Monthly Archives: January 2010

The Last-Hurrah Malibu Public Beaches Safaris

The LOS ANGELES URBAN RANGERS ANNOUNCE:
The Last-Hurrah Malibu Public Beaches Safaris

Sat. Feb. 27 — 11am, 1pm, and 3pm

We’re wrapping up our 3-year Malibu project, and to celebrate our public beaches one last time, we’re offering 3 (three!) 1 1/2-hour free mini-safaris. No sign-up required. All welcome!

What: Are you tired of Zuma and Surfrider? Want to find and use the the 20 miles of public beaches that are lined with private development? Our safaris will equip you with the advanced skills necessary to find and use the Malibu public beaches legally and safely. Activities include signwatching, trailblazing the public-private boundary, and a public easement potluck.

When: Choose 1 of the 3 start times. Please do not plan to join mid-safari.

Where: Come to the public beach accessway between 22140-22126 Pacific Coast Highway (~.5 mis west of Carbon Canyon Rd. and ~1 mi. east of Malibu pier). Park on either side of the PCH (cross with caution), and walk through the accessway to the beach.  (Or take the 534 PCH bus!–nearest stop is Carbon Canyon Rd.– www.metro.net.)

Rangers should arrive (look for the uniform) at the base of the accessway at least 15 minutes in advance of each start time. If you arrive early, you can walk on the wet sand anywhere, and on the dry sand (at least 10 ft. from the houses) on the FIRST 4 PROPERTIES TO THE LEFT (downcoast).  Please do not use the dry sand upcoast or elsewhere.

Bring: Snack, water if you need it, sun protection, and extra layer or two (important!) for warmth.

Rain: If it’s raining, the safaris have been canceled. We’ll reschedule in the spring.

Please note: No bathroom available at meeting point–Try the fast-food restaurants just upcoast on the PCH.  Dogs, sadly, are not allowed on the beaches.

Hope to see you at the beach!
Los Angeles Urban Rangers
www.laurbanrangers.org

A downloadable “Malibu Public Beaches” guide is available on our website.

Scurrilous Videos Besmirch, Enrage Forum, Leaders, World

Videos threaten very existence of WEF

  • Close examination of fake website reveals outrageous, elaborate subterfuge
  • Videos may be viewed here or downloaded
  • Lefty filmmakers mainly to blame
  • Contacts: scurrilous@theyesmen.org, 310-780-4008

In a series of diabolically stupid video manipulations, a cabal of anti-poverty filmmakers have performed an elaborate slander of the World Economic Forum, showing its “leading lights” taking a dramatic departure from the litany of meaningless pledges they usually make at the annual gathering in the Swiss resort town.

In response, WEF spokesperson Adrian Monck could barely contain himself. “The only defense to satire is common sense!” he sputtered, before racing back into the WEF war room to deal with the burgeoning crisis.

Fortunately for the WEF, few media outlets picked up on the WEF’s fantastic but fictional approach to world poverty (“World Leaders Pledge Strategy to End Poverty Now”). Instead, the media was dominated by coverage of a real WEF press release warning of “Over Regulation of the Financial Sector” (sic).

The forged videos showed eight of “leading lights of Davos” outlining a few clear strategies to end poverty.

The CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, the world’s largest agribusiness conglomerate, spoke of “agriculture’s role in today’s economic savagery, and the broader long-term issues of robbing whole groups for the greed of the food industry,” before calling for “universal justice and agriculture’s reform” via Food Sovereignty. “We want to undo the injuries of global capitalism,” added a much-improved “Klaus Schwab,” founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

“The source of our financial treasure was violence towards the colonies of the global South,” admitted “Queen Elizabeth II” most refreshingly, before pledging to sell her lands and use the proceeds to improve the lot of the world’s poor. “We have caused this disaster,” added “Prince Harry” with a stalwart giggle. “Nobody wants a catastrophe,” Canadian Prime Minister “Stephen Harper” chimed in most helpfully.

“Haiti was a house of cards that we built through a history of exploitative economic policies,” said a tired-looking “Bill Clinton.” Now we have a chance to rebuild a more independent society by ending exploitation, forgiving their debt and bringing back real sustainability.”

The perpetrators included a prominent film director, several Hollywood voice actors, at least one disaffected member of the World Economic Forum itself, and thirty-four of the Yes Men.

