Download - Newsletter September 2008

Web: www.ArtfullyAWARE.org Contact: [email protected] PAGE 1

From the Executive Director and Founder

Since our inception eight months ago we have held four planning sessions between New York and London. We have established a tight network of passionate and talented individuals who are working together to bring the benefits of the arts to the classroom and to the field. Our consultants from across the UK, the US and Canada, have developed programme materials and hosted five fundraisers. We successfully completed our first education and development project in Uganda, which paved the way for future working relationships.With roots firmly set in Africa, Asia and Latin America are on the horizon. We are designing art workshops, theatre productions, music events and festivals; more joy, laughter and learning to spread across all ages, generations and ethnicities. We look forward to having you join us on our incredible journey.

Sincerely,,Hilary Wa"isExecutive Director

Sustainable Empowerment Through The Arts

OUR MISSIONArtfully AWARE strengthens the sense of community in distressed societies by using the arts to enrich, educate, empower, heal and connect neglected peoples with the global community.

OUR VISIONThrough the implementation of sustainable educational and therapeutic art, drama, dance, music and media programmes, Artfully AWARE increases self-esteem, supports the development of psychological well-being and enhances community capacity building.

ARTFULLY AT WORK IN UGANDAIn June, nine Artfully AWARE consultants traveled throughout Uganda to meet with our Ugandan partners. Led by Communications Director Emily Clinch, the Artfully AWARE team, in cooperation with Ugandan artist Justin Igala, and Tororo Representative Brian Pade, met with community groups, health centres, artistic institutions, childcare organisations, and other local organisations to form partnerships that are now working with Artfully AWARE to develop artistic programmes and projects. [See: UGANDA Pg 3]

NEWSLETTER1 September 2008

Issue Number 1

http://www.artfullyAWARE.org


mailto:[email protected]



ART WITH A PURPOSE: THE RATIONALE FOR FOUNDING ARTFULLY AWAREArt has existed as long as humans have graced the earth. We should question, as a collective society, whether we take advantage of all of the gifts that art has to offer. Humanitarian and development organisations routinely focus on the absolute necessities of the impoverished---as they should---yet they often overlook the most basic and fundamental right of every individual: the freedom of expression.

It is freedom of expression that has the power to inspire people to lift themselves out of poverty and to act for change. Generous people from developed nations can provide food, clothing, shelter and protection, but what comes after this? Education. And the arts. We recognise the value of traditional education. But art teaches what multiplication tables can not. Art stimulates creativity that strengthens confidence and fosters problem solving.

People who have experienced the most extreme traumas such as war, disease, abuse, as well as those who simply feel disconnected, struggle to use their innate abilities to fight for survival or to just find the inspiration to face a new day need art. Painting, telling stories through theater, performing traditional dances and singing songs are all creative

tools that touch our hearts and reach into our inner most passions. Art sets us free.

This is the purpose behind Artfully AWARE—to stir up the artistic senses of communities that have been deprived of creativity for extended periods of time. Developing countries through Africa, Asia and Latin America have rich histories of artistic traditions. It is mainly due to poverty, repressive governance or lack of opportunity that the arts stop flourishing and people can no longer find their artistic voice.

These voices will soon be heard again. Art no longer belongs only to patrons of galleries, concert enthusiasts or ballet attendees. Art should be enjoyed by all, as well as created by all.

Art, in all its forms can be life saving. Artfully AWARE intends to work closely with community members to motivate them to obtain a higher quality of life and to gain strength. Only when their psychological well-being is addressed and they find the impetus within themselves, can people overcome negative situations and transform the world in which they live.

- Hilary Wa"isExecutive Director

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

www.ArtfullyAWARE.org

OUR GOALS

✦ To involve all types of artists and educators from both developed and developing communities in cultural exchange and teaching programmes that will eventually be self-sustaining and run by local trainers.

✦ Strengthen communities psycho-socially by bringing people together to share in a journey of exploration and celebration of the arts.

✦ Recover the ideal of expression in depressed societies by enabling people to speak through their art and to form connections with similar societies as well as with the developed world.

✦ Assist in generating locally allocated and managed sources of income for participating communities through a series of artistic productions, exhibitions and by displaying and auctioning artwork at public fundraising events, while concurrently increasing awareness of social, cultural and economic challenges.

Kwapa Community in Tororo, Uganda welcoming the AfA Team with song and dance






UGANDA [cont from Pg 1]Our visit to Uganda provided the opportunity to introduce our simple methodologies of playful arts and visual arts to welcoming groups in two districts, Gulu in the North and Tororo in the east, as well as in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. At the same time, Artfully AWARE consultants took full advantage of the opportunity to immerse themselves in African culture and the communities we visited.

We presented our work at the International Hospital Kampala, Karin Children’s Medical Centre Gulu, and a number of the communities within the Tororo district. Our workshops were focused on cultural aspects that engender a source of pride.

