New in CAN's Places To Study database is an MFA in Public Practice at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles, Calif., led by artist Suzanne Lacy. Students will explore new artistic strategies and practices based on observation, research, social commentary and activism, and visual and performance arts productions in the public realm. Students work in individual studios on a single significant project in collaboration with each other, community members, interdisciplinary scholars and faculty. Intimate class size will support mentorship, case-studies learning and production skills in installation, performance, process art, guerilla art and interdisciplinary projects. The program offers field internships and teaching assistantships in Otis' new undergraduate Integrated Learning curriculum. The first class will be limited to 10; apply spring 2007 for August 2007. [LINK]

"Women, Art & Community Activism" is the theme of Issue 72/73 of Women & Environments International Magazine published by a feminist collective at the University of Toronto. Excerpts from the issue are on the WEI Web site: "Art + Activism = ATSA" by Susan Douglas, "Transforming Our World Through Song: The Power of Community Choirs" by Deanna Yerichuk, "Earth's Beauty Is Fading: Mischievous Raging Grannies to the Rescue!" by Carole Ray, "Wilderness Women in Black" by Jeane Fabb, and more. The issue also reviews CAN's book "Performing Communities: Grassroots Ensemble Theaters Deeply Rooted in Eight U.S. Communities" by Robert H. Leonard and Ann Kilkelly (New Village Press, 2006). The magazine, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is supported by the Women & Gender Studies Institute at U. of T.'s New College. (Thanks, Lynne Elizabeth.) [LINK]

Add Verb Productions in Portland, Maine, is part of "Real Life Real Talk," a nationwide Planned Parenthood effort to change the social climate in communities by creating talk about sex and health. "When Turtles Make Love: Real Talk Between Parents and Teens" is a theater and public dialogue project by Add Verb, March 1, 3 and 4, 2007, at the University of Southern Maine's Abromson Center. The play by Cathy Plourde and Chiara Liberatore delves into parent-teen communication about sexuality, love and relationships. It's followed by a World Café conversation exploring the topic. RLRT is a broad coalition of community organizations from across the political spectrum that supports parents striving to raise sexually healthy kids in today’s "sex-saturated culture." With partners in Portland, Me.; Rockland County, N.Y.; and Tucson, Ariz., RLRT includes theater, sex ed and parenting tips. [LINK]

On April 7, 2007, Lily Yeh and the Barefoot Artists Team will dedicate the Cyanzarwe Genocide Memorial Park in West Rwanda "to the government and local survivors association for safekeeping." Says Yeh: "We anticipate that over 5,000 mourners will pilgrim to the site to take part in the ceremony of grieving and remembering. April 7 is the National Day of Mourning in Rwanda. On that day in 1994, the onslaught of genocide began. An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 100 days." Over the past two years, working closely with the area survivors, Yeh designed the memorial site and trained ten local residents in making tile and mosaic designs. She worked with China Road and Bridge Construction Cooperation to build the Memorial Park, designated by the Rwandan government as the district's official Genocide Memorial Site. [LINK]

Teatro Vision in San Jose, Calif., will host an unusual program March 5-9, 2007, training community agencies to use popular theater to benefit "the health, success and happiness of children." Partnering with the local Mayfair Improvement Initiative, Teatro Vision's Instituto de Teatro will present a five-day workshop in popular theater by Sojourn Theatre Director Michael Rohd at Mexican Heritage Plaza. It will culminate in a public presentation on March 9. Participants are staff and clients of agencies belonging to First 5 Santa Clara County, a public entity that promotes the healthy development of children prenatal through age five. Teatro Vision says popular theater will be presented as a tool to connect families and engage them in addressing the needs of their children on a community-wide basis. [LINK]

Provisions Library will mount an unusual exhibition, "Big Picture," at the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York City, February 20-May 18, 2007. "Big Picture" comprises key artworks, books and related materials from the 25 exhibitions Provisions has created focusing on creative social change as "a powerful common territory for exploring human aspirations and social values that can transform war into peace, inequity into equity and environmental devastation into sustainability." The Big Picture Web site is a wiki offering extensive information on the artists and materials in the larger project, and specific resources on the topics peace, equity and systainability. Provisions is looking for suggestions and comments about artists, books, writers, organizations, social movements, etc.; they may be added to the wiki where indicated. (Thanks, Caron Atlas.) [LINK]

