: Established in 2020, Creative Minds is a community arts for brain health initiative in San Francisco. This unique collaboration between the UCSF MAC Community Outreach Program and Atlantic Fellows at GBHI engages older adults in underserved and underrepresented neighborhoods through photography, art, storytelling, movement, and craft-making. Creative Minds partners with community centers and clinics throughout the city to incorporate brain health education and offer these creative experiences informed by the cultural and linguistic needs of our community members.  Memory Aging Center at UCSF: The UCSF Memory and Aging Center is an NIA-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center working to translate research science into improved diagnosis and care for people with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease and related diseases, as well as to find a treatment or prevention.Parkinson’s Disease: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. Alzheimer’s Disease: Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It is a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment. Alzheimer's disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language.Frontotemporal Dementia: Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work

ANNE BASTING's work at the crossroads of Arts and Aging has allowed her to pioneer new approaches to the challenges faced by our aging population. In this episode we learn how her efforts have helped advance the creative aging approach as a powerful and effective prescription for reducing isolation, promoting social connections, and mitigating a the symptoms of dementia. BIOAnne Basting is a writer, artist and advocate for the power of creativity to transform our lives. She is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Founder of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.org, which trains, inspires, and supports caregivers to infuse creativity into care. Her writing and large-scale public performances have helped shape an international movement to extend creative and meaningful expression from childhood, where it is expected, through to late life, where it has been too long withheld.Her books include Creative Care: A Revolutionary Approach to Elder and Dementia Care (Harper), Penelope: An Arts-based Odyssey to Transform Eldercare (U of Iowa), and Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia (Johns Hopkins). Internationally recognized for her speaking and her innovative work, Anne is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and numerous major awards and grants. She believes that creative engagement can and should be infused into every aging care system and has trained/consulted with Meals on Wheels, libraries, home care companies, senior centers, memory cafes, museums, adult day programs, and every level of long-term care.In 2019, Anne collaborated with a team of artists, elders, and caregivers on her largest project yet – a reimagining of the story of Peter Pan with 12 rural Kentucky nursing homes. She is currently obsessed with growing the memory cafe infrastructure across the United States. Change the Story Collections: Connecting the DotsArts-based community development comes in many flavors: dancers, and painters working with children and youth; poets and potters collaborating with incarcerated artists: cultural organizers in service to communities addressing racial injustice, and in this episode related to arts and aging.Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. For anyone who is interested here are links to other Change the Story Episode episodes related to this episode’s subject. Change the Story Collection: Arts and HealingEpisode 63 and Episode 64: A Conversation with Liz LermanNotable MentionsThe following are links to more information about notable programs, people, and issues mentioned in this episode.Creative Care, a Revolutionary Approach to Dementia and Elder Care: In Creative Care, Anne Basting lays the groundwork for a widespread transformation in our approach to elder care and uses compelling, touching stories to inspire and guide us all—family, friends, and health professionals—in how to connect and interact with those living with dementia.TimeSlips: Founded by MacArthur Fellow Anne Basting, in 1998 TimeSlips is an “international network of artists and caregivers committed to bringing joy to late life. As our bodies and minds change with age, people ask – “How can I connect with my mom? My clients? My neighbor?” TimeSlips says try imagination.”Kazuo Ohno, was a Japanese dancer who became a guru and inspirational figure in the dance form known as Butoh.[2] He is the author of several books on Butoh, including The Palace Soars through the Sky, Dessin, Words of Workshop, and Food for the Soul. The latter two were published in English as Kazuo Ohno's World: From Without & Within (2004).The Penelope Project: At Milwaukee’s Luther Manor, a team of artists from the University of Wisconsin’s theatre department led by Anne Basting, and Sojourn Theatre Company, university students, staff, residents, and volunteers traded their bingo cards for copies of The Odyssey. They embarked on a two-year project to examine this ancient story from the perspective of the hero who never left home: Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Together, the team staged a play that engaged everyone and transcended the limits not just of old age and disability but also youth, institutional regulations, and disciplinary boundaries.Sojourn Theatre Is A Program Of The Center For Performance And Civic Practice. Its mission is “to design bold opportunities for participation and unforgettable experience, with rigor and striking physicality.” Sojourn collaborates towards a vision of healthy communities and functional democracy.Nicole Garneau is an interdisciplinary artist making site-specific performance and project art that is directly political, critically conscious, and community building. Her book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism was published in print in Spring 2018 by Intellect. In 2022, a fully accessibl

This episode is Art in a Democracy: Selected Plays of Roadside Theater. Our conversation with editor Ben Fink and contributor Arnaldo J. Lopez. explores Roadside's 50-year history of creative collaboration percolating at the crossroads of art, community, and America's struggle to craft an authentic living democracy. BIO’sBen Fink: Ben Fink worked with the Roadside ensemble from 2015 through 2020, as a member of the Betsy! Scholars’ Circle, as the founding organizer of the Letcher County Culture Hub and the Performing Our Future coalition, and as the cofounder of the cross-partisan dialogue project Hands Across the Hills. He has also served as dramaturg on the German premieres of  two Broadway musicals, made theater with Turkish and Arab high school students, and chaired a Lutheran faith community in Minnesota. His work in theater, organizing, pedagogy, and economic development has been featured by Salon.com, the Brookings Institution, TDR/The Drama Review, Harvard Law School, Americans for the Arts, PolicyLink, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2020, Ben was recognized by Time magazine as one of “27 People Bridging Divides Across America.” He is the general editor of Art in a Democracy. Arnaldo J Lopez: is a cultural worker with a Ph.D. in Latin/o American Literatures and Cultures from New York University. He first joined Pregones Theater when the company set out to transform a South Bronx warehouse into a vibrant performing arts center, and later helped engineer a merger with the historic Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in Manhattan. Versed in a broad set of creative, community, and nonprofit topics, he works with artists in mapping paths toward joyful and sustainable practice. His background also includes ten years in letterpress and graphic design.Notable MentionsArt in a Democracy, the selected plays of Roadside Theater, volumes 1 and 2: This two-volume anthology tells the story of Roadside Theater’s first 45 years and includes nine award-winning original play scripts; ten essays by authors from different disciplines and generations, which explore the plays’ social, economic, and political circumstances; and a critical recounting of the theater’s history from 1975 through 2020. ArtinAdemocracy.org: The official Art in a Democracy website. New Village Press is Art in a Democracy's publisher. The mission of New Village Press is to promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of issues vital to the development of healthy, creative, and socially just communities. To that end, New Village publishes transdisciplinary books that animate emerging movements in societal transformation. In conjunction, the Press also sponsors lectures, forums, and exhibitions for the public, especially for those communities that are underserved.Junebug Productions emerged from the Free Southern Theater in 1980 with a mission to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the Black community. "Through interrogation, we challenge ourselves and those aligned with the organization to make greater and deeper contributions towards a just society."John O’Neal was a co-founder of the Free Southern Theater, Field Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Founder of Junebug Productions. This list contains content that pays tribute to his incredible work for our field, and for freedom and justice in America. This HowlAround resource contains essays, video’s and a podcast featuring John O’Neal and his work.Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater: Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (aka Pregones/PRTT) is a multigenerational performing ensemble, multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan. Our mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and engagement of diverse audiences.Appalshop was founded in 1969 as a project of the US government's “war on poverty.” Over its five decades of lively existence, it's grown to become an important amplifier of the voices of the Appalachian region. Its mission is pretty simple, namely, “to develop effective ways of using media and cultural expression to address the complex issues facing the region.”“We've been making art and media in the mountains since 1969. Now we're powered by the largest net-metered renewable energy system in Eastern Kentucky, and home to the largest single body of creative work on Appalachia in the world.” Promise of a Love Song: Promise of a Love Song interweaves three love stories, each from the particular culture of the play’s creators: Pregones Theater, a Puerto Rican company based in the Bronx; Junebug Productions, an African American theater based in New Orleans; and Roadside Theater Thousand Kites: Thousand

This episode's guest is artist, educator, and global cultural leader, Eric Booth. Eric’s passion is activating the artistry of others to foster wellness, create thriving communities and change behaviors for the better. Eric has written seven books, taught at Juilliard, Stanford, Lincoln Center, and consulted on arts, learning, teaching, and innovation across the globe.BIOIn 2015 Eric Booth was given the nation’s highest award in arts education (the first artist to receive it). He began as a Broadway actor, and became a businessman (his company became the largest of its kind in the U.S. in 7 years), and author of seven books, including the bestseller The Everyday Work of Art, Playing for Their Lives (the only book about music for social change programs around the world) and Tending the Perennials, and over 30 published articles. He has been on the faculty of Juilliard (12 years), Tanglewood (5 years), The Kennedy Center (20 years), and Lincoln Center Education (for 41 years). He serves as a consultant for many arts organizations (including seven of the ten largest U.S. orchestras), cities, states and businesses around the U.S., and in 11 other countries. He has founded and led teaching artist training programs around the world. A frequent keynote speaker, he gave the closing keynote to UNESCO's first world arts education conference, and founded the International Teaching Artist Collaborative. Website : ericbooth.netNotable MentionsAnton Checkhov:  29 January 1860[note 2] – 15 July 1904[note 3]) was a Russian[3] playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.[The Bear: A Joke in One Act, or The Boor (Russian: Медведь: Шутка в одном действии, tr. Medved': Shutka v odnom deystvii, 1888), is a one-act comedic play written by Russian author Anton Chekhov. The play was originally dedicated to Nikolai Nikolaevich Solovtsov, Chekhov's boyhood friend and director/actor who first played the character Smirnov.Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:  29 September 1934 – 20 October 2021) was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognized and named the psychological concept of "flow", a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.[Gospel of Mark, Alec McCowen: In 1977, Alec McCowen – unanimously regarded then and now as one of the finest actors in the English language – gave his first solo performance of St. Mark’s Gospel (King James Version) with minimal staging in a tiny church basement in Newcastle, England. Since these humble beginnings, the McCowen St. Mark’s Gospel has become a theatrical marvel of our time. Mr. McCowen, who recites the entire text of the Gospel from memory in this presentation, was nominated for a Tony Award in 1979 for his impressive work.Arts in Corrections: Arts in Corrections was a program of the California Department of Corrections from 1981 to 2011. At its height it had a full and part-time faculty of over 1000 artists and an incarcerated student body and audience of 25,000. Shuttered in the wake of the great recession it was revived as a joint program of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Arts Council. The program currently operates in all of California’s 34 prisons.Jose Alfonso: José Manuel Cerqueira Afonso dos Santos (2 August 1929 – 23 February 1987), known professionally as José Afonso and also popularly known as Zeca Afonso or simply Zeca, was a Portuguese singer-songwriter. One of the most influential folk and protest musicians in the history of Portugal, he became an icon in Portugal due to the role of his music in the resistance against the dictatorial Estado Novo regime.Estado Novo: The Estado Novo was one of the longest-surviving authoritarian regimes in Europe in the 20th century. Opposed to communism, socialism, syndicalism, anarchism, liberalism and anti-colonialism, the regime was conservative, corporatist, and nationalist in nature, defending Portugal's traditional Catholicism.Joseph Campbell: (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's best-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.Audre Lorde: Poet and author Audre Lorde used her writing to shine light on her experience of the world as a Black lesbian woman and later, as a mother and person suffering from cancer. A prominent member of the women’s and LGBT

Arlene GoldbardIn this episode we talk to author, visual artist, educator, and activist Arlene Goldbard about her new book. In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does it Mean to be Educated. In it she explores her life's journey along with a camp of 11 angels that include James Baldwin, Nina Simone, Paolo Freire, Doris Lessing, and Jane Jacobs.  BioArlene Goldbard (www.arlenegoldbard.com) is a New Mexico-based writer, speaker, consultant, cultural activist, and visual artist whose focus is the intersection of culture, politics and spirituality. Her books include The Wave, The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future; New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development, Community, Culture and Globalization, Crossroads: Reflections on the Politics of Culture, and Clarity. Her new book, In The Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does It Mean to Be Educated? was published by New Village Press in January 2023. Her essays have been widely published. She has addressed academic and community audiences in the U.S. and Europe and provided advice to community-based organizations, independent media groups, institutions of higher education, and public and private funders and policymakers. Along with François Matarasso, she co-hosts “A Culture of Possibility,” a podcast produced by miaaw.net. From 2012 to 2019, she served as Chief Policy Wonk of the USDAC (usdac.us). From 2008-2019, she served as President of the Board of Directors of The Shalom Center. Notable MentionsChange the Story / Change the World: A Chronicle of art and community transformation across the globe.Change the Story Collection: Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. Others have shared that they are using the podcast as a learning resource and would appreciate categories and cross-references for our stories. In response we have curated episode collections in 11 arenas: Justice Arts, Children and Youth, Racial Reckoning, Creative Climate Action, Cultural Organizing, Creative Community Leadership Development, Arts and Healing, Art of the Rural, Theater for Change, Music and Transformation, Change Media. In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does it Mean to be Educated: An autodidact explores issues of education itself through essays and personal portraits of the key minds who influenced her. What does it mean to be educated? Through her evocative paintings and narrative, author Arlene Goldbard has portrayed eleven people whose work most influenced her—what she calls a camp of angels. Order this Book @: Arlene Goldbard.com and New Village PressJames Baldwin is considered one of America’s finest writers.  He garnered acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953; decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005.[1] Baldwin's work fictionalizes fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that run parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth century America, such as the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement. Nina Simone: was one of the most extraordinary artists of the twentieth century, an icon of American music. She was the consummate musical storyteller, a griot as she would come to learn, who used her remarkable talent to create a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion, and love through a magnificent body of works. Nina Simone @Monteau Jazz Festival (video)Paul Goodman: was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decentralization, democracy, education, media, politics, psychology, technology, urban planning, and war. As a humanist and self-styled man of letters, his works often addressed a common theme of the individual citizen's duties in the larger society, and the responsibility to exercise autonomy, act creatively, and realize one's own human nature.US Department of Arts and Culture: The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture is a people-powered department—a grassroots action network inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of empathy, equity, and belonging.Dr. Ibram x. Kendi is a National Book Award-winning author of thirteen books for adults and children, including nine NewYork Times bes