It was a hectic month of early mornings, long meetings, dusty journeys and about as much carbohydrate as any Muzungu, white man in Swahili, can take. We were received with an overwhelming response from everyone we met including individuals, communities and established organizations of both national and international acclaim.

Our success in Uganda was beyond our wildest dreams. We energetically exchanged ideas with our partners and gathered a wealth of information that will help us to develop and strengthen our concepts for our Community Education partnerships, as well as the Festival of Arts and our programmes that use art to empower. These ideas will help inform the development of our 5-Year Strategic Plan.

We would like to thank our Ugandan representatives Justin Igala and Brian Pade for their hard work. It was because of their efforts that we were able to return to the US and the UK with over 200 paintings created during Artfully AWARE workshops by community members in the Tororo district. These paintings are now being displayed and sold at our traveling exhibitions and fundraiser events. All proceeds will go towards the establishment of Artfully AWARE programmes in Uganda and new sites.

We are so grateful to everyone who supported us in Uganda including PLAN Uganda, Dr Ian Clarke of the International Hospital Kampala, Kevin Duffy of the International Medical Foundation, David Kabiswa and his team at ACET Uganda, Hope Okeny from the Children’s Development Organisation Uganda, Stephen Rwangyei of The Ndere Centre and The Uganda Drama Theatre Association, Carol Kamya of the Uganda Academy of Media Arts, Ann and Trevor Dudley of The Kids League Uganda, The Tororo Youth Centre, Kwapa PTC, Nyalkot PTC, Mbula Community, Edith Wakumire and Pastor Nicholas.

- Emily ClinchCommunications Director

For further tales of our adventures please visit our website for the Uganda blogs.

www.ArtfullyAWARE.org

Artfully AWARE Team in Uganda: (from left) Emily Clinch, Communications Director; Zillah Edwards, Assistant Director; Suzanne Hyde, Travel and Fundraising Consultant; Evonne Hill, School Education Director; Justin Igala, Uganda Representative; and Hilary Wallis, Executive Director

Justin Igala at Youth of Tororo Youth Centre presenting paintings to be displayed and sold at Artfully AWARE events.






EVONNE’S COMMUNITY EDUCATION UPDATE:Community Book Scheme

The concept of the Community Book Scheme is that pupils from a secondary school in Chesterfield, England would create a book composed of images from their day to day lives – sharing information about themselves, their culture and traditions, with the hope that children in Uganda would send a similar book in return.

I began this project at Brookfield Community School, a secondary school and specialist sports college, where I am a teaching assistant with 11-16 year-old pupils of all abilities.

Fiona Middis, Artfully AWARE Art Consultant, began a similar project at her school in Newcastle. Kristy Algar, also an Artfully AWARE Art Consultant, started a project at the Special Needs Centre where she works in Wales. Our team arrived in Uganda with three Community Books ready to share.

Upon arriving in Uganda our idea grew more than we had ever imagined. The responses from schools and community centres with whom we met were beyond enthusiastic. Whilst visiting the Karin Children’s Medical Centre in Gulu, our Community Book Scheme quickly broke down barriers with the locals and created a close link between them and the Artfully AWARE team. Whilst exploring ideas in Gulu it became apparent that there were no limits to what could be shared within these books, and the Artfully AWARE team returned with an abundance of photos, drawings, written pieces and information about the Acholi culture to share with the pupils at the schools and centres in the UK. The inclusion of art in the books such as photographs and the children’s own drawings fostered direct communication between the children, despite language barriers, and made the whole experience much more visual, and as a result, much more personal. Upon returning from Uganda I met with the head teacher at my school with the hope of expanding the Community Book Scheme throughout the entire school to enable as many pupils as possible to be a part of the project. I will present at the middle leaders meeting at the start of term in September to request the support of heads of year and heads of subject for our project.

The long-term goal for the Community Book Scheme is to have a new book sent back and forth every three to four months with the hope that these books will correspond with a topic from one of the classes so the children are directly sharing what they learn in school, and that different children will have an opportunity to participate. Artfully AWARE’s vision is that this will lead to a library of Community Books in each location and eventually an exhibition of every book.

[See: BOOKS Pg 5]

Meet Our Board of Directors

JOHN COONRODChairman of the Board

Vice President, The Hunger Project

John Coonrod has been instrumental in

the formulation and management of the Africa Prize since 1986, and the development of Strategic Planning-in-Action (SPIA), beginning in 1989. He was elected Vice President of the Hunger Project in 1997.

LINDA RAFTREEBoard Member

Advisor for New Technology in Media & Communications, Plan AfricaLinda Raftree

supports staff, youth communities and partners in Afrian countries to incorporate technology into development programs, education efforts, advocacy and youth media projects to help people improve their lives and access their rights.

Acholi children looking at the community books that were brought from the UK.






