FREE EVENT: For Arts Educators on 8/25 10a-noon @ Scarab Club in Detroit

The Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan has announced the following opportunity for Cultural Arts Educators:

"We are very fortunate to have John Williams (South East Macomb Educational Consortium and Career Pathways founder) presenting our next free GLEC and Michigan Standards Seminar on August 25, 2008 from 10 a.m.-12 noon at the Scarab Club in Detroit--public parking lot adjacent ($5--pay attendant at booth).

He will talk with us about the current state of Career Education in the state and nation and speak in particular about how our wonderful Cultural Arts organizations are prime examples of how to incorporate and understand careers in many fields including programs such as mentorships, internships, and community-service base projects!

Please RSVP by August 21 (see Amy's contact info below), if you plan to attend.

Amy J. DeWys-VanHecke
313-330-8324
amy@culturalalliancesemi.org"

ARTICLE: Thomas P. Furtaw's passing (senior advisor to Attorney General and guitar player)

This article is sad, Thomas sounds like he was a very good person and indeed "everything a lawyer should be". But I also posted this article because it demonstrates how the arts really are EVERYWHERE, when an artist/musician can be so high-up in the Michigan state government arenas of politics and law.

Thomas P. Furtaw, the son of a Grosse Pointe Park cop who rose to become one of the most influential lawyers in Lansing as a senior adviser to Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, died suddenly Friday night. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Also, check out the music of Thomas Furtaw's band SPITTING NICKELS

RESOURCE: Social Media for Dummies

The folks at BrainGain Marketing based in Troy, MI have launched BrainStorm, a new online resource to help many of us 'net novices and web-tool wallflowers become more savvy when it comes to utilizing "social media" (tools which allow us to have "online conversations" such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

BrainGain understands that the world of new media can be an intimidating one. That's why we invite you to check out BrainStorm - BrainGain's redesigned blog all about "Social Media Savvy" to help you step into the world of new media and Marketing/PR 2.0.

While browsing through BrainStorm, I immediately followed a link to a great resource called The Common Craft Show. These guys explain everything from Social Networking to Zombies "in plain english". Check out their short introduction to blogs, how they work and why they matter below!

RESOURCE: Strategies for Sustainable Development (PDFs)

Strategies that help communities better control their destiny are more important now than ever.

"What simple, but effective, concepts or strategies are recommended for Michigan communities?"

Presenters respond uniquely from their respective philosophies and their collective thoughts are now being presented as the Strategies for Sustainable Development Series, available (in pdf format) on the Consumers Energy website.

Click here to view the PDFs.

I attended the Smalltown and Rural Development conference this year at Crystal Mountain and this group is a great resource communicating the many different ways communities can take control of their own destinies and future economies. I believe the strategies discussed are useful to all communities regardless of urban, suburban or rural location.

"Invincible", female emcee (rapper) uses her art to address Detroit's issues

Click on the above image to read this month's Metro Times article on Invincible and her remarkable work as an activist/artist. Also be sure to check out the music/documentary video for "Locusts" at the bottom of this post, which addresses the unseen and many times ugly side of urban development.

I first met Invincible back when I was attending UM-Ann Arbor, somewhere between '97 and '98. We hung out with a lot of the same crowd, went to same parties, that kind of thing and she was "flowing" (rapping) even back then. Since then, she has obviously been doing some truly AMAZING things in both the worlds of activism as well as Hip-Hop. If you think you know what Hip-Hop is, no matter whether you are a fan or a critic, think again!

Excerpt from the linked Metro Times article:
Here's the deal: Invincible is one of the best emcees in the country, as many will tell you, gender notwithstanding, though the odds are stacked against her: 1) She's a woman working a male-dominated genre 2) She's gay and 3) She's overtly political — her sympathy for the Palestinians, for instance, flies in the face of many of her Israeli family members' (and this country's) principles. Politicking in a pop world often spells fiscal failure.

She's dedicates much of her life to grass-roots activism for community change — mainly through the nonprofit group Detroit Summer — from workshops inside Michigan schools to a federal prison in California, from a juvenile center to a West Bank group tour.

Lansing-area Online Marketing Firm Hosts Contest for Nonprofits

I read today that a Lansing-area Online Marketing Firm is hosting a contest for nonprofits:

Are you a non profit organization that could use some help marketing your web site? Netvantage Marketing is accepting applications to provide six months of free search engine optimization and web analytics services to qualifying companies.

Just click to read the article or to download the application from Netvantage's site.