This week we visit with researcher, writer, planner, Lorrie Chang to talk about her work with ArtPlace America's Community Development Investment (CDI) program. Along the way we will explore how artists from the Zuni Pueblo, and Southwest Minnesota worked with community developers to integrate arts-based tools and strategies as an enduring core of their practice? BIOLorrie Chang centers an arts and cultural-based approach to community change and development as a path to collective liberation. At PolicyLink, she designed and evaluated the nation’s first Creative Placemaking technical assistance program for The National Endowment for the Arts, served as the research partner for ArtPlace’s experiment to integrate arts and culture strategies into community development organizations, and supported six arts organizations advancing equitable policies across the country. In East Portland, she led community engagement rooted in storytelling for The People’s Plan-- a plan by and for the people projecting a vision for a thriving Black community. As a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Truth Fellow, she explored, "How do we find and empower TRUTH?". Last year, in stillness, she humbly pursued, “What does liberation look like for me?”. She now seeks to alchemize her journey of personal liberation to serve collective liberation. Lorrie holds a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning and resides in San Francisco.   Notable MentionsThe Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (SWMHP) is a non-profit community development corporation serving communities throughout Southwest and South Central Minnesota.Partnership Art: In 2015, SWMHP was one of six organizations that received funding through Artplace America to participate in the Community Development Investments (CDI) Program. The CDI Program was launched to investigate and support place-based organization incorporating art and culture into our core work, allowing us to better fulfill our mission of creative thriving place to live, grow and work.Place-based Productions: We are a production company that explores community stories through site-specific performance and the arts. Our work cultivates stewards of community identity by connecting people to their common places, stories and relationships.Our goals are to foster creativity, play, and, above all, a sense of place.ArtPlace America was a ten-year, $150 million collaboration among a number of foundations, federal agencies, and financial institutions that operated from 2010 to 2020. Our mission was to position arts and culture as a core sector of equitable community planning and development. You can learn about the story of ArtPlace in our book.ArtPlace America's Community Development Initiative: A core focus of ArtPlace America’s Community Development Investments program was to learn from how six organizations in urban, rural, and tribal areas were able to incorporate arts and culture into their work, help them achieve their missions more effectively, and bring about positive outcomes for their communities.PolicyLink: PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity by Lifting Up What Works.® “As the nation moves toward becoming majority people of color, achieving equity—just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential—is the moral imperative, a potent antidote to inequality, and the superior growth model.”Lisjan Ohlone: The Lisjan are made up of the six nations that were directly enslaved at Mission San Jose in Fremont, CA and Mission Dolores in San Francisco, CA: Lisjan (Ohlone), Karkin (Ohlone), Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Delta Yokut and Napian (Patwin). Our territory includes 5 Bay Area counties; Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Napa and San Joaquin, and we are directly tied to the “Indian Town” census of the 1920’s and the Verona Band.Jeremy Liu: Liu is an award-winning artist, social impact strategist, and real estate developer with a successful track record of developing “Community Benefits by Design” real estate projects. As the Senior Fellow for Arts, Culture and Equitable Development at PolicyLink, he has shaped and is guiding an initiative that integrate arts and culture into the work of equitable development.Zuni Youth Empowerment Project: our mission is to promote resilience among zuni youth, so they will grow into strong and healthy adults who are connected with Zuni traditions. Daryl Shack: My name is Daryl Shack Sr. I am a Painter and Fetish Carver with 44 years of experience. My Fetish work is made with various stones that are found locally and from around the world. For my paintings, I use Acrylic and Enamel paints on canvas. What influences my Art is my father, our Culture and Traditions. Ashley Hansen Ashley Hanson (she/her) has 15 years of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect nei

In Episode 63 of Change the Story / Change the World, Liz Lerman shared stories about her early years and her creative path as a choreographer, teacher, and as a lifelong practicing heretic. In this Episode, (64) we hear about Wicked Bodies, her latest work, exploring the ugly, the beautiful, and the sublime embedded in the age-old story of witches. Special Thanks to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for their support of Liz Lerman's work and the use of an excerpt from the Wicked Bodies trailer. BIOLiz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and speaker. She has spent the past four decades making her artistic research personal, funny, intellectually vivid, and up to the minute. A key aspect of her artistry is opening her process to everyone from shipbuilders to physicists, construction workers to ballerinas, resulting in both research and experiences that are participatory, relevant, urgent, and usable by others.Called by the Washington Post “the source of an epochal revolution in the scope and purposes of dance art,”[4] she and her dancers have collaborated with shipbuilders, physicists, construction workers, and cancer researchers.[5] In 2002 she won the MacArthur Genius Grant;[6] in 2009, the Jack P. Blaney Award in Dialogue acknowledged her outstanding leadership, creativity, and dedication to melding dialogue with dance, and the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.[7]She founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and led the company's multi-generational ensemble until July 2011, when Lerman passed the leadership of her company to Cassie Meador;[8] the company is now called simply Dance Exchange.[9] .[10]Under Lerman's leadership Dance Exchange appeared across the U.S. in locations as various as the National Cathedral,[11] Kennedy Center Opera House,[12] and Millennium Stage,[13] Lansburgh Theatre,[14] Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,[14][15] Harvard University,[16] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[17][18]Lerman's early work was strongly associated with the inclusion of older people alongside more traditional young performers,[19] and with the use of personal narrative.[4] Notable MentionsLiz Lerman: I help others when they come to me and ask. I work in this country and abroad in settings that continue to forge my thinking, make me bolder, and let me interrogate the next generations of artists. It is wide open at the moment. I am a little frightened, a lot more curious, and full of wonder and grief as I gaze around me.”– Liz LermanChange the Story / Change the World EP: 63, Liz Lerman shared stories about her early years and her creative path as a choreographer teacher, and as a lifelong practicing heretic. She also talked about hiking, the horizontal, the critical response process, challenging the Canon, the Heisenberg Uncertainty and how dance can help make the world a better place.Heisenberg Uncertainty: n quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle (also known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities[1] asserting a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which the values for certain pairs of physical quantities of a particle, such as position, x, and momentum, p, can be predicted from initial conditions.Wicked Bodies, Liz Lerman’s latest work, exploring the ugly, the beautiful, and the sublime embedded in the age-old story of witches. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts YBCA was founded in 1963, as the cultural anchor of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. YBCA’s work spans the realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and public life. By centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the community it serves.Christine Blasey Ford: is an American professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine.[4] She specializes in designing statistical models for research projects.[5] During her academic career, Ford has worked as a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine Collaborative Clinical Psychology Program.[6]In September...

Liz LermanIn chapter one of our conversation with Liz Lerman we'll talk about her early years, her career as a heretic, the critical response process, the Heisenberg Uncertainty, the power of the horizontal, and how dance can make the world a better place. BIOLiz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and speaker. She has spent the past four decades making her artistic research personal, funny, intellectually vivid, and up to the minute. A key aspect of her artistry is opening her process to everyone from shipbuilders to physicists, construction workers to ballerinas, resulting in both research and experiences that are participatory, relevant, urgent, and usable by others.Called by the Washington Post “the source of an epochal revolution in the scope and purposes of dance art,”[4] she and her dancers have collaborated with shipbuilders, physicists, construction workers, and cancer researchers.[5] In 2002 she won the MacArthur Genius Grant;[6] in 2009, the Jack P. Blaney Award in Dialogue acknowledged her outstanding leadership, creativity, and dedication to melding dialogue with dance;[citation needed] and the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.[7]She founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and led the company's multi-generational ensemble until July 2011, when Lerman passed the leadership of her company to Cassie Meador;[8] the company is now called simply Dance Exchange.[9] .[10]Under Lerman's leadership Dance Exchange appeared across the U.S. in locations as various as the National Cathedral,[11] Kennedy Center Opera House,[12] and Millennium Stage,[13] Lansburgh Theatre,[14] Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,[14][15] Harvard University,[16] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[17][18]Lerman's early work was strongly associated with the inclusion of older people alongside more traditional young performers,[19] and with the use of personal narrative.[4] Her later-career work has focused on questions ofNotable MentionsDance Exchange: (Previously, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange) Fueled by generosity and curiosity, Dance Exchange expands who gets to dance, where dance happens, what dance is about, and why dance matters. Dance Exchange harnesses the power of creativity and inquiry through dance to connect communities, to deepen our understanding of ourselves and to foster a more embodied, resilient and just world. Critical Response Process: Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process is a method for giving and getting feedback on work in progress, designed to leave the maker eager and motivated to get back to work. is CreativePee-Posh (Maricopa): The Maricopa people were small bands living along the lower Gila and Colorado rivers. Each of these bands migrated eastward at different times. The Xalychidom (Maricopa of Lehi), left around 1825-1830. The last of these bands is said to have left the Colorado River in the late 1830’s. Eventually these bands came together and became collectively known as the Maricopa. As they migrated eastward, they came upon the Pima tribe and established a relationship. Both tribes provided protection against the Yuman and Apache tribes. Tohono O’odham: The Tohono O’odham Nation is comparable in size to the state of Connecticut. Its four non-contiguous segments total more than 2.8 million acres at an elevation of 2,674 feet. Within its land the Nation has established an Industrial Park that is located near Tucson. Tenants of the Industrial Park include Caterpillar, the maker of heavy equipment; the Desert Diamond Casino, an enterprise of the Nation; and, an 23 acre foreign trade zone. of Wisconsin with a sociologist named Pearlman.Freedom Schools: The Freedom Schools of the 1960s were part of a long line of efforts to liberate people from oppression using the tool of popular education, including secret schools in the 18th and 19th centuries for enslaved Africans; labor schools during the early 20th century; and the Citizenship Schools formed by Septima Clark and others in the 1950s.  Anna Halprin: was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to herself as a breaker of the rules of modern dance.[4] In the 1950s, she established the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop to give artists like her a place to practice their art. Exploring the capabilities of her own body, she created a systematic way of moving using kinesthetic awareness.[5 Florence West, dance Milwaukee: Modern dance in Milwaukee begins with Florence West (1912-1994). West left Milwaukee at seventeen to dance in a Broadway road show, quit when she discovered ballet during a tour stop in Detroit, and found her way into the corps of the Chicago Civic Opera ballet. A Milwaukee opera producer asked her to come home to add choreography to a lo

Where did Change the Story / Change the World come from? How about a bad home, drugs, and prison. A predictable story? Sure, except when you throw in the National Cathedral Choir, a geodesic dome, and the stubborn belief that art can save the world. You never know!In this episode we are going back to the beginning with the first episode of what was then a new podcast produced by the Center for the Study of Art & Community in 2020 called Change the Story, Change the World. In it I share the very personal story of how the show came to be and try to answer why would anybody want to listen. It’s a journey of many decades. It begins in the leafy suburbs of our nation’s capital around the time that America started losing what some have called its innocence---Along the way we encounter hippie communes, the requisite drugs, sex and rock and roll, art colonies in prisons, and armies of artists doing battle with the likes of the Slobodan Milosevic, Pol Pot and the US Department of Justice. This week on Change the Story, Change the World, the story of how my story crosses paths with the early history and extraordinary growth of the global community arts movement.THRESHOLD QUESTIONS AND DELICIOUS QUOTES ?Can the creative process be a lifeline for people who are struggling?  "The pervasive, penetrating pulse of all that music was a god damn miracle, all at once a soothing balm, a shattering depth charge, and a transcendent window into other dimensions." ?Can art help us reimagine and recreate the social and cultural fabric of our communities? "One of the bedrock understandings of the hippie universe was, to coin a phrase “you can’t always get what you want, but if you really need it, well, you can make it yourself.” So, in no time at all, we found ourselves imagining that we could make our OWN music.”?What was CETA and how did it give birth to an ever-expanding community arts movement? "The prison partnerships we forged … were both groundbreaking and challenging. They taught is a whole lot in a hurry about what artists need to do to build trust with new communities and neighborhood organizations."? How can art help change the toxic nature of America’s prisons? "In those instants, we could see prison artists kind of tuning in, you know, moving from static to clear reception." ?How can these transformative stories feed the development of a growing community of creative change agents? "By the end of the Art in Other Places Conference, we had a mountain of documentation on artists and programs from all over the country. We had made a commitment to NEA to produce … a report, but to really tell the story of what was going on we had to do more, much more." ?How can artists help re-build civic infrastructure, heal unspeakable trauma, and give new voice to the forgotten and disappeared? "Art and Upheaval took me on an 8-year global journey, documenting artists working in communities facing intense, real-time conflict and trauma.” ?What is Change the Story / Change the World and why should anyone want to tune in? "We are doing this because we believe that meeting the obvious and daunting challenges of this century is going to require a revolution of thought and deed — in essence, a new set of stories powerful enough to change beliefs and behaviors." LINKSThe Hangin' On, William Cleveland from Songlines, by Cleveland PlainsongWashington's Howard Theater played host to many of the great Black musical artists of the early and mid-twentieth centur was billed as the "Theater of the People."Fritz Perls, a German-born psychoanalyst Perls coined the term 'Gestalt therapy' to identify the form of psychotherapy that he developed with his wife, Laura Perls, in the 1940s and 1950s. Perls became associated with the Esalen Institute in 1964, and he lived there until 1969.CETA and the Arts (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) Here is an analysis of the impact of the U.S. Federal Government's largest annual investment in the arts.The William James Association's Prison Arts Project contracts with visual, literary and performing artists to provide in-depth, long-term arts experiences for incarcerated men and women in California state prison facilities.Art In Other Places: Artists at Work in America's Community & Social Institutions, William ClevelandArt and Upheaval: Artists on the Worlds Frontlines, William ClevelandTRANSCRIPT(Music) THE HANGIN ON “The Hangin On” is probably the saddest song I’ve ever written. But its more complicated than that, because, you see, the unfortunate story it represents also precipitated its creation. So, for me, it’s also a song of redemption, one of many that have emerged over the years that have both taught me, first-hand, about the healing power of human creativity and, to put it bluntly, probably saved my life. From the Center for the Study of Art and Community this is Change the Story, Change the World, A Chronicle of Art and Transformation. I’m Bill Clevela

We've come up with four questions from listeners during 2022 that seem to jump out. They deal with creative partnerships in prison. teaching the arts online, something called the Tyranny of Comfort and what neuroscience can tell us about Arts and Change.*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

Rad Pereira is an old soul-young heart theater artist, writer, educator, and community activist with a very clear sense of purpose and direction --- defined by questions like: How can we imagine, and manifest alternate futures together? Was my body conditioned to survive in a world not made for me? and Can the natural world function as a moral compass? BIOI am a multi-spirit mixed Black, Indigenous Brazilian, Jewish (im)migrant artist currently based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn). My creative practices range from social sculpture, to popular theatrical and TV/film performance, to participatory liberatory artmaking and healing that weaves together an Afro-futurist longing for transformative justice and queer (re)Indigenization of culture.I put in a lot of hours to get to where, how and why I am today, with the guidance of many mentors and dedication to cultivating an ancestor led, faithful intuition. I was trained up in Eurocentric theatre and dance on scholarship at Interlochen Arts Academy and Pace University. I kept the parts of that training which were useful and shed the constricting parts. Since then I have been building connection with my ancestral modes of creativity, storytelling and next world building. With my community I created The (Im)Migrant Hustle and produced Bang Bang Gun Amok I + II at Abrons Art Center. With their artner at You Are Here, LILLETH, they created Media Tools for Liberation at JackNY, Decolonization Rave and Cosmic Commons. In 2017 I was NYC Public Artist in Residence with my collaborators (Keelay Gipson, Britton Smith, Josh Adam Ramos), at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Children’s Services working with LGBQTIA foster youth;As an actor and director, I have contributed to stories at HBO, CBS, MTV, National Black Theatre, MITU350, The Public Theater, La Mama etc., Shakespeare Theatre in DC, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, ART Boston, The Bushwick Starr, Target Margin, Ars Nova, New Ohio, Clubbed Thumb, The Flea Theatre, Sesame Street, Theatre 167 and various online media platforms.As a cultural organizer and facilitator, I have collaborated with the Disney Theatrical Group, United Nations, Queens Museum, Rio de Janeiro Museum, Instituto Republica, MOCA, SITI Company Thought Center, A Blade of Grass, SUPERBLUE, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, The 8th Floor, Working Woman of Color Conference, Dance/NYC Symposium, and Culture/Shift. I have taught performance classes and workshops at Pace University, Interlochen Arts Academy, NET, Americans for the Arts and The Door.Currently, I’m the Director of Engagement and Impact with New York Stage & Film, while shifting between cultural work in performance, education, social sculpture and community organizing. My book on socially engaged performance and social justice with Jan Cohen-Cruz came out in June 2022 by New Village Press.Recent Work:Meeting the Moment, Socially Engaged Performance, 1965–2020, by Those Who Lived It by Jan Cohen Cruz and Rad Pereira NOWNESS: Every Step is a Prayer: Miami’s newest innovative arts venue, Superblue, first opened its doors in May 2021 to invite in a new era of perception-shifting art. To honor this beginning, Superblue, alongside local community members and in partnership with NOWNESS, created a short film that honors the land and people the center aims to engage with and announces its inaugural program, Every Wall Is a Door.Iron Path Farms is a Haudenosaunee Two Spirit led food sovereignty project that that is growing ancestral foods for indigenous people.Notable Mentions.Episode Notable Mentions Pindorama: Before colonization "Pindorama" (Tupi for "Land of the Palms") was the native name of Brazil, given by the local indigenous peoples. Abya Yala: The Bolivian Aymara leader Takir Mamani argues for the use of the term "Abya Yala" in the official declarations of indigenous peoples' governing bodies, saying that "placing foreign names on our villages, our cities, and our continents is equivalent to subjecting our identity to the will of our invaders and their heirs."[3] Thus, use of the term "Abya Yala" rather than a term such as New World or America may have ideological implications indicating support for indigenous rights.Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater: Teaching the art of life through the magic of theatre The theatre's goals are to: •DEVELOP the full potential of young people as members of the community •ACHIEVE the highest possible standards of theatre through artistic excellence •CELEBRATE the diversity of South Florida's population through collaboration and the arts •ENCOURAGE public appreciation of the art form while developing future audiences and patrons of the cultural arts Hubert. (From the Website)Interlochen Center for the Arts A true artist's retreat, Interlochen invites students grades 3-12, as well as adults of all ages, for once in a lifetime arts education programs designed to hone th

