Success

Over at the website of Keep Arts in Schools we find research, resources, news and inspiring quotes.

All of this useful stuff has been gathered to help make the case for the arts as tools for character building and doorways to success.

See this:

"The human conscience relies on a feeling of empathy for others and on the anticipation of anxiety, guilt, or shame for violating a community norm. Children need a deeper understanding of these feelings and the arts contribute to this goal."

-Jerome Kagan, Daniel and Amy Starch Research Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Harvard University.

And this statement, from First Lady Michelle Obama:

"My husband and I believe strongly that arts education is essential for building innovative thinkers who will be our nation's leaders of tomorrow."

- Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that business leaders Goldman Sachs are right back at it; making money:

NEW YORK TIMES
BUSINESS
For Goldman, a Swift Return to Lofty Profits
By GRAHAM BOWLEY and JENNY ANDERSON
Published: July 13, 2009

Most of Wall Street, and America, is still waiting for an economic recovery. Then there is Goldman Sachs.

Up and down Wall Street, analysts and traders are buzzing that Goldman, which only recently paid back its government bailout money, will report blowout profits from trading on Tuesday.
Analysts predict the bank earned a profit of more than $2 billion in the March-June period, because of its trading prowess across world markets.

If they are right, the bank’s rivals will once again be left to wonder exactly how Goldman, long the envy of Wall Street, could have rebounded so drastically only months after the nation’s financial industry was shaken to its foundations.

The Professional

On June 19, 2009, The Dana Foundation hosted a symposium on the web around defining the Teaching Artists profession.

Artists in the Classrooms: What is the role of the Teaching Artist? has been archived and can now be viewed in its entirety by clicking here.

Also: Marianne Faithfull - Working Class Hero (Caveat viewer: Twice, she cusses like a working class hero.)

Hold Tight

Since I'm not a journalist, I failed to notice last week when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the names of the lucky few; dozens of nonprofit arts organizations are receiving grants to support the preservation of jobs threatened by the great depression.

Rejoice.

The names of the award-winning Arts Education organizations are listed here.

Local members of the $50,000 Dollar Club include: The Studio Museum, in Harlem; the New 42nd Street/New Victory Theater (!!!); City Lore; and DreamYard, in the Bronx.

Also: Angel Desai - Another Hundred People (Company - S. Sondheim)

Don't Hold Your Breath

Friday.

It's all over.

You can relax and hang out with friends.

Also: Over at the New York Times, lawmakers and the White House doggedly pursue President Obama’s top policy goal of extending health coverage to all Americans, sometime in the future.

Plus: Patsy Cline - Crazy

Just do it.

Over at the Dutchess County Arts Council, a free workshop on arts marketing strategies to help artists grab some more of those cultural tourism dollars:

Workshop: Developing Shared Marketing Tools 


Thursday, July 16; 5:30-7pm 


Locust Grove


2683 South Rd. (Route 9) 
Poughkeepsie


The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO), the Dutchess County Arts Council and the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art present a workshop for artists and arts organiza-tions about developing shared marketing tools and other ways to tap the tourist market in the Hudson Valley.

Admission is Free; reservations are encouraged. To make a reservation email info@artsmidhudson.org or call 845-454-3222.

Work Life

Get a job.

ALLL Teaching Artist 
LEAP -NYC 
New York, New York United States 
Last updated on: July 6, 2009 
Description: Learning Through an Expanded Arts Program of NYC (LeAp) is a non-profit educational organization that places teaching artists into the New York City public school system to teach academic subjects using a hands-on, arts-based approach. Leap offers a wide ...

Teaching Artists for NYC Non-Profit 
Urban Arts Partnership 
New York, New York United States 
Last updated on: June 28, 2009 
Description: Urban Arts Partnership is currently accepting applications for Teaching Artists for the 2009-2010 school year. Urban Arts hires highly talented and motivated teaching artists with at least 2 years experience working with inner city youth in grades K-12 (e...

Associate, Professional Programs 
Carnegie Hall 
New York, New York United States 
Last updated on: June 25, 2009 
Description: Title: Associate, Professional Programs Department: Weill Music Institute Reports to: Manager of Professional Programs Job Code: APWMI Carnegie Hall seeks an Associate, Professional Programs to be the participant and auditor liaison for Professional...

Artist/Facilitator 
Community Works - California 
San Leandro, California United States 
Last updated on: May 16, 2009 
Description: Position: Part-time Summer Artist/Facilitator, Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center About the Organization: CW engages youth and adults in arts and education programs that interrupt and heal the far-reaching impact of incarceration and violence by ...

