Make Art with Purpose

JANEIL ENGELSTAD IN CONVERSATION ABOUT MAP

May 17, 2013 - MAP Founding Director, Janeil Engelstad talks about the founding of MAP and MAP 2013 in an interview by Joshua von Ammon on "Conversations in the Void" an art / culture program in Dallas, Texas.

To view the interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35lJioBYzJ0
MAP ON THE GROUND IN SLOVAKIA

May 13, 2013 - Amnesty International Brings Awareness to the use of Cluster Munitions with the help of Slovak artist Oto Hudec

On May 7 the Slovak chapter of Amnesty International erected a booth, designed by Oto Hudec, in front of the Presidential Palace in the city of Bratislava. Volunteers had planned to hand out popcorn from the booth; a reference to cluster munitions, which when deployed releases many small bombs, like popcorn (popcorn is the US military’s slang name for cluster munitions). This popcorn however, had a peaceful purpose.

Cluster munition, which spreads over a wide area, is prone to indiscriminate effects, especially when used in heavily populated areas. Unexploded bombs often kill or maim civilians after a conflict has ended.

The action in Bratislava was intended to bring awareness to the Slovak Republic’s recent consideration of signing the United Nations “Convention on Cluster Munitions” and the use of cluster munitions in general. Currently 73, of the 111 states that have signed the United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions, have ratified it as binding. Other countries that have not ratified the treaty include the United States, Russia, China, Israel and Syria. Unfortunately, the Slovak presidential office banned the selling of popcorn on the square, so the role of the kiosk was strictly as an information booth and a place to instigate a conversation with the public.

Photo: Amnesty International Booth, Bratislava. Designed by Oto Hudec, Photo by Oto Hudec
MAP ON THE GROUND IN BUDAPEST

May 11. 2013 - ARTISTS OCCUPY LUDWIG MUSEUM

Beginning this past Thursday, and lasting throughout the weekend, more than 30 artists are occupying the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, Hungary. They are demanding transparency in the selection process for a new director and the Ludwig's independence from Fidesz, the right-wing party that currently governs Hungary. Barnabás Bencsik, the Ludwig's current director, who has been endorsed by the museum's foundation, is battling to retain his position against Fidesz-backed Júlia Fabényi.

The protesters signs include: “Forum – collaboration for contemporary art”, “Free Ludwig” and “Professional coordination”. The artists are also protesting to hold forums about the recent changes that the national government has made in Hungarian visual arts, which have resulted in the closure of galleries and drastic cuts in support for artists and curators.

For more information: http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2013/05/10/nationalism-is-stifling-culture/
. . . HOW IS IT TOWARDS THE EAST?

May 6, 2013 - . . . 'how is it towards the east?' at Calvert 22 Foundation, London

Taking its title from William Morris's News from Nowhere, ‘...how is it towards the east?’ is a month-long exhibition comprising talks, workshops, screenings and new commissions at Calvert 22.Fostering conversations around how histories are written and recorded in print and on screen ‘..how is it towards the east?’ critically examines modes of self-organisation and the traces of Eastern European and Russian immigration in the East End of London. Several works in the exhibition provide the audience with opportunities to look at how our stories and the stories of others shape and influence ourselves and the greater world.

For more information: http://calvert22.org/exhibitions/show/458/how-is-it-towards-the-east
(...) KETSIN!

May 4, 2013 - (...) KETSIN! Art from Kyrgyzstan, Evgeny Boikov & Farkhad Tursunov

The Basement Shoreditch Town Hall, London

The small, landlocked and arrestingly beautiful Kyrgyz Republic has seen two revolutions in the space of just five years. The country’s first president, Askar Akaev, was overthrown in what became known as the ‘Tulip Revolution’ on 24 March 2005. The second so-called ‘People’s Revolution’, on 7 April 2010, replaced Akaev’s successor Kurmanbek Bakiev with an interim acting president, Roza Otunbaeva. In both cases, ‘(Akaev) (Bakiev) Ketsin!’ was chanted by street protesters.

Two of the Kyrgyz Republic’s internationally renowned artists, Evgeny Boikov and Farkhad Tursunov, capture the multiple meanings and emotions attributed to both events. Their work variously sees 2005 and 2010 as revolution committed to freedom and democratization, or as the mere arbitrary rule of the marauding crowds, or, again, as initiated by the governments of Russia and the United States. In both cases and in less than twenty-four hours individuals’ lives were turned upside down and their emotional beings flung from feelings of euphoria and hope to grief or shame or resignation.

Image: "Kinematics of Protest" from a series of graphics based on photos taken during the two revolutions in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and 2010 by Evgeny Boikov
MAP ON THE GROUND IN LONDON

MAP IS ON THE GROUND IN LONDON

Businesses have come together, in a UK nation wide initiative, inspired by HRH Prince of Wales, to promote sustainable living. Titled "Be The Start" -http://www.bethestart.org/ - the venture's "aim is to make sustainable living second nature". The campaign is being promoted in places such as Tube posters, social media and print advertising. Throughout the month of May, the "Be the Start" website posts daily, "inspirational" tips for living a more sustainable life. Tips that are promoted by select businesses and NGOs. The website's "stravel" challenge invites us to document our journeys by bike, foot and public transport with rewards and prizes as motivation.

Sustainability communication has been a marketing tool in the US for the past several years: Coca-Cola turning its cans white to support polar bears and arctic research with the Arctic Home Campaign; and the Two Sides, "No Wonder You Love Paper" advertisements running in magazines such as Inc. (http://twosidesus.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/two-sides-no-wonder-you-love-paper-ad-runs-in-inc).

It is easy to be cynical when businesses co-opt green messages to increase their market share and improve the perception of their brand. Yet, is there some benefit to be achieved when sustainable communication is used? Can campaign's like "Be The Start" really encourage change, on any level and in a meaningful way? Can it lead to action? What is the value of challenges such as "stravel"?

We want to hear you opinion. Visit our FaceBook page to comment: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-Art-with-Purpose/211579438899592?sk=wall
AMAZON OUR LAND

May 1, 2013 - AMAZON OUR LAND

The launch of the CD "Amazon Our Land" by young musicians from the band Backyard Drums. From the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco (between the Amazonian Rivers Tocantins and Itacaiúnas in Brazil, the musicians are advocating for a sustainable Amazon, which sales of the CD benefit. The musicians refuse to step onto any stage that is funded by the multinational mining company Vale, which is presently devastating their ancestral Amazonian land.

The complete CD (with a booklet in Portuguese, Spanish and English) is be available: riosdeencontro.wordpress.com
TWICE OUT OF PARADISE, CENTRE NATIONAL DE DANCE, PARIS

Jeanne Bloch's " Twice Out Of Paradise" at Centre National de Dance, Paris, France April 24 & 25.

Through experimentation in dance, both technical and artistic, "Twice Out Of Paradise" speaks of our commitment to idealism by examining how our societies seize ecological themes.

Jeanne Bloch has been working both as an artist and a Sustainability specialist. She worked over 14 years as a Sustainability advisor to international organizations and global companies on issues such as fair trade, child labor, community empowerment, sustainable consumption, global warming and corporate responsibility. The same issues and questions about ethics and economy drive her work as a performer/choreographer artist. For more information: http://www.jeannebloch.com/

Image from Twice Out Of Paradise
THE POWER OF WORDS

April 20, 2013 - Nelson Mandela’s inspirational words part of Times Square Arts Spring 2013 Season

THE POWER OF WORDS (MIDNIGHT MOMENT), an animated film compilation of Nelson Mandela’s inspirational words, honors his peaceful vivion of the future. NABIL ELDERKIN, ANDREW VAN DER WESTHUYZEN & GREGORY STERN

April 1-30, 11:57pm every night 42nd-47th Streets, between Broadway & 7th Avenue. Electronic billboards & newspaper kiosks throughout Times Square. Times Square Alliance's public art program provides today's largest platform for innovative contemporary visual and performing arts and an installation from Brooklyn-based artists on Duffy Square.

Image: Courtesy of NelsonMandela.org
BLACK TICKET FILMS, NEW DEHLI

April 18, 2013 - NEW DEHLI BASED BLACK TICKET FILMS EXPANDS THE FIELD OF TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL FILMMAKING

Black Ticket Films makes documentaries,that tell stories about sustainable lifestyles through grassroots, community-driven initiatives. In a recent interview in The Hindu, Black Ticket Films co-founder Sushmit Ghosh commented, “When Rintu Thomas and I founded our company, Black Ticket Films, one of our core focus areas was (and remains) to constantly challenge the way we tell our stories. So ‘form’ for us is as important as ‘content.’ We’re constantly mixing media and using high-definition live-action, still photographs, archival video, graphics, music, and text to build on our stories. Quite a few well-known film theorists and academics in India have asked us why our documentaries look so glossy, almost like advertisements – and in my response, I’ve always wondered why shouldn’t a documentary ‘look good’.”

To view their award inning films, often - 30 minutes in length visit: http://vimeo.com/user9329174

Image: Still from "It's a Good Life" by Black Ticket Films
EARTH CHRONICLES PROJECT

April 15, 2013 - EARTH CHRONICLES PROJECT AT SANTE FE ART INSTITUTE

EARTH CHRONICLES PROJECT is an exhibition, film, poetry workshop and other programs that are inspired by the documentary film of the same name. It features diverse artists and creative individuals who share a passionate relationship to their cultures and the environment. The documentary and exhibition will be at the Santa Fe Art Institute April 15 to May 17, 2013.

For more information: http://sfaiblog.org/2013/03/14/earth-chronicles-project-the-artists-process-new-mexico
ROBIN KAHN INTERVIEW IN CURRENT ISSUE OF IBRAAZ

April 10, 2013 - Robin Kahn, whose project "Dining in Refugee Camps: The Art of Sahrawi Cooking" is a part of MAP is interviewed in the current edition of Ibraaz. Ibraaz is the leading critical forum on visual culture in North Africa and the Middle East. Initiated by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, it was launched at the 54th Venice Biennale as an online publishing platform. Ibraaz now publishes edited readers in print and runs public programmes at institutions across the globe.

To read the article: http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/61

Image: Robin Kahn's installation at dOCUMENTA (13)
SOCIETY FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION

April 9, 2013 - Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), 5th World Conference on Ecological Restoration

October 6 - 11, 2013 Madison, Wisconsin

Submissions from restoration practitioners, researchers, artists and advocates addressing any aspect of ecological restoration are welcome. Proposals due May 1, 2013. SER is also accepting applications for a limited number of scholarships available to help facilitate the attendance of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students. The deadline for applications is May 15, 2013.

For more information: www.ser2013.org
PLANETARY PEACE FORUM

April 7, 2013 - On Wednesday, April 10 The Shift Network is hosting a 60-minute teleseminar council call, six respected and celebrated peace pioneers will share the leading edge of peace work in the world today and how you can be involved. They will look clear-eyed at the strife in the world today and illuminate how we can build even more momentum towards a peaceful, thriving culture on planet earth.

For more information: http://theshiftnetwork.com/PlanetaryPeaceForum
SMU SEEKS DIRECTOR FOR ART & URBANISM CENTER

April 5, 2013 - The Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, Dallas is seeking a Director for the new Center for Art and Urbanism, set to launch in the fall of 2013. In a cultural moment defined by the mutual recomposition of the arts and the city, the SMU | Meadows Center for Art and Urbanism will work in Dallas’ urban landscape to produce projects and research that investigate and intervene in the processes by which today’s cities and today’s art practices are transforming one another. The Center will expose students to innovative forms of site-specific and community-engaged art-making, championing artists that approach the encounter of the arts and the city with a commitment to transdisciplinarity and social justice.

For more information: https://access.smu.edu/psp/ps/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?Page=HRS_CE_HM_PRE&Action=A&SiteId=1
VIDEO CONTEST / WIND POWER

April 1, 2013 - VIDEO CONTEST / AMERICA WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION

America Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is looking for videos about wind power.

Grand Prize: $1,000, or a VIP trip for one person to WINDPOWER 2014 in Las Vegas (valued at $2,100), including airfare, hotel and conference passes

2nd Place Prize: $500, or an iPad, or free registration for an upcoming AWEA seminar of your choice and a complimentary hotel room

3rd Place Prize: $250

4th, 5th, and 6th Place Prizes: $100 each

Deadline April 21

For more information: http://powerofwind.com/blog/post/why-i-like-wind-power-video-contest_1
DANCE AS A CASTALYST FOR CHANGE

March 30, 2013 - MAP partners Lise Brenner and Paul Nagle along with Judy Hussie- Taylor and Edward Henkel "Dance as a Catalyst for Change" talk at 92nd Street Y, School of the Arts, Harkness Dance Center, NYC, Friday, April 5, 8:00 PM

Come out and here Lise Brenner talk about how thinking like a choreographer is relevant to "just about everything."

For more information: http://www.92y.org/Uptown/Event-and-Class-Listing/Events/Classes-for-Adults/Dance-Performances-and-Events/Dance-Performances-and-Events/MovementTalks-with-Edward-Henkel-1.aspx
MAP 2013 IN THE NEWS

MARCH 27, 2013 -

Art and Seek, a program of KERA the Dallas - Fort Worth NPR station, has a piece on MAP 2013 today that really gets to the heart of the project. The audio piece runs four times today, twice during Morning Edition and twice during All Things Considered and the written piece is on-line, both can be accessed at:

http://artandseek.net/2013/03/27/map-a-new-public-art-festival-in-dallas-this-fall/
2013 TRANSCULTURAL EXCHANGE CONFERENCE

March 25, 2013 - 2013 Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts

presented by TransCultural Exchange October 10–13, 2013

Boston University will host TransCultural Exchange's 2013 Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts, October 10-13, 2013.

TransCultural Exchange’s fourth biennale Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts is the forum for practicing artists and related professionals, including:

• Extensive networking opportunities and social events.

• Portfolio reviews with funders, curators, gallery owners, residency directors and critics.

• 50 panels with topics ranging from cultural diplomacy to paid residencies.

• Workshops on marketing, grant writing and copyright law.

• Visits to Boston’s attractions, including MIT's Art and Architecture program.

• Gallery receptions, concerts and readings.

More than half of TransCultural Exchange’s Conference attendees receive direct, tangible results - including sales, exhibits and artist-in-residency program invites.

Scholarships available, applications for scholarships due April 1. For more information: http://www.transculturalexchange.org/conference_2013/overview.htm
INDIAN ARTIST AABID SURTI STARTS NGO TO CONSERVE WATER

March 21, 2013 - The distinguished Indian painter and author, Aabid Surti has founded an NGO, Drop Dead, to conserve water. "I read an interview of the former UN chief Boutros Boutros Ghali,” Surti recalled in a recent interview, “who said that by 2025 more than 40 countries are expected to experience water crisis. I remembered my childhood in a ghetto fighting for each bucket of water. I knew that shortage of water is the end of civilized life.” To help people in New Delhi conserve water Surti spends Sundays helping to fix leaky faucets, one apartment complex at a time.

To read more about Surti's story and Drop Dead: http://www.propoor.org/news/?n=68119

Drop Dead's Facebook Page: http://www.propoor.org/news/?n=68119
CALL FOR ESSAYS

March 19, 2013 - The Web of Life Foundation (WOLFoundation.org) is issuing the first call for essays for its 2013 essay competition. WOLFoundation is dedicating to stimulating new thinking in the field of sustainability and socio-environmental issues. Within this context, the theme of this year's essay competition is "An Aspirational Future".

Essays should be up to 2,000 words of prose in any non-technical style (including fiction) and are meant for a general readership.From the Guidelines: "Any and all views on the specified theme are welcome and encouraged. We would like to see entries that address all perspectives creatively. Just avoid giving us tired ideas that have been hashed out many times before."

The winning essay will receive a cash prize of $1,500 and $500 is awarded to the second placed entry. Submissions should be addressed to submissions@wolfoundation.org. Closing date for submissions is September 30th, 2013. Guidelines for submissions can be found at http://www.wolfoundation.org/guidelines/

A book of collected essays from the 2011 competition (published in collaboration with Cultura 21) is now available for purchase ($7 + p&p. No sales tax.). Enquiries to submissions@wolfoundation.org
PORTRAYING AND SEEING THE ROMA IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

March 13, 2013 - Šymon Kliman’s photo project, “Beautiful People” presents portraits and stories of the Roma that move beyond the stereotypes often portrayed in the media. Kliman writes about the project, “To me Roma are beautiful and proud people, whose culture and identity have been almost systematically destroyed by several regimes in the recent history of Central Europe. The people in my photographs live in the worst possible conditions just outside of the town Kezmarok, in Velka Lomnica, Slovakia. 2.000 people live without water supplies and canalization. But despite the slum-like conditions, their houses are always clean and tidy. And every one has at least one set of nice clothes for special occasions. When I portrayed them, I asked them to show themselves in the way that they want to be seen.”

Kliman is putting together a book of his images that will also include text about each of the people photographed and essays about issues connected to the Roma by noted authors. A portion of the proceeds raised from selling the book will be donated to “Dive Maky,” a non-profit that helps Roma children with their education and career.

For more information and to help support the publication of the book – and receive the book, postcards and original photos in return – visit:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/beautiful-people--2

Image: Photograph of Lukaš Oračko by Šymon Kliman, from the series “Beautiful People”
GIRL RISING

March 11, 2013 - Girl Rising promotes the education of girls around the world in a powerful documentary film. Investing in girls’ education globally supports economic growth, non-violent political participation, increases women’s health and smaller and more sustainable families. Girl Rising, a recent film directed by Academy Award nominee Richard Robbins showcases the strength of the human spirit and the power of educating girls to change the world.

For more information, to view the trailer, to host a screening in your community visit: www.girlrising.com.
EXPO 1: NEW YORK - ROCKAWAY CALL FOR IDEAS

EXPO 1: NEW YORK - Rockaway Call for Ideas

In an effort to foster the creative debate on urban recovery after Hurricane Sandy, MoMA PS1 and MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design are calling out for ideas to create a sustainable waterfront.

Artists, architects, designers, and others are welcome to present ideas for alternative housing models, creation of social spaces, urban interventions, new uses of public space, the rebuilding of the boardwalk, protection of the shoreline, and actions to engage local communities.

Twenty-five selected proposals will be presented publicly in the press and social media and on-site in a series of live presentations and lectures organized by MoMA PS1 in its temporary relief and cultural VW Dome 2 in Rockaway Beach during April 2013.

A jury including curators Barry Bergdoll, Klaus Biesenbach, Peter Eleey, Pedro Gadanho, Niklas Maak, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and other influential architects, urban planners, and designers will make the selection from the open call.

SUBMITTING

Submit an idea in the format of a short video no longer than three minutes, using the following form, by March 15, 2013

For more information and to submit an idea:

http://www.momaps1.org/news/view/89

Image: Rockaway, courtesy MoMA
JANEIL ENGELSTAD AT EASTFIELD COLLEGE MAIN GALLERY

March 7, 2013 - Nation: Morehshin Allahyari and Janeil Engelstad, Eastfield College Gallery, March 4 – April 5 Reception: Friday, March 8, 6 – 9 p.m.