Barry Marcus Redux- A Creative Culture Celebratory RemembranceThis is a hard introduction to make. A good friend, a special soul has passed over. I am grieving over the loss of my dear brother Barry Marcus. I know, who in the hell wants to listen to a sad guy in mourning but bear with me for a moment here. I’m going to say my little piece, and then let you decide for yourself what to make of Barry as we replay his Change the Story episode as celebratory remembrance. So, my little piece: I think of Barry as an undeserved gift. Not just to me but to all of us in the world who aspire to a life full of heart and empathy, and good work. Barry was a bubbly, quirky, brilliant, loving creative presence who came to the party with no hesitation ready to share his songs, and stories, and amazing layered images, and laugh, and cry, and then laugh again. All I can say is what a privilege it has been to have had a friend like Barry ever in my life. Those of you who are listening, who did not know Barry, are probably thinking, hey the guy lost a good friend, he’s going to hyperbolize a bit. But you folks who knew the man, know that I’m saying doesn’t come close to how cool the guy truly was. I think we are all attracted to people who we think are doing life better than we are. And the thing that pulls us in is the thing that we most wish we could master, the sublime, just out of reach touch that we most aspire to. This was certainly the case with my friend Barry. He was, of course as cracked, and flawed and inattentive as the rest of us, but what stood out with him in his relationship with life was his complete and total awe and love of the world he and the rest of us inhabited while he was with us.In this realm he was not in any way a master tactician, or a strategic genius, he was, rather, an all-in, heart and soul participant in whatever opportunity, obstacle, question, or mystery that came his way. He was an over-the-top enthusiast and cheerleader for what was possible, for what was interesting or provocative, and most of all, what manifested love in the universe. By love in the universe, I’m not talking about the “woo “thing. I’m talking about the thing that he was best at without even thinking. Which was wanting us, all of us to be us, with as much intensity, and honesty, and respect, and compassion as possible, so much so, that whoever was on the receiving end out there, could not help but return the favor. We published Barry’s Episode, called Creative Culture, in May of 2020. In it he shared the story an amazing, and successful arts-infused treatment program he created at a residential facility for severely mentally ill adolescent boys in California. As you listen, I’m sure you will catch a glimpse of sparky, vital spirit and all who knew and loved him will sorely miss. Barry's Photographs: Our Co-authored Book: STORYstoryThe STORYstory MovieAdded Music: Feelings of Twilight, by Shady Dave

This week follows from Episode 59 in which Susie Tanner, Bruce Springsteen, and a band of unemployed steelworkers take a play about the death of a steel mill called lady Beth across America. In this episode, Susie joins up with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists share their stories. Find TheaterWorkers Chapter 1 : Here*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

Once upon a time, theater Director Susie Tanner, steelworkers, & Bruce Springsteen teamed up to spread the devastating truth about steel plant shutdowns across the US. This is their story. BIOSusan “Susie” Franklin Tanner has worked as a Theatre Artist since 1973. In 1983 she received a California Arts Council Artist in Communities grant to create TheatreWorkers Project. As the founder and director, she has led the company in the development of 16 documentary plays including Lady Beth: the Steelworkers' Play that toured 16 cities, co-sponsored by Bruce Springsteen and was profiled in the PBS documentary “A Steel Life Drama”. In 1982, Tanner was honored to share her work on a production of Brecht's A Man's A Man with members of the Berliner Ensemble. She was a member of the Living Stage Company/Arena Stage in D.C. for 6 years, performing and/or teaching workshops for at-risk and underserved children, teens and adults. Her work with the company included workshop/performances in prisons and treatment centers. In Los Angeles, her community-based work has included creating theatre with steelworkers, shipbuilders, critical care nurses, Latino immigrants workers, formerly incarcerated men and women, and youth. Since 2016, Susie has led teams of artists in theatre, writing and movement workshops for formerly incarcerated and those on work release through CAC and California Humanities grants. In January 2019 Susie and her artist teams will bring this work to California State Prison, Lancaster through a CAC Arts in Corrections contract.She is a member of the SAG-AFTRA Radio Play Committee, for which she has directed 5 live radio performances. As a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, she has directed numerous staged readings and the critically acclaimed production of “To Serve Butter” for the 2016 One Act Festival, and has provided ongoing opportunities for young artists to work side by side with professionals. Producing/Directing credits include “The Luckiest Girl” and “No Word in Guyanese for Me”, staged at the Atwater Village Theatre, “Lake Titicaca” for the 2016 Short + Sweet Hollywood one act festival, “ISAAK”, which tours schools on an Actor’s Equity Theatre for Young Audiences contract, and "Fathers & Sons".Susie was an adjunct professor of Theatre for Social Change at Woodbury University for two years. In 2014-15, she collaborated with Woodbury on a project with La Colmenita, the Cuban national children’s theatre, and has collaborated with Mt. St. Mary’s University to implement the Theatre Intervention Project, serving severely depressed and recovering low income women from South Central LA. Teaching Artist positions include/have included LACHSA, Sequoyah School, Mark Taper Forum Saturday Conservatory, College of the Canyons, UCLA Extension, CSULA/EOP, LACC Theatre Academy, College of the Canyons, LAUSD and PUSD.Grants and awards include: 2011 Bravo Award and CTG JP Morgan Chase Fellowships, a 2014 National Artist Teacher Fellowship and the LA County Federation of Labor Union Label Award for cultural work within the labor movement. Susie has been funded by the California Arts Council for nine consecutive years and her company, TheatreWorkers Project, has recently been awarded an LAUSD Arts Community Network contract to being theatre productions and classes to underserved middle and high schools. for her eighth consecutiveNotable MentionsTheaterWorkers Project: (TWP) is dedicated to providing opportunities for members of underserved and unheard communities to tell their stories through the medium of theatre and to providing classical and contemporary theatre experiences that reflect and illuminate the human condition.Lady Beth: the steelworkers play This play that launched TheatreWorkers Project, told the stories of former steelworkers after the closing of the Bethlehem steel plant in Vernon, CA. In 1986, co-sponsored by Bruce Springsteen, Lady Beth toured 16 U.S. cities.“A Steel Life Drama”: A PBS documentary on the making of Lady Beth: the Steelworkers' Play that toured 16 cities, co-sponsored by Bruce Springsteen and was profiled in the PBS documentary “A Steel Life Drama”.Hollywood 10: The Hollywood were 10 motion-picture producers, directors, and screenwriters who appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in October 1947 who refused to answer questions regarding their possible communist affiliations, and, after spending time in prison for contempt of Congress, were mostly blacklisted by the Hollywood studios.  McCarthyism, "witch hunts": The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.[3] It was characterized by heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals, and a campaign sprea

Episode 58: Matthew Fluharty - Art of the Rural - Chapter 2This is our second episode focusing on Matthew Fluharty's work at Art of the Rural. In it we explore the continuing story of Sauget Illinois, the power of nostalgia, the iconic importance of Busch Light beer, and the amazing legacy of Family Video. Listen to Art of the Rural Chapter 1 HEREBIOMatthew is the Founder and Executive Director of Art of the Rural, a member of M12 Studio, and faculty on the Rural Environments Field School. His work flows between the fields of art, design, humanities, policy, and community development.His poetry and essays have been published widely, and his work with his colleagues in the American Bottom region of the Mississippi River has been featured in Art in America. Matthew is the organizing curator for High Visibility: On Location in Rural America and Indian Country, a longterm collaboration with the Plains Art Museum. He recently received a Curatorial Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for this ongoing work.Born into a seventh-generation farming family in Appalachian Ohio, Matthew’s upbringing instilled a belief that everyday, multigenerational knowledge can teach us about where have been, where we are, and where we might be going. Those lessons led him to take vows with the Zen Garland Order, a community that is a part of what’s known as the Socially Engaged Buddhist movement.Website // Email // Twitter // Instagram // LinkedInNotable MentionsChange the Story Collection: : Arts-based community development comes in many flavors: dancers, and painters working with children and youth; poets and potters collaborating with incarcerated artists: cultural organizers in service to communities addressing racial injustice, all this and much, much more.Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. Others have shared that they are using the podcast as a learning resource and would appreciate categories and cross-references for our stories. Karl Unnasch: is a sculptor with a rugged farm upbringing streaked with a penchant for the surreal: Unnasch’s smaller-scale work has been exhibited as far as Europe and acclaimed in publications such as the New York Times and Art in London Magazine, while his larger-scale, award-winning public art has been featured on the likes of NBC’s Today show, Reader’s Digest and Voice of AmericaThe Dying Gaul:  is an ancient Roman marble semi-recumbent statue now in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. It is a copy of a now lost sculpture from the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC) thought to have been made in bronze. The white marble statue, which may originally have been painted, depicts a wounded, slumped Gaulish or Galatian Celt, shown with remarkable realism and pathos, particularly as regards the face.American Bottom Gazette: The American Bottom Gazette tells the story of this region through an attention to the landscape, communities, and histories of its residents. As much description of a once well-defined geography as it is a recovery of that geography, our goal with the Gazette is to provide a framework for deciphering the irreducible landscape we find today. This publication is available to readers in public libraries, diners, and all kinds of community spaces in between — while also having visibility in the larger St. Louis metro area and beyond. The Wing Luke Museum: Mission = We connect everyone to the dynamic history, culture, and art of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through vivid storytelling and inspiring experience to advance racial and social equity. Hear more about the Wing Luke Museum @ Change the Story / Change the World Episode 45: Ron Chew – Unforgetting Our StoriesCarlton Turner works nationally as a performing artist, organizer, policy shaper, lecturer, consultant, and facilitator. He was executive director of Alternate ROOTS, a regional arts service organization based in the South, supporting artists working at the intersection of art and social justice. He is currently directing the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (SIPP Culture), an organization working at the intersection of new media production and agriculture to support cultural, social, and economic development in his rural hometown of Utica, Mississippi. Hear more about Carlton Turner and SIPP Culture @ Change the Story / Change the World Episode 46: Carlton Turner - SIPP Culture RisingSIPP Culture: (See Above)Alternate Roots: Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in communities of place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world to

Episode 57: Matthew Fluharty - Art of the Rural - Chapter 1Matthew Fluharty is a curious, thoughtful, passionate, humble dot connector who asks as many questions of himself as he does of the cosmos in his roles as a poet, essayist, curator, and policy wonk. The Art of the Rural, the organization he founded in 2010, is at the forefront of the story liberation movement.BIOMatthew is the Founder and Executive Director of Art of the Rural, a member of M12 Studio, and faculty on the Rural Environments Field School. His work flows between the fields of art, design, humanities, policy, and community development.His poetry and essays have been published widely, and his work with his colleagues in the American Bottom region of the Mississippi River has been featured in Art in America. Matthew is the organizing curator for High Visibility: On Location in Rural America and Indian Country, a longterm collaboration with the Plains Art Museum. He recently received a Curatorial Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for this ongoing work.Born into a seventh-generation farming family in Appalachian Ohio, Matthew’s upbringing instilled a belief that everyday, multigenerational knowledge can teach us about where have been, where we are, and where we might be going. Those lessons led him to take vows with the Zen Garland Order, a community that is a part of what’s known as the Socially Engaged Buddhist movement.Website // Email // Twitter // Instagram // LinkedInNotable MentionsArt of the Rural: Founded in 2010, Art of the Rural is a decentered, collaborative organization that works to forward knowledge sharing, network gathering, and rural-urban exchange. High Visibility is a longterm, collaborative partnership between Art of the Rural, Plains Art Museum, and individuals & organizations across the continent. Through exhibitions, publications, and place-based programs, our aim over time is to boldly reframe the narrative on rural America and Indian Country and to welcome sustained rural-urban exchange. Plains Art Museum. American Bottom Project: As a specific geography, the American Bottom has seen a history of human settlement, ecological transformation, and social convergence that we truly find singular in the American context. At the same time, as a typical geography, the American Bottom picks up on patterns that might be recognizable at the divided urban periphery of every large American city at the beginning of the 21st century. And it is to both these registers—the specific and the general—that we hope this project speaks. Mounds UNESCO heritage site Winona/Dakota Unity Alliance: Mission - Creating sustainable alliances among indigenous Nations and the Winona community with a mutual understanding that we are all related.Appalshop: is a media, arts, and education center located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of the southern Appalachian region of the United States. Roadside Theater was founded in the coalfields of central Appalachia in 1975 as part of Appalshop, which had begun six years earlier as a War on Poverty/Office of Economic Opportunity youth job trainingBen Fink was the lead organizer of the Performing Our Future coalition and former/founding organizer of the Letcher County Culture Hub. He works at Roadside Theater, a part of Appalshop, a grassroots cultural and media organization in the east Kentucky coalfields. Good Friday Agreement. He is profiled in Change the Story / Change the World Episodes 17 and 18.  Gaeltacht: are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.[1] The Gaeltacht districts were first officially recognised during the 1920s in the early years of the Irish Free State, following the Gaelic Revival, as part of a government policy aimed at restoring the Irish language.[2] says this in his poem The Archaic Torso of Apollo.by Rainer Maria RilkeRainer Maria Rilke was an Austrian poet and novelist. He is "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets".[*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. Lorraine HansberryIn this bonus episode of Change the Story, Change the World, we're going to share an audio portrait of a project currently taking place at the subject of our past 2 episodes, Pillsbury House & Theater. The project is called To Sit a While and celebrates the work and life of playwright, journalist, and activist Lorraine Hansberry, who also happens to be the subject to the song we just heard that was written and sung by a young Twin Cities audacious artist named Frida Ross.Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago in 1930 and passed tragically in 1960. Despite her short stay on this planet, she lived large, large, artistically, large politically, and very large historically. Her play, A Raisin in the Sun was the first by a black woman to be produced on Broadway. More importantly, though it laid bare the systemic racism that was being visited on black families and communities in the plain-sight recesses of the American dream scape. Needless to say, this is a difficult story to tell anywhere, anytime in this country, let alone on Broadway in 1959. Now, that was 63 years ago, but thankfully the curtain on Hansberry's influence in the theater as a journalist and as an advocate for the Black and LGBTQ communities has never been drawn. Her legacy endures through her writing and her plays certainly, but also through the story of her life. An inspiring life story that, in 2022 is being shared in communities across the country through the Lorraine Hansberry Initiative. This multi-year project is using public, art and artist scholarships to quote, honor this great American playwright and civil rights leader and invest in those following in her footsteps.The initiative is produced by The Lilly's, An organization dedicated to celebrating, supporting, and advocating women theater artists