New Village Press in Oakland, Calif., has received a $50,000 grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation for new books on art and community building. New Village is the publisher of a roster of books on community-based arts, including CAN's "Performing Communities." New Village's upcoming books for 2007-8 are: The Crossroads Comics Series by Keith Knight and Matthew Schwarzman; "Building Commons and Community" by the late Karl Linn; "Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Writing to Make a Difference" by Louise Dunlap; "Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World’s Frontlines" by William Cleveland; "Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Ecological Schoolyard Transformation" by Sharon Danks; "Outside the Frame: Teaching Art as Social Engagement" by Beverly Naidus; and "Studio Without Walls: Living Creatively Across Disciplines" by Stephen A. Goldsmith. [LINK]

The Council on Foundations has named Flintridge Foundation to receive one of its inaugural Critical Impact Awards for support to the ensemble-theater movement. Flintridge was honored for its efforts to raise the profile of ensemble theaters and for supporting the development of the national Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET). The award recognizes projects funded by family foundations that have had a demonstrated impact on the common good and serve as models for others in philanthropy. “The award affirms the value of the arts and ensemble theater in particular in addressing societal issues and strengthening communities through the medium of performance,” said Flintridge Board Secretary Mona Heinze. “We hope that this honor will increase foundation support for the hundreds of ensemble theater companies across the nation and for the NET as a service organization committed to advancing the ensemble field.” [LINK]

Today CAN brings you a question and a survey about whether communities are ready to reach out for help from artists. CAN co-directors Linda Frye Burnham and Steven Durland ask the question: "If, as we keep saying, art really is a community asset, an essential part of community life, then why aren't communities initiating more community-based projects?" They note that most "community-based arts projects" actually are arts-based community projects. They are artist-initiated, usually administered primarily by an arts organization, prompted by a grants program initiated by an arts funder. But if all that past work has been successful, shouldn’t community groups be taking the lead in proposing to incorporate the arts in their community-building efforts? Burnham and Durland did a quick survey of 25 community-arts professionals and got some interesting responses. [LINK]

The Main Street Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation offers grants for revitalizing the commercial district of your hometown. The program has several different funds to support preservation planning and education efforts; projects that contribute to the preservation or the recapture of an authentic sense of place; and the preservation, restoration and interpretation of historic interiors. Funds may be used to obtain professional expertise in areas such as architecture, archeology, engineering, preservation planning, land-use planning, fund raising, organizational development and law as well as activities to educate the public. The program currently funds revitalization of four New Orleans neighborhoods. Check out the Main Street Web site for many examples of the involvement of artists and artisans in these projects. [LINK]

Nonprofits, arts organizations, artists and minority-owned businesses qualify for free Web sites from an arts partnership in the S.F. Bay Area if they apply before February 23, 2007. The Community Arts Mentorship Class at California College for the Arts' Center for Art in Public Life has formed a service-learning partnership with the enterprising Bayview Hunters Point Center for Art & Technology. Gino Squadrito, professional designer and CCA faculty member, will teach a Web Design Production Studio 2 class this semester in which CCA students will mentor high-school students. Set up as a design firm, class members will work together in small teams to design Web sites for the community free of charge. Students will learn design, production and publishing for application in community art and education contexts. Apply: ginosq@sbcglobal.net. [LINK]

"DIWAN: A Forum for the Arts" unites Arab-American artists, scholars and performers from throughout the U.S. at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Mich., March 30-April 1, 2007. Activities include poetry and prose readings, film screenings, musical performances and presentation of new research into Arab-American arts. Among compelling topics are: "Arts As Catalyst for Social Change," "Why Arts Matter (Arab American Arts Organizations)," "Arab and Jewish Intersections During the Time of War, Siege and Boycott," "Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets: Hip-Hop Pedagogy," "Art Is Not Always Beautiful," "Arab Images and Hollywood" and "KABOBart: Digital Art in the Blogosphere." Laila Farah will perform "Living in the Hyphen-Nation: A One-Woman Show." (Thanks, Caron Atlas.) [LINK]