What does it mean to be from somewhere? How do our bodies and minds identify with place? Nation explores these ideas by bringing together the work of Morehshin Allahyari, an Iranian born artist whose work The Romantic Self-Exiles 1 re-constructs identity through the memory of her Tehran – real and re-imagined; and Janeil Engelstad, an artist and founder of MAP - Make Art with Purpose, whose multi-form project, Voices From the Center reveals how identity is influenced in the midst of social and political transformation. (www.voicesfromthecenter.net)

Eastfield College - Gallery 219

3737 Motley Drive

Mesquite, TX 75150

972.860.7100 phone

Image: "Slavin", Bratislava, Slovakia, gilcée print, 16" x 24", Janeil Engelstad, 2007/2013
CARLAN TAPP AT SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE

March 5, 2013 - As the United States continues to lower its dependency on coal, coal companies have turned to China. Currently, there are 4 daily trains each with over 100 cars of coal being railed from Wyoming to British Columbia where it’s shipped to China. For every 500 miles a train travels it loses up to 0.6 tons of coal dust per car polluting communities, ranches and agriculture. Coal cars can’t be covered because of spontaneous combustion. A proposed expansion (permits are pending) will increase the number of trains per day to 18. This expansion will also create a new mega mine in Montana and new shipping terminals in WA, OR and CA. For three weeks in January and February 2013, Carlan followed the entire train route from Wyoming, where the route begins, to the Pacific Northwest proposed port in Bellingham, Washington, documenting the people and places along the way.

Lecture & Exhibition Opening

Monday, March 11, 2013

6pm @ SFAI

$10 general | $5 students/seniors

The China Express Exhibition

March 12-April 5, 2013

9am – 5pm, free

Santa Fe Art Institute

1600 St. Michaels Drive, Santa Fe, NM

For more information: http://sfaiblog.org/2013/02/15/tapp

Photograph by Carlan Tapp,"For over 3,500 years, 175 generations, the Lummi have lived, raised their families, celebrated, held ceremonies, died and are buried here. The proposed terminal at this location includes an 80 acre coal storage area placed upon a Washington state designated burial site and ancestral village.
DAY OF MUSEUM SOLIDARITY – MARCH 4

March 3, 2012 - MAP partner cultureshutdown.net is producing an international cultural awareness campaign. This campaign is in response to the acute crisis affecting major cultural institutions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. On October 4, 2012, after 124 years of existence, the country’s National Museum (Zemaljski Muzej) closed down due to the government’s failure to secure legal status and adequate funding. Six other state-level institutions, including the National Art Gallery (Umjetnička Galerija BH) and the National and University Library (Nacionalna i Univerzitetska Biblioteka BH) are also about to become permanently inaccessible. The safety of precious artifacts and heritage are at stake. With over 120 institutions participating this is truly a global action - from museums , galleries, universities and libraries throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States.

For more a list of participating museums and information about how to participate: http://www.cultureshutdown.net/public-call-day-of-museum-solidarity

Image: Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia
BHUTAN SET TO BECOME FIRST WHOLLY ORGANIC COUNTRY

March 2, 2013 - From The Guardian (UK) POVERTY MATTERS BLOG

Bhutan plans to become the first country in the world to turn its agriculture completely organic, banning the sales of pesticides and herbicides and relying on its own animals and farm waste for fertilizers. But rather than accept that this will mean farmers of the small Himalayan kingdom of around 1.2m people (according to Pema Gyamtsho, Bhutan's minister of agriculture and forests; the World Bank estimates it at around 740,000) will be able to grow less food, the government expects them to be able to grow more – and to export increasing amounts of high quality niche foods to neighboring India, China and other countries.

The decision to go organic was both practical and philosophical, said Gyamtsho, in Delhi for the annual sustainable development conference last week. "Ours is a mountainous terrain. When we use chemicals they don't stay where we use them, they impact the water and plants. We say that we need to consider all the environment. Most of our farm practices are traditional farming, so we are largely organic anyway.

"But we are Buddhists, too, and we believe in living in harmony with nature. Animals have the right to live, we like to see plants happy and insects happy," he said.

To read more of this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/feb/11/bhutan-first-wholly-organic-country

Photograph: Alamy, courtesy The Guardian Poverty Matters Blog
E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E

February 26, 2013 - E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E

Presented by Prosodic Body & The Commons Choir

February 28 - March 2, 2013 at New York Live Arts

E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E is an operatic, town hall epic that proposes, with Thomas Paine and Martin Luther King, money as public property. Created by choreographer Daria Faïn and poet Robert Kocik (whose project, The Prosodic Body is a part of MAP), in collaboration with composer Katherine Young, vocalist Samita Sinha and the Commons Choir, E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E was developed by researching the sonic and connotative power of language (especially phonemes, the smallest sound units of language) and suggesting the ways in which these sounds could heal our current economic and ecological crises. Drawing on phenomena as diverse as the choral ode, algorithmic procedure, dead languages, the endocrine system, triple bottom line accounting, innate awareness and the town hall meeting, 27 dancers, singers and actors carry out a cosmogenetic redo as they treat our current inequity crisis with reparative tones and intentions with the body as horn of plenty.

The performers of E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E oscillate between solo performance and choral responses either choreographed in formal geometry or in compelling and high-energy group movements. At other moments, simple standing postures of the performers allow the audience to be absorbed in the harmony of the singing.

For tickets and more information: http://www.commonschoir.org

https://tickets.newyorklivearts.org/public/show_events_list.asp?shcode=782

Image: Prosodic Body/The Commons Choir by Iki Nakagawa
OPEN CALL

February 25, 2013 -

Offsite Insights Environmental/EcoArt Exhibit

Eckerd College, Sarasota Campus

8031 Cooper Creek Blvd. Ste 106, University Parkway, Fl 34201

Event Dates: 04/12/2013 – 05/10/2013

Entry Deadline: 03/22/2013

Notification of participation: 3/29/13

Entries for this show will represent all environmental art genres, particularly work brought “offsite” into the gallery as well as two- and three-dimensional work designed to be presented in a traditional gallery setting. All work should give some “insight” into the relevance of Environmental Art and thought-provoking sustainability issues.

Please submit all requirements for consideration to pamelacallender@yahoo.com.

Requirements: 3 jpg format photos of your work, Artist Bio, website, and contact information

Image: Offsite / Pamela Callender
IMPACT!

February 21, 2013 - Impact! Design for Social Change the School of Visual Arts and Design Ignites Change present a series of free 30-minute webinars that will explore how design-driven ideas for social good are launched. Each session is hosted by Mark Randall, chair of Impact! Design for Social Change and principal of Worldstudio, in conversation with business leaders, creative professionals and influencers working in the area of social change. There will be a 15-minute introduction of the topic and a 15-minute question and answer period. You only need to sign up once and you will be sent a link the day before each session. If you miss a session it will be archived on the Impact! Design for Social Change Web site.

MARCH SESSIONS

———————————————————————

Friday, March 1, 2013

12:30pm GMT-0500 – Eastern Standard Time

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

Michael Blakeney

Good Profit

Cultivating and maintaining a wide range of relationships is critical to the success of any social venture. In many cases individuals are not even aware of the powerful connections they already have which can help them turn their project, program or business into a success.

———————————————————————

Friday, March 15, 2013

12:30pm GMT-0500 – Eastern Standard Time

FUNDING SOCIAL CHANGE

Andréa Pellegrino

Pellegrino Collaborative

For many creative professionals, the thought of having to figure out the funding of a social change project is daunting and prevents great ideas from getting off the ground. This session will introduce various funding models to help de-mystify the process.

———————————————————————

Friday, March 29, 2013

12:30pm GMT-0500 – Eastern Standard Time

THINKING LIKE A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

Shana Dressler

Social Innovators Collective

The creative professions have traditionally been a service industry where a client drives the inception and development of a project. What about self-driven, non-client based projects? This session will introduce you to the concept of the social entrepreneur and what to consider to successfully launch your own ideas.

———————————————————————

This series is in partnership with Design Ignites Change a collaboration between Adobe Foundation and MAP partner Worldstudio.

For more information and to sign up: http://impact.sva.edu/uncategorized/free-impact-sessions-webinar-series/
THE HUMAN LIBRARY

February 18, 2013 -The Human Library will be at University of North Texas Libraries, Feb 18 and 19. Students, faculty and community members are invited to take out a Human Book, when the doors open to the very first official Human Library event at the North Texas University Library. The two day event is organized in a partnership between the University Libraries and the University of North Texas Multicultural Center.

The Human Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding. In its initial form the Human Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to a Human Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. The initial list of titles of "books" at the University of North texas Library includes the African American; a Latino,a GLBT; a homeless person; an unauthorized immigrant; an animal rights activist; a vegan; the feminist; a formerly incarcerated person; a football jock; and more.

For more information: http://www.unt.edu

For more information about The Human Library project: http://humanlibrary.org
DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

February 17, 2013 - Legislation calling for the establishment of a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peacebuilding was introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13). This historic measure will provide practical, nonviolent solutions to the problems of domestic and international conflict.

A Department of Peace will work to:

- Provide assistance to city, county, and state governments in coordinating existing peace programs

- Develop new programs based on best practices nationally

- Teach violence prevention and mediation to America's school children

- Effectively treat and dismantle gang psychology

- Rehabilitate the prison population

- Build peace-making efforts among conflicting cultures both here and abroad

- Create and administer a U.S. Peace Academy, acting as a sister organization to the U.S. Military Academy.

- And more…

For more information: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/issues-advocacy/department-of-peace/index.html

Image: "What is Your Vision of Peace?" billboard, Chicago, 2004, Janeil Engelstad and Rumiel Rothschild. Photo: Janeil Engelstad
THINK BEYOND PLASTIC COMPETITION

February 14, 2014 - Plastic Pollution Coalition’s annual innovation contest for products or solutions that will measurably reduce plastic pollution is underway. The contest is dedicated to fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in addressing the plastic pollution crisis. Eligible contestants will compete for a first prize investment of $50,000 for an existing business, and $10,000 investment for the most innovative business idea. The contest will be juried by leaders in industry and science including Eben Bayer (Ecovative), Mike Biddle (MBA Polymers), Julie Corbett (Ecologic), Adam Lowry (Method), Dr. Ramani Narayan, Mike Velings (A-Spark Good Ventures) and Adam Werbach (Yerdle). The presentation of awards and the final public event will take place at the Think Beyond Plastic annual conference on June 13-14, 2013 in Berkeley, CA, in front of an audience of entrepreneurs, investors, journalists and thought leaders.

For more information: http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org
THE SUN MAGAZINE IS HIRING

February 13, 2013 - The Sun, one of the leading magazines devoted to writing, photography, poetry and art is looking for a full-time managing editor. The Sun is a nonprofit, ad-free magazine in its thirty-ninth year of publication. This position is in their editorial office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The job requires "impeccable editorial skills, proven management ability, and a meticulous and exacting eye for detail". The Sun offer competitive compensation, excellent benefits, and an appealing work environment.

For more information: http://thesunmagazine.org/about/announcements/2012/49
MIGRATING ARCHIVES AT GLBT HISTORY MUSEUM, SAN FRANCISCO

February 11, 2013 - Conceived by E. G. Crichton, artist-in-residence at the GLBT Historical Society and a MAP participant, “Migrating Archives” includes poignant and evocative archival material from collections in Australia, Belgium, England, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Scotland, South Africa and the United States.Each participating organization provided photographs of artifacts that portray the experiences of one or two LGBT individuals from the past.

“My idea is to put materials that are precious to each collection into motion as they become guests and hosts, sometimes crossing national borders more easily than individuals can,” notes Crichton. “For people whose traces are so often erased even by our biological families, omitted from official histories, or just lost, archives are a way of creating our own lineage. ‘Migrating Archives’ is designed to both demonstrate and inspire this vital process of historical self-creation.”

For more information and to read an interview with E.G. Crichton: http://www.glbthistory.org/museum/

Image: “Migrating Archives” features archives from nine countries, including Belgium (left), South Africa (upper right) and Italy (lower right). Click on photo to view full image.
FIRST INTERDISCIPLINARY ECO ART TEXTBOOK

February 10, 2013 - "Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet," by curator and writer Linda Weintraub documents the eco art movement from A to Z, presenting a panorama of artistic responses to environmental concerns, from Ant Farm’s anti-consumer antics in the 1970s to Marina Zurkow’s 2007 animation that anticipates the havoc wreaked upon the planet by global warming.

This text is the first international survey of twentieth and twenty-first-century artists who are transforming the global challenges facing humanity and the Earth’s diverse living systems. Their pioneering explorations are situated at today’s cultural, scientific, economic, spiritual, and ethical frontiers. The text guides students of art, design, environmental studies, and interdisciplinary studies to integrate environmental awareness, responsibility, and activism into their professional and personal lives.

For more information: http://lindaweintraub.com
NEW ZEALAND GRANTS WHANGANU RIVER THE RIGHTS OF PERSONHOOD

February 7, 2013 - If Corporations are People Why Can't Rivers Be?

 The Whanganui, New Zealand's third-longest river has been granted legal personhood by the government of New Zealand. The Whanganu will now have rights “in the same way a company is, which will give it rights and interests”. The agreement is the result of over 100 years of adovacy by the Whanganui River iwi, an indigenous Māori community with strong cultural and commercial ties to the waterway.   Under the settlement, the river is regarded as a protected entity, through an arrangement in which representatives from both the iwi and the national government will serve as legal custodians towards the Whanganui’s best interests.
THE HARRISONS - ON MIXING, MAPPING AND TERRITORY

February 4, 2013 - Work by Helen and Newton Harrison is being exhibited at the Sesnon Art Gallery, located in Porter College at UC Santa Cruz. Their visionary projects have focused on watershed restoration, urban renewal, agriculture and forestry issues among others. Results included changes in governmental, environmental policy and have expanded the conversation around previously unexplored issues leading to practical implementations throughout the United States and Europe.

The exhibition opens on February 6, wit ha reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Prior to the reception, they will present a lecture from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Digital Arts Research Center (Room 108). The exhibition runs through March 15. Admission to all events is free and open to the public.

To read an article about The Harrisons visit the USSC news link: http://art.ucsc.edu/galleries/sesnon/current

The Harrisons will be participating in MAP 2013 and their large -scale project, "The Force Majeure Works" is featured on MAP's projects link

Image: Helen and Newton Harrison, Future Garden Part 1: The Endangered Meadows of Europe, 1996-1998, Kunst-und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany
SCANZ 2013

February 1, 2013 - SCANZ 2013 3rd nature wānanga-symposium: DEVELOPING THE CULTURE TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE CIVILIZATION, FEB 1 - 3, 2013, NEW ZEALAND  At the symposium's foundation is the integration of indigenous knowledge, creative practices and Western science. This integration is a feature of recent Intercreate.org projects, the organization that is the producer of the wānanga-symposium. The symposium will provide a wide range of solutions to environmental issues of working across cultures and disciplines, from several countries.   For more information:http://www.intercreate.org/2012/10/scanz-2013-hui-symposium-selected-abstracts/
THE ART OF SEEKING SAHRAWI INDEPENDENCE

January 31, 2013 - Robin Kahn interviewed in The Huffington Post

 Through "The Art of Sahrawi Cooking," which is featured in MAP's Projects link, Robin Kahn lived with Sahrawi families in the Tindouf Refugee Camps located within the “Liberated Territory” of Western Sahara - the last remaining colony in Africa. Working with the Sahrawi women she created a cookbook that explores the Sahrawis’ connection to food as a way of tracing their identity. By combining the sparse materials available locally, she collaged photos, histories and drawings into a 50 page recipe book that examines the art of Sahrawi food production : how kitchens are improvised, food is procured and prepared, and traditional dishes are innovated from humanitarian aid.   Kahn reflects on various aspects of the project and its presentation in dOCUMENTA 13 in a conversation with the writer and cultural critic G. Roger Denson in a recent issue of the Huffington Post.

To read the article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/g-roger-denson/from-dining-in-refugee-ca_b_2520573.html  

Image: Tfarra, Najat, and Mouna dancing at dOCUMENTA 13, 2013. Photo by Kirby Gookin
MAKING CHANGE IN THE LARGEST SLUM IN ASIA

January 28, 2013 - The project "Dharavi Diary" started with a short documentary film that followed the lives of the people living and working in one of the world's recycling capitals, Dharavi slum in Mumbai, India. Since the completion of the film, "Dharavi Diary" has grown into a slum innovation project fusing entrepreneurship, storytelling, design, creative and strategic thinking and creative technologies to harness the opportunities and skills of the project's collaborators in the slum. The purpose is to help the community to rise out of poverty and innovate global sustainability.

The project is not only training people to make products, but has also helped the pickers who sort through the trash earn more money, which allows them to keep their children in school. The recycling process has been owned and operated by business people who live outside of the slum, paying pickers a small fee to sort through the trash for specific materials. Now the people who sort through the trash have the opportunity to sell their materials for a higher price directly to "Dharavi Diary."   For more information and a clip of the film visit the "Dharavi Diary" website: http://www.dharavidiary.com
1700 SEEDS

January 26, 2013 - Cynthia Mulcahy and Robert Hamilton's "1700 Seeds" is part of the exhibition "FOOD" at the Eastfield College galleries in Mesquite, Texas

In 2012 Mulcahy and Hamilton planted 1700 Sunflowers in a large, empty lot in Dallas, Texas. Produced in a Hispanic neighborhood that is gentrifying, the project was a place where different people from different communities came together to talk, share food and, among the field of 1700 giant sunflowers, find common ground. After the harvest of the seeds, Mulcahy and Hamilton have been giving away seed packets to people around the world, further spreading the good will that was established in Dallas.

The exhibition, "FOOD" brings together seven artists whose work constructs meaning in the physical and psychological space between art and food.  "1700 Seeds" will be featured on the Project of MAP's website in the upcoming weeks.  

For more information about the exhibition:http://www.artandseek.org/event.php?id=43722  Image: Cynthia Mulcahy and Robert Hamilton, "1700 Seeds," installation at Eastfield College Main Gallery, mixed- media, 2013. Photo by C Mulcahy
PROJECT IN BRAZIL RE-USES PLASTIC BOTTLES FOR SURFBOARDS

January 24, 2013 - Through their project, “Eco-Surfboard,”Jairo Lumertz and Carolina Scorsin are creating surfboards made out of plastic bottles. Traveling to beaches throughout Brazil the couple are helping children take up surfing and reducing waste at the same time.

 Lumertz’s eco surfboards, which he first developed in 2007, consist of approximately 40 bottles (paddleboards consist of up to 75 bottles), treated with dry ice to make them stronger and more floatable, supported by PVC tubes and glue. “A common surfboard in the store costs at least $2,000, but can reach $5,000. A board with plastic bottles is only $100,” explains Scorsin in an interview in the Epoch Times. Lumertz and Scorsin visit schools in Brazil and talk to students about surfing, protecting the environment, and their distinctive surfboards. Their aim is for children to take up surfing and for more people to become conscious of the environment, reusing and repurposing waste in new products and design. 

