“Post-African Neo Hoodoo Modern Dance” will arrive in Sheboygan, Wisc., in February when Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group takes up a community residency there. The Group's residency at John Michael Kohler Arts Center begins February 20, 2007, with a performance of a new work, "The Tale of Npinpee Nckutchie and the Tail of the Golden Dek," followed by three weeks of collaboration with JMKAC's 15 community partners and other community members -- to be performed March 9-10. The residency is part of JMKAC's ongoing "Community Connections" program, which in 2006 produced M.I.K.E. (Musically Integrated Kiosk Environment), a traveling performance stage and recording studio created from a grain bin and salvaged camper and truck parts by Richard Saxton of municipalWORKSHOP, Stuart Hyatt of TEAM Records and 100 community participants. [LINK]

“Art brings hope,” said Glenn Bodish, executive director of the Butte Silver Bow Arts Foundation in an historic copper-mining town in Montana. The BSBAF and other leaders in the decaying little town of 35,000 hope the lure of cheap square-footage will transform Butte into a refuge for artists and spark reclamation, says Jim Robbins in the N.Y Times (1/26/07). In the last five years, the city has remodeled broken-down National Historic Landmark buildings into a museum of fine arts (formerly the YMCA), an art-supply store, an art school, an arts incubator, studios, galleries, theaters and cafes. The BSBAF Web site proudly sports the slogan "Art = Economic Development." They've used HUD, Urban Revitalization, Economic Development and U.S. Interior Departments grants and lots of elbow grease. [LINK]

Today CAN brings you a story about a community arts center in Colombia that found a way to engage in the shaping of the cultural sector’s political structures. Fulbright scholar Susan Appe writes about Chiminigagua Cultural Foundation in Bosa, a municipality of Bogotá. Bosa is an area known for crime and paramilitary activity and a hot spot for community action. Chiminigagua has been organizing and presenting arts and social events for more than 20 years is considered one of the most mature community arts organizations in Colombia (with the only theater company in the world specializing in stilts on wheels). When Pesident Álvaro Uribe Vélez re-declared a state of war in Colombia and increased military spending, the artists of Chiminigagua knew they had to get involved at the political level [LINK]

Baltimore officials and cultural luminaries will gather at the Baltimore Museum of Art January 27, 2007, for an "Art & Neighborhoods Symposium." They will discuss "how urban residents (and perhaps even some suburban do-gooders) can take control of the creeping blight that poisons the inner city and transform it into something neighborhood-nourishing and beautiful," according to Erin Sullivan in Baltimore City Paper. Scheduled are a keynote address by Mindy Thompson Fullilove, author of "Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do About It," plus a response by choreographer Liz Lerman and case-study presentations on how art can have a positive impact in neighborhoods by Kumani Gantt (Village of Arts & Humanities), Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen (Rebuilding Through Art ) and Art on Purpose (Real City, Dream City). [LINK]

"The Future of Work: the Hybrid Worker" by Jennifer Williams leads the current issue of Interchanges (No. 30) from the Centre for Creative Communities. In response to new technologies and rising complexities of contemporary life, Williams sees the emergence of hybrid fields and hybrid workers, including those who "use the arts, culture or creativity as a basic ingredient in their work. ... The clusters of people that congregate around these challenges are bravely stepping outside of their specialist areas, pooling personal and professional knowledge and addressing the problem collaboratively. CCC calls the phenomenon that emerges ‘creative community visioning’, which typically involves at least three sectors, though the activity itself is not usually sector specific." The piece is excerpted from "Dynamics of Communication," a new book by CultureLink. [LINK]

"Art as Resistance, Art as Survival" is the theme of the first issue of CAM, a new newspaper from Community Arts Ontario. CAM (Community Arts Matters), downloadable from the Web, features a cover essay by artist Neila Keleta Mae: a tough, radical stance on what it takes for artists to commit to community revitalization, fight for social justice and live a life of political resistance to "cultures of domination." Such artists and organization often "grapple with economic instability," she says. "Resistance is often lonely, highly isolating, motivationally demanding and heavily romanticized." Other articles include "The Role of Community Arts" by Robin Pacific and "Networking Among Racialized and Aboriginal Artists" by Sophie Anne Edwards. Also, download submission guidelines for Issue 003, "The Case for Community Arts Education." [LINK]