This is the second chapter of the Pillsbury House + Theatre story. At the corner of George Floyd Square & the Pandemic, PH+T is breaking the community development mold using the power of the arts & culture to stimulate community health, ownership & justice.Missed Chapter 1? Go To CSCW EP 55, Pillsbury House + Theater Chapter 1BIO’sSigne V. Harriday is Artistic Producing Director at Pillsbury House + Theatre. Signe is a fierce visionary and powerful storyteller who crafts theatre that awakens our individual and collective humanity. As a director, multidisciplinary artist, activist, and facilitator, she uses theatre as a catalyst to ask questions about who we are and who we are in relation to each other.Past accomplishments include:Associate Company Member of Pillsbury House Theatre.Co-founder of Million Artist Movement, a collective of artists committed to Black liberation.Co-founder of the award-winning synchronized swimming team, The Subversive Sirens.Founder of Rootsprings Coop, a retreat center for BIPOC artists/activists/healers.Co-founder of MaMa mOsAiC, a women of color theater company whose mission is to evoke positive social change through female centered work.Core team member of REP Community Partners.Signe earned her MFA in Acting at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard and Moscow Art Theatre.Current projects: Director of Bridgforth’s bull-jean stories, Associate Director of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower Opera, Choreography for Love of Silver Water, Playwright for Dysmorphia. Recent directing credits: Dining with the Ancestors, Fannie Lou Hammer Speak On It, Hidden HeroesNoël Raymond is the Co-Artistic Managing Director at Pillsbury House + Theater. Noël holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities.  Noël is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts, to name a few.Mike Hoyt: Mike is a visual artist and Pillsbury’s Creative Community Liason. For nearly twenty years he has been producing, managing, and directing arts-based community development projects and youth development programs, while making his own art in his community. Creating and facilitating unique shared experiences that connect diverse and often non traditional art audiences drive his art practice. Hoyt’s work has been exhibited locally and abroad at the Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Arts At Marks Garage in Honolulu, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Pillsbury House + Theatre, Soap Factory, Soo Visual Arts Center, Intermedia Arts, Franconia Sculpture Park, Art Shanty Projects, and the Walker Art Center among others. He has received awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Northern Lights.mn Art(ists) on the Verge Fellowship, a Jerome Visual Artist Fellowship, and a McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship.Hoyt has the added benefit of raising a family three blocks from PH+T and is honored to have the opportunity to engage local artists and community members in creative practice towards the development of a vibrant and healthy community for all of its members.Notable Mentions: Chapter 2Pillsbury House, Epic Program: The EPIC Program, based at the Pillsbury House, is all about skill building, involvement in our community and making memories. Volunteering is practice that provides program participants a chance to gain and strengthen work skills while also helping others and integrating in the community. At People Serving People, EPIC helps with the janitorial services and that’s a big job. Heather McGee's book, The Sum of Us, Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy—and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a common root problem: racism. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Raci

Pillsbury House + Theatre is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” This is the first of two PH+T chapters. This is a 2 Part show. Here is a link to Chapter 2 and the Bonus Episode: Lorraine Hansberry @ Pillsbury House + Theatre - Gifted & Black BIO’sSigne V. Harriday is Artistic Producing Director at Pillsbury House + Theatre. Signe is a fierce visionary and powerful storyteller who crafts theatre that awakens our individual and collective humanity. As a director, multidisciplinary artist, activist, and facilitator, she uses theatre as a catalyst to ask questions about who we are and who we are in relation to each other.Past accomplishments include:Associate Company Member of Pillsbury House Theatre.Co-founder of Million Artist Movement, a collective of artists committed to Black liberation.Co-founder of the award-winning synchronized swimming team, The Subversive Sirens.Founder of Rootsprings Coop, a retreat center for BIPOC artists/activists/healers.Co-founder of MaMa mOsAiC, a women of color theater company whose mission is to evoke positive social change through female centered work.Core team member of REP Community Partners.Signe earned her MFA in Acting at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard and Moscow Art Theatre.Current projects: Director of Bridgforth’s bull-jean stories, Associate Director of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower Opera, Choreography for Love of Silver Water, Playwright for Dysmorphia. Recent directing credits: Dining with the Ancestors, Fannie Lou Hammer Speak On It, Hidden HeroesNoël Raymond is the Co-Artistic Managing Director at Pillsbury House + Theater. Noël holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities.  Noël is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts, to name a few.Mike Hoyt: Mike is a visual artist and Pillsbury’s Creative Community Liason. For nearly twenty years he has been producing, managing, and directing arts-based community development projects and youth development programs, while making his own art in his community. Creating and facilitating unique shared experiences that connect diverse and often non traditional art audiences drive his art practice. Hoyt’s work has been exhibited locally and abroad at the Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Arts At Marks Garage in Honolulu, University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Pillsbury House + Theatre, Soap Factory, Soo Visual Arts Center, Intermedia Arts, Franconia Sculpture Park, Art Shanty Projects, and the Walker Art Center among others. He has received awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, a Northern Lights.mn Art(ists) on the Verge Fellowship, a Jerome Visual Artist Fellowship, and a McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship.Hoyt has the added benefit of raising a family three blocks from PH+T and is honored to have the opportunity to engage local artists and community members in creative practice towards the development of a vibrant and healthy community for all of its members.Notable Mentions:Pillsbury House + Theatre A cultural landmark at the crossroads of four historic and diverse Minneapolis neighborhoods, Pillsbury House + Theatre (PH+T) unites innovative human services with professional arts experiences for 30,000 residents who call the area home. A hub for transformational art that brings the public as close as possible to the best local talent while engaging important conversations that lead to positive change. Visit pillsburyhouseandtheatre.org for upcoming performances.Pillsbury United Communities Beginning in 1879 with Minneapolis’s first settlement house, Pillsbury United Communities co-creates enduring change toward a just society. Built with and for historically marginalized and underinvested groups acros

The recorded conference presentation you are about to hear includes a made up game show, a scene from a novella about artists working in a fictional prison, and a visit to a fake town in the midst of a harsh reckoning around issues of race, justice, othering, and belonging. (A Reprise of Episode 27) Welcome to a Bonus edition of Change the Story Change the World —- as we pay a visit to the 16th Annual Art in Society Conference. Bill Cleveland: Hi I’m Bill Cleveland, the host of Change the Story / Change the World. This week we are going to do something a bit different. A few episodes back we shared a conversation with writer Jan Cohen Cruz to commemorate the New Village Press publication of Meeting the Moment by her and artist activist Rad Periera. This week’s bonus episode is indirectly related to another soon to be published New Village volume called the Book of Judith, "an homage to the life of poet, writer, and teaching artist Judith Tannenbaum and her impact on incarcerated and marginalized students."Judith, who passed away in 2019, taught me a lot about both art making, and the imagination. In my own teaching her lessons have been a constant presence, often manifesting through the stories she shared in her work. This was the case In June of 2021 when I participated in an international conference convened by the Art in Society Research Network. My part in this online conference was a presentation about using story-based strategies for community arts training. My approach was to share few stories, including one of Judith’s about how using stories can help prepare artists for work in real life communities and social institutions. So, the recorded conference presentation you are about to hear includes a game show, a scene from Judith’s novella about artists working in prison, and a visit to a fake town in the midst of a harsh reckoning around issues of race, justice, othering, and belonging. Welcome to a special edition of change the story Change the World —- as we pay a visit to the 16th Annual Art in Society Conference. Hi: I’m Bill Cleveland. I am speaking to you from, Alameda CA, near Oakland which is the traditional land of the Ohlone people and home our county’s new VP Kamala Harris. I run the Center for the Study of Art & Community. Our name is a mouthful to be sure but we have a pretty simple mission. Which is basically, helping to Create new community art partnerships in service to building caring, capable & equitable communities and then telling the stories that rise up. Over the past couple of decades, the Center has done that by conducting research, providing cross-sector community arts training, and producing studies, articles books and a podcast on arts-based community development and social change efforts all over the world. Enough about us. I’d like to begin this presentation by inviting you to participate in one of our fabulous Quiz shows. The show is actually a little game called TRUTH OR NO. The object of the game is to spark your imaginations and have a bit of fun. To do this you will need write a few things down, Yeah, I know you thought this conference would be just sitting and watching, but please, indulge me here. I’ll give you 30 seconds to grab a pencil and paper. OK now lets start. The game goes like this: In a little bit I am going to share 4 really short-stories that may or may not be true. Your job is to identify the ones that are false. Before I start t you will need to write 1 through 4 on a piece of paper. Now after each little story I tell write T for those you think are true and N for No for the fabrications. This will happen very fast. So here we go. Space Out: Way back in the 20th century the US Space Program felt they needed more public support. So, they decided to engage artists to help them to draw more positive attention to their efforts. This NASA arts program started with a bang – hiring Oh Superman, Laurie Anderson and Pop artist, Robert Rauschenberg as resident artists to make art celebrating the exploration of the cosmos. CRACKED: Once upon a time A group of neighbors found themselves with a crack house problem. They responded by engaging law enforcement, zoning officials, and the city council, all to no avail. In their desperation they turned to a group of artists from the community. These artists went crazy, whipping out a mural that was so powerful that within 24 hours of its completion the dope peddlers had totally fled the scene, never to return. MAXED OUT: If you are incarcerated in SuperMax prison you spend 90% of your life locked in an 8x10 cell and will breath fresh air only 60 minutes a week. A woman artist who felt that this was a terrilble thing decided to use her art to shut down her state’s supermax. After she created her work the governor of her state decided it was time to shut down the state’s, 700 bed supermax prison and now its gone. TREES, WOLVES, & DEMOCRACY: There was once an artist who planted trees, slept with wolves and dec

DAH SAYS: "In today’s world, we can oppose destruction and violence with the creation of meaning ... we create bold dramatic art to provoke, inspire, and incite personal and social transformation."Be sure to check out our CHANGE THE STORY COLLECTION OF ARCHIVED EPISODES on: Justice Arts, Art & Healing, Cultural Organizing, Arts Ed./Children & Youth, Community Arts Training, Music for Change, Theater for Change, Change Making Media. BIODijana Milošević is an award-winning theater director, writer and lecturer. She co-founded the DAH Theater Research Center in Belgrade, and has been its lead director for over 25 years.Dijana has served as the artistic director of theater festivals, the president of the Association of Independent Theaters, the president of the board of BITEF Theater, and a member of the board of directors of the national International Theater Institute (ITI). She has been involved with several peacebuilding initiatives and collaborates with feminist-activist groups.DAH Theater has performed nationally and internationally under Dijana’s directing. She has also directed plays by other theater companies around the world.She is a well-known lecturer, who has taught at world-famous universities. She writes articles and essays about theater as well as society. She has won prestigious scholarships such as Fulbright and Arts Link. She is a professor at the Institute for Artistic Play in Belgrade.Notable MentionsDah Teatar Research Center for Culture and Social Change: DAH Theatre is an independent, professional, contemporary theatre troupe and artistic collective that uses modern theatre techniques to create engaging art and initiate positive social change, both locally and globally.  Mission: In today’s world, we can oppose destruction and violence with the creation of meaning.” Through dedicated teamwork, we create bold dramatic art to provoke, inspire, and incite personal and social transformation.Art and Upheaval - Artists on the World’s Frontlines: Author William Cleveland shares r emarkable stories from Northern Ireland, Cambodia, South Africa, United States (Watts, Los Angeles), aboriginal Australia, and Serbia, about artists who resolve conflict, heal unspeakable trauma, give voice to the forgotten and disappeared, and restitch the cultural fabric of their communities.This Babylonian Confusion: The Dah Teatar project “This Babylonian Confusion” is a result of a montage of the actors’ materials and the songs of Bertold Brecht. This performance was created from the need of the artists to place themselves in their duty- as artists in “dark times.” Four actors using the characters of Angels say their share against war, nationalism and destruction. [1992]Slobodan Milošivić: was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who served as the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997. Formerly a high-ranking member of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) during the 1980s, he led the Socialist Party of Serbia from its foundation in 1990 until 2003. After Milošević's death, the ICTY and the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals found that he was a part of a joint criminal enterprise which used violence to remove Croats, Bosniaks, and Albanians from large parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. Bertolt Brecht: was one of the most influential playwrights of the 20th century. His works include The Threepenny Opera (1928) with composer Kurt Weill, Mother Courage and Her Children (1941), The Good Person of Szechwan (1943), and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1958). A member of the Independent Social Democratic Party, Brecht wrote theater criticism for a Socialist newspaper from 1919 to 1921. His plays were banned in Germany in the 1930s, and in 1933, he went into exile, first in Denmark and then Finland. He moved to Santa Monica, California, in 1941, hoping to write for Hollywood, but he drew the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. The Story of Tea: The central theme of the performance is the train that will finally take three sisters to the place of their dreams- Moscow, or missed opportunities and gambled chances, inspired and provoked by the other important themes of DAH Theater’s ‘three sisters.’ Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov is a play by the Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov. It was written in 1900 and first performed in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre. The play is sometimes included on the short list of Chekhov's outstanding plays, along with The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya.[1]Rio Tinto: Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP).[5][6]  In May 2020, to expand the Brockman 4 mine,Rio

Felicia Young uses arts-based strategies and tools to spur community action. She has helped save hundreds of New York's community gardens, clean up a sacred river in India, stymie one of America’s most powerful politicians, bring attention to local solutions to the climate crises, and most importantly bring people together to make real change. BIOFelicia Young is a social action artist and the Founder/Executive Director of Earth Celebrations, a non-profit organization since 1991 engaging communities to generate ecological and social change through the arts. For the past 30 years she has applied the the arts to build community, collaboration and environmental action on climate change, water quality, river restoration, waste management, and the preservation of species, habitats, nature, gardens, parks, and a healthy urban environment. She has pioneered cultural strategies utilizing collaborative arts to build broad-based coalitions and diverse sector partnerships with local organizations, academic institutions, government agencies, schools and community residents to work together, develop solutions and mobilize action to achieve common goals and ecological, policy and social change.Her social action art projects include a 15-year grass-roots effort and annual theatrical pageant that led to the preservation of hundreds of community gardens in New York City and a project to engage community on restoration efforts of the Hudson River and impacts of climate change. She then applied these cultural strategies to build an international collaborative effort to restore the Vaigai River in Madurai South India, in a severe crisis due to pollution and the drying effects of climate change. Felicia's current Ecological City: Cultural & Climate Solutions Action Project engages community on climate solution initiatives throughout the community gardens, neighborhood and waterfront on the Lower East Side of New York City, and their importance to city and global climate challenges.As a native 3rd generation New Yorker, she has deep roots in the City of New York, as well as much inspiration from the festivals, ceremonies, and mythic dramas from her mother’s native land of India.Felicia Young has also developed a course " Art, Ecology and Community" for Princeton University. She has BA in Art History from Skidmore College and a MA degree in Performance Studies from New York University. Notable MentionsMetropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met",[a] is the largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere. Its permanent collection contains over two million works,[1] divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.Julian Schnable is one of the most seminal and virtuosic artists working today. His multidisciplinary practice extends beyond painting to include sculpture, film, architecture, and furniture. He is an award-winning movie director but primarily a painter. His use of preexisting materials not traditionally used in art making, varied painting surfaces and inventive modes of construction were pivotal in the reemergence of painting in the United States in the late 1970’s and the rest of the world. (artist’s website)Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study.Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity toward classical austerity and severity and heightened feeling,[1] harmonizing with the moral climate of the final years of the Ancien Régime.David later became an active supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794), and was effectively a dictator of the arts under the French Republic.Mbari: There is an artistic taboo among my people, the Igbo of Nigeria. It is a prohibition—on pain of being finished off rather quickly by the gods—against laying a proprietary hand on even the smallest item in that communal enterpri