For more information:http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/on-mission-to-help-the-environment-with-surfing-323293.html  

Image: Jairo Lumertz and Carolina Scorsin, founders of the Eco Surfboard project with their eco surfboard, Rio de Janeiro (Eco Surfboard/Facebook)
FDA MOVES CLOSER TO APPROVING GE SALMON

January 23, 2013 - On December 21st, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) released an Environmental Assessment (EA) with a “Finding of No Significant Impact” on the controversial AquaBounty AquaAdvantage transgenic salmon. The FDA action is widely viewed as confirmation that the Obama Administration is prepared to approve shortly the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption in the face of widespread opposition.

The GE Atlantic salmon being considered was developed by AquaBounty Technologies, and genetically engineered to produce growth hormones year-round, creating a fish the company claims grows at twice the normal rate. This could allow factory fish farms to crowd the salmon into pens and still get high production rates.

Each year millions of farmed salmon escape, outcompeting wild populations for resources and straining ecosystems. Any approval of GE salmon would represent a serious threat to the survival of native salmon populations, many of which have already suffered severe declines related to salmon farms and other man-made impacts. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences notes that a release of just sixty GE salmon into a wild population of 60,000 could lead to the extinction of the wild population in less than 40 fish generations. Wild salmon populations are already on the Endangered Species List; approving these GE salmon could be the final blow to these wild stocks.

The human health impacts of eating GE fish, which would be the first-ever GE food animal, are entirely unknown, but some scientific research raises cause for alarm: for example, some scientists have asserted that foreign growth hormones in transgenic fish may increase production of other compounds such as insulin in the fish. Additionally, FDA has recognized that a transgene cannot be “turned off” once it is inserted in the organism, and will therefore have effects that are uncontrollable.

Please take action today! The public has until February 25th to comment on this misguided and dangerous action.

Go to:http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9138
SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY FUTURES

January 22, 2013 - SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY FUTURES: FROM COLLABORATIVE DESIGN TO DIGITAL FABRICATION, LISBON, PORTUGAL, SUMMER 2013

SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY FUTURES is producing a one week intensive program of social and technical methods, in a transdisciplinary environment that will engage participants in both conceptual and practical activities with all four pillars of sustainability as background. The intensive is intended for Master and PhD students, researchers, and professionals from STS, Product and Service Design, Social Sciences and Humanities, Architecture and Engineering, Communication and Media, Environmental Studies, Economics and Management, Computer Sciences, and others.

Everyone will have the opportunity to work in sociotechnical processes of design, construction and discussion of concrete objects, through Introductory Sessions, Masterclasses and Hands On Workshops.

For more information and application:http://sttf2013.iscte-iul.pt/
ART FOR CHANGE IN CHINA

January 20, 2012 - NEW BOOK BY ARTIST LILY YEH OUTLINES HER WORK IN TRANSFORMING A SCHOOL FOR MIGRANT WORKERS IN CHINA

"AWAKENING CREATIVITY - Dandelion School Blossoms"

From the newvillagePRESS website:

" In Awakening Creativity, Yeh facilitates the art-making process for students of The Dandelion School, the only nonprofit organization in Beijing that serves the children of poor migrant workers coming from 24 provinces. Yeh worked with hundreds of students, teachers, volunteers and workers to transform the school's main campus with mural painting, mosaics, and environmental sculpture. Students were involved in every aspect of the art-making, which has become central to the school's curriculum and well-being.

For more information: http://www.newvillagepress.net/book/?GCOI=97660100626950

To view images and read an article by Lily Yeh., published in YES! Magazine, about the project: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/photo-essay-awakening-creativity

"When I see brokenness, poverty, and crime in inner cities,

I also see the enormous potential and readiness for

transformation and rebirth. We are creating an art form that

comes from the heart and reflects the pain and sorrow of people's lives.

It also expresses joy, beauty, and love."

— Lily Yeh
PROJECT DOCUMENTS LIVES OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN SINGAPORE

January 17, 2013 - "Beyond the Border, Behind the Men" aims to increase knowledge and expand thinking about Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore. A project produced by three young Singaporeans and their migrant worker friends culminated in a short-film and photo essay, which expands the narrative beyond the one-dimensional stereotypes such as the construction or shipyard worker, the gardner or the cleaner, or the Bangla.

Bernice Wong, in an interview with OneBetterWorld said, "we felt it was timely and necessary to expand the narrative” beyond “the deeply-entrenched image of them as low cost economic digits or cogs in our industrial machine”.

“We went to unearth what is it that they are working so hard for? Why do they put up with the precarious realities of being a migrant worker here? What are they fighting for?”

From the "Beyond the Border, Behind the Men" website:

This project pays tribute to these “builders” of our country and those they leave behind. We wish to celebrate their resilience, spread stories of cheer and inspiration, and pay tribute to the human spirit. Like us, they are fathers, sons, husbands, story-tellers and dreamers too. And on a more fundamental and human level, we are all equals.

For more information visit the "Beyond the Border, Behind the Men" website : www.btbbtm.com

Image: Photograph of Rasel, a Bangladeshi working in Singapore, from his childhood days (pictured here with his older sister). By Bernice Wong from "Beyond the Border, Behind the Men."
ROMA GYPSIES PARTICIPATE IN A TOMáš RAFA PROJECT

January 15, 2013 - Working with artists and volunteers, Tomáš Rafa's Sports Wall project, produced in Sečovce, Slovakia, changed the look and feel of a concrete wall that was built to separate the Roma Gypsies from the rest of the population living in the town. A short video of the project documents the creation of the mural and offers poetic glimpses into the daily lives and music of the Roma.

Tomáš Rafa's piece "New Nationalism," which addresses the rise of nationalism and separatism in Central and Eastern Europe can be found in MAP's project link. To view the "Wall of Sports" video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5AKmFxXd_A0

Image: Video still from "Wall of Sports" by Tomáš Rafa
TRADITIONAL, SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE IN HAWAI

January 11, 2013 - People throughout the Hawai'in Islands are building homes and other buildings, such as community centers, using materials and techniques practiced for over 2,000 years throughout the Pacific Islands.

Unlike Western buildings, traditional Hawai'in structures are sustainable, built from abundant, local plant materials and withstand intense sun and tropical storms. Following is an excerpt from an illuminating conversation between Catharine Lo, from the Honolulu Weekly, and Sate Senator J. Kalani English about the benefits of traditional architecture in Hawai'i. Sen. English was instrumental in passing a bill that allowed the return of native architecture on the island of Maui. The law set a statewide standard that has since been adapted by the islands of Kaua'i, Hawai'i and O'ahu.

Catherine Lo: How would you describe traditional Hawaiian architecture?

Sen English: Traditional architecture uses indigenous materials–stone, wood, various types of thatching such as ti leaf, hala or various grasses like pili. The architectural style is uniquely Polynesian in that it’s usually built on a paepae or a platform, sometimes enclosed, sometimes not. What we have to understand, though, is these were the types of structures that supported our people in Hawai’i for as long as people have been here. And in the last century it became illegal to use these as building materials.

For safety reasons?

I’m not sure. It could be vestiges of colonialism, right? The idea was to end everything Hawaiian and make us something else. The reality is if you were to put a Western style wood-frame home next to a traditional Hawaiian building and a hurricane were to hit, most likely the Western structure would be demolished and the grass house would be left standing. And here’s why: The way that the Western homes are built is like an airplane wing–when the strong winds come, it creates suction. That’s why when you see videos of hurricanes, roofs get lifted right off the house. What happens with traditional structures is that the wind passes through them. People think the Western structures are stronger, when in fact the traditional structures were constructed specifically to withstand these types of conditions.

What about thatch and fires?

I worked very closely with the fire department in Maui County when I was on the [Maui County] council and creating this concept, and they went from being the strongest opponents to some of the strongest advocates. After two years of looking at different flame retardants, they said, hey, this works. Their inspectors are trained to know what to look for–certain types of retardants will be used on the leaves and the thatching. Certain structures will require a sprinkler system inside.

How do you apply traditional elements in today’s buildings? It’s hard to imagine modern steel-and-glass structures with thatch.

First, I had to change a whole mindset. Previously people called these grass shacks–that’s the image they would get. They would think of a structure that was below Western standards. So by coining a new term–indigenous architecture–it put it in the context of architecture. Now it’s on equal footing with Western architecture and other great civilizations’ architecture. From there I could have a debate on how to set up the codes and the permitting system to make it work.

The second thing was to get buy-ins from all the players–the BIA [Building Industry Association], the Association of Architects, for example–that this is a legitimate form of architecture. I wanted to make clear to them that I’m not looking at strictly following a traditional model. I’m not saying you only can build traditional structures. I’m looking for how you can take these concepts innovatively and use them in a modern context.

I’ll give you a good example in Tahiti. There’s a number of government buildings that are traditional structures–thatching on the outside–but you go inside, it’s fully air-conditioned, they have computers and everything is just like a regular office inside.

What are the benefits of bringing back traditional hale?

I think it helps people to feel a greater sense of place. In my hometown in Hana, people feel very comfortable meeting under them and using them as their workspace and their living area, because their grandparents remember them, right? It’s still within living memory.

It’s also economical to build–that’s the other thing. For those guys out there, all the materials are gatherable. Part of what I contemplated and I hope is coming into being is creating some secondary markets. What would have been considered rubbish plants before–they use inkberry, for example, as one of the building materials.

Does adopting these methods support a more sustainable Hawai’i?

I think it could. This is really a way of simplifying. We have this idea of what our inner spaces should be–what constitutes inside and outside. To do the transition from hermetically sealed interiors to something more interactive with the elements is a big step for a lot of people. But if we move toward this, I know families that have family lands who have come to me and said we want to build some traditional style structures so our family can live on this land. This allows them to do that. So in a way, it might help address homelessness and reach some of the poorest people in the population.

Image:contemporary home designed and built with traditional Hawai'in design principles and materials on the island of Maui. Ike Kligerman Barkley Architects.
OPPORTUNITY

January 9, 2013 - OPPORTUNITY for Artists, Scientists, Conservationists and Cultural Planners in Hawaii

The Volcano Arts Center on the big island of Hawai'i hosts exhibitions and programs that lie at the crossroads of ecology, community and art. The Center is operated under a Cooperative Agreement with the National Park Service, as an enhancement to the interpretive programs of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park (HVNP).

For more information: http://volcanoartcenter.org/
WELCOME THE WHALES CEREMONY

WELCOME THE WHALES CEREMONY
MAP in residence in Kauai'i, Hawai'i Jan 4 - 13

This past weekend artists, musicians, writers, poets and community members gathered for the third annual "Welcome the Whales Ceremony at Kapa'a beach on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i.

The ceremony marks the seasonal migration of endangered North Pacific Humpback whales, a 3,000 mile trip from Alaska to Hawai'i. The event was organized by Kohola Leo (Whale Voice) a non-profit collective of activists and artists promoting whale advocacy and dedicated to protecting the whales and their ocean world.

The ceremony was an inspiring time of wonder, mystery and celebration: as the ceremony began with drumming, song and a digeridoo performance by John Dumas a humpback whale suddenly appeared off the coast of Kapa'a Beach and as tropical rain storms persisted throughout the island, the area just above the ceremony was all blue sky. Wondrous indeed.

The Kohola Leo website has in-depth, scientific articles about Humpback whales, the ecology of oceans, and other relevant information: www.koholaleo.com

Image: Humpback Whale by Chris Bangs, courtesy of Kohola Leo, www.koholaleo.com
INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES IN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE

January 5, 2013 - Beginning Sunday, January 6 and continuing on various days throughout the month, the Peace Alliance is producing a tele council that includes esteemed teachers, elders and leaders from the Maori (NZ), the Hopi (USA) and the Choctaw (USA). These teleconferences will present concepts of restorative justice that are systematic to various indigenous traditions and explore how they can be used throughout the world.

For more information visit The Peace Alliance Website:
http://dopeace.us/page/restorative-justice

Image: Traditional Maori Bone Carving, New Zealand of the Koru, a symbol of peace, tranquility and spirituality
HAPPY 2013

NEW YEARS GREETINGS FROM ALL OF US AT MAP

Thank you for your support during 2012, MAP's inaugural year of producing projects and participating in programs dedicated to positive social and environmental change around the globe. We Wish You a Creative, Peaceful and Inspiring 2013.

Announcing MAP 2013, a festival and exhibition of projects that protect the environment, promote social justice and advance human knowledge and well-being.

October - November 2013, Dallas, Texas.
Updates about MAP 2013 will posted to our website and FB page in the upcoming months. Stay tuned!
GREENMEME AT SAN JOSE AIRPORT

December 30, 2012 - MAP participating artists Freya Bardell and Brian Howe of Greenmeme Studio's installation "Wired Wilderness 01" at the San Jose, California airport has been designed to raise awareness about climate change. Commissioned by the City of San Jose's Public Art Program the piece features time lapse videos of the Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, a part of the University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS), which is located nine miles from the airport. “We were interested in looking at nature but also how technology is being used to better understand nature’s messages,” said Bardell in an interview on the UCNRS website . This focus led them to digital ecologist Michael Hamilton of the UC Natural Reserve System.

Hamilton has helped pioneer the development of wireless environmental sensors that are designed to operate outdoors over long periods of time. These small devices can provide continuous recordings of climate, audio, and video conditions from remote, wild locations. They also give information related to physical conditions such as temperature, humidity, light levels, and soil moisture across an entire landscape. The progression of events such as wildflower blooms and bird nesting are part of the time lapse photography that viewers of "wired Wilderness 01" can see while waiting at the airport.

For more information:http://ucop.ucnrs.org/blog/reserves/blue-oak-ranch/blue-oak-reserve-arrives-at-san-jose-airport.html

Image: "Wired Wilderness 01" installation view, San Jose Airport 2012
THE RECYCLED ORCHESTRA OF CATUERA, PARAGUAY

December 26, 2012 - Graham Townsley’s new documentary film, “Landfill Harmonic” shows how trash and recycled materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical instruments that are also in and of themselves works of art. A cello made from an oilcan and pieces of wood thrown in the garbage; violins crafted from cardboard and tin, and a saxophone made of spoons and buttons. These are just some of the instruments crafted by Nicolas, a recycler with no previous experience making musical instruments, living and working in Catuera, Paraguay a town essentially built on top of a landfill. When an orchestra director, Maestro Luis Szaran and music teacher, Favio Chávez set up a music program for the children of the recyclers of Cateura, they soon had more students than instruments. That changed when they were brought instruments made out of garbage. Today, more than 30 youth make up The Recycled Orchestra.

For more information: http://www.landfillharmonicmovie.com
IMAGINE PEACE

December 20, 2012 - CELEBRATE PEACE IN TIMES SQUARE 12-21-12

A Yoko Ono happening, Friday, December 21st at 11:45pm everyone is invited to sing John Lennon's legendary song "IMAGINE" while Yoko Ono's film IMAGINE PEACE plays on Times Square's monumental billboards.
To join the happening, all are invited to meet at the "Red Steps" in Duffy Square, Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets, on Friday, December 21, at 11:45 p.m. Participants-and those who cannot make it to Times Square-are encouraged to follow @TSqArts on Friday night and tweet photos, videos, and peace using the hashtag #imaginepeaceTSQ.

The happening is a collaboration between Yoko Ono, Times Square Arts (the public arts program of the Times Square Alliance), Art Production Fund, and Make Music New York.

Image: Yoko Ono, Imagine Peace, www.imaginepeace.com
URBAN THINK TANK, COMMUNITY CENTER, SPACE FOR GATHERING

December 17, 2012 - Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the BMW Guggenheim Lab is a mobile laboratory that travels to cities worldwide. Led by international, interdisciplinary teams of emerging talents in the areas of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability, the Lab addresses issues of contemporary urban life through programs and public discourse. Its goal is the exploration of new ideas, experimentation, and ultimately the creation of forward-thinking visions for city life.

For more information: http://www.bmwguggenheimlab.org
GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

December 15, 2012 - From 1999 – 2001, in collaboration with NYC based graphic design firm World Studio, I produced a national project titled Peace Signs / Visualizing Violence. The aim of the project was to help young people, between the ages of 15 and 20, develop creative their skills and then provide them opportunities to access media where they could express their thoughts about youth gun violence. The project grew out of our frustration with mainstream media’s coverage of gun violence. While some journalists explored deeper cultural questions related to Columbine and the numerous other high school shootings of that time, rarely did they invite young people into the conversation. We wanted to know what young people thought about gun violence and how it impacted their lives.

In San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York City and Chicago youth (from every socio-economic background) participated in non-violence and mediation workshops, studied media literacy, helped to produce peace rallies, met with their local and state government representatives and expressed their thoughts and opinions in billboards, bus shelter posters, newspaper and magazine articles, and on radio and television. In each of the cities where the project was produced, there was a wider conversation among community members about the causes and impact of gun violence. The project became part of a nation wide conversation that sometimes led to meaningful action, such as the passage of stricter gun control laws in the state of California.

Most community cultural work, even in a project that is produced in cities across America (as Peace Signs was) is conducted in a microcosm. Our experience in this project however, corroborated many of the issues related to gun violence. From the project participants we learned that the glorification of violence in movies, television, and video games conveyed to them that the road to self-empowerment was often through bullying and violence. We also learned that where there were programs to help students, especially those suffering from depression, to better understand and navigate their world there was a decrease in all types of violence. Time and time again, we heard from the participants that adults did not listen to their concerns. And perhaps most distressing, we learned that most of the young people who came through our program, whether they were from an upscale neighborhood in Santa Monica, a middle-class suburb outside of Chicago, or the roughest neighborhoods in the South Bronx had access, or knew someone who had access to guns. They were not talking about guns locked up in the cabinets of relatives and friends, but guns for sale to anyone of any age and any mental disposition, who could come up with the cash.

In times of mass shootings, pundits often divide the country into simple dualities where gun rights advocates are on one side of the line and people for stronger gun control are on the other. It is as if each side lives in a walled city and there is no room for meaningful action that protects the second amendment rights of law abiding gun owners, but helps to keeps guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and others who seek to do harm. No ideological platform can accomplish the shift needed to end the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. Artists, designers and other cultural producers can and should play a role in creating spaces that are less polarizing, where meaningful dialogue, constructive action and positive change can take place. Culture is a powerful and effective agent for positive social transformation, one that can be less polarizing and also create societal benefits that go far beyond the initial purpose of a project or program. The question we must all ask ourselves now, is how can I use my creative skills and knowledge to help create a more peaceful and just society? And then, we must get to work.

Janeil Engelstad

Image: Taneisha Butler (age 20) + Janeil Engelstad, “Are You Listening?” bus shelter poster, Los Angeles, 48 x 69”, 2000
OTO HUDEC: NOMADIA TRAVELING MUSEUM

December 13, 2012 - OTO HUDEC'S NOMADIA TRAVELING MUSEUM AT GANDY GALLERY

Nomadia is an imaginary country without land ownership or borders. As it extends over different nationalities, it also extends over time – the past, the present and the future are interconnected. Nomadia is a country of travelers in tents. Its history is unwritten; only floating from the mouth to the ear via storytellers.

Throughout history tents have been used as shelter in different cultures. In North American indigenous people, Mongolian shepherds and Sahara tribes lived with basic necessities. To own luxurious and heavy things was not useful for people who are always ready for a journey. To live in the tent is almost to live as one with nature and therefore the people of Nomadia don´t consider Nature as property owned by man, but rather man is a part of Nature.