“Yes, these are real talking heads,” explained Robert Diaz Leroy, a Hollywood film producer who was one of those behind the action. Another co-conspirator, film director Philippe Diaz, went into greater detail.

“We did this out of frustration with the fact that each year in Davos, the wealthy and powerful figure out ways the global economy can continue to benefit them,” said Diaz, who directed The End of Poverty?, which opens this Friday in New York. “Even this year, they’re still talking about economic growth and de-regulation as the solution to poverty. That’s especially obscene in light of this year’s economic crisis, which resulted from those exact policies and has disproportionately affected the poor.”

Despite the WEF’s annual posturing, neoliberal policies have proven to be a massive failure for the vast majority of the poor, said Diaz. “When a disaster strikes a poor country like Haiti, our culpability becomes graphically clear.”

Diaz explained that growth has by and large benefited only the wealthiest fraction of the population. “Our economic system depends on the resources of the global South that we have plundered since 1492. Only the tools have changed: nowadays we rarely use guns or armies, we mainly use economic instruments. But the damage is just as real.” (See the fake press release for some real statistics to that effect.)

“What you won’t hear in Davos is anything about the structural factors at the root of global poverty,” said Beth Portello, who produced The End of Poverty?. “Poverty is created: it’s the byproduct of centuries of exploitation of human and natural resources maintained into modern times by unfair trade, tax and land policies, and odious debt.”

“Unlike the lip-service solutions from Davos, the proposals on our fake WEF site would actually end poverty,” said Diaz. “We’re going to do everything we can to make them happen. The film is just the beginning.”

“Poverty isn’t an accident, and it won’t end by accident, either,” added Portello.

In a dramatic bit of irony, it was revealed that the fake Queen Elizabeth II was played by boy actor James O’Keefe, who was recently arrested for feloniously attempting to tamper with the phone line of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, not long after being honored by House Republicans for his “ACORN pimp” role last year.

“Oh that queen,” said Andy Bichlbaum of the Yes Men. “Who knows what trouble she’ll get into next.”

***

The End of Poverty?, a film with some real solutions to global poverty, is currently playing in US theatres. If you happen to be in New York City this weekend, come meet Philippe and Beth at screenings this Friday (1/29), Saturday or Sunday matinee at Cinema Village in lower Manhattan. Phillipe, Beth and Andy are all available for interviews in NYC or by phone: conta ct press@cinemalibrestudio.com or 310-780-4008 to arrange.

RSA Arts & Ecology – MA in Art & Environment: 2010

University College Falmouth
MA Art & Environment: 2010

For centuries artists have interpreted and represented the natural environment. It has provided materials and subject matter, as well as inspiration and knowledge. In recent times – particularly since the growth of the environmental movement – there has been a dramatic change in our understanding of the many ways our society impacts upon the Earth. This awareness has galvanised around the fact that the relationship between humanity and our life-giving planet is in a critical state.

This change in knowledge has been reflected in contemporary art practice. MA Art & Environment, at University College Falmouth, encourages a focused engagement with ecological and environmental issues. Designed to give students the skills, expertise and confidence to operate as a professional artist in this critical area of practice, the course will also enable them to develop strategies and practices that use art as a cultural agent – as a tool for knowledge, understanding and change.

Students on the course have opportunities to benefit from the Universtity’s relationship with Cape Farewell, The Eden Project and University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute.

For further information please
contact Dr Daro Montag
daro.montag[@]falmouth.ac.uk
+44 (0)1326 211077

RSA Arts & Ecology – Residencies | Bengal Eco Art Rally

BEAR Residency Program
Bengal Eco Art Rally

Application Deadline: February 20, 2010

14 x 2-weeks and 4-weeks residencies for the following disciplines:

• environmental art • landscape/garden design • architecture – Selected artists will be offered travel and subsistence cost

The program is exclusive to UK based artists

From BEAR:

We offer a multi-disciplinary residency program for UK and Indian artists to conceive and execute new ideas and to work on BEAR projected activities with site-specific responses to the rich natural environment of Sunderbans .

The working environment in Sunderbans is intended to be conducive to the creative process and the program is designed to foster a collegial atmosphere and sense of community among the participating artists.

BEAR programme aims to host UK 14 artists for 4-week residencies from May through November 2009. and from Jan to July 2010 – We provide each artist with comfortable living quarters in Sunderbans

BEAR is primarily designed to support artists in the following disciplines: eco-arts, landscape and garden design and architecture. While we are open to consideration of other more specialized disciplines, as a general rule we focus on the creative phase of the artistic process.