RESOURCE: Publius, Aug.5 Primary Ballot and Info

Publius and The League of Women Voters of Michigan have teamed up for for this nonpartisan collaboration, http://lwv.publius.org, which provides ballot information for the August 5 primary.

At http://lwv.publius.org Michigan voters can find:
· Individualized ballot information, including salaries for many offices
· Candidate information, including campaign websites
· League of Women Voters of Michigan candidate survey responses
· Current voter registration status
· Maps to polling locations

ARTS ED: Opera Written by MI Children!

Please find some of the press coverage that InsideOut Literary Art Project and the Michigan Opera Theater have received for the Hanstein Elementary School's third and fourth grade students' original production of the opera The Ringer of the Moon:

Listen to Principal Bernadine Carroll and the students from Hanstein Elementary School talk about the first ever opera written by children. (Note: The link brings you to a DPS radio show, where you will find the opera segment in the middle.)http://www.wrcjfm.org/ondemand/dps/ondemand.htm

Read more about the students' original production of the opera The Ringer of the Moon in the Detroit Free Press.

ARTS ED: GR-area Students Create Poetry Ezine

The Grand Rapids Humanities Council has announced the launch of a new web venture called Through the 3rd Eye, an ezine full of poetry, commentary, and literary news and created by area students, ages 13-21, under the mentorship of Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Rodney Torreson. The site was made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

http://throughthe3rdeye.com/

Traverse City Film Fest begins today! 7/29-8/3

Arguably the most amazing film festival currently here in Michigan, the Traverse City Film Festival is the brainchild of Michael Moore and has transformed his adopted-hometown into a mecca for film buffs nationwide. Last Sunday's edition of the Detroit Free Press had FOUR articles on this Film Fest alone!

As wonderful as we think it is that Madonna is coming home to Michigan for the TCFF, the real stars of the show for us are our friends from The Art Place in Suttons Bay who are offering three great Animation and Film workshops for youth of all ages, in official partnership with the TCFF. Go TAP! :)

ARTS ED: Visual, Performing and Applied Arts in MI High Schools

This blog is an incredible resource of information for those in Michigan trying to cultivate creativity in our children through the public school system. It is dedicated to doing this by using the Michigan Merit Curriculum Visual, Performing, and Applied Arts Credit , which is now required for high school graduation here in our state.

A learning community to maximize Michigan's capacity to support creativity through the 1-credit graduation requirement in the visual, performing, and applied arts.

http://mivpaa.blogspot.com/

MI Artist Uses Art to Rescue "At Risk" Youth

This documentary is great. Hector Perez has close ties to my family. Growing up in the Sunnyside neighborhood in Adrian, Hector was a young vato, or hoodlum, heading down a dangerous path and messing with herion. My father, Julio Perazza, was a counselor with the Upward Bound program at the time where he introduced Hector to the art of photography. Hector is now a very successful and inspirational artist and motivational figure in his own right, but he still remembers the difference the arts made to him during that pivotal time:

"... I was just dreaming about your father and the day I told him that I was messing with 'tecate' or Mexican heroin. He came down from Detroit to Adrian's Upward Bound. I grew up in Sunnyside ... Your father was a counselor. So he was the first person to show me his Pentax. He took the time to share his passion, so I felt special ... that moment of SLR instruction fed my curiosity about something positive rather than the tecate. Your father had a magnetic personality..."

I can't help but think that the hand my father reached out to Hector several decades ago, helped to inspire the amazing ways Hector is currently giving back to "at risk" youth :')

ARTICLE: Young Michigan Talent's List of Demands

This is a great article written by a young professional in Michigan about young professionals in Michigan and what they need from the rest of us in this state!

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/millennials15208.aspx

RESOURCE: Staying Legal for Michigan Nonprofits

A one-stop shop for state and federal laws and regulations affecting Michigan nonprofits, great resource! http://www.stayinglegalmi.org/

ARTS ED: NEA invites MI team to Nat'l Conference

Arts/education conference invites team from Michigan
The National Endowment for the Arts has chosen a team of educational and cultural leaders from Michigan to participate in the second Education Leaders Institute in Chicago this week. The six-member team includes Steve Hamp, chairman of the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan, and Cindy Ornstein, board member of Wixom-based ArtServe Michigan. The Michigan team will consider fundamental changes to how arts, creativity, culture and education in Michigan can better prepare students.

http://crainsdetroit.com/article/20080714/SUB/807140344/1076