CAN's BlogNet has added a new blog to the syndicate constantly updating on the CAN front page: Ms. Appalshop. Ms. Appalshop does daily blog posts on myspace.com and they are relayed electronically to the CAN site through rss feeds; the page updates four times a day. Appalshop is a well known arts and media center in central Appalachia, and the blog carries daily news about its activities in arts, education, films, video, theater, music and spoken-word recordings, radio, photography, multimedia, and books. Ms. Appalshop says she's "dedicated to the proposition that the world is immeasurably enriched when local cultures garner the resources, including new technologies, to tell their own stories and to listen to the unique stories of others." [LINK]

"ArtTalk" is a downloadable weekly radio program on San Francisco's KUSF-FM based on the premise that "art is a catalyst for social and cultural transformation." Created and hosted by artist/activist Richard Kamler, the show offers "conversations and interviews with cutting-edge artists, writers, performers and educators who are working to expand and embed the role of art." They features such figures as Joel Tan, community-engagement director, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts; artist/activist/educators Sharon Siskin and Beverly Naidus; artist Bonnie Sherk, founder of A Living Library; Larry Rinder, dean of the Graduate Program and California College of the Arts and former Whitney Museum curator; and lots more. Programs are downloadable from the Web; subscribe to the podcast in iTunes, and at podcastalley.com. [LINK]

"Cultural Vitality in Communities: Interpretation and Indicators" is a new monograph from the Urban Institute’s Arts and Culture Indicators Project. Using existing and new data, the report offers a new definition of "cultural vitality" as "evidence of creating, disseminating, validating, and supporting arts and culture as a dimension of everyday life in communities." It broadens "participation" to encompass festival making, amateur arts practice and public validation and discussion of cultural practices in many forms, including print, the Web and arts education (in-school and after-school). The analysis engages "a more diverse and powerful set of stakeholders," including people who are not arts "experts" or professionals. The authors believe this wider view compels policymakers, funder and administrators to change the way they think about culture. [LINK]

The Day Without an Immigrant Coalition will sponsor Torch of Hope, an immigrants' rights rally, at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, February 14, 2007. The Coalition is a group of individuals from institutions across the Philadelphia region, including artists like Acoustic Philly, which endorses the effort, stating: "We must see the immigrant struggle as related to our protection of our Bill of Rights. ...If you are an immigrant, you can lose your job, be separated from your family, have a marriage license annulled, be retained in a detention center or a prison without the right to consulting an attorney. You have no medical care, no life insurance, no representatives in government... . There is legislation proposed that is a hideous affront to sanctity and health." Read the Proclamation for Responsible Immigration Reform online. [LINK]

"Symposium on Subversive Papier-mache & Other Tools for Creative Dissent: 4th Annual" is a political art symposium in Boston, Mass., by Bread & Puppet Theater, February 12, 2007. The symposium features an in-depth interview with B&P Founder/Artistic Director Peter Schumann, conducted by puppet historian John Bell. It's part of a week-long series of B&P events sponsored by Boston Center for the Arts for its 2006-2007 Cultural Partners Series at the Cyclorama, including performances ("The Battle of the Terrorists and the Horrorists" & the family-friendly "Everything Is Fine Circus"), an art exhibit (“Walmart Exorcism” & “5 Excerpts from Everything Under the Sky”) and Cheap Art Sale. Schumann and his troupe of five Vermont puppeteers will join forces with 25 local puppeteers and Boston's 15-piece Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band. [LINK]

The 1969 community-arts classic by Robert Gard and his colleagues, "The Arts in the Small Community: A National Plan," has been republished by the U. of Wisconsin, updated by Gard's daughter, Maryo Gard Ewell, and Gard's co-author, Michael Warlum. The original publication, a.k.a. "The Windmill Book," is considered a blueprint for local and state arts-council movements and federal arts programs. "We kept all of the ideas from the original as well as its organization," say the authors. That includes vignettes of the test communities of Adams-Friendship, Portage, Rhinelander, Spring Green and Wapun, plus a new appendix on what's happening there now. "What Is an Arts Council?" has been updated and new additions include contemporary examples from communities across the country. It's $25 from Americans for the Arts. [LINK]

