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November 2006 |
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In This Issue ·
Book Names 21st Century “The
Conceptual Age” ·
Consider
Being an IAC Grants Panelist ·
Audio
Literary Magazine Lends Voice to Writers ·
Clinton
High School Marries Art, Technology ·
IAC
Receives Distinguished Folklife Award ·
River Serves as Performance Venue for
Quad City Dancers ·
IAC Staff Out and About in November
·
One
Question for Artist-Entrepreneurs ·
Celebrate
Iowa’s 160th Birthday with Design Contests IAC
Calendar
Links In-Box of Artist Opportunities Contact
Us 600 E. Locust (515) 242-6194 Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Newsletter Editor: |
Important notice:The IAC’s popular Big Yellow School Bus grant program is
out of money for the current fiscal year. We were able to fund 151
school field trips to arts-related events in nearly every county in Book Names 21st Century “The Conceptual Age”By Anita Walker,
SHSI Administrator
Design—the ability to create something that is beautiful, whimsical or emotionally engaging. Story—the ability to fashion a compelling narrative that incorporates the relevant data and information. Symphony—the ability to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole. Empathy—the ability to understand, build relationships with and care for others. Play—the ability to integrate laughter, lightheartedness and games into one’s work and life. Meaning—the ability to find meaning, purpose and spiritual fulfillment in one’s work and life. Pink’s observations are a perfect companion to the work
of Thomas Friedman, whom I’ve quoted in this column before. Most recently I
shared his observations about the global economy and the fact that while Pink asserts that it is no longer enough to produce a product or service that is reasonably priced and functional. It must also be beautiful, unique, attractive, meaningful or fun. And like Friedman and Richard Florida (Rise of the Creative Class), Pink provides the testimony of leaders in the corporate world. “I see us being in the art business. Art, entertainment and mobile sculpture, which, coincidentally, also happens to provide transportation.” -Robert Lutz, CEO of General Motors. I will never forget our first cultural caucus when one of our delegates said, “I dream of the day when if a child says to a parent, ‘When I grow up I want to be an engineer,’ the parent says, ‘That’s fine. But don’t give up the arts so you’ll have something to fall back on.’” You know something? I think that day is here. The Iowa Arts has awarded 16 Major arts and organizational grants totaling $102,500 to individuals and programs that serve Iowans across the state. IAC received 52 Major grant applications requesting $443,068 this fall. IAC Major grants are designed to provide financial assistance for projects developed by individual artists, arts organizations, schools and other community groups working to bring excellence in the arts to all Iowans. The program emphasizes artistic excellence, service to Iowans, and solid project planning and implementation. Applicants may request up to $10,000 but no more than 50 percent of the project’s total expenses. A listing of
grant awards can be found at http://www.iowaartscouncil.org/funding/recently-awarded-grants/2007/round-02.shtml.
“I feel like I got
a master’s degree in grant writing.” –an IAC Major Grants review panelist,
2006 Could you be a panelist for the IAC? We need at least 30 to 40 people every year to help with reviewing applications for grants, artist rosters, the Iowa Scholarship for the Arts, and more. You may be an artist, arts organization worker, arts teacher, or grant maker – if you’re any of these, you’ve got a perspective that is valuable in one or more of our review processes. You don’t need prior experience– we’ll walk you through what you need to do. Depending on the panel, the task requires your presence at the IAC office for 1 to 3 days, and may require some at-home application reading. Participating on an IAC panel can be a terrific learning opportunity that ends up helping your own grant writing. Click here for information about the various panels, and to let us know your interest in being added to our “panel pool.”
Kelly Shriver. If selected, a team of readers and podcast engineers will produce the audio version of the story, available on the Web site www.boundoff.com or by subscription to an RSS Feed, which provides instant downloads to a subscriber’s iPod or PC whenever there is new content available. “We assume that most of our current listeners read a lot of short fiction, probably in many forms like literary magazines, online or in anthologies,” Rushton said. “We know that many people are seeking high-quality podcasts and we hope to fill that need by selecting the best stories we can find every month.” Bound Off podcasts are published the 15th of each month and feature four to five short stories per issue. Stories range in length from two minutes to 15 minutes, with issues hovering in listening length at around one-half hour. In October, each episode averaged 1,000 downloads, according to Ann Rushton. “Our podcast differs from most radio shows, because we’re able to feature short stories only, and no interviews, book reviews or chat,” she added. “This concept of storytelling by merging the most ancient form of communication with the most cutting-edge technology was irresistible.” Bound Off can be found at all major podcast search engines, including iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts, and Odeo. Visit www.boundoff.com for more information on the podcasts and how writers can submit their stories. Three years of
partnering between artist Barbara Bianchi and teachers at Under the
auspices of the IAC Arts Partners for Achievement program, this partnership
was developed to increase the use of computer technology as an art-making
tool. Barbara Bianchi is an IAC-rostered Teaching Artist whose work often
makes use of found objects, digital images, and collage techniques. Bianchi
worked with department chair Joann Winkler and other art teachers at Both students and teachers benefited from this partnership, with comments like: “I’ll take the knowledge to my future education/career as well as in my traditional art. I learned to step back and look at balance and contrast more.” –Student Kerrie Robinson “The whole process is an authentic experience for