There's something funny going on aboard the W-11 tram in Melbourne, Australia. Artist Mick Douglas is hosting 50-minute laps onboard the Melbourne City Circle tram in collaboration with Pakistani vehicle decorators who painted the trams and emblazoned them with words in Urdu and English: "piyar zindagi hai/love is life." Three types of "artful journeys" take place each week to explore dialogue (Tram Overheard, two guests undertake an open conversation), improvisation (Tram Overboard, guest artists lead an improvised journey of performance) and openness (Tram Otherwise, host artists lead a journey of cultural collisions). It's part of Douglas' transport art initative Tramtactic, which he shares with Roberto D'Andrea, organizer of The Connies, a performance troupe of former tram conductors. [LINK]

Harvard Educational Reviews says Animating Democracy's "Critical Perspectives" makes a "powerful case for collaborative writing by leaders from the artistic, scholarly and community-development worlds." HER's Fall 2006 review also appreciates the book's foregrounding of risk: "'Rather than consider art as a safe undertaking, this book frames it as a risk-taking enterprise. It forces artists to look not just at the aesthetic dimensions of their work, but also at the civic, social, and value-laden aspects of the work. Artists and cultural organizations frequently take risks by taking on civic issues, reframing them, or forming challenging partnerships in the communities they enter. They also take risks in making aesthetic choices — whether to be artistically provocative or exercise restraint — each of which could be risky depending on the context." [LINK]

"Working in Public: Art, Practice and Policy" is a Scotland-wide initiative being developed by artist/scholar Suzanne Lacy in Aberdeen to support artists and organizations working with artists. The program consists of three seminars and one public event in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Inverness. Its goal is "to develop a new level of thinking in relation to the aesthetics and ethics of art practices that work within the social and cultural spheres of public life." Lacy is currently associate professor at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. The program, presented by On the Edge, a Gray’s research program, with Robert Gordon University and The Scottish Arts Council, is a pilot for longer-term development of research, critical thinking and learning about the visual arts in the public sphere. [LINK]

"Slavery: Inhuman History" at San Francisco's Musum of the African Diaspora features an historic exhibition and some intriguing events. Included are "Slavery in New York," January 24-April 30, 2007, the traveling version of a landmark New York Historical Society exhibition; "Slavery in 19th Century California," January 27, a program featuring Guy Washington of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network; "Escape from Slavery," February 10, a reading by a former Sudanese slave turned abolitionist; and "Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things," February 11, a roundtable with Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement addressing issues they confronted in the South as1960s volunteers and organizers, and today's relevance and manifestations of those issues -- nonviolence, activism, leadership, economic justice and arts and culture as tools in the struggle. [LINK]

CAN's Places To Study database has two new entries: a BFA at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and an MA at Eastern University in Philadelphia, Pa. Victoria's BFA in Theatre offers a specialization in Applied Theatre: a four-year undergraduate program providing theoretical and practical foundation in applying theater to teaching; cultural, recreational and community planning; historic and environmental sites; museums; social and correctional services; healing and health agencies. Graduate studies are also possible. Eastern University, in partnership with BuildaBridge International, offers an MA in Urban Studies with an Arts in Transformation track. It's a two-year program in short residency format with special focus on arts-based interventions at individual, family, community, social-service and organizational-leadership levels through field-intensive community partnerships. Eastern is a Christian university. [LINK]

Artist Marcel Diallo is racing against the gentrification clock to create the Village Bottoms Cultural District in West Oakland, Calif., says Anne Stuhldreher in the S.F. Chronicle (1/12/07). He wants to turn The Bottoms neighborhood into an enclave of all things African American -- black homeowners, black-owned cafes, galleries, boutiques and mom-and-pop shops. "The Chinese got Chinatown, the Latinos got the Fruitvale and the Mission. We want our equivalent," said Diallo. "The only way that black people are going to be all right and not on the brink of revolution and wanting to burn this s -- down is if we have our own place that we feel like is ours. It's not just for blacks. Everybody needs a black cultural district. Just like everybody needs a Chinatown." (Thanks, Judith Tannenbaum.) [LINK]

