Recent CAN Essays

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Poems in the Public Interest
A public poetry project from the U.K. By Linda Frye Burnham (April 2010)

Something Different Is Stirring: DIY Culture in Silicon Valley
A glimpse of our cultural future in one of the first truly global metropolitan regions. By Tom Borrup (April 2010)

Book Excerpt - Suzanne Lacy: Spaces Between
From the first in-depth look at an artist whose work is critically important to the history of community-based art. By Sharon Irish (April 2010)

Book Excerpt - By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives
Two writers consider art, education, prison, possibility. By Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson (March 2010)

Creative City Fever: The 2010 City, Culture and Society Conference, Munich
Has the construction of the Creative City, as practiced by cities competing for global standing, exacerbated economic disparities? By Tom Borrup (March 2010)

Postcards from the Community Arts Convening and Research Project, 2009-2010
A final commentary on the yearlong project, its convening and its regional and national dialogues. By Amalia Mesa-Bains (March 2010)

Revolutionizing the Making of a Museum: Putting Teens in Charge
Teenagers are creating the Chicago Teen Museum, the first museum in the U.S. dedicated entirely to the preservation of teen culture By Carol Ng-He and Erin Dragotto (February 2010)

The Need for a Community Arts University Without Walls
Community arts training must engage community scholars in the field, community institutions, artists, students and professors as equals. By Marta Moreno Vega (February 2010)

The Latino Dialogue: A Shared Narrative of Hope and Power
The Latinos of Monterey County, Calif., come together to talk about their culture. By Amalia Mesa-Bains (February 2010)

My Iron Tri-Angel: An Urban Neighborhood Seeks To Tell Its Own Story
Residents of the Iron Triangle take control of their own narrative. By Jordan Simmons (February 2010)

Cultural Exchange vs. Cultural Tourism
There are significant questions about the ethics of cultural tourism, and they extend to the ethics of cultural exchange. By Bau Graves (February 2010)

Taking Over and Talking Back: Theater as a Forum on Gentrification
New York's citizens talk about what happens when communities change. By Caron Atlas (February 2010)

Children's Choir Bridges Racial Divide in Michigan
Sometimes Martin Luther King's dream doesn't seem so far away after all. By Larry and Sandy Feldman (January 2010)

The Curriculum Project Dialogues
Imagining America has three key conversations about higher education -- its teaching of and partnering for community cultural development -- at NYU, the University of Pennsylvania and Macalester College. By Jan Cohen-Cruz (January 2010)

A Text as a Bridge — for You, You and You
Reflections and lessons learned during five conversations with Alternate ROOTS about Resources for Social Change. By Gwylene Gallimard and Hope Clark (January 2010)

Click here for a complete list of essays