Program Director 
Arts for the Aging, Inc. (AFTA) 
Bethesda, Maryland United States 
Last updated on: June 24, 2009 
Description: Arts for the Aging, Inc. (AFTA) seeks a motivated, creative, focused Program Director to manage programs that engage older adults in health and life improvements through the arts. The Program Director schedules, oversees and evaluates a diverse curriculu...

DANCE INSTRUCTOR 
Inner-City Arts 
Los Angeles, California United States 
Last updated on: June 1, 2009 
Description: Inner-City Arts is dedicated to bringing the best of creative experiences to the thousands of children who live in the downtown area, and attend public schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. Working with LAUSD and community partners, we offer com...

Program Assistant 
Young Audiences New York 
New York, New York United States 
Last updated on: July 8, 2009 
Description: Young Audiences New York promotes creativity, essential life skills and academic achievement through innovative and diverse multi-disciplinary arts programming for public school children Pre-K through 12 and their families - all of which support the devel...

Executive Director 
the Center for Urban Pedagogy 
Brooklyn, New York United States 
Last updated on: May 31, 2009 
Description: The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) seeks Executive Director The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization that uses the power of art and visual culture to increase the quality of public participation in urban planning ...

Professional Development Manager 
Inner-City Arts 
Los Angeles, California United States 
Last updated on: May 31, 2009 
Description: Inner-City Arts is seeking an experienced, energetic Manager for the Professional Development program, to support the delivery of a full training program for classroom teachers and teaching artists. This person has strong attention to detail, a positive ...

Executive Director, Creative Arts Workshops for Kids 
Creative Arts Workshops for Kids 
New York, New York United States 
Last updated on: June 17, 2009 
Description: Creative Arts Workshops for Kids (“CAW”) seeks a full-time Executive Director with significant experience in management and fundraising to lead a small but growing non-profit youth arts organization. CAW seeks a strong, passionate leader with a proven tr...

Eco-Art Arts Educator/Interpreter 
Artist Boat 
Galveston, Texas United States 
Last updated on: June 25, 2009 
Description: Artist Boat is seeking 4 motivated, creative, and self-starting art and science educators with environmental backgrounds to deliver Eco-Art Workshops, Adventures, and Residencies to the communities of the Houston/Galveston Region, Louisiana (2-3 weeks a y...

Also: Alberta Hunter -Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out

All in One Place

Who am I anyway?


Am I my resume?


Also:

The Association of Teaching Artists' on Facebook

Teaching Artists Organizations

The Association of Teaching Artists' Listserv

Top 10 Funding Sources for Arts Education

Research on Teaching Artists

What is a Teaching Artist?

Who are Teaching Artists?

New York Foundation For The Arts' Teaching Artists Source

Health Insurance Resources for Teaching Artists in New York State

Reason Being

Cocktail Party Physics is a science blog.

Wait, let them explain:

Cocktail Party Physics is a group science blog that aims to create a salon-like virtual space where contributors and readers alike can chat about the latest news and ideas in science -- with a twist. If we can make it fun, funky, unconventional, and blur the lines between traditional disciplines -- both within the sciences themselves, and science and the arts, literature, pop culture, history, and every other aspect of our culture -- so much the better. We need fewer barriers and more bridges in this world.

Also, they tell jokes.

Make Amends

The City of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program works to "use the power of art and the mural design process as tools for community engagement, blight remediation, beautification, demonstration of civic pride, and prevention and rehabilitation of crime."

The program was featured earlier this year on the Community Arts Network.

I meant to tell you earlier.

Ragtime

The National First Ladies' Library serves as "a unique national resource for patrons from school children to serious scholars."

Hurrah!

They have free lesson plans, which is all I need to know.

For instance, this lesson plan, on the musical style known as "Ragtime", is built around an exploration of the relatively interesting life of First Lady Ellen Wilson.

From the organization's website:

Students who participate in this activity will learn something about ragtime music, its history, and the ways in which it has contributed to others forms of American popular music. They will also have the opportunity to think about their own personal response to a certain type of music and try to “capture” that response in words and drawings.

Also: Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag*

* From Wikipedia: The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered September 18, 1899^[1]) is an early ragtime composition for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces, becoming the first instrumental piece to sell over one million copies of sheet music.

The List

Over at the New York Times Op Ed section, Nicholas D. Kristof has the temerity to post a summer reading list he's calling "the Best Children’s Books — Ever!"

