ARTISTS IN TRANSITION CONFERENCE / APRIL CREATIVITY NETWORKING

CREATIVITY NETWORKING ... Special Off-Site, Co-Located Program with the
ARTISTS IN TRANSITION CONFERENCE IN DANBURY, CONNECTICUT ... Steven
Dahlberg to lead a workshop on 'Creative Thinking, Aging and Living:
Engaging our Strengths, Living our Purpose'
==========================
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 2010, 12:00-5:00 P.M.
Westside Campus Center Building, Western Connecticut State University, 3
University Boulevard, Danbury, Connecticut 06810.
$25/person (Save $15 ... enter "Creativity Networking" in the "how did
you learn about the conference?" on the registration form and pay the
usual $10 Creativity Networking fee!) Questions? Email
artistsintransition@yahoo.com
==========================

Artists in Transition Conference ... for and about artists facing health
issues, as well as for non-disabled artists, arts administrators and
anyone interested in creativity, diversity and accomplishment.

One of the best gatherings on this topic, with more than 15 speakers and
workshops, and outstanding networking opportunities. In workshops, learn
more about creativity and aging, maximizing employment opportunities,
career transitions, grant writing, health insurance and more. Plus hear
from speakers who are artists/performers who are themselves dealing with
health issues and disability and are living active, creative and
accomplished lives in and through the arts.

Find more information about the conference and about Steven Dahlberg's
workshop:
<http://appliedimagination.org/events/artistsintransition.htm>
Download a PDF of complete conference information, including workshop
descriptions:
<http://appliedimagination.org/ait.pdf>

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The Creativity Networking Series is curated and hosted by Steven
Dahlberg, who heads the International Centre for Creativity and
Imagination and teaches "Creativity + Social Change" at the University
of Connecticut.

The Creativity Networking Series is presented by The Silo at Hunt Hill
Farm and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, both based
in New Milford, Connecticut. Creativity Networking is normally held at 2
p.m. on one Sunday each month at The Silo. The series provides a forum
for exploring the many facets of creativity and for discovering other
people interested in creativity. Through interesting topics and guests,
the series seeks to help people rediscover and reconnect with their
inherent creativity and explore new ways of expressing it.

"Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around" is Focus of Pell Lecture in Providence

[24 February 2010 - The City of Providence] Mayor David N. Cicilline will host the second annual Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities on Tuesday, March 9 at 7pm at Trinity Repertory Company. Mayor Cicilline established the annual symposium in honor of the late Senator for his extraordinary work championing education, the arts and humanities.

>> MAYOR CICILLINE ANNOUNCES 2ND ANNUAL SENATOR CLAIBORNE PELL LECTURE: Lecture honoring the late Senator to focus on "Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around" <<

The symposium, Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Getting Around, will explore how bicycling can transform the urban experience by raising the following questions for discussion: How do creative thinkers strengthen civic life? How can a city foster a more bicycle-friendly environment? How might Providence change if more people made a bicycle their primary mode of transportation? Pell Lecture 2010 Panel:

* David Byrne has been writing and performing music and directing video and film for more than 30 years. He was lead singer and guitar player for the innovative rock band Talking Heads, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. What might not be as well known is Byrne’s longtime passion for biking and advocacy for bicycles in cities. Byrne has traveled New York City’s streets on a bike since the early 1980s, and often brings a folding bike on tour. His latest book explores this topic; Bicycle Diaries is an account of his urban bicycle odyssey through the streets of Istanbul, Buenos Aires, London, Berlin, Paris, Belgrade, Sydney, Manila, New York and San Francisco. Bicycle Diaries features beautiful photography, personal anecdotes from Byrne's wide travels and a strong argument for the way a bicycle can change our view of the world and the city in which we live.
* Samuel Zipp is an urban historian who studies the cultural and intellectual history of 20th century cities. He teaches American Studies and Urban Studies at Brown University. He earned his Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. His book, Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York, will be published by Oxford University Press this spring. Zipp’s interest in cities really took hold through a job as a bike messenger. He says traveling along the San Francisco streets by bike gave him a real appreciation for urban geography and the need to learn a city's social, political, and economic structure from the inside out. Zipp’s presentation will explore the place of bicycles in the history of city development and urban renewal.
* Thomas Deller is a civic leader with first-hand experience creating infrastructure needed for bicycles in Providence. During his tenure as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Providence Deller has overseen the implementation of the Providence Bicycle Network and Providence Tomorrow, the city’s comprehensive plan, which contains many progressive policies regarding biking. As part of changes related to the I-195 highway move, Deller is working with local, state and federal partners to make way for bicycles in the Jewelry District. Deller’s experience in Planning and Urban Development dates back to 1979, when he began his career as a Planner in the East Providence Planning Department. He holds a Masters Degree in Community Planning and a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies from the University of Rhode Island.

The Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities is a free but ticketed event. Tickets will be available beginning Thursday, February 25th at the Trinity Repertory Company box office, 201 Washington Street, and must be picked up in person (no phone reservations). Four ticket limit per person. Due to limited availability we suggest advance pick-up. For box office hours and directions, call 401-351-4242. For more information on the lecture, contact (401) 421-2489 x456 or visit www.creativeprov.org.

About the Pell Lecture
Initiated by Mayor Cicilline in 2009, the annual lecture honors the late Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997. Senator Pell is best remembered for being a champion of education, the arts and the humanities. He was the main sponsor of the Pell Grant, a financial aid program for U.S. college students, and he played a major role in the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment of the Humanities.

From Eco-Systems to Social-Systems: A Systems Approach to Sustainability - January 2010 Workshop

From Eco-Systems to Social-Systems: A Systems Approach to Sustainability
ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY in this spring 2010 workshop series ... designed
to provoke, inspire and involve
Host: Creative Community Building @ University of Connecticut
Thursday, January 7, 2010
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: WindhamARTS Collaborative
866 Main Street, Willimantic, CT 06226

We are pleased to announce our first series of public workshops, to be
held January to June 2010!

From Eco-Systems to Social-Systems: A Systems Approach to
Sustainability ... with Phoebe Godfrey
January 7, 2010 - 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Explore a systems approach to the complex issue of sustainability,
including similarities and differences between biological and social
systems. We'll seek new, sustainable and democratic models for our own
communities and places of learning. Emphasis will be placed on ways in
which the process of transforming our existing systems into sustainable
ones can begin with our own daily practices and the ways in which we
engage with each other. All are welcome; bring ideas and energy.

Registration is requested, but not required. RSVP to Katie Gregory at
catherine.gregory@uconn.edu or 860-486-0358.

Creativity: What Is It? - Creativity Networking Series to Launch in January 2010

==========================
CREATIVITY NETWORKING: Creativity: What Is It?
... with educator Steven Dahlberg
==========================
SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2010, 2:00-3:30 P.M.
The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Road, New Milford, Connecticut
06776. $10; open to all. RSVP to 860.355.0300 or
culbertsonv@hunthillfarmtrust.org.

Creativity matters in all aspects of society. If you want to reconnect
with your inherent creativity and explore new ways of expressing it,
don't miss this series, which will be held at 2 p.m. on the second
Sunday of each month at The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford,
Connecticut. The series will cover topics about creativity in all forms
(including, but not limited to, arts) -- creative thinking, creative
communities, creativity and education, creativity in organizations,
creative persons, the creative process, creative aging, creativity and
movement, creativity and spirituality, and more. In the first session on
January 10, come and explore the general topic of "what is creativity?"
-- plus, who has it, and how one can tap into more creativity both
personally and professionally. Steven Dahlberg, who will host the
series, also will lead the kick-off session in January. Dahlberg is the
head of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and
teaches "Creativity + Social Change" at the University of Connecticut.