This Bonus episode of Change the Story / Change the World is in celebration of the publishing of Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Performance - 1965-2020 by Those Who Lived It, by Jan Cohen Cruz and Rad Pereira.Hi this is Bill Cleveland. I'd like to welcome you to a Bonus episode of Change the Story / Change the World in celebration of a publishing milestone. For the past 4 decades Jan Cohen Cruz has been working at the crossroads of theater and social change, as a performer, as a teacher, and as a storyteller documenting the continuing evolution of socially engaged performance. Now, I'm very happy to announce that her new book Meeting the Moment, shines a light on that extraordinary history by sharing the stories of the people lived it. In this episode, first broadcast in November of 2021, Jan talks about her own history as an activist, performer and teacher, and the genesis of Meeting the Moment, which was recently released by New Village Press. Links to both New Village, and a related episode featuring Carlton Turner who wrote the book's forward can be found in our show notes. Jan Cohen-Cruz has given a lot to the field of arts-based community development. By that, I mean that there's a significant body of academic and community-based artwork, scholarship, teaching, and organizing that are absolutely covered with her fingerprints.BIOJan Cohen-Cruz was the founding editor of Public: A Journal of Imagining America. She directed Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (2007-12), and for 28 years before that, was a professor at NYU, directing a minor in applied theatre and initiating socially-engaged projects and courses. She wrote Engaging Performance: Theatre as Call and Response and Local Acts: Community‑Based Performance in the US. She edited Radical Street Performance and co‑edited Playing Boal: Theatre, Therapy, Activism and A Boal Companion. Jan was also a University Professor at Syracuse University. In 2012, she received the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Award for Leadership in Community-Based Theatre and Civic Engagement. Here latest book, Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Theater, 1965 To 2020 written with Rad Pereira will published by New Village Press in May 2022. Notable Mentions (in order of appearance)Carlton Turner is a brilliant artist and creative change agent whose work across the country and in his hometown of Utica Mississippi dramatically proves that if you can "see" a different future you can make make a different future. He makes this point and much more in his eloquent introduction to Meeting the Moment, the new book by this episode's guest Jan Cohen Cruz and Rad Pereira. You can hear more from Carlton in Episode 47 New Village Press: “The mission of New Village Press is to promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of issues vital to the development of healthy, creative, and socially just communities. To that end, New Village publishes transdisciplinary books that animate emerging movements in societal transformation. In conjunction, the Press also sponsors lectures, forums, and exhibitions for the public, especially for those communities that are underserved.”Augusto Boal, was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical left popular education movements. Boal served one term as a Vereador (the Brazilian equivalent of a city councillor) in Rio de Janeiro from 1993 to 1997, where he developed legislative theatre.[1]Imagining America: “The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues.”Public: “Public is a peer-reviewed, multimedia e-journal focused on humanities, arts, and design in public life. It aspires to connect what we can imagine with what we can do. We are interested in projects, pedagogies, resources, and ideas that reflect rich engagements among diverse participants, organizations, disciplines, and sectors.”Meeting the Moment Socially Engaged Theater, 1965 To 2020: Jan Cohen-Cruz and Rad Pereira: Curated stories from over 75 interviews and informal exchanges offer insight into the field and point out limitations due to discrimination and unequal opportunity for performance artists in the United States over the past 55 years. In this work, performers, often unknown beyond their immediate audience, articulate diverse influences.Open Theater: The Open Theater was an experimental theatre group active from 1963 to 1973.Franz Kafka's The Trial: The Trial is a novel written b

Who would have thought that running away with the circus could lead to a career as a successful filmmaker. Gary Glassman's path to filmmaking also, includes, street theater, teaching, prison work, and media technology. The through-line for Gary's creative adventure has been asking questions and, what else, telling stories. BioGary Glassman believes television can change the world. He comes to television through street and circus performing – clowning, fire-eating, tight rope and stilt walking. His earliest media work is participatory projects with prisoners and the criminally insane, hospitalized children, and developmentally challenged adults. Prisoners, his first documentary, is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, and the Pompidou Center in Paris. He started Providence Pictures in 1996 and as executive producer/director makes films for the world’s leading broadcasters including PBS, Discovery, History, National Geographic, BBC, and Arte. His films consistently achieve the highest ratings and have won and been honored with nominations for the industry’s most prestigious awards including seven Emmys, two Writers Guild Award, the AAA Science Journalism Prize, the CINE Golden Eagle, and the International Archaeology Film Festival Award. Glassman received a BA from Goddard College, and an MFA in Directing from UCLA.Notable MentionsSpalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – January 11, 2004) was an American actor and writer. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as for his film adaptations of these works, beginning in 1987. He wrote and starred in several, working with different directors. Theater critics John Willis and Ben Hodges called Gray's monologues "trenchant, personal narratives delivered on sparse, unadorned sets with a dry, WASP, quiet mania."[1]: 316 Providence Pictures: “Since 1996, Providence Pictures has been collaborating with the world's leading broadcasters on more than fifty films seen by millions of people around the globe and honored with television's most prestigious awards.Providence Pictures is building on our foundation of innovative premium documentaries, expanding our repertoire with feature films that stir hearts and inspire action, and venturing into the ultimate sci-fi dream with an augmented reality time travel app. We believe stories can change the world.”: Building the Wonders of the World: A Providence Pictures series that explores the secrets of the Parthenon, Riddles of the Sphinx, Building the Great Cathedrals, Colosseum Roman Death Trap, Hagia Sophia Istanbuls Ancient Mystery, Petra Lost City of Stone. The series received nominations for Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Science and Technology Programming, Outstanding Cinematography, Writers Guild of America Award, Best Film of the International Archaeological Film Festival, CINE Special Jury AwardNative America: is a four-part PBS series that challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. The series reveals some of the most advanced cultures in human history and the Native American people who created it. Goddard College: is a liberal arts college with campuses in Vermont and Washington with Bachelors and Masters degrees. Explore our full program offerings and learn how Goddard College is different. We blend remote learning and real life experiences. 1973 Chilean coup d’état: was a military coup in Chile that deposed the Popular Unity government of President Salvador Allende. On 11 September 1973, after an extended period of social unrest and political tension between the opposition-controlled Congress and the socialist President, as well as economic war ordered by U.S. President Richard Nixon,[9] a group of military officers led by General Augusto Pinochet seized power in a coup, ending civilian rule. The Nixon administration, which had worked to create the conditions for the coup,[11][12][13] promptly recognized the junta government and supported it in consolidating power.[14]UCLA ArtsReach Susan Hill: Change the Story / Change the World: Episode 30: Artsreach, is a UCLA Extension programs that has served a wide variety of community constituencies and the range of arts disciplines. Artsreach worksites have included youth and adult prisons, service agencies for seriously developmentally challenged adults, community centers in marginalized areas of South Central, Watts and East Los Angeles. Traveling Energy Band was comprised of Gary Glassman,

From time to time on change the Story we share a short feature we call Subito Stories. In today's Subito Story We are traveling to a Greek Island to meet an artist who I think personifies the unrelenting potency of the imaginative muscle to entertain, to provoke, and to heal. Her name is Karina Kantas.At the Center for the Study of Art & Community we believe that the imagination, is the most powerful aspect of what it is to be human. Our ability to conjure new ideas, complex narratives, even entire worlds, both distinguishes humans as a species, and has been essential to our survival. Our capacity to learn, adapt, and evolve in response to changing conditions is a function of our power to ponder and even test possible futures “in the mind’s eye” before we act. In essence the imagination is a principal driver of the evolution of human learning and consciousness. From time to time on change the Story we share a short feature we call Subito Stories. In today's Subito Story We are traveling to a Greek Island to meet an artist who I think personifies the unrelenting potency of the imaginative muscle to entertain, to provoke, and to heal. Her name is Karina Kantas.Karina Kantas on You TubeBehind the Pen on TwitterBehind the Pen, Podcast

Wayne Cook calls himself bumpy. Which is an apt metaphor for the story we are about to share. In it, Wayne plays a promising young athlete, a crash victim, a soldier in Germany, a child therapist, a stage actor, the Black Mr. Rogers, an arts administrator, a successful author, and Langston Hughes.BIOWayne Cook worked at the California Arts Council for 23 years, where he was Program Manager of the Artists in School’s Program and the ADA/504 Disability Coordinator. He Currently consults for the William James Association and Arts in Corrections at Solano State Prison and other correctional institutions in California. In previous years, Mr. Cook consulted with the Educational Department for the Sacramento Theatre Company (STC) and was an actor in such productions as, “To Kill A Mockingbird” at STC. Other notable productions Wayne acted in were “The Iceman Cometh” for the Actor’s Theatre of Sacramento and only a few years ago received the Elly award for acting in “Learning Spanish” at the Wilkerson Theatre. Mr. Cook is the author of a drama curriculum, “Center Stage”, A Curriculum for the Performing Arts can be purchased on Amazon.com.Notable MentionsMr. Rogers: Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister.[1] He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001Performing Tree: The Performing Tree was as arts education program that worked in schools in the Los Angeles area in the 1980’s and 90’s. Arts in Corrections: In the early 1970's, a time when work opportunities for artists and arts educators were diminishing in the mainstream culture, many professional artists began to look to society's forgotten corners for a new constituency. Patients and prisoners offered an alternative opportunity for artists to respond to a crying need to be valued. The emergence of these institutional art programs also provides a challenge to artists' preconceptions about the value and potential of the creative processes--a value which was as rooted in the issues of survival as those of aesthetics.California Arts Council: Culture is the strongest signifier of California’s identity. As a state agency, the California Arts Council supports local arts infrastructure and programming statewide through grants, programs, and services.Langston Hughes: Langston Hughes was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, the flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that took place in the 1920s in a number of American cities, particularly Harlem. A major poet, Hughes also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays. He sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes. As he wrote in his essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” “We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.”Senator Cory Booker: On March 23, 2022 Senator Booker quoted from Langston Hughes’ poem Let American be America Again, in his supporting comments during Senate hearings on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Senator Booker an American politician, attorney, and author who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. senator from New Jersey. He was the 38th mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013, and served on the Municipal Council of Newark for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002.Ketanji Brown Jackson: is an American attorney and jurist who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2021.[2] She is an associate justice-designate of the Supreme Court of the United States, having received Senate confirmation on April 7, 2022.[3][4]Let America be America Again: A Langston Hughes poem published in 1935As I Grew Older: A Langston Hughes published published in 1935

When does a war truly end? What becomes of those left standing and, the ghosts that remain? In 2001, Vietnam vet, David Moragne returned to Vietnam with his comrades with those questions. His film, Flashback: Summer Sail One Revisited documents what they discovered. Bio David Moragne, was born in Manhattan, raised in the Bronx, nurtured in Greenwood, S.C. and grew up in Dong Ha, RVN.He is a retired visual facilitator and storyteller, who has lived an adventurous life before settling down with his family in California’s Eastbay community for the past forty years.He is blessed wife an amazing wife, talented and loving family, and friends who make a difference.David takes nothing for granted, and appreciates all his gifts and blessings.  For him, “Life Is Good!!!”Notable MentionsFlashback: Summer Sail One Revisited: On June 11th, 1967, a CH 46 Transport Helicopter call sign Bonnie Sue, with a four man crew from the HMM, 265th Marine Air Group went down while inserting a seven man recon team, call sign Summer Sail One from Third Force Reconnaissance Company in to their zone of operation, south of the DMZ and west of Con Thien, Vietnam. All aboard were killed, and there are bodies never recovered.The accounts, recollections, and memories of this incident have crisscrossed thousands of miles, a lot of years, and affected many people. This is an American story, told in a common language of how some of those affected have tried to find understanding, acceptance, and closure.Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in South Africa in 1996, to help heal the country by uncovering the truth about human rights violations during Apartheid.Vietnam War: The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. The conflict was intensified by the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians.  DMZ (Vietnam): was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North from South Vietnamese territories. The zone ceased to exist with the reunification of Vietnam on July 2, 1976, though the area remains dangerous due to the numerous undetonated explosives it contains.“grunts”: For the soldiers who served in the Vietnam War, the word grunt was not just a nickname but also a commentary on their status in the hierarchy of war. To be a grunt was to be in the infantry. It meant leaping out of helicopters into landing zones that were sometimes under enemy fire. MIA: Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire.  KIA: Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces.[1] Balmy Alley: The street is located in the Mission District in San Francisco, California. The block long alley is the best place to see the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco. The murals began in the mid-80's as an expression of artists' outrage over human rights and political abuses in Central America. Today the alley contains murals on a myriad of styles and subjects from human rights to local gentrification.Ka-Bar knives:  KA-BAR) is the contemporary popular name for the combat knife first adopted by the United States Marine Corps in November 1942 as the 1219C2 combat knife (later designated the USMC Mark 2 combat knife or Knife, Fighting Utility), and subsequently adopted by the United States Navy as the U.S. Navy utility knife, Mark 2.[ *******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for

Notable MentionsFor this episode of Change the Story Change the World we are going to revisit some of those Art and Upheaval stories along with the song of the same name to make a point. Yea, some people think you can’t beat the devil with a song, but they don’t know!Art & Upheaval (song) From the CD Songlines by Cleveland Plainsong:Art & Upheaval: Artists at Work on the World’s Frontlines, New Village PressChange the Story Change the WorldSouth African Bill of Rights: The Bill of Rights is arguably the part of the Constitution that has had the greatest impact on life in this country. As the first words of this chapter say: "This Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom."It has also been the source of the majority of the groundbreaking rulings the Constitutional Court has handed down. To read more about selected rights and the way the Constitutional Court has interpreted them, see children's rights, women's rights, gay and lesbian rights, workers' rights and access to information.Art for Humanity: engages with multidisciplinary arts practice and a wide variety of creative practice within the context of the pressing need for the centering of social justice in our contemporary moment. Based primarily in Durban, the organization aims to support, host, document, create space for, catalyze, and help stimulate this intersection between the arts and questions of history, social transformation and social justice. Bishop Desmond Tutu: was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.Khmer Rouge: The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. The CPK created the state of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976 and ruled the country until January 1979. The party’s existence was kept secret until 1977, and no one outside the CPK knew who its leaders were (the leaders called themselves “Angkar Padevat”).While the Khmer Rouge was in power, they set up policies that disregarded human life and produced repression and massacres on a massive scale. They turned the country into a huge detention center, which later became a graveyard for nearly two million people, including their own members and even some senior leaders.Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture:  Reyum was a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to Cambodian arts and culture. Reyum was founded by Ly Daravuth and Ingrid Muan (1964 - 2005) in December 1998 in order to provide a forum for research, preservation, and promotion of traditional and contemporary Cambodian arts and culture.  Watts Writers Workshop: was a creative writing group initiated by screenwriter Budd Schulberg in the wake of the devastating August 1965 Watts Riots in South Central Los Angeles (now South Los Angeles). Schulberg later said: "In a small way, I wanted to help.... The only thing I knew was writing, so I decided to start a writers' workshop."[1] The group, which functioned from 1965 to 1973, was composed primarily of young African Americans in Watts and the surrounding neighborhoods. Early on, the Workshop included a theatrical component and one of the founders was the actor Yaphet Kotto. The group expanded its facilities and activities over the next several years with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. Government files later revealed that the Workshop had been the target of covert operations by the FBI. Writers involved in the Workshop include Quincy Troupe, Samuel Harris Jr better known as Leumas Sirrah, Johnie Scott, Eric Priestley, Ojenke, Herbert Simmons, and Wanda Coleman, as well as the poetry group Watts Prophets.Amde Hamilton: Father Amde is widely recognized for being one of the original poets in the world famous Watts Writers Workshop during the 1960’s, where he and two other poets formed the legendary rap group, the Watts Prophets. Amid racism, poverty, and police brutality that ultimately sparked the Watts Riots, the Watts Writers Workshop tapped into the young, Black voices of Los Angeles that needed to be heard. Watts Prophets: The Watts Prophets are a group of musicians and poets from Watts, California, United States. Like their contemporaries The Last Poets, the group combined elements of jazz music and spoken-word performance, making the trio one that is often seen as a forerunner of contemporary hip-hop