Inspired by contemporary movements such as Occupy in the United States, Indignados in Spain, Acampamentos in Portugal, where tents and camping became a pacifist yet powerful part of protest, Hudec considers "this way of thinking and living very meaningful in today´s situation. Nomadia is a reaction to the feeling that happens sometimes in history when people of different nationalities, backgrounds and ages feel the same. As if there was an idea in the air that everyone shares. And everyone adds a little of his own. This work is my small contribution towards this undefined idea."

Image: Nomadia Traveling Museum, installation view at Gandy Gallery, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
THE BUILDING COLLECTIVE

December 11, 2012 - For the exhibition “Work in Progress” at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, the building collective will transform the space of the museum by filling it with secret histories excavated from everyday spaces throughout Santa Cruz. Every other week, they will invite amateur historians, story makers, accidental geographers and other participants to the museum to create shared spatial histories by sharing stories in a shared space. These shared histories will become an over-sized concept map drawn on the walls of the museum, serving as a record of the meetings while exploring the connections between the social and material practices that continually recreate the spaces that the residents of Santa Cruz inhabit.

Do you know a secret something about Santa Cruz? Come to the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and share it.

MEETING DATES and THEMES:

December 14: set-up

 December 21: Downtown 

Jan 11: Westside 

Jan 25: UC Santa Cruz and the greenbelt 

Feb 8: the mighty San Lorenzo River and its levees 

Feb 22: Midtown / Seabright / Branciforte 

Mar 8: Beach Flats / Boardwalk

For more information: http://www.santacruzmah.org/2012/work-in-progress

Image: Postcard, Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz, circa 1940s
50 YEARS OF LOVE

December 6, 2012 - French filmmaker Vincent Lauth’s new documentary film project, “50 Years of Love” not only provides the audience with a window into the lives of street children living in Mumbai, India but also created an opportunity for the children to express their hopes, dreams and messages through art.

Beginning this past February, 125 children who were living or had lived on the streets created 15 large cubes - three dimensional canvases - where they expressed their messages to the larger community. Helping them were artists Christine Delbecq, Emmanuelle Grand and Alain Steck, members of a French artist group HYPOTHESE 222. “We wanted to push these children into a different world,” said Lauth. “The children were shy at first. But they opened up, not just to art but also to a world that lies beyond theirs and the possibilities that exist. When they were allowed to express themselves freely, they did so without any inhibitions whatsoever.”

The cubes have been exhibited in several public locations throughout the city, including the main Mumbai train station, in the process inspiring a community dialogue about the many complex issues that are connected with children having to live on the street.

Image: Gallery installation of cubes from “50 Years of Love”
OCCULIBRARY

December 3, 2012 - MAP Partner, OccuLibrary at Co – Re-Creating spaces, CentralTrak, Dallas.

Co- Re-Creating spaces surveys how artists are questioning and subverting existing systems, contexts, or spaces – the law, the economy, history, the news, and language. OccuLibrary is a Mobile OccuLab where informational mashups of studio systems and their arbiters pervasively skirt the pedagogical underpinnings of the culture capitalist institutions and exist in "dark matter" autonomy and collectivity. OccuLibrary includes books and other educational material donated by Dallas community members.

Curated by Carolyn Sortor (co-producer of OccuLibrary) & Michael A. Morris Co-Recreating spaces runs through January 5, 2013.

Public Programs:

Video Screenings: December 6, 7:00 PM

Artists Talk: December 13, 7:00 PM

For more information: http://occulibrary.blogspot.com and http://www.centraltrak.net/portfolios/corecreatingspaces

Image: OccuLibrary designed by Cassandra Emswiler, Kristen Cochran, & Greg Metz
DAY WITH(OUT) ART

December 1, 2012 - Day With(out) Art, highlighting the proactive programming of art projects by artists living with HIV/AIDS, and art about AIDS, that is taking place around the world. MAP thanks all of the artists, including MAP artist Katt Lissard, who have used their creative energies to draw attention to, educate people about, and reduce the impact of HIV-AIDS around the globe. We also remember and honor the many artists and other people who have died of AIDS related complications.

“Above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy. I was sad. I was in love. I was afraid. I was hopeful. I had an idea and I had a good purpose and that's why I made works of art. ”

― Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Image: Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled,” 1991. Installation view in Manhattan for Projects 34: Felix Gonzalez-Torres at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1992 Photo: Peter Muscato ©The Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation
JANEIL ENGELSTAD - ARTISTS TALK AT RE

November 30, 2012 - JANEIL ENGELSTAD participating in artist's talk at RE gallery + studio, December 2

MAP Founding Director Janeil Engelstad will be participating in an informal artist's talk at RE gallery + studio in conjunction with the exhibition ILLUMINA

TIONS. Engelstad will be reflecting on the work of the award winning New York based architecture firm LOT-EK and other themes related to the use of recycled and repurposed materials for lighting. Other participants include: Mary Benedicto, Marc McCollum, and Jared White

RE gallery + studio
1717 Gould Street, Dallas
Artist's talk
Sunday December 2, 2012
Reception 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Talk: 7:00 - 8:00 PM

Image: Lamp from up-cycled Arm & Hammer laundry detergent bottle by LOT-EK
CALL FOR PROPOSALS

OPEN ENGAGEMENT, May 17 - 19, 2013 in Portland, Oregon is an international conference that sets out to explore various perspectives on art and social practice and expand the dialogue around socially engaged art making. T

he Open Engagement conference is an initiative of Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice MFA concentration. Directed and founded by Jen Delos Reyes and planned in conjunction with Harrell Fletcher and the Art and Social Practice students, this year’s conference features keynote presenters Claire Doherty, Tom Finkelpearl, and Michael Rakowitz. The work by these artists and scholars touch on subjects including public art, politics, art in context and education.

You are invited to contribute to OPEN ENGAGEMENT by submitting your proposals for projects, performances, tours, interventions, presentations, or panel ideas.

SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE JANUARY 4, 2013.

For more information: http://openengagement.info/?utm_source=Open+Engagement+2012+general&utm_campaign=68555268b6-OE+call+for+proposals+2013&utm_medium=email

Image: Open Engagement 2011, photo by Jason Sturgill
NON-PLACE / PLACE - A SONIC EXCHANGE

November 25, 2012 - MAP partner Ear to the Earth presents Non-Place / Place a performance by Gill Arno and Daniel Neumann. Organized in space and time, field recordings are sent by multiple phonographers from many countries. A group of sound artists and musicians, performing with acoustic as well as electronic instruments, create an acoustic topology of where we are in a world of non-place spaces, of presence and solitude. The concept of non-place is based on anthropologist Marc Augé's observation that airports, railway stations, leisure parks, hotel chains, and supermarkets, for examples, are places of transience that are not significant enough to us to be considered places in our lives.

Ear to the Earth 2012

Non-Place / Place - a sonic exchange

Monday, November 26 

Installation 2—8pm 

Concert 8pm 

Judson Church

55 Washington Square South

New York, NY

For more information: http://www.eartotheearth.org/events/e2e12_na.html

Image: Grand Central Terminal, New York
NATURAL DISCOURSE

November 21, 2012 - Natural Discourse: Artists, Architects, Scientists &

Poets in the Garden , University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley

A collaborative project between The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley (UCBG) and a multi-disciplinary group of artists, writers, architects and researchers invited to spend time in UCBG’s extraordinary collection of plants, engage with the horticulturalists and develop new site specific work. One of the primary objectives of the exhibition is to raise awareness and support for the work that UCBG undertakes to research, grow and preserve plant species from around the world.

Curated by Mary Anne Friel, Assistant Professor, Rhode Island School of Design, and Shirley Watts, award-winning San Francisco Bay Area Landscape Designer the exhibition runs through January 2013.

For more information: http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu/whatsnew/NaturalDiscourse/index.shtml

Image: Ronald Rael & Virginia San Fratello, SOL Grotto,(detail) 2012 Plywood and glass tubes with reflective coating for solar application
GREEN ACRES

November 17, 2012 - GREEN ACRES: Artists Farming Fields, Greenhouses and Abandoned Lots at Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio through January 20, 2013

Curated by Sue Spaid, this exhibition addresses farming as both activism and art form. Featuring a real working farm within the gallery, a farm stand in the museum lobby, sculptures used for farming, videos and other installations, Green Acres presents farming as art through a wide variety of approaches. Another key component to the exhibition are satellite projects throughout the community. The exhibition includes MAP artists Kim Abeles and Helen and Newton Harrison.

For more information: http://contemporaryartscenter.org/GreenAcres

Image: Green Acres, Installation View
L3CS IN ARTS AND CULTURE

November 15, 2012 - Understanding the Potential of Low-Profit Limited Liability Companies (L3Cs) in Arts and Culture

November 16, 2012 • 2:00pm-6:00pm Columbia University • Schermerhorn Hall

INFORMATION and REGISTRATION:http://www.l3candthearts.com/

This symposium offers participants the opportunity to gain an understanding of the L3C, the unique symbol of a for-profit corporation organized to achieve charitable and socially beneficial results. Featuring the country’s L3C legal experts and thought leaders from the business of arts and culture, guest speakers include:

Adam Huttler Founder and Executive Director, Fractured Atlas

Jayme Koszyn Principal and Founder, Koszyn & Company

Marc Lane Author Social Enterprise: Empowering Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs Founder and President, The Law Offices of Marc J. Lane, P.C.

Gregory Mosher Tony Award Winning Director and Producer
Professor, Columbia University School of the Arts, Theatre

Andrew Taylor Author, The Artful Manager Professor, American University's Arts Management Program

Rick Zwetsch Co-Founder and Principal Partner, interSector Partners, L3C

Image: Columbia University / Morningside Heights, NYC, courtesy Columbia University
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE FUTURE OF CULTURE

November 13, 2012 - ARTIST STEPHANIE SYJUCO IN DISCUSSION WITH MIKE LINKSVAYER FROM CREATIVE COMMONS: How pressing issues around intellectual property will shape how culture is accessed and produced, in the future, around the world.

ZERO1 BIENNIAL

Conversation at ZERO1 GARAGE 439 S. 1^st Street, San Jose, California

Reception: 6:30 PM Talk: 7:00 PM

For more information: http://www.zero1biennial.org/stephanie-syjuco

Image: FREE TEXT: The Open Source Reading Room (2012), Stephanie Syjuco. Installation commissioned by ZERO1 with the support of the James Irvine Foundation
CALL FOR PROGRAM AND EXHIBITION PLANNER

NOVEMBER 8, 2012 - Pixelache Helsinki 2013 Festival "Facing North - Facing South."

"Facing North – Facing South" is organized as a dual-city event, in Helsinki, Finland and Tallinn, Estonia from May 16 -19 2013. If every North has its South and every South has its North, this is an invitation to alternately face North and South from multiple points of views, including geo-political, cultural, economical, both on global, regional and local levels.

Pixelache Helsinki 2013 is looking for organizations, groups or individuals to produce a seminar and an exhibition for "Facing North – Facing South," with the hope that the program will bring interesting insights and points of views to the question of North-South relationships. The selected organisation, group or individual will be given a production budget and a fee for the realization of the 'Facing North – Facing South' seminar and exhibition.

Application deadline: December 5, 2012

FOR MORE INFORMATION & APPLICATION FORM
http://www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/festival-2013/
URBAN PARK REFLECTS THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY IT SERVES

November 4, 2012 - Designed by BIG architects, landscape architecture studio Topotek1, and artist collective Superflex, the mile long Superkilen park in Copenhagen contains red, green and black zones. Each zone facilities different activities and includes destinations such as an outdoor market, playgrounds, fountains, open green space and more than 100 objects from the more than 60 different cultures that live in the surrounding area.

“Rather than a public outreach process towards the lowest common denominator or a politically correct post rationalization  of preconceived ideas navigated around any potential public resistance – we proposed public participation as the driving force  of the design leading towards the maximum freedom of expression. By transforming public procedure into proactive proposition  we curated a park for the people by the people – peer to peer design – literally implemented.” -Bjarke Ingels, founding partner, BIG 

“Our mission was to find the big picture in the extreme detail of a personal memory or story, which on the surface might appear insignificant,  but once hunted down and enlarged became super big. A glass of Palestinian soil in a living room in Nørrebro serving as a memory of a lost land,  enlarged to a small mountain of Palestinian soil in the park. A distant Mediterranean flirt in the seventies symbolized by a great iron bull,  hunted down and raised on a hill in the park.” – SUPERFLEX

”While the romantic gardens of the 19th century attempted to give the visitors an exotic experience of the world that was still  big and hard to travel around – allowing people to witness a Chinese pagoda or a Greek temple – the super park in Copenhagen  does the opposite. Rather than perpetuating a perception of Denmark as a mono-ethnic people, the super park portrays a true sample  of the cultural diversity of contemporary Copenhagen.” -Martin-Rein Cano, topotek1

More information and images of the park can be found on the Superflex website: http://superflex.net/tools/superkilen
ILLUMINATIONS AT RE GALLERY + STUDIO

NOVEMBER 2, 2012 - ILLUMINATIONS AT RE GALLERY + STUDIO

MAP partner Dallas based RE gallery + studio is having their grand opening on Friday, November 2 from 7:00 – 11:00 PM. The brainchild of architect and designer Wanda Dye, RE focuses on work that is made from recycled and repurposed materials. The inaugural exhibition, titled “ILLUMINATIONS,” features lamps designed and produced by American architects. Fabricated from variety of repurposed and recycled materials, the majority of the pieces were created especially for this exhibition. RE is one of the 15+ sites for “MAP 2013” an exhibition of social practice projects that includes symposiums, panel discussions, community workshops and other public programs spread throughout the greater Dallas- Fort Worth area in the fall of 2013.

For more information about RE gallery + studio: http://regallerystudio.com

Image: piece for “ILLUMINATIONS” by ANDERSON ANDERSON ARCHITECTURE, San Francisco, California ILLUMINATIONS AT RE GALLERY + STUDIO
NATURAL DISASTER

November 1, 2012 - “There is no such thing as natural disaster,” the landscape architect and theorist Anuradha Mathur has declared often, in the context of her work on the Mississippi River. Disasters, she implies, happen when the logic of natural systems is encroached upon by stupid urban development. Every disaster yielding human loss, socioeconomic and environmental degradation, and political strife can be traced to a specific conflict between ecologies, natural and artificial.

From Beyond Shelter – Architecture and Human Dignity edited by Marie J. Aquilino

Image: Anuradha Mathur + Dilip da Cunha, Photowork and Line Drawing of the Mining of Sand from the Kaveri River, India

To read an interview with Mathur and da Cunha about their work visit:

http://places.designobserver.com/feature/preparing-ground-an-interview-with-anuradha-mathur-and-dilip-da-cunha/13858/
S.S. PALO ALTO ARTPARK

OCTOBER 30, 2012 - Last week MAP Founding Director, Janeil Engelstad participated in a roundtable discussion that included artists, sceintists, educators and others at the University of California, Santa Cruz about the planned S.S. Palo Alto ArtPark on the Monterey Bay in Aptos, California. A project conceived by artist Barbara Bennish (the founding Director of MAP partner, ArtMill), the S.S. Palo Alto Project will focus on the sustainability of the ocean environment. Located off of Seacliff State Beach it has the potential to become a rallying symbol for the precarious future of California's State Parks, and the health of the world's oceans.

As an eco-friendly attraction to Seacliff's 1.5 million annual visitors, focusing on sustaining the unique marine life of the surrounding Monterey Bay, the beloved 'Cement Ship' will continue gracefully sinking to the sea floor off the pier at Aptos, while providing an international educational and recreational platform. The Ship, which is slowly becoming a new reef, will be filled with imaginative kinetic and solar sculptures as will the 400 foot long pier leading out to the S.S. Palo Alto. All sculptures will be safe and non-obtrusive to the delicate balance of the eco-system, made with natural biodegradable materials or otherwise non-toxic systems.

MAP's Mobile Environmental Art Lab will be an arts and environmental hub for the project as well as a resource center for the particpants and visitors. Updates on the proejct will be posted to MAP's blog and FB page.

Further details on ArtMill's website at: http://new.artmill.eu/ss-palo-alto-project
BLUE TRAIL DESIGN JAM COMPETITION

October 26, 2012 - Inspired by the America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project, Blue Trail is a “trail” of ten interactive art-design-science-tech installations that will take place along the San Francisco waterfront during the final races of the international America’s Cup sailing challenge in September 2013.

Each installation will offer a unique and imaginative way to encourage those on the Embarcadero and around the world to awaken to the mystery, beauty and fragility of the world’s oceans. Through immersive, participatory and provocative experiences that can be physical, digital, theatrical or otherwise interactive, people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds will find new ways to connect with the ocean and be inspired to support three global sustainability initiatives: Plastics - keeping plastics out of the ocean; Sustainable Seafood - promotion of sustainable seafood choices; and Marine Sanctuaries - preservation of biodiversity and extraordinary marine habitats

The Blue Trail Design Jam Competition, a high energy day of art-design-science-tech collaboration to generate concepts for the Blue Trail takes place Saturday, October 27 10 AM - 5:30 PM at Adaptive path, Pier One, San Francisco

Details and registration: www.bluetrail.us
THE ARCHITECTURE OF E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E AT NY LIVE ARTS

October 24, 2012 - The Architecture of E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E, New York Live Arts Oct 31 to Nov 3 at 7:30 pm

E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E is an epic, town hall musical proposing, with Thomas Paine and Martin Luther King, money as public property. Created by choreographer Daria Faïn and poet Robert Kocik, whose project "The Prosodic Body" is a part of MAP, in collaboration with composer Katherine Young and vocalist Samita Sinha and the Commons Choir. Twenty-seven dancers, singers and actors treat our current inequity crisis with reparative tones and intentions with the body as horn of plenty.

There will also be a series of ancillary talks, performances and workshops at Live Arts during the week of the show. It is Faïn and Kocik's hope that these discussions and actions will deepen the understanding of the work while simultaneously expanding the work beyond the scope of a performance.

Saturday, October 27, 10am-12pm--Shared Practice workshop with Daria Fain. $15.

Thursday, November 1 at 6:30pm--Come Early Conversation: BEGGING, with Sam Miller (President, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) Laura Barnard Stelmok and Robert Kocik.

Thursday, November 1 (post show) a benefit celebration for The Commons Choir in the Live Arts lobby!
Friday, November 2 (post show) Stay Late Discussion: Practicing the Prosodic Body, with Faïn, Kocik, The Commons Choir and Carla Peterson.

Saturday, November 3 at 3:00pm--Dramatic Presentation: On the Mechanization of the body and dancing towards liberation, with feminist activist Silvia Federici (author of Caliban and Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation).

October 31-November 3--Ongoing and OPEN to all in the New York Live Arts lobby--LOBBYING with Robert Kocik. An installed presence in the lobby that sets up an open resource (open collaboration) for learning how to take steps to influence lawmaking, as practiced by our Poets, Performers And People Pressure Group. Self-description:

"We collaboratively write and pursue the enactment of model legislation, resolutions, ordinances, bills and initiatives in favor of a more nurturing, other-oriented economy. We are a task force for providing lawmakers with model policies that distribute goods and services directly to needs, without the mediation of monetized exchanges geared toward maximized personal gain. We serve as a clearinghouse for ideas that introduce and induce an economics based on interconnectivity and plenty."