Please print and post this flyer to spread the word about the series:
http://appliedimagination.org/jan2010.pdf

The Creativity Networking Series is presented by The Silo at Hunt Hill
Farm and the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, both
based in New Milford, Conn. The series provides a forum for exploring
the many facets of creativity and for discovering other people
interested in creativity.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR:
Steven Dahlberg is head of the International Centre for Creativity and
Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the
well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He works with
the Public and Community Engagement program at the University of
Connecticut, where he teaches the "Creativity + Social Change" course.
Dahlberg collaborates with artists, scientists, business people,
educators, nonprofit and government professionals, and others to help
people develop and apply their creativity. His work includes directing
international creativity and training conferences, teaching
undergraduate and graduate courses in creativity, helping toy inventors
launch a creativity consulting business, collaborating on participatory
public art projects, serving as an adviser to the Guggenheim Museum, and
teaching creativity to incarcerated men. He regularly contributes to
various media (including WNPR), edits the Applied Imagination blog, and
authored the foreword to Education is Everybody's Business.
http://www.appliedimagination.org

ABOUT HUNT HILL FARM:
Custom cooking classes, shopping, tasting, museum tours, slide shows,
and gallery talks are among the offerings for groups and tours visiting
Hunt Hill Farm. Located in the Litchfield Hills of western Connecticut,
Hunt Hill Farm has been the location of the Silo since 1972 -- a
combination cooking school, art gallery, and gourmet kitchenware/food
store. Now operating under the auspices of the Hunt Hill Farm Trust as a
nonprofit organization for preservation, the farm is also host to the
Skitch Henderson Museum and Hunt Hill Farm Land Preserve.
http://www.hunthillfarmtrust.org/

Top Global Thinkers of 2009 ... Who's on your list?

Who's on your list of important thinkers from 2009?

[December 2009 - Foreign Policy] The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers: From the brains behind Iran's Green Revolution to the economic Cassandra who actually did have a crystal ball, they had the big ideas that shaped our world in 2009. Read on to see the 100 minds that mattered most in the year that was. More (The List)

Making of Me: Creativity is vital in shaping our futures ... families are fundamental in developing it

[2 November 2009 - DEMOS (UK) - By Jen Lexmond and Shelagh Wright] Creativity and cultural engagement are essential ingredients in making our individual and collective lives rich. They are both key to developing and dependent on the social capital that is so vital in mobility and life chances. The terms creativity and culture are acknowledged as tricky to define, but the domains they describe, however disputed, are widely recognized as crucial to our futures. The Oxford English Dictionary defines creativity as ‘involving the use of the imagination or original ideas in order to create something’ and culture as ‘one, the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. Two, a refined understanding or appreciation of this. Three, the customs, institutions and achievements of a particular nation, people or group’. Many commentators and researchers have argued that creativity and culture make more prosperous and cohesive societies.They provide accounts of how talent flows and grows. What we have been less good at is understanding how to nurture that talent and potential in the first place. The role of families is fundamental. This paper looks at how families could be better supported and how we might get more from our existing investments in this area. We ask questions about what should be done as a stimulant for the kinds of ideas we need. More

Art and Its Cultural Contradictions

This essay raises questions about the role of the artist/creative engaging in neighborhoods, communities and cities. How do they participate and involve? How much time in the community "counts"? How can artists/creatives have the most meaningful impact?

[Autumn/Winter 2009 - "Art and Its Cultural Contradictions" in Afterall] PREAMBLE: A FLOOD OF QUESTIONS: What is at stake when artists, architects, curators, organisers and other cultural producers facilitate bricks-and-mortar change, on the ground in cities, with citizens, communities and institutions? How do we test the interrelationships between the practices of artists and urban policy makers? What is the metric that we might utilise to determine effectiveness? And what do we mean by effectiveness? Critical effect? (Or, for that matter, critical affect?) The putatively emancipatory outcome generated by some kind of new situational knowledge? Or, is it a question of generating ambiguity, per se, as a means of problematising hegemonic political, economic and cultural formations?