Can small stories, from out of the way places make a big difference. Jennifer Williams not only thinks so, she has spent her life sharing those stories and spreading the good word.BIOJennifer Williams is an American artist based in London. Before moving to the UK, she co-produced the Williams Toy Theater, a touring puppet theater. In 1978, she founded and directed the Centre for Creative Communities (formerly British American Arts Association), London, which was open until 2009. The Centre worked across Europe and in the States to promote the building of sustainable communities where education and the arts have pivotal roles to play in personal, social, cultural, and economic development. Currently, she works as a professional artist making and teaching how to make hand-made books, illustrations, etchings, and photographs. She is an active member of the International Futures Forum.Notable MentionsHoward Gardner: Howard Earl Gardner (born July 11, 1943) is an American developmental psychologist and the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Research Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. He is currently the senior director of Harvard Project Zero, and since 1995, he has been the co-director of The Good Project.[2]He is best known for his theory of multiple intelligences, as outlined in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.[2]The Center for Creative Communities (formerly the British American Art Association): The Centre worked across Europe and in the States to promote the building of sustainable communities where education and the arts have pivotal roles to play in personal, social, cultural and economic development.Chief Victorio: Victorio (Bidu-ya, Beduiat; ca. 1825–October 14, 1880) was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh (or Chihenne, often called Mimbreño) division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. In Victorio's War from September 1879 to October 1880, Victorio led a band of Apaches, never numbering more than 200 men, in a running battle with the U.S. and Mexican armies and the civilian population of New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico, fighting two dozen skirmishes and battles. He and most of his followers were killed or captured by the Mexican army in the Battle of Tres Castillos in October 1880.Margaret McKinney, (Mushroom Lady): Margaret McKenny was a garden designer, writer, teacher, photographer, lecturer, and conservationist, recognized both locally and nationally. She was an expert mycologist and founder of the Olympia Audubon Society.Hayward Gallery: One of London’s most important spaces for displaying contemporary art and garden teak furniture designs, the Hayward Gallery is housed in an austere 1968 building that is both equally loved and derided by the majority of Londoners. Whichever camp you fall into, you’ll agree that it makes an excellent outdoor hanging space for the blockbuster exhibitions it puts on.’ (Lonely Planet)Grantmakers in the Arts: is a national association of public and private arts funders - providing members with resources and leadership to support artists and arts organizations.Judy Jennings: Jennings, who earned her bachelor’s degree in 1969, her master’s degree in British history in 1971 and her doctoral degree in 18th century British history in 1975 from UK, served as executive director of KFW for 16 years until her retirement in 2014. During her tenure, she established KFW’s Special Project, which provides art-making opportunities for families of incarcerated people. During this period, Jennings also served for six years on the board of Grantmakers in the Arts and became a founding member of the Art x Culture x Social Justice Network.Howard Klein (June 15, 1931  March 1, 2021 was an American music critic, pianist, and former Director of Arts at the Rockefeller Foundation. He earned both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Music from the Juilliard School. In 1973 he succeeded Norman Lloyd as Director of Arts of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 1983 he became Deputy Director for Arts and Humanities for the foundation, a position he remained in until he left the organization in 1986.[1] He then worked as the Director of Artists and Repertory for New World Records.[2] Alberta Arthurs is a consultant and commentator active in the fields of culture, philanthropy, and higher education. She was the director for arts and humanities at the Rockefeller Foundation most recently and, before that, she was president and professor of English at Chatham College (now Chatham University) in Pittsburgh. She has

Carlton Turner understands that when you can't feed yourself the imagination is the first thing to go And if you can't "see" a different future you can't make change. Sipp Culture is about feeding both the body and the mind's eye. BIOCarlton Turner is an artist, agriculturalist, researcher, and co-founder of the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production (Sipp Culture). Sipp Culture uses food and story to support rural community development in his hometown of Utica, Mississippi where his family has been for eight generations. He currently serves on the board of First Peoples Fund, Imagining America, Project South and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. Carlton is a member of the We Shall Overcome Fund Advisory Committee at the Highlander Center for Research and Education and is the former Executive Director of Alternate ROOTS and is a founding partner of the Intercultural Leadership Institute.Carlton is a current Interdisciplinary Research Fellow with the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and was named to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts YBCA100. He is also a former Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow and former Cultural Policy Fellow at the Creative Placemaking Institute at Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design in the Arts.Carlton Turner is also co-founder and co-artistic director, along with his brother Maurice Turner, of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction). M.U.G.A.B.E.E. is a Mississippi-based performing arts group that blends of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry and soul music together with non-traditional storytelling. His current work is River Sols, a new play being developed in collaboration with Pangea World Theater that explores race, identity, class, faith, and difference across African American and South Asian communities through embodiment of a river.He is also a member of the Rural Wealth Lab at RUPRI (Rural Policy Research Institute) and an advisor to the Kresge Foundation’s FreshLo Initiative. In 2018, Carlton was awarded the Sidney Yates Award for Advocacy in the Performing Arts by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. Carlton has also received the M. Edgar Rosenblum award for outstanding contribution to Ensemble Theater (2011) and the Otto René Castillo Awards for Political Theatre (2015).Notable MentionsSIPP Culture: The Mississippi Center for Cultural Production is an approach and resource for cultivating thriving communities. Based in the rural South, “Sipp Culture” is honoring the history and building the future of our own community of Utica, MS. Sipp Culture supports community development from the ground up through cultural production focused on self-determination and agency designed by us and for us. We believe that history, culture, and food affirm our individual and collective humanity. So, we are strengthening our local food system, advancing health equity, and supporting rural artistic voices – while activating the power of story – all to promote the legacy and vision of our hometown.Octavia Butler: OCTAVIA E. BUTLER was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother. She was the author of several award-winning novels including PARABLE OF THE SOWER (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and PARABLE OF THE TALENTS (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.Maurice Turner: Maurice S. Turner, II is co-founder of Turner World Around Productions, Inc. and one-half of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction), an artistic ensemble composing and performing a blend of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and soul music on a totally conscience tip. Maurice works with people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds facilitating workshops, which range from music production to Civil Rights. When not performing with M.U.G.A.B.E.E., Maurice is a trumpeter for hire. He has shared the stage with many great musicians, which include The Wynton Marsalis Septet, Ellis Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Mulgrew Miller, Jon Faddis, Danny Barker, Wallace Roney, Stranger Malone, Donald Byrd, Keeter Betts, Elise Witt, Jimmy Heath, Ray Drummond, Chris “Daddy” Dave, Randy Brecker, and Bobby Rush to name a few. He also served as Musical Director for Uprooted: The Katrina Project, a piece focusing on the displaced citizens of New Orleans and the various struggles that were faced during the catastrophe.Bob Moses: Robert Parris Moses (January 23, 1935 – July 25, 2021) was an American educator and civil rights activist, known for his work as a leader of the Student Nonv

BIOElise Witt was born in Switzerland, raised in North Carolina, and since 1977 has made her home in Atlanta. She speaks fluent Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English and sings in over a dozen languages. Her passion for music and languages has led her to take her Global, Local & Homemade Songs™ across the United States and around the globe.Among her ancestors, Elise claims “Wedding March” composer Felix Mendelssohn and his grandfather, Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn; Protestant cow farmers from northern Germany; Russian chemists; Polish intellectuals; French Bordeaux wine growers; a British painter; and a great great aunt from Cuba.Elise has served as a cultural ambassador to South Africa, Nicaragua, China, Italy, and Yugoslavia. For the Kennedy Center’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, Elise represented the State of Georgia, and she has crisscrossed the United States with her Global, Local & Homemade Songs™ – from New York’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the People’s Voice Café to festivals like Clearwater’s Hudson River Revival, Falcon Ridge, LEAF, the North Georgia Folk Festival, and the Marin County Fair in California; from Minneapolis’ Gingko Coffeehouse to Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe; and from the Open Door Community to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change.Elise’s original songs are wildly eclectic. The Raleigh Times says, “Her performance is like a suitcase plastered with stickers from around the world… populated with interesting characters both heroic and comic.” VALISE is Elise’s 11th recording on the EMWorld label. Her songs have been used in several documentary films, and include the anthem Open the Window (inspired by a Georgia Sea Islands Spiritual), Why Are Our Eyes in the Front of Our Heads? (acapella jazz vocal ); Clothes Swap (a funky ode to the virtues of re-cycling and girl gatherings); Set Us Free (inspired by the words of Reverend Timothy MacDonald at Martin Luther King Jr.’s 80th birthday celebration at the National Historic Site in Atlanta), Venus Between Us (a tribute to Soul Music), Ma Roulotte (a french gypsy jazz waltz, co-written with partner Mick Kinney), Butterfly’s Mysteries (a scientific boogie, written at the Callaway Gardens Butterfly House), Verkehrte Welt (Crazy Mixed Up World, a German paradox poem à la Oh Suzanna), and Blessed Nation (original music by Elise Witt to a poem by Pete Seeger).The Elise Witt Choral Series makes Elise’s songs available for choirs, choruses, and vocal ensembles. With arrangements by Michael Holmes, there are currently 20 songs arranged for SATB, SSAA, and TTBB groups. Elise has collaborated with choirs, choruses, and vocal ensembles as composer, conductor, and clinician. Her choral arrangements have been performed by Echoes of Peace Choir in Duluth MN, WomanSong in Asheville NC, Clear Rivers Chorus in Carrolton GA, Resonance Women’s Chorus of Boulder CO, Winston Knoll College in Saskatchewan Canada, Charm City Labor Chorus in Baltimore, and many other choruses, schools, and churches around the country.Notable MentionsElise Witt: Global, Local and Homemade SongsALL SINGING: The Elise Witt Songbook is a collection of 58 original songs for solo and community singing. It includes lyrics and chords, as well as music notation, plus photos, graphics, and lots of storiesDaily Antidote of Song: Is an internet broadcast program that presents song leaders from around the world sharing songs with the intention of “Making each day better, one song at a time!”Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is home to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, a public resource named for the founding director of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.Folk Alliance International: FAI is an arts nonprofit founding in 1989 to connect folk music leaders aiming to sustain the community and genre worldwide.Jenny Jenkins: In the United States, Jennie Jenkins was sung as a way for a boy to ask a girl to dance. The boy would sing the first part and pick a color and the girl would have to make up an answer that rhymed. If the girl failed to quickly respond with an appropriate answer, she would be required to dance with the boy.John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966. Lewis was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington.Alternate Roots: Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in community, place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, we call for social and economic justice and are working to di

Can a museum be a force for social change? Can history heal? Can our stories be unforgotten? Ron Chew says, "YES!, YES! YES!, and Much More!" Ron Chew has spent his life telling stories. Stories that reveal hidden history. Stories that inspire and mobilize. Stories that nurture and heal. The power of these stories has improved the lives of Seattle's Asian Pacific Islander Community, and by extension help that city reckon with its unsettling history with that community. Notable MentionsChinese Exclusion Act: The&nbsp;Chinese Exclusion Act&nbsp;was a&nbsp;United States federal law&nbsp;signed by President&nbsp;Chester A. Arthur&nbsp;on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers.&nbsp;Exclusion was repealed by the&nbsp;Magnuson Act&nbsp;on December 17, 1943, which allowed 105 Chinese to enter per year. Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of the&nbsp;Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which abolished direct racial barriers, and later by the&nbsp;Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the&nbsp;National Origins Formula.[3]Wing Luke Museum:&nbsp;&nbsp;is a&nbsp;history museum&nbsp;in&nbsp;Seattle, Washington, United States, which focuses on the culture, art and history of&nbsp;Asian Pacific Americans. It is located in the city's&nbsp;Chinatown-International District. Established in 1967, the museum is a&nbsp;Smithsonian Institution&nbsp;affiliate and the only pan-Asian Pacific American community-based museum in the country.[1][2]&nbsp;It has relocated twice since its founding, most recently to the&nbsp;East Kong Yick Building&nbsp;in 2008. In February 2013 it was recognized as one of two dozen&nbsp;affiliated areas&nbsp;of the U.S.&nbsp;National Park Service.[3],Chinatown International District: The&nbsp;Chinatown–International District&nbsp;of&nbsp;Seattle, Washington&nbsp;(also known as the&nbsp;ID) is the center of Seattle's&nbsp;Asian American&nbsp;community. Within the Chinatown International District are the three neighborhoods known as Seattle's&nbsp;Chinatown,&nbsp;Japantown&nbsp;and&nbsp;Little Saigon, named for the concentration of businesses owned by people of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese descent, respectively.&nbsp;International Examiner: is a free biweekly&nbsp;Asian American&nbsp;newspaper&nbsp;based in&nbsp;Seattle, Washington's&nbsp;International District. It was founded in 1974 by&nbsp;Gerald Yuasa&nbsp;and&nbsp;Lawrence Imamura&nbsp;to serve what the founders thought were the business interests of the Asian American community in Seattle's International District.In 1975, the&nbsp;Examiner&nbsp;was purchased by the&nbsp;Alaska Cannery Workers Association&nbsp;for $1 and became an activist, community-based newspaper.&nbsp;Wah Mee Massacre: was a multiple&nbsp;homicide&nbsp;that occurred during the night of February 18–19, 1983, in which Kwan Fai "Willie" Mak, Wai-Chiu "Tony" Ng, and Benjamin Ng (no relation) bound, robbed, and shot fourteen people in the Wah Mee gambling club at the Louisa Hotel in&nbsp;Chinatown-International District,&nbsp;Seattle. Thirteen of their victims died, but Wai Chin, a dealer at the Wah Mee, survived to testify against the three in the separate high-profile trials held in 1983 and 1985. It is the deadliest mass murder in&nbsp;Washington state&nbsp;history.King Dome controversy: Completed in 1976, the Kingdome was Seattle Washington’s first professional sports venue. During the Kingdome's official groundbreaking ceremonies on November 2, 1972, some 25 young Asian protesters hurled mudballs at the dignitaries in attendance. Several hundred spectators watched as County Executive Spellman's speech drew chants -- "Stop the Stadium!" Dissent continued throughout the stadium's construction. International District groups prepared for the worst, thinking the Kingdome would overwhelm the scale of their neighborhood, create noise and light pollution, clog the district with traffic, and escalate parking problems.Wing Luke: Wing Chong Luke is a&nbsp;pioneer in Asian American politics. In 1962, at the age of 37, Luke, despite an active smear campaign, became the first person of Asian ancestry elected to public office in the Pacific Northwest and the first person of color elected to the Seattle City Council.U S office of War Information: The&nbsp;United States Office of War Information&nbsp;(OWI) was a&nbsp;United States government&nbsp;agency created during&nbsp;World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other forms of media, the OWI was the connection between the battlefront and civilian communities. The office also established several overseas branches, which launched a large-scale information and&nbsp;<a...