For more information:http://www.newyorklivearts.org/event/e_v_e_r_y_o_n_e

Photo: Matthew Semler
MATEJ VAKULA"S MANUALS FOR PUBLIC SPACE

October 16, 2012 - MAP artist Matej Vakula's, Manuals for Public Space (MfPS) at the Cyprián Majerník's Gallery in his exhibition, Open Sources. MfPS is a grassroots platform where people from around the world to exchange ideas about how to improve public space. Inspired by ideas that are based in “open source” sharing, the ideas and recommendations that come from this exchange are used to create printed and electronic manuals on how step by step, to recapture public space and make it more accessible and respondent to community needs. Visit Matej's project page to find out more information about and to particpate in the project.

Cyprián Majerník's Gallery

Ventúrska 9, 2. floor., Bratislava, Slovakia

Exhibition runs from Oct 12 - Nov 13, 2012

Image: Manuals for Public Space, New York City workshop, summer 2012
FIRST EXPOSURES AT MINT PLAZA, SAN FRANCISCO

October 13, 2012 - First Exposures & 200 Yards Exhibition at Intersection for the Arts Kiosk At Mint Plaza, San Francisco. MAP partner First Exposures (the education program of SF Camerawork) is exhibiting images that students took of their neighborhood from a summer program produced in partnership with 200 Yards.

Dates and times: Fridays, October 5, 12, 19 & 26 | 12-2pm
Location: Kiosk at Mint Plaza
Cost: FREE
For more information:http://theintersection.org/2012/10/placeworks-5w-present-200-yards-first-exposures-exhibition

Photograph by Keelan Sunglao-Valdez, age 17
1ST KAMPALA CONTEMPORARY ART FESTIVAL

October 10, 2012 - UGANDAN ARTISTS ADRESS HIV/AIDS, ECOLOGY and THE ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN RIGHTS and MORE in 1st KAMPALA CONTEMPORARY ART FESTIVAL (KLA ART 012)

The KLA ART 012 Festival aims to explore new and innovative ways of creating art and presenting outcomes to the public. Twelve artists have been invited to use twelve shipping containers, placed around the city of Kampala, as exhibition spaces. Many of these artists including Lilian Mary Nabulime and Ruganzu Bruno (founder of ECOART UGANDA) are using the festival to address social and environmental issues that impact people throughout Uganda, Africa and the world.

Fro more information: http://klaart012.org/what-is-kla-art-012/
SHARED SKIES A PUBLIC ART WORK BY KIM ABELES

October 8, 2012 - Kim Abeles, whose project frugalworld is featured on the MAP website has created a permanent public artwork for the Anderson-Munger YMCA that is being built in Koreatown, Los Angeles, California.

Abeles writes: "Shared Skies speaks to the connections between global, local and personal. As people look toward the sky each morning, through the day or each night, the sky speaks to their personal and local concerns. In a global sense, we observe the effects of our environmental decisions and find community through a seamless sky.

Shared Skies’ photographs are being collected through four situations: Abeles’ journeys and artists who participate as they travel worldwide, international friends through social media, and some purchased from photographers through stock photo sites. From the Salt Flats of Bolivia to Grand Forks in the United States, and Maasai Mara, Kenya to Pine Ridge, Oglala Sioux Tribe, our skies portray the connected parts of our place on this earth."

Image from Kim Abeles Shared Skies
SPONTANEOUS INTERVENTIONS: DESIGN ACTIONS FOR THE COMMON GOOD

October 4, 2012 - SPONTANEOUS INTERVENTIONS: DESIGN ACTIONS FOR THE COMMON GOOD at the U.S. Pavilion, 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale through November 25, 2012

In recent years, there has been a nascent movement of designers acting on their o

wn initiative to solve problematic urban situations, creating new opportunities and amenities for the public. Provisional, improvisational, guerrilla, unsolicited, tactical, temporary, informal, DIY, unplanned, participatory, opensource—these are just a few of the words that have been used to describe this growing body of work.

Spontaneous Interventions frames an archive of compelling, actionable strategies, ranging from urban farms to guerilla bike lanes, temporary architecture to poster campaigns, urban navigation apps to crowdsourced city planning. These efforts cut across boundaries, addressing architecture, landscape, infrastructure, and the digital universe, and run the gamut from symbolic to practical, physical to virtual, whimsical to serious. But they share an optimistic willingness to venture outside conventional practice and to deploy fresh tactics to make cities more sustainable, accessible, and inclusive.

For more information and to access the archive:
http://www.spontaneousinterventions.org/

Image: Intersection Repair, Portland, Oregon USA
TAKE ACTION!

September 30, 2012 - International initiative for public action as the National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina shuts down on Oct. 4, 2012

While the National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina (B&H) closes down on 4 October 2012 just as the National Gallery of B&H clo

sed down a year ago and five other state-level museums and libraries in Sarajevo are threatened with closure, scholars and artists are gathering around the platform Cultureshutdown.net. They are calling for the international public to join a global debate and to seek solutions in order to help the country overcome its impasse. The problem is not only financial, but also structural. Hence, a good solution can only be the product of a focused debate.

Cultureshutdown.net calls the public to:

• Visit www.cultureshutdown.net and send your comments on the published texts to contact@cultureshutdown.net

• Send your critical reflection, opinion, statement, suggestion of a solution, information on operation models of similar institutions in other countries to contact@cultureshutdown.net (they suggest for you to read the Summary of Institutions’ Positions, and critical reflections published on the www.cultureshutdown.net)

• Send links to relevant articles, analyses and critical studies produced globally that could inspire solution of the crisis of cultural institutions in B&H

• Cultureshutdown.net calls for a constructive debate that will put an end to this crisis and save the cultural and historical heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cultureshutdown.net was launched in January 2012 on the initiative of Azra Akšamija, a Sarajevo-born artist and architectural historian at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) and a MAP-Make Art with Purpose participant, and Maximilian Hartmuth, an art historian from Vienna who specializes in the Balkans.

Contact :
Selma Gičević | 38762332865 | contact@cultureshutdown.net |www.facebook.com/cultureshutdown |www.cultureshutdown.net
FILM BY JULIE TROOST SCREENING AT OUTLET DANCE FESTIVAL

September 27, 2012 - Julie Troost's short film of the MAP project, H U G, will be screened on Sunday, October 7 at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ as part of the day long Outlet Dance Project. Dance films will be screened twice beginning and between the screenings live dance performances will take place in the theater as well as on the sculpture grounds. The festival is free with park admission.

H U G
a short film by Julie Troost
at the Outlet Dance Festival
Grounds for Sculpture
Hamilton, NJ
11:30am-12:30pm AND 12:45pm-1:45pm, dance films in the Seward Johnson Center
2pm-4pm Live dance performances in the theater
and on the grounds.
Free with park admission.
http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/index.html

Image: Pedro Jimenez and Laeticia Emmanuel, perform H U G
Photograph by Amadeo Lasansky © H U G
RUSSIAN BAND PUSSY RIOT WINS LENNON-ONO PEACE PRIZE

September 25, 2012 - Russian feminist punk rock band PUSSY RIOT stepped onto the global stage in February of 2012 after a provocative performance at Moscow’s sacred Cathedral of Christ the Saviour church in

which they invoked the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of President Vladimir Putin.

After a video of the performance went viral, three of the group’s members were arrested and charged with hooliganism. Their lengthy trial recently concluded with a two year jail sentence. In response numerous world activists and human rights groups who have staged protests across the globe.

Yoko Ono with the backing of Amnesty International, awarded the prize to Pussy Riot in New York City on September 21, 2012.
PLAYWRIGHT EVE ENSLER’S “1 BILLION RISING” LAUNCHES WEBSITE

ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.

ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY

September 24, 2012 - The playwright and activist Eve Ensler is launching a global strike to end violence against women. "One Billion Rising" calls on women "and the men who love them" to join together on Feb. 14, 2013, and "dance until the violence stops." The website for the campaign goes live today. Visit the website to discover how you can participate and to learn about the important work that 1 Billion Rising is doing to raise awareness about, and to help stop, violence against women. Ensler is the award-winning playwright and creator of "The Vagina Monologues." Her latest play, "Emotional Creature," opens in New York City in November.

1 Billion Rising Website: http://www.onebillionrising.org
JANEIL ENGELSTAD AT THE READING ROOM

September 18, 2012 - JANEIL ENGELSTAD EXHIBITING AT THE READING ROOM SEPT 22 - OCT 21, 2012

For over a century The State Fair of Texas, the largest state fair in the country, has been a mainstream showcase for agriculture, crafts and livestock that is sponsored, in part, by big agri-business. During the 2012 State Fair of Texas, Janeil Engelstad is producing an exhibition at The Reading Room, which is located across the street from the fairgrounds that will be a parallel universe to the official state fair.

Titled, Y’UTOPIAS: An Almanac (of sorts) of Sustainable and Off-the-Grid Living in Texas, the project investigates and documents sustainable and off-the-grid living, farming and ranching throughout the state. The installation includes photographs, video and text from her interviews with people who are, in many ways, contemporary Texan pioneers. Like any good state fair, Y'UTOPIAS includes demonstrations and other events. Engelstad has built a functioning worm farm that will demonstrate how worm castings can be used to make worm wine and naturally fertilize a garden.

Other demonstrations include:

Sunday, September 23, 3:00 PM, Raw & Vegan Chef and Cook Book Author, Haylee Otto will demonstrate how to make milk from nuts and seeds

Sunday, Oct. 7, 3:00 PM Lisa Staffelbach, Chef and Owner of 24 Carrot Health, will teach fermenting. Come learn how to make sauerkraut and take your own jar home!

Sunday, Oct 14, 3:00 PM Raw Food Chef Phebe Phiilips will demonstrate how to start a sprout farm and grow your vegetables indoors in your kitchen.

The opening reception is Saturday, Sept 22 7-9 PM

Shiner Bock and Wanda Dye's infamous BBQ!

For more information: http://www.thereadingroom-dallas.blogspot.com

Image: Alan Milking, Marfa Maid Dairy, Marfa Texas, Janeil Engelstad, 2012
SOC(I)AL: ART + PEOPLE - LOS ANGELES

September 16, 2012 - SOC(i)AL: Art + People is a free, public series of roundtable discussions and weekend events that explores socially engaged art in Southern California from East to West. Join the dialogue with SoCal artists, scholars, activists, and administrators as we think about socially engaged art in relation to zoning, technology, ethics, food, ritual, performance, gentrification, museums, democracy, nature and art support structures in the here-and-now. The series of individually produced events takes place at venues across L.A. September - November 2012

For more information: http://freewaves.org/public-art-social-practice/a-series-of-discussions-about-socially-engaged-art-in-l-a-fall-2012/#kcet.org/artbound
360° TOUR OF DOCUMENTA(13)

September 14, 2012 – If you missed dOCUMENTA(13), one of the most thought provoking and interesting surveys in the past few years (in our humble opinion), you can view it now in 360°. With commentary in German and a view of every exhibition site and piece in the exhibition it is almost as good as being there.

Be sure to check out MAP artist Robin Kahn’s installation, La Cooperativa Unidad Nacional Mujeres Saharauis (The National Union of Women from Western Sahara) in Karlsaue Park:

http://www.hronline.de/website/specials/documenta13/index.jsp?rubrik=74368&tourid=75084&key=standard_document_45007116

Image: Inside Robin Kahn and The National Union of Women from Western Saraha's tent installation at dOCUMENTA(13)
MAP EXHIBITING IN BOSTON

September 12, 2012 - MAP will be exhibiting in South Boston as part of the Terrain show at Spoke Gallery / Medicine Wheel Productions, which opens on September 22 at 5:00 PM. Curated by Kathleen Bitetti, the exhibition features artists from around the globe whose work explores notions of terrain.

MAP's contribution is a large oversized print of our map of the continents that is featured on our web site's and FB home pages. The new version marks with numbers and a takeoff on the dot in our logo, where each of MAP's artists are working in the world. An accompanying booklet gives details on each artist's project and includes a photo. Thus, the booklet is the key to the map.

For more information: http://mwponline.org/wordpress/?page_id=682
TRUTH IS CONCRETE

September 8, 2012

Truth is Concrete

Artistic Strategies in Politics and Political Strategies in Art. Sept 21 - 28, 2012

Graz, Austria features over 200 artists including Michal Murin and Milan Adamčiak

Truth is Concrete is a 24-hour, 7-day marathon camp: for 170 hours more than 200 artists, activists and theorists lecture, perform, play, produce, discuss and collect useful strategies and tactics in art and politics. A full grant program additionally invited 100 students and young professionals from all over the world. The marathon is a platform, a toolbox as well as a performative statement.

Truth is Concrete asks:

How did art and artistic strategies and tactics play a role in the uprisings and demonstrations around the world over the past year? At a time when art, theory and practice seem to be constantly lagging behind reality? When art is seen more and more as a mere leftist hobby rather than a foundation of humanity? Can art help solve problems that politics and society themselves have ignored for so long? Should art be a social or political tool, can it be useful? And why should artists know what to do when nobody else does?

As a part of this Michal Murin will be presenting his project, Altruism as Arttruism. Murin launched this project in 2005 by helping Milan Adamčiak, a once highly regarded artist who had become homeless. Using the processes of unstrained, ergonomic, nonconfrontational intuitive management, amateur banking, do-it-yourself dealership, Murin organized a home and restored the position of Adamčiak who had disappeared from public view for 20 years. The project, in part, is an active altruistic response to the absence of functional social and artistic systems since the collapse of Communism in 1989.

For more information: http://truthisconcrete.org/about

Image:Michal Murin and Milan Adamčiak Altruism as Arttruism, installation, exterior view with the artists, 10 x 10 Exhibition, Wroclaw, Poland 2011
HALF LIFE: PATTERNS OF CHANGE AT SANTE FE ART INSTITUTE

September 6, 2012 - HALF LIFE explores questions that underlie the basic concept of half-life: how do systems age, decline, and regenerate? How can we use the artistic and creative processes to make those actions sustainable, inclusive, and effective? Visiting artists, including Theater Without Borders, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Ida Kleiterp, Nancy Holt, Amy Franceschini, Charles Lindsay, Steve Lambert, Monika Bravo, Andrea Bowers, Rulan Tangenn & Dancing Earth, will wrestle with complex issues such as the history of culture and society, the boundaries of cycles, how relationships with the natural environment build or destroy community, and meditations on self-identity and place.

For schedule and more information:http://www.sfai.org/index2.html

Image: Ida Kleiterp "Two Resevoir" from "How To Make Your Own Trail"
JANEIL ENGELSTAD IN YOYO MAGAZINE

September 2, 2012 - The current issue of YoYo, titled R/Evolution, features work that is inspired by revolution, evolution and more. Janeil Engelstad's contribution of interviews and images from her project, “Voices From the Center,” illuminate the 1989 revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe. The multiform project, which has been presented in various formats throughout Central Europe and the United States, stems from her conversations and interviews with people in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland about their lives before and after communism. The “Voices From the Center” website is a unique, interactive piece that includes interviews, photographs, music, artwork and other material that gives the audience an in-depth experience of the many different facets of the period before and after the Cold War.

YoYoMagazine publishes art, narrative, and poetry. They are unique in that their structure is inherently conversational; beginning with excerpts of a conversation amongst the editors, they then ask for contributions that extend their interpretations on the theme. They think of the first issue as the initial iteration: the Yo. The entire first issue becomes a call to all readers for responses. If readers think that their work is in conversation with their theme, send it to them. They may include it in their second iteration, which publishes selected responses to the first issue and comprises the second Yo in YoYo.

YoYoMagazine: http://www.yoyomagazine.org

Voices From the Center: www.voicesfromthecenter.net
ENDS OF THE EARTH AT MOCA LOS ANGELES

August 31, 2012 - LAST WEEKEND OF "ENDS OF THE EARTH: LAND ART to 1974" at MOCA LOS NGELSE, WHICh INCLUDES HELEN and NEWTON HARRISON"S HOG PASTURE SURVIVAL PIECE #1. 1970-71.

First commissioned by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the piece features a large patch of grassland growing in a wooden container under artificial lights. "We attempted to introduce a small hog to our pasture," the Harrisons said of the initial Boston exhibit. "The museum refused." Alas, there's no pig at MOCA either.

"Hog Pasture' was the first of many grassland pieces grown by the Harrison's, work the would eventually evolve into major investigations, proposals and work in the filed that addressed the role of grasslands in the Earth's eco-system.

For more information: http://moca.org/
NEW WHALE MURAL BY OTO HUDEC

August 26, 2010 - MAP artist and associate director Oto Hudec recently completed a mural above a corridor in the bus station in the city of Topolcany, Slovakia. His foundation for the piece was the question, “How would you visually imagine earth as one living organism? Perhaps, as something that is both strong and fragile or something that responds and reacts to our actions? “ In response, Hudec envisioned Topolcany on top of a whale.

A small, historic town, Topolcany went through industrialization during socialism, privatization in the post-communist era, and finally, globalization. Only a few of the original factories survive. One, a wood-based heating factory, consumes a few camions of wood – a little piece of the forest -each day. The heating factory and the surrounding woods is one of the sites on the top of the whale. Others include: an old furniture factory; the historic Topvar brewery, now owned by an international corporation that brews the beer outside of Topolcany; a train station; and a historical villa that was reconstructed for a casino with underground parking. A nod to Topolcany’s illustrious past, Hudec asks the travelers who pass under the mural to consider the connectedness of local topographies, histories and ecologies as well as their own thoughts and actions, as a vital part of the overall organism, planet Earth.
MEDITATIVE INSTALLATION FROM REPURPOSED CDS IN PARIS

August 24, 2012 - French artist Elise Morin and architect Clémence Eliard, have created a meditative and luminous landscape composed of 65,000 old CDs hand-sewn together into dunes that cover 500 square meters. Titled '”Wastelandscap”' the installation is up, in the Halle d'aubervilliers' of Paris's centquatre, through September 10. The artists plan to install the piece in several locations, transforming the piece with each new incarnation, before eventually completely recycling the CDs into polycarbonate.

For more in formation: http://www.104.fr/#/en
CONVERSATIONS AROUND CLIMATE CHANGE, SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ARTS AT BALLROOM MARFA

August 22, 2012 - The 2012 Ballroom Marfa 2012 Dialogues will take place from Saturday, September 1 – Sunday, September 3. The three-day symposium includes conversations around climate change and sustainability with artists, performers, writers, scientists and entrepreneurs — among them Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Rebecca Solnit, the distinguished critic and author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost and A Paradise Built in Hell. Other featured participants include David Buckland, Hamilton Fish, Cynthia Hopkins, Diana Liverman, John Nielsen-Gammon, Robert Potts, Tom Rand and Bonnie J. Warnock.

The 2012 Marfa Dialogues kicks-off on Friday, August 31 with the opening of Carbon 13, Ballroom Marfa’s fall 2012 exhibition presenting newly commissioned works by artists that propose a creative response to climate change. Carbon 13 features eight international artists who have ventured alongside scientists to some of the world’s geographic tipping points, places profoundly stressed by our warming planet, and whose work aims to stimulate a wider engagement with the climate debate.