students. The Eye on Accessibility Graphics on your web site can make it difficult for people with vision impairments who use screen readers – but there are ways to make these more accessible. Most basic: insert “ALT Text” tags to provide descriptions of the graphics. Great information and resources about accessible web design can be found at the Web Accessibility Initiative site (its guidelines are widely regarded as the international standard): www.w3.org/WAI. Grantwriting Tip Are you overlooking some in-kind match that you could show on your grant application? In-Kind match means anything that supports your project besides hard cash (hard cash is a cash match). Is someone allowing you to use their space for free to rehearse, perform, construct, or exhibit? What would you have to pay if you were renting that space? Are you using volunteer ushers, set builders, drivers, or other helpers? What would you have to pay for that kind of help if it wasn’t volunteered? Is a local business giving you a discount on supplies? What’s the difference between what you actually paid and what you would have had to pay at full price? That’s a contribution that they’re giving you for this project. Riki Saltzman, IAC folklife coordinator, recently
received word that the American Folklore Society’s Education Section has
awarded the Iowa Arts Council the Dorothy Howard Folklore and Education Prize
for the online Iowa Folklife curriculum, This online The IAC encourages educators to apply for funding to bring folk and traditional artists into their schools to support this across-the-curriculum multicultural learning guide. Visit the IAC Web site at www.iowaartscouncil.org to learn more. Dorothy Howard (1902-1996) was a teacher and principal
in The Mississippi River serves as a lot of things: a means
of transporting goods throughout the
One River Mississippi Quad Cities Project Director Joedy
Cook worked to coordinate the event in “This was not so much about a dance performance that you would think about traditionally,” Cook said. “The movement was very, very large. It was easy to follow and it was all about the props and costumes.” Quad Cities’ dancers choreographed a barge, pleasure craft, waterskiers and canoes for this first-time event. Cook added there are exciting plans to involved children in the performance and extend next year’s event to area schools. For more information on Nov 4-10:
Dawn Martinez Oropeza, arts education/community programs coordinator, attends
gathering of State Arts Agency arts in education coordinators in Nov 6: Riki Saltzman, folklife coordinator, attends and presents Iowa
Place-Based Food project updates at the Nov 11: Anita Walker, executive director and Bruce Williams, operational support and public art programs attend OSP site visit at Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra Nov 12-13:
Anita Walker, Mary Sundet Jones, IAC administrator and Bruce Williams
attend OSP site visit at Metro Arts Alliance, Nov 27: Anita Walker, Mary Sundet Jones and
Bruce Williams attend OSP site visit at Nov 28: Anita Walker and Bruce Williams attend
OSP site visit at Nov 30-Dec 1: Anita Walker and Mary Sundet
Jones at IAC board meeting in The Iowa Arts Council wanted to gauge what works for
artists in One thing that has been key to the business aspect of my painting has been the benefits of having a website. My website acts as my always-available portfolio. I don’t need to carry it with me, just the address of the site on my business card. I never know where it is going or who is looking at my work unless it results in a contact and purchase. This past month, I was contacted by an art licensing
agency in So, thank you to the Iowa Arts Council for supporting a
web-based help for artists in Suzanne B. Aunan, Visual artist, Being willing to invest a lot of time in the business end of things: developing programs, promotional materials, attending booking conferences, writing grant proposals, networking, researching the internet. This is a pity, since I only want to play music. But only playing music does not bring business success. What has brought business success has been spending 30% of the time on the music and 70% of the time on business administration and development. Karin Stein, Musician, Calle Sur, Kellogg Being part of the community at Creative Artists’ Studios of Ames (CASA), and before that as part of a continuing group of “students” at the Octagon, with experienced artists providing encouragement to put my work in front of the public. In particular, our Artist-in-Residence, Mary Weisgram, who was at the Octagon and in whose studio there some of us hatched the idea for CASA, encouraged me to submit work to local and regional shows. Lee Anne Willson, ISU professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy One thing which has been very important to my growth as an artist has been the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for my media with the public in a one on one interaction with people at shows and galleries. Their feedback and that of other artists at shows has been very helpful. Mary Weisgram, Visual artist, The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division will be sporting
artwork from Buyiowaart.com on the side of one of its trucks sometime soon. The
Division’s plain white trucks regularly travel across the state of Buyiowaart.com welcomes the following artists: Tessa Sutton, painter from Des Moines; Mark Peterson, photographer from Ames; Srilatha Narayan Rao, watercolorist from Marion; Steve Weldin, ceramicist from Fort Dodge; Judith Eastburn, photographer from Des Moines; and Robert Mapes, photographer from Des Moines. Artists must go through a jurying process before being approved to sell their work on the Web site. Interested artists should contact Sarah.Ekstrand@iowa.gov to learn more.
Iowans
of all ethnic backgrounds as well as residents of Iowa’s sister states, from
China, Italy, Taiwan, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Malaysia and Ukraine, are
invited to participate in “Celebrate Iowa’s 160th Birthday T-shirt Design
Contest,” the “Chinese Association of Iowa Logo and Flag Contest” as well as
the “2007 Year of the Hog Poster Design Contest.” Winners will be awarded
Certificates of Merit and cash prizes between $25 and $100. Winning entries will
be exhibited at the State Capitol and |