In our second episode featuring Jeremy Kagan, we discuss the matter of trust in social impact art-making, and in the community writ large, particularly these days. We also talk about these issues as they relate to Jeremy's film Crown Heights, which deals with the violence and hatred that erupted between the black and the Orthodox Jewish Hasidic communities in Brooklyn in 1991. BIOJeremy Kagan is a director/writer/producer of feature films and television. His credits include the box-office hits&nbsp;Heroes&nbsp;(1977),&nbsp;The Big Fix&nbsp;(1978) and&nbsp;The Chosen&nbsp;(1981). His&nbsp;The Journey of Natty Gann&nbsp;(1985) was the first US film to win a Gold Prize at the Moscow Film Festival. Other directing credits include&nbsp;Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8&nbsp;(1987) (winning the ACE Award for Best Dramatic Special) and&nbsp;Roswell&nbsp;(1994), which he produced and directed and which was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 1996, his episode of&nbsp;Chicago Hope&nbsp;(1994) won him an Emmy for Outstanding Direction of a Dramatic Series. One of his segments of&nbsp;Picket Fences&nbsp;(1992) was listed by TV critics among the top 100 television episodes. His recent work includes en episode of&nbsp;Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning anthology _"Taken" (2002/I) (mini)_ and numerous episodes of such hit series as&nbsp;The West Wing&nbsp;(1999) and&nbsp;The Guardian&nbsp;(2001).&nbsp;His&nbsp;Bobbie's Girl&nbsp;(2002) was the highest rated film on Showtime 2003 and his movie&nbsp;Crown Heights&nbsp;(2004), which he produced and directed, won the Humanitas Award for "affirming the dignity" of every person and was nominated for a Directors Guild Award in 2004. Mr. Kagan is a graduate of Harvard University, where he wrote his thesis on&nbsp;Sergei M. Eisenstein, has a Masters from NYU and was in the first group of Fellows at the American Film Institute. He is a tenured full professor at USC, where he is in charge of the directing track, and has served as the Artistic Director of&nbsp;Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. He is on the National Board of the Directors Guild and is Chairperson of its Special Projects Committee and author of the book "Directors Close Up" and was presented the 2004&nbsp;Robert Aldrich&nbsp;Award for "extraordinary service to the guild.”Notable Mentions:&nbsp;Crown Heights, Movie: &nbsp;(Story) After the Crown Heights riots, an orthodox Rabbi and a community activist help two youths--one a Hasidic Jew, the other African-American--form a hip-hop group to heal their neighborhood.&nbsp;Gavin Cato: Riots between Crown Heights’ Jewish and black communities erupted on Aug. 19, 1991 after two black children were hit by a station wagon that was part of a motorcade for a Jewish rabbi. Gavin Cato, 7, died instantly, and his 7-year-old cousin, Angela Cato, was severely injured.&nbsp;Aaron Zigman:&nbsp;is an award-winning composer who has scored more than 60 major Hollywood films and influenced other musicians and songwriters. His deep classical roots combined with his background in writing and producing songs for many of music's greatest performers (Aretha Franklin, John Legend, Christina Aguilera,&nbsp;Phil Collins, Seal, Natalie Cole and more) Dr. Last, the Cure,&nbsp;Charlie Chaplin: was an&nbsp;English&nbsp;comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of&nbsp;silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona,&nbsp;the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the&nbsp;Victorian Era&nbsp;until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.David Orr. is an&nbsp;environmental studies&nbsp;and&nbsp;politics&nbsp;professor. He is a well known environmentalist and is active in many areas of environmental studies, including environmental education and ecological design. He has been a&nbsp;trustee&nbsp;of many organizations and foundations including the&nbsp;Rocky Mountain Institute&nbsp;and the Aldo Leopold Foundation.[1]National Institutes of Health: A part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIH is the largest biomedical research agency in the world.USC Change-making Media Lab: The mission of The Change Making Media Lab (CMML) is to foster positive social and environmental change by producing strategic high-impact cinema, television, multi-media visual imagery to inspire individuals, organizations, and communities into action. CMML also promotes research on effective media techniques and helping engaged community members leverage the power of the cinematic arts to achieve health, sustainability, and social justice. The Change-Making Media Center, is a newly established addition to USC’s change making media program.&nbsp;Story Center creates spaces for listening to and sharing stories, to help build a just and healthy world. Our public and custom workshops provide individuals and organizations with skills and tools tha

In this episode we visit with storied Hollywood director Jeremy Kagan, whose career has proved that yes, the power of story on the big screen, the small screen, and the community screen can be both entertaining and help change hearts and minds for the better.BIOJeremy Kagan is a director/writer/producer of feature films and television. His credits include the box-office hits&nbsp;Heroes&nbsp;(1977),&nbsp;The Big Fix&nbsp;(1978) and&nbsp;The Chosen&nbsp;(1981). His&nbsp;The Journey of Natty Gann&nbsp;(1985) was the first US film to win a Gold Prize at the Moscow Film Festival. Other directing credits include&nbsp;Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8&nbsp;(1987) (winning the ACE Award for Best Dramatic Special) and&nbsp;Roswell&nbsp;(1994), which he produced and directed and which was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 1996, his episode of&nbsp;Chicago Hope&nbsp;(1994) won him an Emmy for Outstanding Direction of a Dramatic Series. One of his segments of&nbsp;Picket Fences&nbsp;(1992) was listed by TV critics among the top 100 television episodes. His recent work includes en episode of&nbsp;Steven Spielberg's Emmy-winning anthology _"Taken" (2002/I) (mini)_ and numerous episodes of such hit series as&nbsp;The West Wing&nbsp;(1999) and&nbsp;The Guardian&nbsp;(2001).&nbsp;His&nbsp;Bobbie's Girl&nbsp;(2002) was the highest rated film on Showtime 2003 and his movie&nbsp;Crown Heights&nbsp;(2004), which he produced and directed, won the Humanitas Award for "affirming the dignity" of every person and was nominated for a Directors Guild Award in 2004. Mr. Kagan is a graduate of Harvard University, where he wrote his thesis on&nbsp;Sergei M. Eisenstein, has a Masters from NYU and was in the first group of Fellows at the American Film Institute. He is a tenured full professor at USC, where he is in charge of the directing track, and has served as the Artistic Director of&nbsp;Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. He is on the National Board of the Directors Guild and is Chairperson of its Special Projects Committee and author of the book "Directors Close Up" and was presented the 2004&nbsp;Robert Aldrich&nbsp;Award for "extraordinary service to the guild.”NOTABLE MENTIONSThe Hays Code: The&nbsp;Motion Picture Production Code&nbsp;was a set of industry guidelines for the&nbsp;self-censorship&nbsp;of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the&nbsp;United States&nbsp;from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the&nbsp;Hays Code, after&nbsp;Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945.&nbsp;ACLU Freedom Files: The Freedom Files,&nbsp;Directed by Jeremy Kagan that premiered&nbsp;in 2005 with a 10-part television series&nbsp;featuring real clients and the attorneys who represent them, as well as well-known activists, actors and comedians Lewis Black, Margaret Cho, Richard Belzer, Harry Shearer, Judy Gold and Noah Wyle. The Premiere Season episodes include Beyond the Patriot Act, Dissent, Drug Wars, Racial Profiling, Gay &amp; Lesbian Rights and more.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Change-making Media Lab: The mission of The Change Making Media Lab (CMML) is to foster positive social and environmental change by producing strategic high-impact cinema, television, multi-media visual imagery to inspire individuals, organizations, and communities into action. CMML also promotes research on effective media techniques and helping engaged community members leverage the power of the cinematic arts to achieve health, sustainability, and social justice.&nbsp;&nbsp;Miguel Sabido, Entertainment Education: is a producer, writer, researcher, and theorist, known for pioneering&nbsp;Entertainment-Education, developing the "Theory of the Tone", and producing a number of commercially successful&nbsp;telenovelas&nbsp;for&nbsp;Televisa&nbsp;in the 1970s.[1] &nbsp;Charles Perrault: Writing in seventeenth-century France during the reign of King&nbsp;Louis XIV, Perrault is best remembered as the creator of the modern fairy tale. His greatest legacy is his collection&nbsp;Histoires, ou Contes du temps passé, avec des moralitez,&nbsp;(1697;&nbsp;Histories or Tales of Past Times; also published as&nbsp;Fairy Tales or Histories of Past Times, with Morals,) which contains some of the most enduring and widely recognized stories in all of Western literature, including "La Belle au bois dormant" ("Sleeping Beauty in the Woods"), "Cendrillon ou la petite pantoufle de verre" ("Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper"), "Le Maître chat ou le chat botté" ("The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots"), and "Le Petit chaperon rouge" ("Little Red Riding Hood"), among others.&nbsp;Yurek Bogievic&nbsp;is a Polish film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He directed, among others,&nbsp;Anna&nbsp;(1987),[1]&nbsp;Three of Hearts&nbsp;(1993) and&nbsp;Exit in Red&nbsp;(1996).Bobby Seale: is an American political activist and author. In 1966, he co-founded the&nbsp;Black Panther

In Episode 40 Dipankar Mukherjee, and Meena Natarajan discussed their work around issues of race and justice. In this second half, we asked: How can Pangea, a small community-based cultural institution punching way above its weight, maintain the power and integrity of its community building work amidst the chaos and uncertainty of contemporary life in America?Pangea World Theater spent its 25th anniversary year helping their Minneapolis community heal the wounds and sort through the ashes left in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. But this mending and reckoning dance was nothing new because Pangea's work is intrinsic to the story of this place-- It’s struggles.-- It's beauty-- It's resilience. ANNOUNCING THE CHANGE THE STORY COLLECTIONA LIBRARY OF CHANGE the STORY/CHANGE the World EPISODESArts-based community development comes in many flavors:&nbsp;dancers, and painters working with children and youth; poets and potters collaborating with incarcerated artists: cultural organizers in service to communities addressing racial injustice,&nbsp;all this and much, much more.&nbsp;Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. Others have shared that they are using the podcast as a learning resource and would appreciate&nbsp;categories&nbsp;and cross-references for our stories.&nbsp;In response you we have&nbsp;curated&nbsp;episode collections in six arenas: JUSTICE ARTS * THEATER: PERFORMING CHANGE * CULTURAL ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE CHILDREN, YOUTH &amp; LEARNING * TRAINING COMMUNITY ARTS LEADERS * MUSIC OF TRANSFORMATIONCHECK IT OUT​Episode 41 BIO'sMeena Natarajan is a playwright and director and the Artistic and Executive Director of Pangea World Theater, a progressive, international ensemble space that creates at the intersection of art, equity and social justice. Meena has co-curated and designed many of Pangea World Theater’s professional and community-based programs.&nbsp;She has&nbsp;written at least ten full-length works for Pangea,&nbsp;ranging from adaptations of poetry and mythology to&nbsp;original works dealing with war, spirituality,&nbsp;personal and collective memory.&nbsp;Her play,&nbsp;Etchings in the Sand&nbsp;co-created with dancer Ananya Chattterjea&nbsp;has been published by Routledge in a volume called&nbsp;Contemporary Plays by Women of Color: The Second Edition.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dipankar Mukherjee is the&nbsp;Artistic Director&nbsp;of Pangea World Theater, where he has led the organization since its inception in 1995. As a director, he has worked professionally in India, England, Canada and the United States.&nbsp;His aesthetics have evolved through his commitment to social justice, equity and deep spirituality. Dipankar received a Humphrey Institute Fellowship to Salzburg and has been a Ford Foundation delegate to India and Lebanon. He is a recipient of a Bush Leadership Fellowship to study non-violent and peaceful methodologies in India and South Africa.&nbsp;Dipankar facilitates processes that disrupt colonial, racist and patriarchal modalities of working. EPISODE 41: Notable MentionsPangea World Theater: Pangea World Theater builds bridges across multiple cultures and creates sacred and intersectional spaces. We create authentic spaces for real conversations across race, class and gender. Through a nuanced exploration of privilege, our own and others, we craft ensemble-based processes with a global perspective. Through art, theater and creative organizing we strive for a just world where people treat each other with honor and respect.&nbsp;We believe that artists are seers giving voice and language to the world we envision.&nbsp;A Pluriverse: A Post Development Dictionary: Edited by Ashish Kothari, Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Federico Demaria, and Alberto Acosta. This book contains over one hundred essays on transformative initiatives and alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development, including its structural roots in modernity, capitalism, state domination, and masculinist values. It offers critical essays on mainstream solutions that ‘greenwash’ development and presents radically different worldviews and practices from around the world that point to an ecologically wise and socially just world.&nbsp;Arturo Escobar : is a&nbsp;Colombian-American&nbsp;anthropologist&nbsp;and the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the&nbsp;University of North Carolina&nbsp;at&nbsp;Chapel Hill, USA. His academic research interests include&nbsp;political ecology,&nbsp;anthropology of development,&nbsp;social movements,&nbsp;anti-globalization movements, and&nbsp;postdevelopment theory.[2] contends in his 1995 book,&nbsp;Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World,&nbsp;that&nbsp;international development&nbsp;became a mechanism of control comparable to&nbsp;colonialism&nbsp;or "cultural imperialism&nbsp;that poor countries had

Pangea World Theater spent its 25th anniversary year helping their Minneapolis community heal the wounds and sort through the ashes left in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. But this mending and reckoning dance was nothing new because Pangea's work is intrinsic to the story of this place-- It’s struggles.-- It's beauty-- It's resilience. This is the first of two episodes recounting Pangea's transformational history and impact. ANNOUNCING THE CHANGE THE STORY COLLECTIONA LIBRARY OF CHANGEtheSTORY/CHANGEtheWorld EPISODESArts-based community development comes in many flavors:&nbsp;dancers, and painters working with children and youth; poets and potters collaborating with incarcerated artists: cultural organizers in service to communities addressing racial injustice,&nbsp;all this and much, much more.&nbsp;Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. Others have shared that they are using the podcast as a learning resource and would appreciate&nbsp;categories&nbsp;and cross-references for our stories.&nbsp;In response you we have&nbsp;curated&nbsp;episode collections in six arenas: JUSTICE ARTS * THEATER: PERFORMING CHANGE * CULTURAL ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE CHILDREN, YOUTH &amp; LEARNING * TRAINING COMMUNITY ARTS LEADERS * MUSIC OF TRANSFORMATIONCHECK IT OUT​BIO'sMeena Natarajan is a playwright and director and the Artistic and Executive Director of Pangea World Theater, a progressive, international ensemble space that creates at the intersection of art, equity and social justice. Meena has co-curated and designed many of Pangea World Theater’s professional and community-based programs.&nbsp;She has&nbsp;written at least ten full-length works for Pangea,&nbsp;ranging from adaptations of poetry and mythology to&nbsp;original works dealing with war, spirituality,&nbsp;personal and collective memory.&nbsp;Her play,&nbsp;Etchings in the Sand&nbsp;co-created with dancer Ananya Chattterjea&nbsp;has been published by Routledge in a volume called&nbsp;Contemporary Plays by Women of Color: The Second Edition.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dipankar Mukherjee is the&nbsp;Artistic Director&nbsp;of Pangea World Theater, where he has led the organization since its inception in 1995. As a director, he has worked professionally in India, England, Canada and the United States.&nbsp;His aesthetics have evolved through his commitment to social justice, equity and deep spirituality. Dipankar received a Humphrey Institute Fellowship to Salzburg and has been a Ford Foundation delegate to India and Lebanon. He is a recipient of a Bush Leadership Fellowship to study non-violent and peaceful methodologies in India and South Africa.&nbsp;Dipankar facilitates processes that disrupt colonial, racist and patriarchal modalities of working. EPISODE 41: Notable MentionsPangea World Theater: Pangea World Theater builds bridges across multiple cultures and creates sacred and intersectional spaces. We create authentic spaces for real conversations across race, class and gender. Through a nuanced exploration of privilege, our own and others, we craft ensemble-based processes with a global perspective. Through art, theater and creative organizing we strive for a just world where people treat each other with honor and respect.&nbsp;We believe that artists are seers giving voice and language to the world we envision.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Nāṭya Śāstra&nbsp;is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the arts,[2][8]&nbsp;one which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India.[9]&nbsp;It is also notable for its aesthetic&nbsp;"Rasa"&nbsp;theory, which asserts that entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal, and that the primary goal is to transport the individual in the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder, where he experiences the essence of his own consciousness, and reflects on spiritual and moral questions.[8][1 World Theater.&nbsp;Theater Del Pueblo: is a small, non-profit Latino theater located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fostered by the Latino community on the West Side, it has grown since its inception in 1992 to serve St. Paul, Minneapolis, the Twin Cities/metro area, and greater Minnesota.you had&nbsp;Asian American Renaissance:&nbsp;Asian American Renaissance began as a coming together of artists and community activists of Asian decent in 1992 in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota and helped to inspire succeeding generations of Asian American artists in the upper midwestTheater MU: Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota Theater Mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the Asian American experience. Mu (pronounced MOO) is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for the&nbsp;shaman/artist/warrior who connects the heavens and the earth through the tree of life.&nbsp;Penumbra Theater:&nbsp;is an&nbsp;African-America