All weekend events are free and open to the public. Seating is general admission and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information: http://ballroommarfa.org/archive/event/marfa-dialogues-2012/
TIME FOR TEA & CONVERSATION IN BOSTON

August 19, 2012 - Throughout the month of August, visual artist Kathleen Bitetti has been holding conversations hours at the Massachusetts State House's 4th floor Cafe and at Gallery Kayafas in South Boston. The conversation hours are connected to her role serving on the State’s Creative Economy Council and are part of her contribution to the 2012 London Biennale. Those who attend are given a memento for taking the time for “Tea taking for business and pleasure”.

Visit Kathleen on August 24 and 31, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at the State House Cafe to talk to her about issues such as intellectual property rights, health care reform/access, fair trade issues particularly as they pertain to artists of all disciplines, artists’ space issues, cultural diplomacy, funding for the arts, the creative economy and more!

Although not required, people are encouraged to contact Kathleen to schedule their visit when possible. Contact her via email: timefortea2012@gmail.com

For more info and/or rsvp on Facebook:

State House Teas: http://www.facebook.com/events/415863975126545/
PROJECT FOR PUBLIC SPACES

August 17, 2012 - The Project for Public Spaces (PPS) has put together a virtual catalog of 600 inspiring public spaces around the world. The spaces include squares, commons, parks and other locations where the public can gather, meet, rest and play. Each location comes with details about how the public uses the space and why it works - what makes it a successful public space.

The PPS website also includes information on how you can help to develop a public space in your own community.

For more

information: http://pps.org/great_public_spaces

Image:

Ortaköy Square, on the Bosporus, Istanbul, Turkey, with cafes, galleries and places for people to sit and play. Photo courtesy of Planetware
LAWN SCHOOL NYC, FREE SKOOL, SANTA CRUZ CA & MATEJ VAKULA IN BOSTON

Aug 15, 2012 - Free summer schools for adults and children focused on the arts, activism, holistic living and more have been taking place from New York City to Santa Cruz, CA and places in-between.

There is still time to participate! Lawn School will be back in Tompkins Square Park this week with courses that range from a Spanish Language Mixer to Strange Markings, a performance based experience. Free Skool's upcoming programs include beach yoga, hoop dancing and every Friday, through September, classes on urban agriculture.

MAP participant Matej Vakula will be offering his workshop Manuals for Public Space tonight in Boston at the Cyberarts Gallery at 7 PM. For more information: http://bostoncyberarts.org/uncategorized/boston-cyberarts-gallery

For more information on Lawn School: http://lawnschool.net/lawnschool.html

For more information on Free Skool: http://santacruz.freeskool.org
WOMEN IN INDIA USE PHOTOGRAPHY AND TRADITION TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST USE OF PESTICIDES

August 6, 2012 - Held annually at the beginning of August, the Indian festival Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan, celebrates the relationship of brother and a sister. On the auspicious day of Rakhi, sisters wake up in the morning, bathe, offer prayers to the Almighty and visit their brothers to perform the rituals of Rakhi, essentially tying of sacred, decorated, silk thread (which is called 'Rakhi' or 'Raksha Sutra') on their brothers' wrist. After the ritual of tying Rakhi is over, the brothers give their sisters a gift and promise them to help them whenever they need and to protect them throughout their lifetime.

This Raksha Bandhad, woman from villages in the state of Haryana will tie sacred threads onto photographs of insects as a part of their campaign against the use of pesticides in agriculture fields. The photographs will be posted throughout the region as part of a larger educational effort to promote a balanced ecology.

The woman attend classes organized by the agricultural scientist Surender Dalal, who has motivated farmers throughout the region to stop using pesticides. Over 90 farm-friendly insects have been identified through the program, which has resulted in a significant decrease in the use of pesticides and the return of insects who promote healthy crops.

"Uncontrolled use of pesticides has killed numerous insects that actually help protect crops. Women have decided to take up the cause of insects and we will protect them," said Geeta Malik, a master trainer who learned about the insects that live in the fields around her village, Nidana. "These insects are like our brothers who protect our crop. In turn, we too have taken a vow to protect them by shunning pesticides, which kill the farm-friendly insects," she added.

Image: Girls with rakhis, courtesy of Uddharan

FIRST EXPOSURES AND 200 YARDS

August 2, 2012 - This summer the students of San Francisco based MAP partner First Exposures, part of SF Camerawork, collaborated with 200 Yards for a four-week workshop documenting their neighborhood. The students took photos and curated an exhibition themselves, along with some help from the 200 Yards staff and First Exposures staff and mentors. The exhibition will be on view in the SF Camerawork Project Room through August 25. The opening reception is Saturday, August 11, from 2-4 pm.

First Exposures is a unique mentoring program that uses art education to develop transferable skills and foster supportive intergenerational relationships between artists and under-served Bay Area youth. Students and mentors meet weekly for a year and work toward a final project, which in the past has included exhibitions, public billboards, and the book First Exposures.

200 Yards, founded by Shelly Kerry and Genevieve Brazelton, is a local photo project focusing on Bay Area neighborhoods 200 yards at a time. They pick a location, map a 200-yard radius around it, and put a call out to photographers to take photos within the circle. Photographers submit their favorite shots and Shelly and Genevieve curate an exhibition to showcase the micro-neighborhood.

For more information: http://www.sfcamerawork.org/education

REBECCA CARTER AT THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS, NYC

July 31, 2012 – MAP participant Rebecca Carter will be giving an artist’s talk on August 8, 6:30 PM at The Center for Book Arts in New York City.

The talk is in conjunction with her participation in the exhibition “Tell Me How You Really Feel: Diaristic Tendencies” that runs through September 22, 2012. Pieces from “Saudade”, Carter’s series of text based groundless thread drawings inspired by public signage, advertising, and a book of Elizabeth Bishop poems are included in the exhibition.

The Center for Book and Paper Arts is located at 28 W 27^th Street, 3^rd Floor, NYC

For more information: http://centerforbookarts.org

Image: Rebecca Carter, “With You for You Always”, thread drawing, 2011
OTO HUDEC EXHIBITING AT NASTUPISTE SLOVAKIA

July 28, 2012 - Based on the idea of collective consciousness, the exhibition, Sleepers shows scenes from different places in the world, where, primarily, young people suffer from the consequences of the global market.

Sleep is a form of non-violent resistance or just a response of the body to the unbearable pressures of overwork. Sleep is also associated with the sleeping mind – the blindness of populations – sometimes unconscious and sometimes a desired blindness / sleep because reality is too hard to accept. A sleeping Chinese worker after a 16 hour shift, a sleeping African clandestine on the beach of Tangier after nights of trying to cross the border between the Camions, and a sleeping occupy protester in a tent somewhere in America. These are some of the scenes portrayed on the exhibition.

Text from Hudec's artist statment

Image: Oto Hudec, Sleeping Chinese, Oil on Canvas, installation view, 2012
MATEJ VAKULA AT LAWN SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY

July 26, 2012 - A workshop for Matej Vakula's project, Manuals for Public Space, which is a part of MAP, will be produced at Lawn School in Tompkins Square Park, NYC on August 2 from 7 - 9 PM.

Manuals for Public Space is a grassroots platform where citizens from different countries around the world exchange ideas about and then engage to improve public space. At the Lawn School Vakula will lead workshops where the participants we create step by step manuals on how to solve specific issues in public space. After the workshop, the manual will be printed and also uploaded online as part of an ongoing open source library for users to freely use.

Lawn School, a project of Megan Snowe and Rachel Steinberg, is a weekly series of free classes, lectures, discussions and workshops that occur on the lawns of public parks throughout New York City. Open to any and all to teach and attend, each session takes place on Thursday evenings July - August 2012.

For more information about Manuals for Public Space: http://vakula.eu/blog/mfps/

For more information about Lawn School: http://lawnschool.net/lawnschool.html

Image; Matej Vakula, construction for Eco Think Tank, Slovakia
REPORT FROM DOCUMENTA (13) - KASSEL, GERMANY

July 21, 2012 - MAP was at dOCUMENTA (13) this past week, connecting with new artists and visiting old friends. The thirteenth edition of Documenta triumphantly merges the political with the poetic. Inspiring, dynamic and visionary, Carolyn Christov-Bakargieve and team have curated an international survey that poses as many questions as answers and ultimately encourages us to think and engage.

Artists working in, or touching upon, social practice were well represented from Theaster Gates restoration of a dilapidated Hugeuenot house built in 1826 to And, And, And’s community herb garden, classroom and tea hut where tea was brewed and served, free of charge, every afternoon. Tea was also served daily at The Sahrawi Tent Cooperative, a project of Robin Kahn in collaboration with La Cooperative Unidad Nacional Mujeres Saharauis (The National Union of Women from Western Sahara). The tent, one of more than 50 projects installed in small structures throughout Karlsaue Park, is a gathering place for tea, lentils, couscous and conversation. Kahn is on location at various times throughout the exhibition to talk with audience members about the Sahrawi Refugee camps and the plight of the Sahrawi people.

In 2009 Kahn lived and worked in the camps. Out of this experience grew a cookbook, which is the foundation for her project at Documenta. In the introduction to the cookbook Kahn writes:

“Since 1975, the population of Western Sahara or Sahrawis has been forced to live between two lands. The people who live in the area that extends to the Atlantic coast (The Occupied Territories) endure unfriendly occupation violently imposed upon them by the Moroccan government. They are forbidden the right to fish their well-stocked waters to benefit from their land’s abundance of natural resources. Those who were forced to leave their country in 1975 [when Spain left it’s Sahara colony and Morocco annexed the territory] reside within one of five refugee camps in the Algerian desert. The rest, mostly, nomadic, are scattered within the interior of the Liberated Territory of the Western Sahara which is flanked by a 2700 kilometer long wall armed by one of the world’s largest minefields.”

In early July delegates, including the Minister of Culture for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, were at the tent talking with people about their culture, traditions, and their desire to create an independent country. Kahn’s powerful project, which will soon be on MAP’s website, creatively gives voice and an international stage to the Sahrawi people through traditional food, mint tea and hospitality.

Janeil Engelstad

Image: The Sahrawi Tent Cooperative, collage, Robin Kahn, 2012
VIDEO FROM MAP’S EXHIBITION AT GALERIE CALIFIA

July 19, 2012 - View the video that MAP produced as a study for Oto Hudec’s project, “Instrument for Listening” at the MAP Vimeo site: https://vimeo.com/45746078

Photograph: Janeil Engelstad and Oto Hudec in front of megaphone installation

at Galerie Califia. By Alex Katis
MAP EXHIBITING AT GALERIE CALIFIA IN CZECH REPUBLIC

July 14, 2012 – MAP will be participating in a group exhibition at GALERIE CALIFIA in the town of Horažďovice, located a few fields and a couple of villages away from ArtMill. American artist Barbara Benish founded GALERIE CALIFIA, like ArtMill. Both organizations are situated under the non-profit umbrella of Art Dialogue, whose scope includes a range of activities and campaigns to promote culture, education, and international artistic exchange including the artist’s residencies and art summer camp that MAP has been a part of over the past 10 days. To learn more about Art Dialogue activities visit www.artmill.eu

All of the MAP artists will be represented at GALERIE CALIFIA as we are exhibiting a hand painted version of the Make Art with Purpose “map” made by Oto Hudec. The map includes numbered points that key to booklet with images and a short paragraph about each MAP artist’s project. In addition to displaying the map we are showing the megaphones and video from the workshop that we did with the ArtMill summer campers. The youth will be at the opening to see and talk about their work to audience members. MAP and ArtMill / GALERIE CALIFIA share the mission of breaking down barriers in the arts, whether it is between the art world and different communities, institutions, or art makers. Communicating our shared values of access, inclusion, education and sustainability through the arts has been at the core of MAP’s residency at ArtMill. MAP thanks everyone who is a part of the ArtMill team for helping us to advance our mission of positive social and environmental change throughout the world.

Janeil Engelstad

Image: MAP’s “map”, paint on canvas, work in progress, by Oto Hudec
MDW ART FAIR CALL FOR PROPOSALS

CALL FOR PROPOSALS MDW FAIR OCT 26 - 28 - CHICAGO

JULY 12, 2012 - MDW Fair is an ongoing collaboration between MAP resource partner threewalls, Roots & Culture, Public Media Institute and document, highlighting independent art initiatives, spaces, galleries and artist groups, highlighting artist-run activities and experimental culture locally, nationally and internationally. The collaborators are working to create a convergence of grassroots and independent culture from across the world. MDW Fair is a showcase for independent art initiatives, spaces, galleries and artist groups, highlighting artist -run activities and experimental culture
locally, nationally and internationally.

Proposals are due August 15 and can be mailed to MDWfair@gmail.com.

For more information visit: mdwfair.org
MAP + ZAKTI AT ARTMILL

July 11, 2012 - In addition to directing MAP, Janeil Engelstad is a co-owner (with Pam Miller) of the specialty tea company, Zakti. MAP and Zakti share a philosophy of sustainability and giving back to communities around the world.

Yesterday Janeil gave a talk about tea to the campers at Artmill. The talk included information about the different types of tea and the Zakti principles of sustainable development, including: building and maintaining positive relationships with the people who grow and produce Zakti teas; ensuring ecologically sound practices in all aspects of Zakti business; achieving a profit that generates a fair income for the owners and employees and gives revenue back to the communities where Zakti does business. Over the next months Zakti will be supporting various creative projects around the globe, including MAP and Art Dialogue. For more information on our activities in the arts you can check out Zakti’s journal at: www.zakti.com

To see more photos of the tea class and other sustainable projects at ArtMill visit the ArtMill Facebook page:

Image: Alex Katis
MAP WORKSHOP FOR YOUTH AT ARTMILL

JULY 9, 2012 - Today MAP produced a workshop based on Oto Hudec's project, "Instrument for Listening" with summer campers at ArtMill. Through this workshop, youth (ages 6 - 15) designed and built megaphones. They then conceived of a message that they communicated through the megaphones, which was documented on video that will be edited and on line soon.

One of the things that I learned in the workshop is that these eleven kids (from the Czech Republic, Russia and the USA) are hearing from a variety of sources that we need to do a better job of taking care of our planet and that often the message is just too serious or negative. One of the workshop participants told me that she gets tired of hearing about the environment because the delivery is so heavy. In response to this she and the camper that she collaborated with created a message about the benefits of eating vegetarian that was light hearted and humorous.

The ArtMill summer camp is also light hearted and full of humor. The campers have opportunities to learn about environmental issues in an inspired atmosphere that encourages each of them to discover their potential in meaningful and creative ways. Using arts based learning as a tool to expand their thinking about their relationship to ecology and the environment works and they have fun at the same time. Helping our youth to imagine possibilities and be hopeful about their future is a key component of our efforts towards improving our communities and planet.

Janeil Engelstad

photo: Nicholas trying our his megaphone

Janeil Engelstad
UPDATE FROM ARTMILL - THOUGHTS ON WATER

July 8, 2012 – As the well pump is temporarily broken we are without running water. This has inspired conversations about issues around water such as one in six people in the world live lack safe drinking water and water related illness are the leading cause of human death throughout the world. Water concerns have followed me from working on a farming project in Texas, where the drought conditions throughout the state are abnormally dry to extreme, to the Czech Republic.

The pump in the well will be fixed and running water will return to ArtMill, but the European continent like the much of the world is facing groundwater over-exploitation due to new agricultural and socioeconomic development in regions where surface water resources are insufficient, uncertain or too costly. Over-abstraction leads to a lowering of the water table, loss of wetlands dependent on groundwater and deteriorating water quality. This is a significant problem in many European countries, in particular, along the coast where the population density and the need for water are high. Over-abstraction in these areas often leads to intrusion of saltwater into aquifers making groundwater unsuitable for consumptive uses (European Environmental Agency).

Inspired by these events and concerns, along with the water crisis in developing countries, MAP will produce a forum on how artists are responding, and can respond, to issues around water as a part of our 2013 exhibition in the Dallas -Ft. Worth Metroplex (DFW). Later in the year we will be posting details on how you can join the conversation by participating on location in DFW or virtually. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about water issues around the world visit the United Nations website, UN Water: http://www.unwater.org

Photo: The Well at ArtMill, Janeil Engelstad
MAP IN RESIDENCE AT ARTMILL, CZECH REPUBLIC

July 6, 2012 - Janeil Engelstad and Oto Hudec are in residence at ArtMill in Horaždovice, Czech Republic - in the lands traditionally known as Bohemia about 2.5 hours from Prague.

While we are here we will be updating the MAP website with new projects and resources and developing our public programs that begin in Boston and Dallas this fall. In the meantime we are producing our first outreach program right here at ArtMill. We will be working with young people gathered here for an art and sustainability summer camp. With the youth we will produce an adapted version of Oto's project "Instrument for Listening", which will be exhibited in Galerie Califia in Horaždovice opening on July 14. We will be posting material from the workshops and other news from the Czech Republic over the next week. Stay tuned!

Photo: ArtMill through the trees and across the lake at sunset, Janeil Engelstad
THE FIRST FOOD FOREST IN THE USA

July 3, 2012 - "Seattle’s vision of an urban food oasis is going forward. A seven-acre plot of land in the city’s Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; fruit trees, including apples and pears; exotics like pineapple, yuzu citrus, guava, persimmons, honeyberries, and lingonberries; herbs; and more. All will be available for public plucking to anyone who wanders into the city’s first food forest."

To read more of this article, which was originally published in Take Part, go to: http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/02/21/its-not-fairytale-seattle-build-nations-first-food-forest
EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITY IN TORONTO

JULY 1, 2012 - Ten years ago MAP partner Trans Cultural Exchange (TCE) launched one of the largest democratic, global art projects in the world, The Coaster Project, Destinaiton: The World. Through this project artists transcended geographical, political and cultural boundaries to stage 99+ exhibitions throughout the world. Afterwards, all 10,000+ art works were given away in the guise of "coasters" at bars, cafes and restaurants.

TCE is marking the 10th anniversary of it's landmark Coaster Project by inviting the original project artists and newcomers to make, contribute, and take-away an artwork at Toronto's 2012 Culture Works Festival, which is part of BIG on Bloor Festival.

Deadline for submisisons is July 10

For more information visit the TCE website:

http://www.transculturalexchange.org/coasterproject/2012project.html
REPORT FROM SOUTHWEST TEXAS

June 29, 2012 - For the past week I have been photographing, video taping and talking with organic and sustainable farmers, holistic ranchers and folk living off the grid in the high desert of West Texas. My research is for my upcoming exhibition at The Reading Room in Dallas titled, Y'UTOPIAS: An almanac (of sorts) of sustainable and off-the-grid living in Texas (or thereabouts), which opens on September 22, 2012.

From Ft. Davis to Marfa, to Alpine, to Terlingua, immigration, community and border politics, water and drought, the war on drugs, Transition living and the role of art in communities where the majority of the population has no connection to formal art practices intersected with the project themes. Hot. Dry. Open land stretches as far as the eye can see. Day after day after day, brilliant light illuminates the cornflower blue sky, softening to a golden hue that lingers long into the night. Shadows extend from 5,000 - 7,000 foot high mountains and mesas across the plains, across the adobes, and across the Rio Grande. Majestic canyons, one after another, line the river as it winds it way across a land that, in the greater truth of things, belongs to no one. It is truly appropriate to use a word that has lost it's meaning and power in contemporary American English to describe the power and beauty of this place – it is nothing less than, “awesome”.