Is it conceivable to imagine that the cultural and intellectual capital of artistic labour can generate sustained, and sustainable, responsiveness to urban crises that would offer palpable functionality (or applicability) for people's lives - contra to the useful uselessness of the aesthetic condition that is supposedly ennobling of mind and spirit, or generative of disinterestedness as a prerequisite for absorption and contemplation? Have we taken into consideration that as art critics, art historians, curators and art theorists we might be misapplying criteria of aesthetic evaluation in relation to the evaluation of art projects that arise from sometimes uncomfortable, difficult circumstances? Is it perhaps just a question of re-calibrating our criteria of evaluation or, at the very least, how we communicate to others our experience of a specific work within a particular situation, so that criteria remain sufficiently fluid and tactical? What does it mean to encounter a work of art in the midst of economic and social ruination?

This essay seeks to raise such questions on the occasion of and in relation to a new biennial (Prospect.1) and a new cultural initiative (Transforma Projects), both of which emerged in New Orleans after the Hurricane Katrina disaster that in 2005 flooded 80 per cent of the city, and killed nearly 2,000 people, as efforts claiming to engage in the regeneration, rebuilding and revitalisation of various aspects of that city's cultural, economic and social life. Prospect.1 and Transforma Projects are distinct from each other in terms of ideological and organisational strategies and infrastructures: the former presenting itself as the first international biennial in New Orleans (i.e. event-oriented), with official support from local and state government and major art world benefactors, and a more conventional 'top-down' hierarchical curatorial/exhibition process; the latter operating as a small cultural initiative on an emphatically grass roots level, involving 'bottom-up' socially participatory processes (i.e. rethinking normative institutional hierarchies) to generate and utilise art projects as a means of facilitating social rebuilding within economically and socially disenfranchised communities in the city, yet also supported by major art foundations.

Authentic education is always experimental

An old blog post from "The Speed of Creativity" blog, but an important one worth revisiting. What examples of authentic education and learning are you leading? Participating in? Creating?

[8 April 2006 - The Speed of Creativity] In the educational, classroom environment, authentic education is always experimental. This is because teaching is an art, not a science. Many, many people sadly mistake the purpose of the educational enterprise as mere content transmission. Much of the curriculum standards which dominate the educational landscape today [...] are based on this faulty assumption. Like E.D. Hirsh, I agree there are some common things with which people should be acquainted in order to be “culturally literate.” I do not agree, however, that schools should take those “laundry lists” of names and events and seek to make kids memorize and regurgitate those facts on multiple choice examinations. I do not think an understanding of the need for “cultural literacy” should lead to a shallowing of the curriculum, which remains a mile wide and an inch deep. To the contrary, authentic teaching and learning should be ALL ABOUT learning in depth through engaging conversations and activities. To create this type of teaching and learning environment, it is implicit that teachers must experiment. Authentic teaching and learning are experimental activities because the environment of the classroom is inherently dynamical and chaotic, like global weather patterns. More

Facilitating Radical Graphics Campaigns - Beehive Collective Presentation at UCONN, November 2

Join the Beehive Design Collective's discussion on how they facilitate radical graphics campaigns and the meaning behind their work.
Monday, November 2, 2009
8:00pm - 10:00pm
Dodd Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
Event Info on Facebook

Here are their words about the Plan Colombia campaign:
This graphic is the product of many intercambios about the issue of colonialism in the Andean Region of South America that took place between our collective and organizers over the spring of 2002 in Ecuador, Colombia and the U.S. These exchanges of information and inspiration were collaboratively sewn together into a quilt of images, that are organized into a circuit of progressions and contrasts that inform and engage the viewer throughout their journey of the graphic. The long history of colonialism in the Americas, currently manifested in the Andean Region as "Plan Colombia", is a strong metaphor of the multi-faceted destructive influences of U.S. foreign policy and corporate monoculture on a global scale. This graphic attempts to expose the lie of the drug war as a smokescreen for multinational corporation's interests in extraction of the rich biodiversity and natural resources of the Amazon and her peoples. It is an anti-war poster that speaks in the mythology of our times… the cancerous monomyth of corporate globalization, and its antibodies of grassroots resistance. In an attempt to overcome the tendency of images to simply portray "what we are against," this graphic illustrates this story in three "layers" to help the viewer experience the different aspects of an extremely complex, and brutal situation. The mission was to give an illustrated explanation of not just the nightmare, but to also give weight to the inspiring stories of hope, courage and struggle of those that are directly experiencing it. As North American youth that have endured the destructive and racist brainwashing of television, videogames, cultural appropriation and advertising imagery, our collective felt it was essential to produce this representation in collaboration with organizers in the Andean region, to get the story straight. The result, is thick with those voices. The tools produced from this collaboration are being distributed, as anti-copyright material, for use in campaigns in both the South and North of the Americas. More

