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RESOURCES FOR CREATIVE CHANGEARTSEDGE
ARTSEDGE — the National Arts and Education Network — supports the placement of the arts at the center of the curriculum and advocates creative use of technology to enhance the K-12 educational experience. ARTSEDGEempowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects.
ARTSEDGE offers free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, as well as professional development resources, student materials, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment.
Visit ARTSEDGE.
Audacious Ideas for Baltimore
Audacious Ideas is a blog presented by Open Society Institute-Baltimore featuring community voices on how the city can grow and prosper.
Safe Streets Initiative in Baltimore
Check out Urbanite magazine’s piece on how the Safe Streets intervention program has been reducing street violence in Baltimore City. Read the full article here.
Fine Art of Freedom Exhibtion
Twenty Artists from Maryland and beyond have been invited to express the joys and realities of freedom for everyone through the universal and eternal language of art. As the Exodus from Egypt is recounted in this season of freedom for the Jewish people, this exhibit will serve as a multi-media feast for the eyes and the soul.
Click here to view the exhibition details on the Baltimore Jewish Community Center’s (JCC) site.
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Arts Engine, Inc.
“Arts Engine, Inc. supports, produces, and distributes independent media of consequence and promotes the use of independent media by advocates, educators and the general public….
In 2000, during the height of the internet boom, (Katy) Chevigny and (Julia) Pimsleur were among the first to realize that social issue filmmaking was taking a dramatic turn. A new culture was emerging that would entirely change the face of media from televised monologues to internet-driven dialogues. And electronically facilitated dialogue and distribution channels opened opportunities to build online communities where no community existed before.
Committed to breaking down traditional hierarchies and status-markers, Arts Engine launched one of the only online commons for filmmakers and activists, called MediaRights.org, and created what is now the most comprehensive database of social issue documentaries in the nation, and possibly the world, with over 6,000 films registered. The success of this site led to the creation of the Youth Media Distribution Initiative (YMDi.org). They also developed and launched the Media That Matters Film Festival, one of the first online film festivals, and realized the incredible potential for online showcasing and distribution. Now in its seventh year, the festival reaches hundreds of thousands of people annually and hosts hundreds of internet pages of information with “Take Action Links” on everything from AIDS in Africa, to water rights in Michigan, to the youth vote, LGBT issues, and sustainability. The ballast for this intense activism from the early beginnings in 1997 to today is the belief that exemplary visual storytelling on social issues can make change.”
Visit Arts Engine at http://artsengine.net/index.php.
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
Founded by award-winning actress Geena Davis, The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (GDIGM)
“works with entertainment creators and companies, educates the next generation of content-creators, and informs the public about the need to increase the number of girls and women in media aimed at kids and to reduce stereotyping of both males and females.”
Their programs include media research, public education, advocacy campaigns such as “I Want to See Jane,” and an annual conference event. Visit their site to learn more.
Arts in Criminal Justice National Alliance
Arts in Criminal Justice hosted a premier national conference in October 2007 to support integration of arts in the corrections system. The Arts in Criminal Justice National Alliance was formed by the momentum of this event. Visit their site to stay informed about future national and local events organized by the Alliance.
Venice Arts
Venice Arts is an organization that provides photography, film and art skill and mentoring programs to build young people in the neighborhoods of Venice, CA.
Their mission is to bring “talented artists together with low-income young people to nurture their creativity, imagination, and talent. Our programs focus on those whose access to the arts, as artists or audience, has been limited.
Venice Arts’ mentor-artists guide young people through experiences with the arts, exposing them to the tools, ideas, and environments that help them express their creativity, build positive interethnic relationships, and improve their academic performance and job readiness.”
Visit their site to learn more. Venice Arts is also affiliated with the Institute for Photographic Empowerment (IPE).
A Window Between Worlds
A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) is an organization based in Venice, CA that uses art as a healing tool for victims of domestic violence.
AWBW has a unique vision as “the only organization offering comprehensive training and ongoing support to domestic violence programs wishing to use art as a healing tool for battered women and children. By training shelter staff to lead workshops, AWBW builds the capacity of shelters. We provide our years of experience in arts program development, ongoing consultation, and the support of a network of 220 leaders in order to empower staff, who often lack experience with art prior to our training, to offer art as a meaningful resource to domestic violence survivors. Implementing the art program becomes part of the regular duties of each leader, making it a permanent addition to each shelter’s services. “
AWBW is also committed to evaluating program effectness to continually improve the quality of their service:
“…impact of the art workshops (are evaluated) through targeted and quantifiable questions on workshop logs completed after each session by art program leaders. The logs provide leaders with a way to debrief after each art session, to continually reexamine their approach, and to learn from their experiences. On a monthly basis, the leaders review their logs and submit them to AWBW, along with a monthly evaluation report that addresses specific questions regarding the effectiveness of the program, including its impact on their clients’ growth, healing, and empowerment over time. At the conclusion of each year, leaders submit an annual evaluation summarizing program accomplishments and its usefulness in their clients’ overall healing process.”
Please visit their site for further information on AWBW’s programs and how to get involved.