Things I heard along the way:

"I DID NOT COME OVER THE BORDER. THE BORDER CAME OVER ME."

"TAKING WATER FROM THE GROUND TO FEED CATTLE IS NOT ONLY NOT SUSTAINABLE, IT IS MORALLY WRONG"

"BEFORE DONALD JUDD THERE WAS NO MARFA IN MARFA. IT DIDN"T EXIST. AND DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ARE THAT IS EITHER A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING."

" WE TRIED TO PROMOTE ALPINE AS THE TOWN WITH A 1,000 GARDENS. SOME PEOPLE DIDN"T WANT TO SHARE THE LOCATION OF THEIR GARDEN BECAUSE THEY WERE SCARED THAT THEY WOULD BE ROBBED IF TIMES GET TOO TOUGH"

"MOVING TO OFF THE GRID POWER DOES NOT HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE. THAT IS A MYTH PROMOTED BY BUSINESS AND CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS. THERE ARE WAYS TO DO IT THAT DON"T COST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS."

" NO ONE IS EVER COMPLETELY SUSTAINABLE. WHEN THE FIRST FARMERS CAME HERE THEY WEREN"T SUSTAINABLE. EVERYBODY SHARED THEIR CROPS AND THEIR SKILLS. THAT IS HOW THIS COUNTRY WAS BUILT."

Janeil Engelstad

Image: The Field Lab, John Well’s off the grid living and sustainable experiment in the SW Texas desert. You can read about John's experiments and experiences in his blog: http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com. Photograph by Janeil Engelstad.
NEW WORK BY DANIELA KRAJčOVá

June 24, 2012 - If you should have the chance to walk through the subway corridor under the Topoľčany bus station in Slovakia, you might be surprised by the subtle paintings, drawings and colorful patterns on the wall. You will be looking at an original artwork that addresses the complicated history of this city. The artist Daniela Krajčová, (who, later this summer, will join MAP with her project “Slovak for Asylum Seekers”) has dedicated this work to the people from the Jewish neighborhood that was once located in the area of the bus station. Her project, titled “324” is a reference to the number of surnames of Holocaust victims from Topoľčany. Each victim’s name is represented by a particular visual code based on an image of the local synagogue. Using this code, Xeroxed pencil drawings (based on a scene from the 1965 Slovak movie Obchod na korze - The Shop on Main Street, which is about the relationship of a Jewish shop keeper and Slovak carpenter during WWII) are copied to the wall.

Daniela Krajčová is one of the few Slovak artists who by active participation and investigation, are working to shape society through a more critical view of Slovakia’s complicated past and present. In addition, she also explores global themes such as immigration issues in France and the decline of the marketplace in Mexico City due to mafia gang violence. Krajčová’ś process includes the use of experimental documentary strategies, animation and drawing.

Oto Hudec. Associate Director MAP

Image: Daniela Krajčová, detail of installation at Topoľčany bus station, 2012
RIO + 20 & HAPPY SUMMER FROM MAP

JUNE 21, 2012 - In the Spirit of the Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, MAP remembers the speech that Canadian Severn Cullis-Suzuki gave to the U.N. assembly in Rio de Janeiro at the 1992 Earth Summit when she was just twelve years old. Popularly known as "The Girl Who Silenced the World for 5 Minutes" Severn movingly asked the U.N. assembly members to consider the the lives of their children as well as future generations in their governing activities.

A decade after her poignant and moving appeal, the challenges that humanity and our planet face have increased in urgency and complexity. Yet, we are also witnessing a shift in how people around the world are engaging, standing-up, occupying, sharing and thinking. This shift is at the core of MAP's mission. This summer and fall we will be producing our first public programs, throughout the world, and we are also developing a major 2013 exhibition in the Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex. In the meantime, we will continue to post interesting and relevant news, events and information on our blog and Facebook page. Stay tuned! We wish everyone a joyful summer and our friends in the Southern Hemisphere an inspiring winter. THE MAP TEAM.

To view Severn Cullis-Suzuki's speech at the 1992 Earth Summit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8MsAx3TVE

Photo: Janeil Engelstad, Ballona Wetlands, Play del Rey, California
50 + 20 AT THE RIO+20 U.N. CONFERENCE

June 20, 2012 -

50+20 at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil June 20 - 22.

50 + 20 seeks to learn of new ways and opportunities for management education to transform and reinvent itself. Asking critical questions about the state of the world, the emerging societal issues, the dominant economic logic, the purpose of business, the crucial role of leadership, and the challenges facing management education, 50 + 20's point of departure is the belief that the time is ripe for critical reflection on the role that business and management education plays in society, today and specifically tomorrow.

The 50 + 20 website includes realtime updates from Rio +20 and a blog that offers reporting and reflection from the conference participants about concerns such as Changing Paradigms for Creating Sustainable and Just Cities, Water Rights and other issues impacting humanity and the planet.

To visit the 50 + 20 website go to: http://50plus20.org

Photo: Rocinha Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Source: Wikipedia)
RESPECT EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE!

June 16, 2012 - Tomáš Rafa, whose “New Nationalism” project is on MAP’s project page is exhibiting his video work at the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava from June 15 – July 26. The videos include his documentation of meetings and demonstrations that address sexual inequality and racial discrimination in Central Europe (including the cities of Berlin, Zurich, Warsaw, and Brno). Additional pieces are from Rafa’s work documenting protests directed at the functioning of political systems in Bratislava and Prague, which have been shaped and influenced by the financial interests of individuals. These pieces will be presented along with videos from Occupy Wall Street in New York.

Tomáš Rafa integrates actual political events in Central and Eastern Europe into the global political context. His aim is to overcome the lack of interest and critical views of the majority of the population, opening a new way for active citizenship.
NEW PROJECT BY GREENMEME DESIGN

June 14, 2012 - Greenmeme Design's Blue Tree project is a series of experiments and artifacts which engage the removal of a tree from the California State University San Bernardino campus. The loss of this Aleppo pine has been deemed necessary to develop a new station on the line of the more efficient sbX (Bus) Rapid Transit system.

Greenmeme Design's final artwork will integrate images of the tree into glass windshield panels within the new structure. The subject matter for the imagery is based on a series of actions and observations between Greenmeme Design's principles Freya Bardell and Brian Howe, the tree, and the students and teachers from The Department of Art.

To view Greenmeme Design's water remediation project, River Liver, visit the projects page.
A CONVERSATION WITH TODD LESTER, SPOKE GALLERY IN BOSTON

June 8, 2012 - The Spoke Gallery at Medicine Wheel Productions (MWP) in Boston is hosting a conversation with Todd Lester on Wednesday, June 20 at 7:00 PM.

Lester founded freeDimensional (fD) which works with residencies in over 80 countries to host culture workers in dire situations. He serves on the boards of residencies in India, Germany, and Mexico and recently wrote desk studies for FREEMUSE/SIDA and Res Artis/Fonds BKVB on the residency sectors in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, West Africa, North Africa, Middle East, Central America and South America. He convened a workshop for the Heinrich Boell Stiftung on conditions that place artists in danger for its February 2012 Radius of Art conference and recently assumed the role of Executive Director for Global Arts Corps, an organization that creates theatrical productions to advance the cause of reconciliation across civil, religious, and racial conflicts.

MWP’s Spoke Gallery is an innovative program that seeks to act as a hub for artists of all disciplines who want to join the conversation. Realizing that many artists lack the networks, support, tools, and/or resources to progress the dialogue forward on their own, the Spoke Gallery is a network and space dedicated to redefining the role of art in culture.

For more information: http://mwponline.org/wordpress/?page_id=1543
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE AND THE FUTURE OF MEMORY

June 6, 2012 - E.G. Crichton, who project Migrating Archives will be featured on MAP later this year, will be participating in a performance discussion with Atlanta based performance collective JOHN Q at the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco on Sunday June 10 at 6:00 PM. The performantive discussion will explore the intersection of archival research and the creative process.

For more information: http://queerculturalcenter.org/NQAF/lecturepanel/collaborativepractice
JUDITH SELBY LANG AT PALO ALTO ART CENTER

June 4, 2012 - Judith Selby Lang, who along with her husband Richard Lang are participating in MAP, has produced a site-specific temporary piece, titled Water Lilies for the Palo Alto Art Center. Created from 1,000 recycled plastic bottles, the piece is floating in the Baylands Nature Preserve until September 1, 2012.

The Langs were also recently featured on the NBC Today Show. To view the clip from their interview visit: http://vimeo.com/41906265

Image: Water Lilies, Bayland Nature Preserve, Palo Alto, CA, 1000 plastic bottles, Judith Selby Lang, 2012
AZRA AKšAMIJA DESIGNS FOR ISLAMIC CEMETERY IN AUSTRIA

June 1, 2012 - Azra Akšamija, who is participating in MAP, has designed prayer carpets and the qibla wall curtain for the first Islamic cemetery in Vorarlberg, Austria. The overall project was designed by the Vorarlberg architect, Bernardo Bader.

"The prayer carpets and the qibla wall curtain function as a bridge between different cultures, in addition to being a spiritual, decorative, and shading element," writes Akšamija.

Approximately 38,000 Muslims, 10% of the total population, live in Vorarlberg. They are the second largest religious group, after Catholics. The community is comprised of Turkish immigrants, who came to Vorarlberg in the 1960s as "migrant workers”, Bosnian Muslims, who fled to Austria during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s and immigrants from Chechnya and North Africa who came to the region in the past two decades. For the Muslim community, the cemetery signifies that Austria has become their homeland, beyond death.

The cemetery is a sign of the co-existence between Austrians, who have lived in Vorarlberg for several generations, and Muslims, who have immigrated to the city over the past fifty years. Akšamija's project for the interior of the prayer space highlights this co-existence. Her design of the qibla wall symbolically connects the different cultures in Vorarlberg though materials that represent the local building traditions and craft, as well as references to Islamic religious architecture. The design of the carpets, which are in dialogue to the qibla wall, have been woven by war victims in Bosnia.

Image: Azra Akšamija, Islamic Cemetery, Vorarlberg, Austria. Photograph: Adolf Bereuter
UPDATE FROM LESOTHO

MAY 30, 2012 - Katt Lissard, whose project Split the Village is a part of MAP, has been teaching theater this spring at the National University of Lesotho. At the same time she has been developing Split the Village.

She writes from the field:

"I’ve become more and more interested in focusing on the pathways and footbridges – the primary connective tissues across the river; the loss of which creates the Split Village of the project’s title. If you sit on one side of the river gorge for any period of time, you see herd boys with their cattle; women with laundry; children on their way to/from school – crisscrossing the slope on the opposite side as they head down to the water and then up, over, past you and out of sight. Charlie (the archeologist on site) and I were talking about this and he said that one of the other intangible elements that he found fascinating was the way people (primarily women) communicate across the river gorge – call and response conversations – that are "syncopated" based on what the callers and responders understand to be the lag-time between the sound going out and reaching the ears of the recipient on the other side. How do you think it will effect these conversations, I wondered – filling the acoustical chasm with water? He said he didn’t know, but it’s something he thought about a lot."

To read more about Split the Village visit MAP's project link.

Image - Gorge near Ha Makotoko site, photograph by Katt Lissard.
YOUTH & ELDERS PROJECT

May 29, 2012 - In June of 2012 the Youth & Elders Project will set sail for one week with an intergenerational crew of 30 change makers from all walks of life, forming a microcosm of the world we inhabit. Their purpose is to explore issues of sustanability, asking questions such as how can youth be a force for positive change and how can elders distill their experience in ways that are meaningful to younger generations.

As they come back from the open sea and approach land once again, the boat will become a space in which ideas for collaboration and new ways of embodying intergenerational exchange can crystallise, inspiring the particpants to move beyond concepts and words and into action.

There are still spaces available for hte journey, which sails from Greifswald, Germany to Gdansk, Poland

June 10 - June 17, 2012.

For more information: http://www.youthandelders.com
WORKSHOP & PANEL DISCUSSION WITH THE HARRISONS

May 26, 2012 - Workshop, Presentation and Panel Discussion with MAP artists

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison.

A unique opportunity to not only hear the legendary eco-artists speak,

but to also gain insight into their methodology and creative thinking.

Friday, June 1 - 2, 2012

Kunstraum of Leuphana University of Leuneburg, Germany

For more Information and to register:

http://www.cultura21.net/activites/conferences/peninsula-europe-the-force-majeure#more-5946
LEARNING FROM THE FUTURE

May 23, 2012 - Call for papers for Nordic Summer University summer session

July 28th - Auguest 2 Brandtbjerg Hejskole, Denmark

Culture will play a decisive role in defining the way humanity approaches the meta- or mega-issue of sustainability. It is often said that we actually possess the technological knowledge to come out of the critical situation that the world is heading into.Innumerable alliances are forming that acknowledge the urgency of the problem, from all thinkable angles of societies. But there are crucial obstacles that cloud this positive picture. As Slavoj Zizek puts it, we know that the impossible has become not only possible, but real. But it seems we are not ready yet to believe it to be really happening (Zizek, 2010). Interpretations vary according to cultures, to disciplines, to ideologies, and to local realities that meet the conditions of climate change and crises very differently.

We invite all interested in the themes (and crossing of themes) of culture, interculturality, transculturality, sustainability, climate change, civic participation, education, and philosophy, to contribute abstracts can be proposed along the themes of

1) Theoretical/epistemological/ontological investigations and reflections;

2) Empirical studies – past and future;

3) Methodological considerations;

4) Discussions of issues of policy and political implications of the field.

5) ..or whatever creative cross-fertilization you may be working with.

For more information: http://www.nsuweb.net/wb/pages/information/briefly-in-english.php
PROFIT + PURPOSE

May 15, 2012 - PROFIT + PURPOSE STRUCTURING SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FOR IMPACT, a workshop by Kyle Westaway that will cover the basics on different types of structure including non-profits, B Corps, benefit corporations, flexible purpose corporations, LLCs and more.

MAP Partner Cultural Strategies Initiative is producing the event as a part of their exploration of partnerships between the arts and social enterprise.

When: May 22, 2012 6:00 - 10:00 PM

Where: Demos - 220 5th Avenue at 26th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY

Admission: $10.00

For tickets: http://csi-westawayevent.eventbrite.com

About Kyle Westaway:

Kyle Westaway believes in the power of the market to create social and environmental change. Westaway is cofounder of Biographe, a sustainable fashion brand that employs and empowers survivors of the commercial sex trade in Bangkok, and Founding Partner at Westaway Law, an innovative law firm that counsels social entrepreneurs. He lectures on social entrepreneurship at Harvard and Stanford Law Schools. Kyle has written on capitalism, tech, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship for Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, GOOD and Stanford Social Innovation Review and has been featured in the New York Times.
ECO-ART AT PORI ART MUSEUM

May 13, 2012 - In 2011 the Pori Art Museum in Finland produced an exhibition titled, ECO - ART, which investigated how artists are engaging with the landscape and environmental issues. Participating artists included MAP artists, Helen and Newton Harrison. In an effort to minimize the carbon footprint of the exhibition the museum avoided, when possible, the transport of artwork and produced the visual material locally. A full-color hardbound catalog is now available on the museum's web site and includes informative essays by John K. Grande and Peter Selz. Other featured artists include: Richard Misrach, Agnes Dene, Ichi Ikeda, Dennis Oppenheim and Jan-Erik Anderson.

For more information: http://www.poriartmuseum.fi
THE TALES FROM OTHER SEAS

May 6, 2012 - THE TALES FROM OTHER SEAS, is an exhibition of a new body of work by Slovak artist Oto Hudec, whose project "Instrument for Listening" is a part of MAP. About this new work, Hudec writes:

"The painting is usually understood as an image fixed in time – as non moving, permanent reality. The paintings shown in this exhibition are – to the contrary – like a still image from the movie that aims to bring to question what happened before and what will happen after. They are parts of fictional story, almost illustrations for a book that was never written…

What is that book about? Talks about distant land, where vast natural areas were invaded with no respect by human constructions – with an attempt to build a perfect world – well functioning, pretty. Talks about certain solitude in this world and about alienation. There is a fragility of human existence in that world, because the nature – now out of balance – shows a signs of movement, that we cannot fully understand. The land is alive.

Although these paintings were mostly painted or inspired by my stage in usa in 2011, their themes attempt to speak over the borders of one country– travelling – and understanding other countries, cultures – seems to me much more a way to understand ourselves, a way to see our own existence from a distance, new perspective."

THE TALES FROM OTHER SEAS. May 5 - June 9, 2012

Espaço Gesto

Rua José Falcão, 107-111

4050-317 Porto

Portugal

Image: Oto Hudec, The Price of Water, mixed media, 2012
ROOTED

May 3, 2012 - ROOTED: food and farming initiatives as regional artworks salon at threewalls, May 8

threewalls will examine ways that innovative agricultural and culinary projects assert new understandings of spaces, ideals, tools, and relationships. Food is a common language with which we can talk about topics such as sustainability, local economies, nutrition, access, with many different types of people. These creative initiatives are about the pleasures of food, understanding diverse histories of cuisine, and bringing people together around a table to discuss the issues that are important to their lives in Chicago and elsewhere.

Information about threewalls publication, PHONEBOOK 3 a directory of independent art spaces, progrramming, and projects throughout the United States can be found in the MAP Resource link.

for more information on the salon including the participants please visit:

http://three-walls.org/calendar/2012/05/rooted-food-and-farming-initiatives-as-regional-artworks.php

Image: Eric May's E-Dogz Mobile Culinary Community Center
ATMOSPHERES OF PROTEST

April 28, 2012 - Atmospheres of Protest: Symposium on Sustainability and Contemporary Art at Central European University, Budapest, May 11, 2102.

The upsurge of new popular movements from Egypt to Greece and Bucharest to New York has engendered an atmosphere of defiance and social creativity that has captured the global imagination. Beyond the ebb and
flow of individual protest movements, this symposium asks whether global solidarity has really taken hold this time and considers the variety of ways in which contemporary art is embroiled through practices of dialogue and collaboration in the emergence of a common horizon and the imagining of a sustainable future. Providing a
trans-disciplinary forum for discussion of the vital issues bridging the fields of art and environmental thought, the symposium sheds light on our understanding of the multifarious notion of sustainability, which appears by turns as a radical concept in global ecological thinking, can be recruited as a corporate strategy for green
capitalism, and may act as a spur to new forms of social activism.

For more information visit: http://translocal.org/sustainability/indexsus6.html

Photo: Occupy Museums banners outside of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, January 14, 2012
OPEN ENGAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2012

APRIL 23, 2012 - Open Engagement is a free annual conference on socially engaged art. Directed and founded by Jen Delos Reyes and planned in conjunction with the Art and Social Practice program at Portland State University (PSU) in Portland, Oregon. The 2012 conference takes place May 18 - 20 at various locations on and around the PSU campus.