The Beehive's mission: To cross-pollinate the grassroots, by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images that can be used as educational and organizing tools. In the process of this effort we seek to take the "who made that!?" and "how much does it cost!?" out of our creative endeavors, by anonymously functioning as word-to-image translators of the information we convey. We build, and disseminate these visual tools with the hope that they will self-replicate, and take on life of their own. More about Beehive

Steelworkers Form Collaboration with MONDRAGON, the World’s Largest Worker-Owned Cooperative

[27 October 2009 - United Steelworkers - H/T Len Krimerman] Pittsburgh -- The United Steelworkers (USW) and MONDRAGON Internacional, S.A. today announced a framework agreement for collaboration in establishing MONDRAGON cooperatives in the manufacturing sector within the United States and Canada. The USW and MONDRAGON will work to establish manufacturing cooperatives that adapt collective bargaining principles to the MONDRAGON worker ownership model of "one worker, one vote."

"We see today's agreement as a historic first step towards making union co-ops a viable business model that can create good jobs, empower workers, and support communities in the United States and Canada," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "Too often we have seen Wall Street hollow out companies by draining their cash and assets and hollowing out communities by shedding jobs and shuttering plants. We need a new business model that invests in workers and invests in communities."

Josu Ugarte, President of MONDGRAGON Internacional added: "What we are announcing today represents a historic first – combining the world's largest industrial worker cooperative with one of the world's most progressive and forward-thinking manufacturing unions to work together so that our combined know-how and complimentary visions can transform manufacturing practices in North America."

Highlighting the differences between Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and union co-ops, Gerard said, "We have lots of experience with ESOPs, but have found that it doesn't take long for the Wall Street types to push workers aside and take back control. We see Mondragon's cooperative model with 'one worker, one vote' ownership as a means to re-empower workers and make business accountable to Main Street instead of Wall Street."

Both the USW and MONDRAGON emphasized the shared values that will drive this collaboration. Mr. Ugarte commented, "We feel inspired to take this step based on our common set of values with the Steelworkers who have proved time and again that the future belongs to those who connect vision and values to people and put all three first. We are excited about working with Mondragon because of our shared values, that work should empower workers and sustain families and communities," Gerard added.

In the coming months, the USW and MONDRAGON will seek opportunities to implement this union co-op hybrid approach by sharing the common values put forward by the USW and MONDGRAGON and by operating in similar manufacturing segments in which both the USW and MONDRAGON already participate.

The full text of the Agreement is available online.

About MONDRAGON: The MONDRAGON Corporation mission is to produce and sell goods and provide services and distribution using democratic methods in its organizational structure and distributing the assets generated for the benefit of its members and the community, as a measure of solidarity. MONDRAGON began its activities in 1956 in the Basque town of Mondragon by a rural village priest with a transformative vision who believed in the values of worker collaboration and working hard to reach for and realize the common good.

Today, with approximately 100,000 cooperative members in over 260 cooperative enterprises present in more than forty countries; MONDRAGON Corporation is committed to the creation of greater social wealth through customer satisfaction, job creation, technological and business development, continuous improvement, the promotion of education, and respect for the environment. In 2008, MONDRAGON Corporation reached annual sales of more than sixteen billion euros with its own cooperative university, cooperative bank, and cooperative social security mutual and is ranked as the top Basque business group, the seventh largest in Spain, and the world's largest industrial workers cooperative.

About the USW: The USW is North America's largest industrial union representing 1.2 million active and retired members in a diverse range of industries.