Today CAN brings you a major overview of the arts in corrections by Krista Brune, who has been on the inside for six months. Brune, on a Princeton fellowship, has criss-crossed the country from the Arts-in-Corrections’ rooms in California’s New Folsom and San Quentin prisons to the auditorium of Sing Sing, talking to practitioners and inmates about their experiences in this vast field that provides creative writing, drama, visual arts, music, dance and other arts-based programs in correctional facilities. She learned plenty about funding, evaluation, state programs, artist initiatives, programs created by foundations and nonprofits, performance collaborations inside and out, university degrees and partnerships and serious organizing going on out there. This is essential coverage of a field that is about to burst into prominence. [LINK]

"If only there were a futures market in the arrogance of foundation presidents," says Arlene Goldbard in her blogpost "Rockefeller Requiem," "I would have broken the bank this week. On Sunday, the New York Times ran an article [by Stephanie Strom, 1/14/07] about the changes major foundations are making to keep up with Bill Gates' mega-philanthropy. In it, the Rockefeller Foundation's new president dismisses all that came before her in order to aggrandize her own contributions, which include eliminating the most far-sighted and useful cultural funding division ever maintained by a major American foundation. ... Too bad Dr. Rodin hasn't read her own foundation archives." Goldbard lists many of Rockefeller's arts accomplishments, including "Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development," the internationally influential book she wrote for the foundation with her partner, Don Adams. She suggests you send your opinions to the Times. [LINK]

Global preparations are underway for World Community Arts Day, February 17, 2007. Instigated by Craigmillar Communiversity in Scotland, World Community Arts Day is an occasion for celebrating "arts as a catalyst for sharing and caring." Everyone is invited to cook up a project for The Day and register it on the Web. So far, plans include: performance artworks and live mural-making by Ken Wolverton and friends in Madrid, N.M., at The Mine Shaft, where there is a sign above the bar that reads: MADRID HAS NO TOWN DRUNKS, WE ALL TAKE TURNS; "Ineffable voice," a global Internet audio broadcast initiated by Dramarte and Artefacto in Mexico; the repainting of the "Healing Wall" mural in Richmond, Calif., by members of Carpenters Local 152 and local high-school students. Get your WCAD on! [LINK]

If you've enjoyed CAN's recent stories on arts and agriculture, you'll love Renewing the Countryside. The Minnesota nonprofit wants to "provide inspiration, ideas and assistance to individuals and communities who are looking for sustainable ways to strengthen their rural communities and reduce poverty." Their We site sports a database with hundreds of great stories about innovative farmers, artists, business owners, community leaders, nonprofit organizers, youth and entrepreneurs, filed by region or topic, including arts and culture. Right now they're featuring "microenterprise stories from Appalachia." There's an online tool kit and a bookstore selling their publications. Their sustainable-lifestyles resources section leads to projects like Green Routes, the Rural Renaissance Network and lots more inspiration. [LINK]

Japanese artist Jun Kaneko is in Omaha, Neb., making giant ceramic heads in a studio six times as large as all the galleries at the Whitney. Kaneko has 165,000 square feet, some of it in a defunct Plymouth dealership, in which to create his giant public art pieces, says Michael Kimmelman in the N.Y. Times (1/14/07), and he fires them at Mission Clay, a sewer-pipe factory in Pittsburg, Kansas. Some commissioned pieces are 20 feet tall. “People going through a plaza or a convention center may not be conscious of my pieces and may not be interested in art, — but in the end they are experiencing it," he says. "And each public project has its own needs, its own ‘ma'" -- or “spirit,” a Shinto idea. [LINK]

"Spark" is a public TV series about San Francisco Bay Area artists and arts organizations -- with a huge plus for arts teaching. The weekly KQED television show, co-produced with the Bay Area Video Coalition and narrated by comic artist and rapper Keith Knight, has an educational outreach program and a Web site offering media resources, educational materials and professional-development training, including comprehensive Educator Guides and arts education tools to help K-12 and post-secondary educators use Spark in the classroom. Spark Web provides artists profiles; a digital library of hundreds of video and audio streams of Bay Area artists, one of the largest collections of its kind available online; and a Spark Guide to the arts in the area: events, tours, "cool deals," classes and family fun. [LINK]