Participation in the residency program is primarily determined by a competitive selection process that follows an open call to artists. Applications are evaluated by separate, balanced, rotating juries in the following fields:

• environmental art
• landscape/garden design
• architecture 

The residency program has a modest invitation element as well. Artists whose work is held in particularly high regard by selection committee members and staff as well as those artists proposing projects of special/strategic significance for BEAR vision are invited to participate alongside and on the same terms as those offered residencies by virtue of the jury system.

BEAR selections are based on the strength of the artist’s existing body of work, the perceived importance of the creative project(s) being proposed by the artist for his/her residency and an evaluation of the likelihood of the artist achieving success and satisfaction in Sunderbans environment. We enthusiastically welcome candidates from varying backgrounds, with varying belief systems and of differing age groups.

If you are interested in taking part, please send your project proposal to lotfi@pax08.com

Call for Papers: 2nd UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education

25-28 May, 2010, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Deadline for submissions:  February 15, 2010

A call for paper proposals for the 2nd UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education has been posted on the conference website.  http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/401_callforpaper.jsp

Before submitting a paper proposal, contributors must register on the website.  http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/301_regis.jsp

The following information was taken from the conference website http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/con_info/101_greeting.jsp and from a message distributed by the organizers.  It appears that organizers may now be accepting only abstracts submitted via the website although email and fax addresses are also provided.

Language

Abstract(s) must be written in either ENGLISH or in FRENCH.

English: English abstracts can be submitted electronically through the online system of the official website or

via e-mail at 2010artsedu@korea.kr. We also welcome abstracts submitted by fax: +82 2 2075 6317.

French: We appreciate all French abstracts submitted via e-mail at fr_artsedu@naver.com or also by fax: +82 2 2075 6317.

Conference Framework

Convened at the initiative of UNESCO, in close partnership with the Government of Republic of Korea, the 2nd World Conference on Arts Education will take place in Seoul from 25th to 28th of May, 2010. The Conference will bring together representatives of Ministries of Education and/or Culture from the UNESCO Member States, as well as various experts, researchers and practitioners in the area of Arts Education.

Researchers are invited to submit abstracts for paper presentations within the framework of the upcoming World Conference on Arts Education. Abstracts from any relevant discipline will be considered, provided they make an original academic contribution to the research of arts education and its effects. All workshop topics are listed in the Appendix 1 and also available on the following webpage: http://www.artsedu2010.kr/htm/en/program/201_detail.jsp. The Steering Committee will endeavor to schedule abstracts according to authors’ preferences but reserves the right to decide on the final form of presentation. We particularly seek proposals for research papers on the following topics within the realm of Arts Education:

  • Arts education practices after the Road Map: contextualizing the Road Map
  • Encouraging cooperation and partnerships: within and beyond school
  • Developing the capacity of arts education practitioners: education and training system
  • Reaching out to a diversity of socio-cultural contexts and specificities
  • Healing and relieving through arts education
  • Social and economic intervention of arts education
  • Evidence, language of advocacy: indicators of arts education, evidence-based policy making
  • Building information gateway: Arts Education Glossary and Observatories
  • Renewed language of arts education: Creativity, interaction between theory and practice

THE GREEN ALLOWANCE BETA SITE IS LIVE AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL!

At Green Allowance, kids make a deal with a parent: the kids save energy at home which saves money on the electric bill, and the parents share the savings as a Green Allowance.

Kids are already loving it. Here’s an honest to goodness quote forwarded to us this week:

“Ok every one! Google Green Allowance. PLZ! Its so cool. You save money on electric bills, and then if ur parents agree, you get the money that u save! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE google it! Its rlly fun, and free, and u get paid! Forward this to everyone on ur list!”     – Emilia D., 7th grader

Visit www.greenallowance.com and explore the site. If you register (always free), you can check out the four Green Allowance gardens where kids learn what they can do to save energy and pick their projects. (BTW grownups, when in doubt, click the pig!)

Our pilot program in Glendale, California is commencing, and we expect them to catch the Green Allowance fever just as Emilia D., 7th grader did.