At last count, there were over 1000 comments from readers who disagree completely.

I think he does it on purpose.

Behold, the Moon

July's full moon is visible tonight.

Sometimes, I consult the Farmer's Almanac because it, usually, delights me:

The Full Buck Moon - July

July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

See?

You really do learn something new everyday.

Birth of a Nation

Celebrate!

The Declaration of Independence.

Also: Edwin Starr - War

Stewardship

This smart lesson plan on the history of environmentalism is designed to help young people understand the effects of rapid industrialization on the environment and the emergence of the first conservation movement.

The plan is part of a modular curriculum called If Trees Could Talk and I found it on the website of the Forest History Society.

From the organization's website:

If Trees Could Talk: A Curriculum in Environmental History

If Trees Could Talk: A Curriculum in Environmental History is a 10-module, middle school curriculum that gives teachers the opportunity to download from our web site social studies activities that are based upon archival materials. The centerpiece of each module is a compilation of primary resources--documents, maps, newspaper articles, oral histories or photographs--from which students are asked to gather, examine, and analyze information, and synthesize insights. The curriculum is presently being tested by teachers around the United States and has already generated much popular support.

Trees are amazing.

Also: Whitman - Song of the Redwood Tree (excerpted from Leaves of Grass)

Murmuring out of its myriad leaves,	20
Down from its lofty top, rising two hundred feet high,
Out of its stalwart trunk and limbs—out of its foot-thick bark,
That chant of the seasons and time—chant, not of the past only, but the future.
3 You untold life of me,
And all you venerable and innocent joys,	25
Perennial, hardy life of me, with joys, ’mid rain, and many a summer sun,
And the white snows, and night, and the wild winds;
O the great patient, rugged joys! my soul’s strong joys, unreck’d by man;
(For know I bear the soul befitting me—I too have consciousness, identity,
And all the rocks and mountains have—and all the earth;)	30
Joys of the life befitting me and brothers mine,
Our time, our term has come.
Nor yield we mournfully, majestic brothers,
We who have grandly fill’d our time;
With Nature’s calm content, and tacit, huge delight,	35
We welcome what we wrought for through the past,
And leave the field for them.

And the Brain

How does your brain work?

I’m still figuring mine out.

Ooh, look:

“Musical Minds,” the season premiere of “Nova” on PBS, is based on the neurologist Oliver Sacks’s most recent book, “Musicophilia,” a collection of case studies of people whose brains have unusual relationships to music, cases in which, as Dr. Sacks puts it, “music gets them going to an extraordinary degree.” A one-hour program can’t approach the depth and texture of Dr. Sacks’s book, but it does get at one question that nags the reader: What do these musical savants sound like? Or put another way: Are they really as amazing as they’re cracked up to be?

On most PBS stations on Tuesday night (check local listings).

Control Issues

The New York Times reports:

As Law Expires, Bloomberg Moves to Keep Authority Over Schools

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

Published: July 1, 2009

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was set to lose control of the New York City school system at midnight Tuesday, but despite dire predictions of chaos from the mayor and others, it appeared that the nation’s largest school district would continue to operate largely as usual.

Also: The Smiths - Panic

Take the High Road

The Highline, the elevated promenade that runs through the gallery district along in Chelsea, is now open to the public and, as you might expect, their public art program is pretty swell.

Maintained by Friends of the Highline, the current installation is described on the Highline's website:

The inaugural artwork on the High Line, by artist Spencer Finch, is entitled The River That Flows Both Ways. The title of this work comes from the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. This work is located on the High Line in the semi-enclosed former loading dock between 15th and 16th Streets, where the High Line passes through the Chelsea Market building. Finch transforms the site's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed the Hudson River 700 times from the deck of a boat and then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass.

This installation is presented in partnership with Creative Time, and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and is made possible by a generous grant from The Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund. This project was made possible, in part, through the generous support of Chelsea Market and in-kind support from Jaroff Design and Mison Concepts, Inc.

Professional TA Carla Ching posts photos on her blog Minutiae and Flux.

I liked it.

Real Things

Wintergirls is the story of a young woman struggling to over come anorexia. New York Times Book Review contributor Barbara Feinberg calls the young adult novel "fearless."

The book was written by Laurie Halse Anderson, author of the equally controversial book Speak about a young woman who remains silent after she is raped at a party.

The author's website offers a Teacher's Guide(PDF) for the novel.