"A sea of change is afoot in Oakland, from the Mayor's office to our public schools," says the Center for Art and Public Life at California College of the Arts. "Outside the Lines: Arts Teaching and Learning" is a series of exhibitions and events engaging participants from CCA and its community partnership programs. It's part of Alameda County's Art IS Education 2007 showcase "highlighting a shared vision for high-quality art learning for every child, every school, every day." Starting 1/12/07 with a City Center reception with Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, it includes events like "What it Takes: Getting a Job in Community Art and Art Education," "Mixing It Up: Hip-Hop meets Social Studies/High School meets College," a new art-and-social-justice curriculum resource online, a Student Fellows education-and-equity forum and much more. [LINK]

"They told us what they wanted were jobs, and they wanted teachers who really cared about them and what the teachers were teaching," says Ben Donnenberg on NPR. Donnenburg responded to those requests from L.A. teens by starting Urban Shakespeare, a job-training project with youth 14-18. Mary Beth Kirchner's American RadioWorks documentary, heard recently on NPR's Weekend Edition, describes the program, which hires Los Angeles teens to study Shakespeare sonnets and soliloquies, then write their own poetry or music to appear on a CD. Urban Shakespeare emerged out of the L.A. riots in the early '90s as part of a collaboration between the National Council of Christians and Jews and Shakespeare Festival/LA. Hear the program on the project Web site. [LINK]

What is a documentary filmmaker's responsibility in a conflicted place like post-Katrina New Orleans, asks Stacy Park Aab in The Huffington Post (1/7/07). Aab, story chronicler for The Katrina Experience, points to Spike Lee's doc "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" and its cavalier reference to a widespread conspiracy theory that levees were intentionally blown up to flood black neighborhoods. Aab is angry that Lee didn't do any fact-finding: "New Orleans has a problem: what do you do when a significant portion of your population thinks something happened, and the rest thinks that this 'something' is so beyond the pale, that it is beyond discussion? ...if you leave the accusations unanswered, are you more interested in inflaming passions than you are in telling the truth?" [LINK]

China's "Impression Lijiang" is possibly the largest outdoor community performance ever, set on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan Province. Created by film director Zhang Yimou ("House of Flying Daggers"), the one-hour daytime piece employs 500 local people. Costing $31 million U.S., it's "an epic of the local culture and people, whose main ethnic group is the Naxi," says The Asian Eye. Performers in costume dance, sing folk songs and perform ancient rituals, "depicting how local people have overcome hardship and enjoyed their simple lives for thousands of years. The songs tell of how women work hard to make a living for the family, and how men get together, get drunk, sing and write poems to make the women proud. ... Actors ride horses on the stages and hundreds of men take part in a soul-lifting, solemn drum performance." (Search Flickr for great photos.) [LINK]

MASS MoCA will present an independent film and discussion about the reintegration of Iraq War veterans as part of its Truth Behind the Fiction documentary series. "The Ground Truth" by Patricia Foulkrod, showing January 11, 2007, in at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in West Adams, is described as "a timely tribute to the young Americans who served in Iraq and their struggle for reintegration into the American landscape upon their return." Afterwards, Andrew Sapp will discuss his experiences as a National Guardsman and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Also participating as speakers are Sapp's wife, Anne, discussing her work with Military Families Speak Out, and Joyce and Kevin Lucey, parents of Jeffrey Lucey, who committed suicide at age 23 upon return from a combat mission in Iraq. [LINK]

With "Arts In Criminal Justice," Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program is taking a big first step toward creation of a U.S. support network for prison arts programming. "Arts in Criminal Justice" is a national conference October 3-6, 2007, hosted by MAP and sponsored by the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Casting a wide net, MAP intends to convene at least 200 artists, activists, prison officials, judges and policymakers and engage them in collaborating on a wide-reaching "Evolving Arts in Correction" model that provides for "a continuum of consistent outreach and service for at-risk youth, youth in detention, incarcerated adults and aftercare/community re-entry." Ultimately, MAP hopes for the creation of a National Art in Criminal Justice Coalition. Preview the creatively designed conference schedule and speaker roster on the Web. [LINK]