MEET MELISSA KATE, USA DIRECTORMelissa has always been passionate about sharing the arts with youth. She studied and trained with the Lincoln Institute's Arts in Education, Community Action Organisation, Lancaster Opera House's inner-city outreach program and with Young Audiences of WNY, where she currently maintains several projects and residencies in poetry/literacy, the Erie Canal, and music. Her newest project is The Benched Players, a troupe that uses the medium of theatrical improvisation to reach out to young children and engage their creative and critical thinking skills. She has written and recorded an album titled Blind Faith, continuing to serve our men and women overseas with powerful entertainment and is completing several writing projects including a one-woman play and two children's books. Melissa believes the arts are our catalyst for opening the minds of audiences and children worldwide. Melissa uses theatrical techniques to engage young people in the creative and critical-thinking process that fosters positive solutions to the cha"enges they face. Through music and theatrical improvisation storyte"ing, Melissa introduces non-verbal communication and humor strategies to awaken the creative spirits and heal the communities that Artfu"y AWARE serves.

BOOKS [cont. from Pg 4]We are all very excited about this new scheme and believe it is a wonderfully personal and direct way for the children and members of different societies and cultures to exchange information. We would like to thank the Karin Children’s Medical Centre for their enthusiasm and vast contribution to the initial stages of this scheme. - Evonne Hi"School Education Director

Kick-off Fundraiserhosted by:

The Melissa Kate Project$15

Details for Melissa Kate Project Show:The Original Sessions Arthouse

Friday November 7, 200817 John Street, NY New York 10038

RSVP: [email protected]

Next Artfully AWARE Event:

LONDONSpring, 2009

Donate to Artfully AWAREAfA is a registered charitable organisation in the UK with CIC status and is pending 501(c)(3) status is the US.

I would like to contribute: 25 50 100 Other: _____ Currency: _____

One-time donation. Monthly automatic withdrawal.

Name: ___________________ Phone: ______________________E-mail: _________________________________________________

Please send checks to Rowena Swallow, Artfully AWARE, 78 Lupus Street, London, SW1V 3EL.






DRIVING PHILOSOPHYArt, Poverty and Human Rights

Traditionally, leading aid and development institutions have measured poverty by income. The poor are often distinguished as those who survive on less than $1 a day. This is misleading because some of

the poorest people are completely excluded from the formal economy and instead use barter systems. This definition also excludes concepts of poverty as understood by the poor themselves. Many Indigenous groups (and their representatives) have rejected the income definition of poverty on the grounds that not all people understand “wealth” as the ability to consume. For many world cultures “wealth” means access to healthcare and education, freedom to make independent decisions and to express ideas, cultural heritage and emotions. These rights have historically been repressed by the governments in many parts of the developing world. Artfully AWARE aims to restore the right of expression, the right to be proud of ethnic identity, to experience the joy of creation and the celebration of sharing the freedom to create. Artfully AWARE promotes human rights by restoring creativity and the freedom of self-expression and thus, self-determination; which is often understood as the greatest wealth of all.

- Shana Montrose, Publications Editor, Management Consultant

“Our world is in the throngs of a major transformation with a new generation emerging to take the lead in an effort that calls for a new spirit of global cooperation and mutual aid. Key to its success will be its ability to give voice to those who are at the vortex of change and who, through their experiences, have the most to tell but are often the least heard. Artfully AWARE personifies this spirit of hope for humankind's successful march towards a new global good life for all. It seeks to unite the energy of artists across the globe while using common efforts to heal the wounds of past injustices and bring to life positive alternatives that will sustainably empower all

people to do right for themselves and their communities." - John Grazel, JD, PhD ; Research Professor and Holder of the Baha'i Chair for World Peace Center for International Development and Conflict Management at University of Maryland

Board of AdvisorsTERRY DORNBUSHAspen Cancer Center, DirectorFoundation for Transatlantic Cancer Research, DirectorCouncil of American Ambassadors, Board Member

JOHN GRAZEL, JD, Ph.D.University of Maryland, Research Professor and Baha'i Chair for World Peace Center for International Development and Conflict Management USAID, Director in Democratic Republic of Congo, India; Chief in Mongolia, Fiji, and Rural Development Officer in Egypt, Tunisia

PAUL SALTZMANAuthor, Photographer, Filmmaker

ROBERT FINGERMANFingerman & Macke, CPA, PC, Managing PartnerIndependent Films Production Consultants, PresidentEntertainment & Sports Committee of the NY State, ChairmanSociety of CPA

SHARI GRABERThe United States Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, National Vice PresidentNew York City Children’s Services, Director of Policy and Procedure for Childcare and Head Start

BOB LINNEY, Ph.D.Author, Graphic ArtistHealth Images, Founder and Co-ordinator

NICK TAUSINGAuthor, ProducerRevolver Entertainment, Co-Director

SHARYN ROSENBLUMWilliam Morrow Publishers of Harper Collins, Senior Director of Media Relations