Each year the conference themes are directly related to the current research and inquiry of the students in the Art and Social Practice program at Portland State University. Students and faculty work together to select the featured presenters, who then also become faculty in the Art and Social Practice MFA program. Open Engagement fosters both local, national and international dialogue and partnerships around socially engaged art making.

To register and for more information: http://openengagement.info

DISCUSSION ON INTERNATIONAL ART RESIDENCIES

April 13, 2012 - Mary Sherman, whose organization Trans Cultural Exchange is a MAP partner, will take part in a panel discussion on International Art Residencies at Swissnex Boston on May 2, 2012 from 6:30 - 9:00 PM.

Kiki Thompson, Co-Founder of the 3-D Verbier Sculpture Park Residency Program, discuss the values of international residency programs in the arts. Additionally, Bostonian sculptors and Verbier Residency veterans, Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein will speak about their experiences.

Other artists included in the Panel:

● Mary Sherman, Director of TransCultural Exchange

● Franklin Einspruch, painter, writer and arts critic

● Lynne Allen, Director, School of Visual Arts at Boston University

● Antoni Muntadas, visiting Professor of the Practice at MIT

Moderator:

● Caitlin Strokosch, Exec. Director at Alliance of Artists Communities

Established in 2000 as the world’s first “science consulate,” swissnex Boston is the first of a global network of five knowledge outposts including San Francisco (2003) , Singapore (2004), China (2007) and India (2009). swissnex Boston along with the Office of Science and Technology of the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington D.C. and swissnex San Francisco constitute the official Swiss science network in North America.

For more information on Swissnex and the panel discussion: http://www.swissnexboston.org

DAVID HERMAN JR. ARTIST'S TALK & EXHIBITION

APRIL 7, 2012 - David Herman Jr. will talk about his ongoing work to document the African Diaspora of the Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor in conjunction with his exhibition ETCHED IN THE EYES, The Spirit of a People Called Gullah Geechee at Edward Crutchfield Center for Integrated Studies Gallery at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A son of the Gullah Geechee people, Herman's vivid and moving images provide the audience an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the people and culture of the low country and sea islands off the eastern coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

The exhibition runs April 5 - June 29. Artist's talk Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 PM in the Crutchfield Gallery.

For more information visit: davidherman.com or call 704-378-1178
BETSY DAMON FEATURED ON DAILY GOOD

April 4, 2012 - Artist Betsy Damon's Chinese Living Water Garden is the subject of a recent article on the inspirational news site, Daily Good. Stretching along the Yangtze River it is the first municipal living water garden in the world. Damon's artistic system of natural ponds, filters and flowforms cleans water in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan. Damon's work will be featured on the MAP website later this month, in the meantime you can read about her work in China by visiting the Daily Good Site.

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4958
REBECCA CARTER VIDEO INCLUDED THE MOBILE ARCHIVE

March 30, 2012 - REBECCA CARTER VIDEO COLLABORATION WITH ANDREA GOLDMAN, LIEDER OF THE PACT INCLUDED THE MOBILE ARCHIVE

The Mobile Archive, initiated in 2007, is a sister project of the video archive at the Israeli Center for Digital Art in Holon, Israel. The archive is presented as a video library in a gallery space with viewing stations, at which visitors can watch chosen selections. Video screenings curated from the collection will engage both university students and the general public. At the end of the exhibition, the VAC will add twenty-five works to the archive. So far, the archive has traveled to Hamburg, Sao Paulo, Basel, Zagreb, Milan, and many other international locations.

The Mobile Archive primarily consists of videos by Israeli artists such as Yael Bartana, Gilad Ratman, and Keren Cytter, but also includes political video works by the non-governmental organization B'Tselem and activist scholars and journalists like Ariella Azoulay, Miki Kraftsman, and Avi Mugrabi. In addition, the international institutions that have hosted the archive have contributed works, including those by Artur Zmijewski (Poland), Adrian Paci (Albania), Yoshua Okon (Mexico), Christian Jankowski (Germany), Shilpa Gupta (India), and Daniel Bozhkov (Bulgaria), which have been contributed by the international institutions that hosted the archive.

Rebecca Carter, whose "Sinage Workst" is a part of MAP writes: “Lieder of the Pact” includes appropriated YouTube footage of the 1960s girl band, The Shangri-Las, performing for television. With homophonous English sub-titles we reconstruct their “Leader of the Pack” as our “Lieder of the Pact.” Where the original song connects romance and rebellion within a constrained matrix of gender and social relations, we re-imagine it to reveal love transformed into desire for knowledge, a fight against nihilism, and the possibility of new ways of reading old things that hide in plain sight in the original. Originally this video was part of an exhibition, FeedbackFeedbackLoopLoop, with twelve collaborative call and response drawing triptychs – our response to reading Alain Badiou’s The Theory of the Subject, together.
UPCOMING LECTURES BY THE HARRISONS

March 22, 2012 - MAP participants Helen and Newton Harrison will be speaking at 4th State of Water Symposium at UCLA. Produced in conjunction with the 4th State of Water: From Macro to Micro exhibition at CoCA Torun the symposium takes place on March 22 (World Water Day) and March 23, 2012 at the California NanoSystems Institute. The opening keynotes will be given by renowned science writer Dr. Philip Ball, author of “Why Water is Weird” and Gerald Pollack from the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, speaking on the “Fourth Phase of Water”.

For more information including a complete schedule visit: http://artscicenter.com/waterbodies-ex

As a part of the University of Arizona School of Art Visiting Artists and Scholars Lecture Series, The Harrisons will give a talk titled "The Force Majeure - The Peninsula of Europe, The Tibetan Plateau and Sierra Nevada." The Force Majeure is featured in Projects link.

Tuesday, March 27, 5:30 PM

Center of Creative Photography

University of Arizona, Tucson

520-621-7968

http://www.uanews.org/node/45300

Image: Peninsula Europe: The Force Majeure, 2008
OTO HUDCEC EXHIBITING IN MARTIN, SLOVAK REPUBLIC

March 17, 2012 - Oto Hudec is part of a group exhibition at Turčianska gallery in Martin, Slovak Republic

Titled "Maľ'ba dovnútra / Painting inside" the exhibition features young Slovak painters, all graduates of The Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, who share common artistic approaches to their work. Curator Lucia Miklošková writes, "Alienation, loneliness, the spirit of the place, man´s relationship to the environment, these are the themes that connect these authors."

In addition to painting in a classical tradition, Hudec (who is a part of MAP's creative team) often works in Social Practice. Details about his project, "Instrument for Listening" which will be produced in the Amazon can be found in the Projects link.

For more information about the exhibition:http://malbadovnutra.blogspot.com

Image: Oto Hudec, Black Skier, 25 x 35 cm, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2008
THE 20TH ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL IN WASHINGTON DC

March 14, 2012 - The Environmental Film Festival in The Nation's Capital, from March 13 - 25, 2012 is dedicated to advancing environmental understanding through the power of film. It is the United State’s largest showcase of environmental film, attracting an audience of over 30,000. Beyond Washington, DC, the Festival has launched a movement, serving as a model for environmental film festivals across the country and around the world.

This year's festival includes a screening of Beyond Pollution on March 16 at 12:00 noon, a penetrating expose on the worst manmade environmental disaster in America's history: The BP oil spill. Traveling thousands of miles across the most severely impacted areas of the Gulf; the Beyond Pollution team interviewed key experts, BP contractors, government officials, and others who were directly affected. This powerful film unveils what really happened, why, and who benefited.

For information about the film festival: http://www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org

For more information about Beyond Pollution: http://www.beyondpollutionthefilm.com
2012 UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF COOPERATIVES

March 12, 2012 - The International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) celebrates business that is focused on human need where the members who own and govern the business collectively enjoy the benefits with the purpose of profit going to all stakeholders

The United Nations has dedicated a website and is producing several events and activities around the world that investigate, promote and strengthen cooperatives.

"The International Year of Cooperatives is intended to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development." From the UN's IYC website.

For more information visit: http://social.un.org/coopsyear
THOUGHTS INSPIRED BY THE IRANIAN FILM "A SEPARATION"

March 4, 2012 - This past weekend I went to see Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, which recently won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. What struck me about the picture, besides the fact that it is a masterpiece of filmmaking raising many philosophical and moral questions, was how much it speaks to our common humanity. Tightly woven, emotionally powerful scenes such as an adult son breaking down in tears as he bathes his elderly father who suffers from dementia and one of two children, from families in conflict, joyfully playing together reflects a shared inner humanity that is deeper than ethnic, religious or political boundaries. The role of art as an instigator of this awareness is nothing new, but at a time of heightened international tension over Iran’s nuclear program and debates over the effectiveness of diplomacy versus military strikes, it seems to me that it is as important as ever for us to consciously think in terms of one humanity and recognize that each of us is part of a greater whole.

Energy follows thought and the power of our thinking to envision a world into being where unity, harmony, cooperation, sharing and understanding are the norm should not be underestimated or scorned. The purpose of this thinking is not only for our own, individual benefit, but also for the benefit of humanity as a whole. Each of us has the power to be a mental agent of change. As John Perkins writes in his book, The World As You Dream It:

‘To create a new world we must first create a new dream’

Providing a platform and support for new dreams and ideas is an essential part of MAP’s mission. Over the upcoming weeks we will be adding several new projects and expanding the resources link on the MAP website. Check in when you can to see how creative dreamers in the arts are manifesting their visions for positive change on our planet.

With Warm Greetings and Much Thanks for your continued interest and support,

Janeil Engelstad
ANDES SPROUTS RESIDENCY

March 1, 2012 - The Andes Sprouts residency program invites artists, inventors and farmers from around the world to participate creatively within the Catskill, New York region’s working landscape. ASsociety residency program supports the inception, creation and presentation of original art projects encompassing new media and bio-art. The ASS residency facilitates this cross disciplinary collaboration with a mobile residency program that travels to host farms in the Catskills. Built on a trailer frame, the residency cabin periodically will be moved to different host farms allowing the residents to create projects that interact with different forms of agriculture (for example, produce, livestock, agroforestry) in different years and seasons.

Applications for the summer 2012 residency are due March 6

For more information: http://andessproutsresidency.wordpress.com/residency-call-out-summer-2011
PROVISIONS LIBRARY RESEARCH RESIDENCIES

February 27, 2012 - Provisions Library, a non-profit instigator of arts and social change in Washington DC, is launching research residencies that investigate futures for creative civil society. The program will bring together four residents (artists, scholars, activists, and practitioners) for research-based projects that explore and extend social change themes. Participants will gain exposure to policies, practices, and politics while exploring transformative social imaginations and strategies. The rapidly changing urban and institutional landscape of Washington DC will serve as a platform, model, and resource to propose and prepare social futures. A letter of interest is due on March 1.

For more information: http://provisionslibrary.com/?page_id=14925
VOICES FROM THE CENTER / CZECH SLOVAK EDITION OF FLASH ART

Feb 25, 2012 - The Spring 2012 Czech Slovak edition of Flash Art magazine has reviewed Voices From the Center a project and exhibition produced by MAP Founding Director, Janeil Engelstad. The exhibition, which was at threewalls in Chicago, was based on Engelstad's oral history project of the same name and included the work of artists from Central Europe. Oto Hudec and Matej Vakula, who have projects featured on the MAP web site and are also a part of MAP's organizational team, each created new work for the exhibition. For more information: http://three-walls.org/programs/threewallsx/voices-from-the-center.php

Image: Installation shot of Janeil Engelstad's piece for Voices From the Center at threewalls, Chicago, 2011
SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUTIFUL

February 21, 2012 - If you are anywhere near New York City this weekend get yourself to the Cantor Film Center at NYU for this wonderful program. Check out the web site, link below, to learn about the speciific events - JE

SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUTIFUL

Artists and Scientists Ponder the Aesthetics of Evolution

AN ALL-DAY WONDERCABINET

Guest Curated by David Rothenberg

Saturday February 25, 2012

Why did the peacock’s tail so trouble Charles Darwin? Natural selection could not explain it, so he had to contrive a whole new theory of sexual selection, which posited that certain astonishingly beautiful traits became preferred even when not exactly useful, simply because they appealed to the opposite sex, and specifically so in each case. And yet the parallels in what gets preferred at different levels of life suggest that nature may in fact favor certain kinds of patterns over others. Visually, the symmetrical; colorwise, the contrasting and gaudy; displaywise, the gallant and extreme. Soundwise, the strong contrast between low note and high, between fast rhythm and the long clear tone. For that matter, plenty of beauty in nature would seem to arise for reasons other than mere sexual selection: for example, the mysterious inscriptions on the backs of seashells, or the compounding geometric symmetries of microscopic diatoms, or the live patterns pulsating across the bodies of octopus and squid.

Humans see such things and find them astonishingly beautiful: are we wrong to experience Nature in such terms? Far greater than our grandest edifices and epic tales, Nature itself nevertheless seems entirely without purposeful self-consciousness or self-awareness. Meanwhile, though we ourselves are as nothing compared to it, we still seem possessed of a parallel need to create. So: can we in fact create our way into better understanding of the role of beauty in the vast natural world? David Rothenberg recently published a book on these themes, Survival of the Beautiful (Bloomsbury, 2011), and many of the protagonists he encountered on his quest will join him on stage at the Cantor Film Center to debate the question of whether nature’s beauty is actual, imaginary, useful, excessive, or perhaps even entirely beside the point.

Cantor Film Center, 36 E. 8th Street, NYC
Free & Open to the Public (first-come, first-in)

for more information: http://nyihumanities.org/event/survival-of-the-beautiful
GREENMEME DESIGN

February 17, 2012 - Greenmeme Design, whose River Liver water remediation project (pictured) will be posted to the MAP website soon will be presenting their proof on concept for the San Jose Climate Clock Initiative to the public at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA on Wednesday, Feb 22, 6:00 - 9:00 PM.

One of three finalist teams from around the world, Greenmeme's Freya Bardell and Brian Howe have been working together with Brent Bucknum on the proposal for nearly two years. The Climate Clock will be a work of art that incorporates Silicon Valleys measurement, data management, and communications technologies to help people understand climate change, while encouraging them to continue reducing their carbon footprint on planet Earth.

All three finalist teams will present their proof on concepts at Montalvo.

For more information: http://climateclock.wordpress.com
REBECCA CARTER AT DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART

Feb 13, 2012 - Rebecca Carter whose Sinage Works is a part of MAP has an installation at the Dallas Museum of Art. About the installation she writes:

"A multitude of blue cloud-like, cat-like thready eyeballs gaze down from underneath the stairwell at passersby. The work addresses the human need to see and be seen that relates to the spectacle of fashion. The need to be seen is not only the need to be seen as object, but to be held in a loving gaze by another. The Eyeballs from Outer Space gaze continuously, neither blinking nor turning away. The arrangement of the Eyeballs in broken blue lines relates formally to the blue sailor stripes to which Gaultier returns over and over to re-invent: multiple horizons, sky-like and ocean-like.

The work is made out of thread through a process of machine stitching onto a dissolvable matrix. The dissolvable matrix holds the stitches in place until enough linking occurs for the drawing to cohere. The matrix dissolves in water leaving only a network of threads. In the fashion industry this process is called “free lace.”

The Eyeballs From Outerspace where originally conceived as a part of the installation, The Supposed Object.

Link to Eyeballs From Outerspace on Rebecca Carter's website.

http://www.rebeccacarter.org/archives/3536
YOUTH RISING FOR PEACE SUMMITT

Feb 9, 2012 - The Youth Rising for Peace Summitt is the first ever 24-hour global telesummit, Feb 11 - 12, 2012, featuring young adult voices for peace from almost every time zone. Presented by the Shift Network and other global partners, the telesummit will introduce a full spectrum of peacebuilding activities - from inner peace to international peace. The event is about the participants who will gather virtually to hear and interact with dozens of peace builders - from New Zealand, Japan, Israel/Palestine, Costa Rica and every place in-between - all talking about the ideas, programs and projects that inspire them.

For more information and to register: http://youthrisingforpeace.com/feature/The-Peace-Alliance

Participation is free
HELEN AND NEWTON HARRISON

February 4, 2012 - Helen and Newton Harrison, among the leading pioneers of the eco-art movement and a part of MAP will be participating in a panel discussion at the Athenaeum in La Jolla, California on Thursday, Feb 9 at 7:30 PM. Titled, "Art and the Crossover Phenomena" the panel also includes artist and writer Suzanne Lacy and Victoria Vesna, Media artist, author, Director of UCLA Arts/Sci Center. Look for The Harrison's work to be posted to the MAP website soon. For more information on the panel discussion visit: http://www.ljathenaeum.org/lectures.html

Photo: Helen and Newton Harrison, Installation Shot, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts 2009
EARTH FORUM BERLIN

January 27, 2012 - Earth Forum is a stimulating and productive way of working in small groups to explore how we live together on this planet. But it's not just another talk shop! Earth Forum is a process of creative imagining and exchange that enables us to go beyond swapping opinions, arguments and debates. Earth Forum's unique process enhances two important capacities: the capacity to imagine and to actively listen.

Earth Forum is a process in which everyone can contribute and participate. We invite you to donate a few hours of your time to this social sculpture process that opens up a space for working creatively with conflicting agendas, emphasizes the connections between inner and outer work (work within yourself) and highlights our capacities as agents of change to shape a humane and ecologically just future.

Earth Forum Berlin – One forum lasts 2 to 3 hours and involves 8-12 participants, there are two forums a day: Monday – Friday, 20th – 24th of February, 11am – 2pm and 3pm – 6pm

Earth Forum Berlin has been developed by University of the Trees-DE and with Citizens Art—Berlin 2012.

Citizen Art Days is a 10 day festival including workshops, lectures, discussions and city excursions with and from artists who are interested in sustainability, economy and living together in the public space of Berlin.

For more information:

www.citizenartdays.de / earthforum@citizenartdays.de
DAWN WELESKI EXHIBITION AT STANFORD

January 20, 2112 - Dawn Weleski, whose project Conflict Kitchen (a collaboration with Jon Rubin) will soon be featured on MAP's website is part of an exhibition opening on January 20 at Stanford in Palo Alto, CA. In addition to work created for gallery exhibition Ms. Weleski has created a sound piece. The Hoover Institution for War, Revolution, and Peace on campus will play anthems from the recent revolutions in the Middle East, curated by citizens from each country and transposed by a UC Santa Cruz and Israeli composer for the carillon in the tower of the Hoover. The songs will be played over the next year during the first anniversary of each revolution, beginning in February.

http://art.stanford.edu/news-events/events-calendar/view/1516/?date=2012-01-17

Image: Hoover Tower, Stanford University campus
NEW YEAR'S GREETINGS FROM MAP

Each New Year contains within its time-span unforeseen social and political events, personal joys and challenges, and change. While we cannot know all that will happen to us in 2012, we can set intentions and goals that are supported by our spirit, will, energy and work. At MAP, in 2012, we intend to produce web content and programs that contributes to the well being of humanity and the planet. Our vision for the year is one of inclusion, hope, and positive change. We do not know how big or small the changes from our efforts will be, but we do know that with your support and by working together we can have a positive impact that ripples outward beyond our individual lives. Thank you for visiting the Make Art with Purpose website. The MAP team wishes you a creative and joyful 2012.