We are partnering with utilities to help them promote conservation in their communities. Green Allowance is a great way for utilities to:

  • market their existing energy efficiency programs
  • boost public relations and brand trust
  • support their schools and communities
  • enjoy a cost-effective demand-side management program
  • have quantified results

Spread the word; watch us grow, and if you have business inquiries just reply to this message!

Yours,

The Green Allowance Team

Green Allowance.
Save the Planet, Get Paid.

ABOUT GREEN ALLOWANCE:  Green Allowance motivates and empowers children to be leaders in conservation, helping their families to be the most resource-efficient in the industrialized world.  Children today list climate change as a top concern, but they are overwhelmed with options for action. Green Allowance is designed to nudge many of them to act by creating a monetary incentive that keeps them involved. For more information on Green Allowance go towww.greenallowance.com or write us at  talk2people@greenallowance.com.

Call For Papers for Special Issue on Culture and Sustainable Communities

Culture and Local Governance / Culture et Gouvernance Locale
Deadline for submission of papers: May 1, 2010

Guest Editors: Nancy Duxbury (Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal) and M. Sharon Jeannotte (Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada)

In the face of growing environmental and economic urgencies, issues of sustainability and resiliency are moving to the forefront of planning, policy, and programs in cities and communities of all sizes. City planning paradigms are mutating from a focus on building ‘creative cities’ to that of achieving ‘sustainable cities.’ Internationally, this shift is evident among local governments adopting sustainability goals for towns, cities, and regions; creating sustainable community plans; and implementing community projects related to ‘sustainable development.’ Yet cultural considerations, while recognized in urban and community planning contexts, are not integrated into sustainability planning in a widespread way.

Where are cultural considerations in this new paradigm/framework? How might culture be incorporated and situated within sustainability planning and related initiatives? How should cultural planning adapt to this increasingly dominant paradigm and context?

Potential contributors are invited to submit an article (maximum 5,000 words) by May 1, 2010 to Nancy Duxbury at duxbury@ces.uc.pt.

Details: www.ces.uc.pt/cesfct/nd/CFP_Culture_and_Local_Governance.pdf

Nancy Duxbury, PhD
Researcher
Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES) | Centre for Social Studies
Associate Laboratory, School of Economics
University of Coimbra
Coimbra, Portugal
duxbury@ces.uc.pt

Featured Artist: Dianna Cohen

as published in the Fall 2009 issue of the CSPA Quarterly

Los Angeles-based multi-media visual artist, painter and curator Dianna Cohen is best known for her two-dimensional and three-dimensional works using recycled plastic bags – sewn together – ranging from small hanging pieces to room-sized installations. 

Cohen’s work has been applied to surfboards in the acclaimed group show FLOW – fine lines on water, which she also curated. In 2007, Cohen expanded into making wearable art pieces using recycled materials, including stage outfits for alt-rock duo The Ditty Bops and a “green carpet” dress for actress Rachelle Carson. Her “conscious couture” and art were featured on Ed Begley’s environmentally themed HGTV series Living With Ed and on the CBS EcoZone Project with Daisy Fuentes. 

Other projects include:  The Curse, a book of stories at: www.thecurse.com and Citizenlove, new 2008 textiles based on her plastic work and viewable at: www.citizenlove.com

Solo shows include post, Art Affairs gallery in Amsterdam, the Sutton Gallery in Melbourne, and Frank Pictures in Santa Monica, CA. She has shown in group exhibitions at Affirmation Arts in NYC, the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, the Bronx Museum in NYC and the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida.

In 2008, she had work in the exhibition Just How Does A Patriot Act at The OCCCA in Orange County and at SPARC in Venice, CA and in the exhibition Recreate in Santa Monica.

In 2009, Cohen had solo exhibitions at Elizabeth Budia Gallery, Barcelona, and Art From Scrap in Santa Barbara. In 2010, her work will be exhibited in BCN: Nights Gallery in Barcelona, Spain.

www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org

www.diannacohen.com

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL Of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation

Call for participants

in the framework of:

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL

Of Arts and Sciences for Sustainability in Social Transformation

1. Overview

The International Council for Cultural Centers (I3C: www.international3c.org), the International Network Cultura21 (Cultural Fieldworks for Sustainability: www.cultura21.net) and the Latin American Network of Art for Social Transformation (Red-LATS: www.artetransformador.net/) are organizing, in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS: www.cscsarchive.org) the first international summer school of arts and sciences for sustainability in social transformation. The event is planned for early August 2010 in Bulgaria, in the beautiful Balkan mountains (Gabrovo).