Needless to say, this year has been both odd and extraordinary. Odd? --- Well, Pick your poison. Extraordinary? --- Because we spent the year having amazing conversations with dozens of creative change agents who are kicking ass making a real difference in the upside-down world we live in. These conversations have helped us at the Center for the Study of Art &amp; Community manage the lurking shadows and have sparked some new ideas and even optimism. We're excited to be starting our second season on February 2, but in the meantime we thought it might be nice to revisit some of our most popular past episodes. Next up is Normando Ismay, The Loving Trickster. After our initial airing of this episode, we received dozens of emails thanking us for pulling back the curtain on what one listener described as "the wonderfully vibrant and wacky alternative Bizzoso Universe. A place we all need to visit over and over in these grey and uncertain times." So, we invite you to sit back, have a listen, and hitch a ride on Normando's Bizzoso Universe. Normando Ismay – A Loving TricksterIn this episode, Normando Ismay introduces us to ephemeral places like Chilecito and the Mattress Factory. Cafes Beirut. Bizzoso and Success, and an extraordinary cast of characters. that includes Papa Bizzoso, the one-time child, preacher Contralabias, the smuggler, the Last Inca, Pedro Borjehas. And Danimite the drug dealer who succomes in the legendary Atlanta crack attack.BIONormando Ismay was born in the city of All the Saints of the New Rioja in northwest Argentina.&nbsp;As a young adult, he came to the United States, settling in Atlanta to pursue a career as a visual artist.&nbsp;Since then, he has worked in a variety of media including metal, painting, sculpture and installation art.He built a barn-like structure in his backyard and began the operation of the Little Beirut Art Space, a gallery/performance venue for visual art exhibits, poetry readings, storytelling, film, music and dance.At this time, he also began an integration of visual and performing art, combining Andean flutes, drums and stories of magical realism into large- and small-scale performances and performance installations.&nbsp;Normando creates work in Spanish, English and in a bilingual blending.&nbsp;Some of his works include “The Last Inca”, about Pedro de Bohorquez who passes as an Inca and controls northwest Argentina; “Contralabias”, about a North American smuggler, the invention of lipstick and the birth of Argentina.&nbsp;&nbsp;Normando’s large-scale performance installations accommodate other performing artists and combine paintings, signage, sculptures, video projections, masks, seating, lighting and a stage.&nbsp;Café Bizzoso, Café Cultural de Chamblee, The Condor’s Next Hotel, Bannaland, The Mattress Factory Lounge and Dumpsite, to name a few.&nbsp;Normando’s work has been presented throughout Atlanta and the southeast, as well as in New York, Argentina and Europe.&nbsp;The New York Times, High Performance, the Atlanta Constitution, Art Papers, Mundo Hispanico, and other publications have written about his work.&nbsp;He has received grants from the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.&nbsp;In 1991 he received the Paul Robeson award in Cultural Democracy.Threshold Questions and Delicious QuotesWhat is Cafe Bezzoso?Well, Cafe Bizzoso, it was a traveling performance space, an art installation specific to the site where I was creating it. Bizzoso came out of a proposal that I made to the Arts Festival of Atlanta. They had invited me to perform in this huge stage. … And it's like me and my solo storytelling act and my public is like twenty feet away from me like no intimacy possible because of that. So, I made him a proposal to build a small performance venue for storyteller’s poets. and like that, and they liked the ideaWas the Crack Attack an art exhibition?And then two or three nights after that, Steve Seaberg hanging with me, and he was like uh, "We have to do something." You know, and we started making art about it. And we started filling up the lot and between my house and the crack house with art. And we kept working empty lot, and we'd turn it into a, do an art show. We called it the Crack Attack Show.Who was the Last Inca?Oh it's, it's, an amazing story straight out of history. And The Last Inca is the story of a Spanish soldier who ends up in Peru and he gets in trouble with the Viceroy and they banish him and to, send to a fort Copiapo in Chile, that they know, is about to fall to the indigenous people from there. And this young man goes there, and he builds a cannon out of wood. That was only good for like a couple of explosions. And then the Canon fell apart, but it was enough to signal to the Araucanos that the Spaniards now had a cannon and they decided to leave. (And that just the beginning)TranscriptBC: [00:00:00] Hello,Normando are you the

Episode 4: &nbsp;Beth Thielen - Love and Freedom&nbsp;Bookmakers at San Quentin. Not surprising, given "Q's" clientele. But no, we're talking about real books with real pages that are awe-inspiring works of art. &nbsp;Transcript Needless to say, this year has been both odd and extraordinary. Odd? --- Well, Pick your poison. Extraordinary? --- Because we spent the year having amazing conversations with dozens of creative change agents who are kicking ass making a real difference in the upside-down world we live in. These conversations have helped us at the Center for the Study of Art &amp; Community manage the lurking shadows and have sparked some new ideas and even optimism. We're excited to be starting our second season on February 2, but in the meantime we thought it might be nice to revisit some of our most popular past episodes. First up is Beth Thielen, a book maker who works across the by here from us at San Quentin. Actually she's not taking bets, but she and her students at "Q" are making a lot of awesome books. Have a listen.Bill Cleveland: At the time, what came to be known as the classic or a version 1.0 was considered a modern marvel. After a short wait for what was called booting up, and a few clicks, the text seemed to appear magically on a ten by twelve screens set into a plastic computer case. Eventually, the white on black text gave way to a gloriously glowing black on white. Moving through the text was accomplished using a small, palm-sized oblong disk that was endearingly called a mouse. Unfortunately, the computer was quite heavy and wired, so reading was typically a one person, one stationary screen affair. Then, the "two point oh" model with names like Kindle and Nook changed everything. It still had a screen and needed juice, but the wires were gone, and it was small and thin and light enough to take anywhere without a hassle. Going through text with the push of a button or flick of a finger on the screen made reading almost fun. There were a few downsides, though. After you paid for the machine, you still had to fork over for whatever it was you wanted to read. The thing also needed charging, and eventually, they would quit working from being dropped or just wearing out, which meant you lost whatever you were reading, which wasn't that big a deal because you actually never really owned it. &nbsp;But today, with the advent of the extraordinary Codex 3.0, also known as, "a book," all that came before seems quaint. This new text delivery system has so taken the world by storm, seven in ten humans now consider reading their number one favorite personal activity. While retaining the handiness and readability of its predecessors, this new model is both less expensive and far more versatile. This is due, in part, to the fact that after you purchase it, you actually own it, which means these books can be gifted or shared or even sold. There is speculation that eventually books will be collected in repositories that some are already calling libraries and could actually increase in value over time.But the most delightful features of these clever little packages of text are embodied in their design. Now, depending on their size, which is varied, they can fit neatly in your hands or lap for easy reading. They're ingenious cover, and page feature allows you to open, feel, and manipulate the enclosed paper sheets in sequence from front to back, the reverse, or even randomly. This is called browsing. If you want to remember where you left off, you can use what is called a bookmark or even bend the corner of those little pages. It's your choice. Another improvement is its sturdiness. You can drop it, sit on it, even step on it. And it will still function like it was new. And best of all, there are no batteries, no wires, and no moving parts. Finally, each book comes with a multigenerational lifetime guarantee that stipulates that with reasonable care and handling, each book will be fully functional for hundreds, if not thousands of years.&nbsp;Bill Cleveland: &nbsp;Excerpted from the "Modern Marvels of the Post Pandemian Epoch" by William T. William, 2047 A.D., also referred to as 26 P. P. E.&nbsp;Bill Cleveland: From the Center for the Study of Art and Community, this is Change the Story Change the World. I'm Bill Cleveland.Bill Cleveland: &nbsp;Long before the advent of Books, Inc., Amazon, and the Kindle, the making of books was considered a vital and essential art form. Over many millennia, the connections forged between humans and their books were seen as both fundamental to human progress, and as sacred and dynamic relationships. Given this, if I were to add yet one more evolved stage to the oddly imagined Future Books saga I just shared, it would be embodied in both this venerable history and in artists like Beth Thielen. Beth is a contemporary book artist who stands with one foot in the monasteries and studios of her revered bookmaking predecessors and another in the altered universe that is

BIOBeverly Naidus's&nbsp;art life has straddled the socially engaged margins of the art world, artful activism collaborations, and community-based art projects. Her audience participatory installations, artists books, photo-text and multimedia projects have dealt with the anxieties of being unemployed, nightmares about nuclear war, ways to transform body hate, using consumerism to numb ourselves from the extractive insanity of our capitalist economy, how grief and gratitude weave together in the climate emergency, the epigenetic trauma of living under white oppression and the joyful resilience of the marginalized. She often collaborates to develop creative strategies that might heal trauma, to plant seeds of activism, and imagine different outcomes. Early on, she discovered that her vulnerable story telling could generate stories from others, sometimes catalyzing positive actions.&nbsp;She has shared her work in city streets, alternative spaces, public parks, university galleries, community centers, and major museums. Her work has been written about in many books and journals and has developed an international following. After vibrant chapters in the New York and Los Angeles art worlds, including fruitful periods in other parts of North America, she has made a home in the Pacific Northwest since 2003.&nbsp;Naidus received her BA from Carleton College, and an MFA with a full teaching fellowship from the Nova Scotia College of Art &amp; Design. She taught art as a subversive activity at NYC museums, the Institute for Social Ecology, California State University, Long Beach where she had tenure, Goddard College, Hampshire College and Carleton College. From 2003 until 2020, she was the only tenured artist on the UW Tacoma faculty where she shaped an innovative, interdisciplinary studio arts curriculum in art for social change and healing. She is the author of&nbsp;Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame&nbsp;(a book that helped to shift studio arts curriculum in many places). She has written &amp; published many essays on eco-art and social practice as well as a few works of speculative fiction, and she is currently writing, Rewilding Our Muses: Creative Strategies for Navigating the “End of the World” and is looking for a publisher. While co-directing the non-profit, SEEDS (Social Ecology Education and Demonstration School) with her husband, Dr. Bob Spivey, they are leading workshops online with a focus on art that deals with climate and racial justice and have formed an international collective. They are currently facilitating an in-person “story hive project” with neighbors and are planning more “pandemic processing and dreaming into the future we want” art workshops to happen in coming months. Her solo show, “The Dead Ocean Scrolls and other Possible Futures” will be on exhibit at the Tacoma Community College Gallery in November 2021.For more information visit her website:&nbsp;www.beverlynaidus.net, Instagram: #utopias4all Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/92685388277 or Beverly Naidus https://www.facebook.com/utopias4allNotable MentionsCOCA: Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle:&nbsp;CoCA serves the Pacific Northwest as a catalyst and forum for the advancement, development, and understanding of Contemporary Art.&nbsp;ONCA gallery in Brighton, England: O N C A is a Brighton based arts charity that bridges social and environmental justice issues with creativity.EXTREME MAKEOVER: Reimagining the Port of Tacoma Free of Fossil Fuels 2018 to the present.: This community-based art project reimagines the Port of Tacoma, an industrial port built on tribal land in violation of the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854. The soil and water been contaminated by years of dumping and now hosts several designated superfund sites. In recent years, the community has been fighting the installation of new and dangerous fossil fuel projects in the Port and Extreme Makeover arose out of that resistance.Joanna Macy, author &amp; teacher, is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking and deep ecology. A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with learnings from six decades of activism. Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and postmodern science. The many dimensions of this work are explored in her thirteen books, which include three volumes of poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke with translation and commentary.Thich Nhat Hanh: Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness and peace. A gentle, humble monk, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Exiled from his native Vietnam for almost four decades, Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer bringing Buddhi

Jan Cohen-Cruz has given a lot to the field of arts-based community development. By that, I mean that there's a significant body of academic and community-based artwork, scholarship, teaching, and organizing that are absolutely covered with her fingerprints.BIOJan Cohen-Cruz was the founding editor of&nbsp;Public: A Journal&nbsp;of Imagining America. She directed Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life (2007-12), and for 28 years before that, was a professor at NYU, directing a minor in applied theatre and initiating socially-engaged projects and courses. She wrote&nbsp;Engaging Performance: Theatre as Call and Response&nbsp;and&nbsp;Local Acts: Community‑Based Performance in the US. She edited&nbsp;Radical Street Performance&nbsp;and co‑edited&nbsp;Playing Boal: Theatre, Therapy, Activism&nbsp;and&nbsp;A Boal Companion. Jan was also a University Professor at Syracuse University. In 2012, she received the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Award for Leadership in Community-Based Theatre and Civic Engagement. Here latest book, Meeting the Moment: Socially Engaged Theater, 1965 To 2020 written with Rad Pereira will published by New Village Press in May 2022. Notable Mentions (in order of appearance)Augusto Boal, was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical left popular education movements. Boal served one term as a Vereador (the Brazilian equivalent of a city councillor) in Rio de Janeiro from 1993 to 1997, where he developed legislative theatre.[1]Imagining America: “The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues.”Public: “Public is a peer-reviewed,&nbsp;multimedia e-journal focused on humanities, arts, and design in public life. It aspires to connect what we can imagine with what we can do. We are interested in projects, pedagogies, resources, and ideas that reflect rich engagements among diverse participants, organizations, disciplines, and sectors.”Meeting the Moment Socially Engaged Theater, 1965 To 2020: Jan Cohen-Cruz and Rad Pereira: Curated stories from over 75 interviews and informal exchanges offer insight into the field and point out limitations due to discrimination and unequal opportunity for performance artists in the United States over the past 55 years. In this work, performers, often unknown beyond their immediate audience, articulate diverse influences.Open Theater: The Open Theater was an experimental theatre group active from 1963 to 1973.Franz Kafka's The Trial: The Trial is a novel written by Franz Kafka between 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader.Paris, May 1968 Strikes and Demonstrations: Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which have since become known as May 68, the economy of France came to a halt.[1]The Devil and Daniel Webster:The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) is a short story by American writer Stephen Vincent Benét. He tells of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is later defended by Daniel Webster, a fictional version of the noted 19th-century American statesman, lawyer and orator.Harvey Grossman: In this edited transcription of his remarks at the 2013 Pomona College (California) conference “Action, Scene and Voice,” Harvey Grossman elucidates the theory and practice of his two most important teachers: Edward Gordon Craig and Étienne Decroux. Grossman elucidates Craig’s much-debated comments on the “Art of the Theatre,” as well as Craig’s influence upon the French corporeal mime Étienne DecrouxRichard Levy, New York Street Theater: The New York Street Theatre Caravan (NYSTC), formerly the City Street Theater, was a New York City-based socialist theater collective. First conceived by Marketa Kimbrell and Richard Levy in 1967, the company was founded on the principle of bringing theater to underprivileged and geographically isolated communities. NYSTC performed plays, puppet shows, skits, and concerts with themes meaningful to their audiences, such as racial inequality, workers' rights, homelessness, and other sociopolitical issues.Richard Schechner: Schechner was one of the founders of the Performance Stud