Artists' Pipeline #34 - February 2002

On December 20 the United States Senate voted to confirm composer/conductor Michael Hammond as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Hammond, who comes to the NEA from Rice University in Houston, where he was Dean of The Shepherd School of Music, said that he would work to increase the NEA's role "in making the arts an ever more valuable part of our lives, connecting us to the past, illuminating the present, and inspiring our future."
Art historian Bruce Cole was sworn in Dec. 11 as the eighth chairman of the Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Previously he taught for 28 years at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he was Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts and chairman of the Department of the History of Art. Among his many books are "The Informed Eye: Understanding Masterpieces of Western Art" (1999), "Studies in Italian Art 1250-1550" (1996), "Art of the Western World: From Ancient Greece to Post-Modernism" (1989) and "The Renaissance Artist at Work" (1983).

Governor Ventura's recommended list of projects that he thinks should be built with state bonding dollars includes no projects sponsored by local governments, because he asserts that the state bonding bill should include only projects with "statewide" significance. Under statute, projects sponsored by local governments are eligible for state bonding funds if they have a statewide or regional significance. Arts projects were not specifically excluded in the bonding proposal, but were caughtup in this categorical decision. The Governor proposed a large bonding bill ($750 million plus, about double his proposal two years ago). The legislature will now sort out what they want to include in the bonding bill.

Arts bonding projects that have surfaced so far include:

• $70 million Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Saint Paul (Ordway)
• $35 million Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis
• $12 million Children's Theatre, Minneapolis
• $10 million Shubert Theater, Minneapolis (Artspace)
• $5.5 million Trollwood, Moorhead
• $3 million Murphy's Landing, Shakopee
• $2.3 million Rochester Art Center
• $1 million Bloomington Art Center
• $125,000 Pipestone County Museum

Proposed cuts in state funding make attendance at this year's Arts Advocacy Day even more critical. The event at the State Capitol in St. Paul is Tuesday, Feb. 19. For more information, call Minnesota Citizens for the Arts 651-251-0868, fax 651-251-0875, e-mail mca@mtn.orgor go to Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (www.mtn.org/mca). A block of hotel rooms has been reserved for arts advocates from Greater Minnesota at the Kelly Inn near the Capitol. Call 651-227-8711 no later than Feb. 1 to reserve a room at the MCA group rate of $74 plus tax.

The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis has appointed Kristen Gandrow as its new Director of Playwright Services, succeeding Megan Monaghan. Kristen has been working as a freelance dramaturg and has developed an impressive resume as a program administrator. Contact her at the Center, 2301 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis, MN 55406, kristeng@pwcenter.org, 612-332-7481, ext. 21; or Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis (www.pwcenter.org).

Snoopi Botten, a 36-year-old Minneapolis man with cerebral palsy, is a singer, performer, artist, writer, reporter, poet, and corporate consultant. His first CD, "Words Of Love," came out in March of 2000 with all original material. His new CD includes four Twin Cities' vocalists, Lori Dokken, Debbie Duncan, Judi Donaghy and Erin Schwab, in a jam session of inspirational tunes such as W. Robinson's "Harriet Tubman," Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready," six original songs by local composer Dan Adler and more. Botten uses a communication device and the software, DECTALK, to assist him not only in speech but in singing. He programs it to take every sound within each word and assigns it a pitch and time value. When each sound is strung together, it sounds to the human ear like a voice that can sing in French, scat a Frank Sinatra tune, etc. "JAM" was recorded, engineered and mixed by Lori Dokken at Swedish Girl Music Company. To order, send $18 to Snoopi Botten, 2100 Bloomington Ave., S., #111, Mpls 55404, e-mail dectalk@aol.com, or go to Singing with Dectalk (http://hometown.aol.com/dectalk/myhomepage/index.html).

Artists from Interact Studio in Minneapolis are in several exhibits this month:

• Community Involvement Program, 1600 Broadway NE, Minneapolis; Phone: 612-362-4414, through March 31.
• Franklin Bank, 525 Washington Ave. N., Minneapolis, Phone: 612-874-6000; through March 31.
• North Stroke Center, North Memorial Hospital, 3300 Oakdale Avenue N., Phone: 763-520-5900; Norman Hansen solo work, February 14 - March 14.
• Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th Street, Minneapolis, Phone: 612-338-6131, February 13 - March 10.
• Vision Loss Resources, 1936 Lyndale Avenue S., Minneapolis, Phone: 612-871-2222, through February

Everyone wants press, but not everyone knows how to go about getting it. This workshop will cover how to pitch shows in the arts to the media, and help you to understand how different media work. Kristin Tillotson is an Arts and Culture reporter whose "Pop Stand" column appears in the Star Tribune. The workshop is Monday, Feb 11, 6:30 - 8:00 at the Center for Independent Artists (CIA), 4137 Bloomington Ave. S, Minneapolis. Fee is $15 ($7 for CIA members). Call 612-724-8392; e-mail cia@c4ia.org; or go to Center for Independent Artists (www.c4ia.org).

Springboard for the Arts offers classes for individual artists and for arts organizations. Check the complete listing in their newsletter or at Springboard for the Arts (www.rc4arts.org). Most workshops are at their office in downtown St. Paul, 308 Prince St., #270. FMI: contact RCA at 651-292-4381 or info@rc4arts.org.
Listing of classes:

• Feb. 23 - Career Planning for Artists (at Minneapolis College of Art & Design), $40 ($30 alumni)
• Feb. 28 - Fund-raising: Sponsorship Planning for Arts Organizations, $45
• March 5 - Committing Artistic Suicide - Again, for visual artists (at Northern Clay Center), $25 ($20 NCC members)
• March 7, 14, April 4 - The ABC's of Getting Funding through Grants: a 3-part series for arts administrators and grant proposal writers, $90
• March 12 - An Introduction to VIsual Thinking Strategies (to help in teaching students), $25
• March 14 - Landing a Job in Arts Administration, $30
• March 19 - Beyond the Lesson Plan - Dealing with the Unexpected (in artist residencies), $25
• March 25-26 - The Art of Employment: A Minnesota Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities (involving V S A arts), at the University of Minnesota, cost to be determined
• March 26 - Printing and Publishing Visual Art, $25
• April 3 - 2002 McKnight Photography Fellowships Info Meeting, free

MAP for Nonprofits is sponsoring five half-day sessions to help nonprofit executives or managers develop a workable fund-raising plan. Cost: $495. 8 am-noon, MAP, 2233 University Ave. W., #360, St. Paul. For more information: MAP for Nonprofits (www.mapnp.org/classes/Spring2002FRClinic.html).

The Minnesota Council on Foundations' popular one-day seminar on the basics of grantseeking and grants research features a panel of Minnesota grantmakers. Cost: $90. 8:15 am-3:30 pm, Northern Inn Convention Center, Bemidji. (Note: Northwest Minnesota Foundation is offering 50 $40 scholarships toward the cost of the seminar for those who work or reside in its service area. For more information, call the foundation at 218-759-2057.) For more information: Minnesota Council on Foundations (www.mcf.org/mcf/grant/seminars.htm).

What's going on with arts in schools? Just go to the Minnesota Alliance for Arts in Education website (www.allarts4allkids.org) and click on "Jump to the Arts Education Calendar" to see. (The Perpich Center for Arts Education provided all the teaching artists opportunities.)
To have a listing included, send calendar submissions regarding events, professional development, advocacy or funding opportunities with statewide or regional significance to Holly Wright at holly@allarts4allkids.org. Include (1) Date, (2) Very short description of item, and (3) Web address (URL) for more information or phone number and contact name.