Current major exhibitions and events around feminist art history have prompted a predictable backlash over who isn't included. In "Feminist Forum," issue #4 of M/E/A/N/I/N/G, the editors say: "In proposing this forum to a large spectrum of women artists spanning at least three generations, we wanted to create a situation for reconsideration of 70s feminist art and the 70s in general. The questions we posed were: 'Which women artists' work were you particularly interested in during the 1970s? What work were you doing? If you have come of age since the 1970s, what works by women artists of that time or of your generation have been influential for you? What are you doing in your own work that you feel relates to the Feminist Art Movement?'" Responses (some irate) are online. (Thanks, Beverly Naidus.) [LINK]

Today CAN brings you the syllabus from "Arts and Peacebuilding," a Department of Government course at Georgetown University in D.C. Craig Zelizer, a visiting assistant professor with a wealth of experience in the field, will teach the Spring 2007 course, designed to help students develop an understanding of how professionals and organizations are incorporating innovative arts-based peace-building processes in diverse settings that can help inform their future work. The course covers a combination of theory and real-world cases, and includes exercises, guest speakers and research projects in the community. Topics include community arts, peacebuilding and identity conflicts, art in war, ritual and reconciliation, arts and trauma healing, performing for peace, cinema of war and peace, and project planning, integration and evaluation. The reading list is especially valuable. [LINK]

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has been awarded a $250,000 grant by the Covenant Foundation, which supports creative approaches to programming in the field of Jewish education. The three-year grant will enable the company to develop and conduct interactive educational programs in conjunction with "Small Dances About Big Ideas." Reflecting on the content of this dance -- created in 2005 in commemoration of the post-Holocaust Nuremberg trials -- the new programs will engage students and adults in schools, congregations and other settings to learn and reflect on their roles in a world where mass violence continues to occur. [LINK]

Today CAN brings you the story of Art Club, a small program in the predominantly poor black neighborhood north of Patterson Park in Baltimore City. Artist Mari Gardner writes about five years mentoring the Art Club, watching "an amazing group of kids ... struggle, break down and challenge themselves." She writes about watching her 15-year-old student give birth, and about learning that she would "never be able to fully comprehend the normalcy of violent deaths of loved ones, or what real hunger is, or what it’s like to have a mother who is addicted to heroin, or where fighting is the only way to gain respect." She went from being the "crazy white art teacher" to being a resident of the neighborhood in which she was working with the children, bringing a commitment "to believe in them." [LINK]

An Art Shanty town has sprung up on Medicine Lake in Plymouth, Minn., for the fourth year in a row. According to its sponsor, the Soap Factory in Minneapolis, Art Shanty Projects is "a five week exhibition of science, art, knitting, karaoke, games, performances, mail, pinhole cameras, cacti and art cars. The Art Shanty Projects are part gallery, part residency and part social experiment, inspired by the tradition of ice fishing and ice fishing houses used in the Minnesota winter." There are 65 artists and 20 shanties on the 886-acre frozen lake this year, including the Shanty of Misfit Toys, the Lincoln Log Cabin, the Rendezvous Cafe, a post office and a taxi service. All are open through February 17, 2007. [LINK]

Figures from the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement will meet for a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., February 10, 2007, as part of a Black History Month film series. The Next Generation Awareness Foundation's 4th Annual Film and Discussion Series, February 7-11, themed "We Remember," will offer "Stories from the Civil Rights Movement" February 10 at the Regal Cinema. The panel features original members of the Black Panther Party; Tuskegee Airman Curtis C. Robinson; the Webster Family, one of the earliest families to integrate schools in the South; journalist Michael Lydon, who covered the movement 1964-65; and Bob Zellner, civil-rights activist friend of Martin Luther King and the first white person to serve as secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The series includes films, filmmakers, poetry, book signing, jazz jams and theater. [LINK]