We are seeking participants in the summer school! As the number of participants will be limited to a total of maximum 30 persons, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible!

Are you an artist, a practitioner or an academic working for or interested in the advancement of sustainability and social transformation (i.e. goals of social justice, ecological awareness and environmental action, human rights and self- determination, cultural and biodiversity, among others)? Are you looking for inter-or trans-disciplinary methodologies, and for inter-cultural dialogues? Are you interested in the relationships of bodily movements and/or of other sensuous/sensorial relationships to local places? Do you want to explore how movement also relates to place and community development?

If you replied yes to one of the previous questions, the international summer school may be the right place for you! Read further:

The detailed program of the Summer School’s workshops, will be announced in early 2010 (at the latest on March 15) on the project’s wikipage: http://www.cultura21.net/dokuwiki/doku.php/orange:sumschool

Information about inexpensive accommodation near the location of the summer school will be provided to the selected participants.

The application procedure and conditions are described on the following page.

2. Application

To participate in the summer school, you must apply, providing us with the following documents:

  • Personal data: please indicate your name, gender, age, full address and contact details, country of origin, country of current residence, and educational/professional background (in a few words).
  • A Résumé or CV
  • A letter of motivation where you explain why the summer school appeals to you, what you are expecting to benefit from it (for your research, your art, your activities, etc.). Please mention what you hope to learn at the summer school, and what you may be able to bring/teach yourself, based on your prior experience.

Applications shall be sent by email to: sacha.kagan@cultura21.org

Deadline for application: March 20, 2010 (please apply as early as possible; preferably, do not wait until the date of the deadline!)

Selection procedure: The selection of participants will be made by the organizers (Cultura21, I3C, Red-LATS) according to the following criteria:

  • Date of application (the earlier, the better)
  • Country of origin (to ensure an international mix of participants)
  • Professional/educational background (to ensure an interdisciplinary mix of participants)
  • Personal motivation and relevance of the applicant’s domains of interests to the general field of the summer school, i.e. sustainability in social transformation through action-research
  • Notification of final decision: April 5th, 2010

3. Conditions

All participants at the summer school are required to participate to the entirety of the summer school.

No scholarships are available from the school’s organizers, but we can provide cover letters upon request (in case you are applying for financial support from a third party).

Accommodation and travel costs will be covered by the Summer School only for a very limited number of participants from non-European countries. If you are requesting support for your accommodation and travel costs, please include a request letter, with a costs evaluation. Please note that we recommend that you also look for funding near third parties, as we will be able to support only a very limited number of participants.

Call for participants assist2010

Call for Workshop Proposals Sumschool2010

2010 Power of Words Conference: Call For Proposals

The 8th Annual Power of Words conference will be held Sept. 23-26, 2010 at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT and we’re looking for workshop proposals!

One way or another you’ve been connected and in touch with the Transformative Language Arts Network and we thought you and yours might be interested in the event again this year. Please consider the Call for Proposals yourself and give thought to forwarding this along to those for whom this might spark some interest. If, instead, you’d like to discontinue your communications with the Network you will find means to do that at the bottom of this message.
The 8th Annual Power of Words conference brings together writers, storytellers, performers, musicians, educators, activists, healers, health professionals, community leaders, and more. All participants are united in the common exploration of how the written, spoken, and sung word can catalyze individual and communal liberation, celebration, and transformation.

We invite your proposals for experiential, didactic, and/or performance-based workshops that focus on writing, storytelling, drama, film, narrative medicine, songwriting, and other forms of Transformative Language Arts (TLA). We support proposals that focus on social change, the spoken or sung word, and how to make a living using transformative language arts in service to our communities. Because we are strongly committed to including individuals from diverse backgrounds, we encourage proposals from people of color and from presenters of many ages.

To submit a workshop proposal, visit the TLAN 2010 Call for Proposals Page.

The 2010 conference will feature four thematic tracks. Particular consideration will be given to workshop proposals that forward one or more themes:

  • Right Livelihood, finding a work life that is an expression of your gifts and makes a contribution to the world.
  • Social Transformation, using the power of word to deepen engagement with social issues and transform self and society.
  • Engaged Spirituality, writing / employing spiritual pathways challenging deeply-embedded structures of injustice to cultivate a sustainable, just, and peaceful world.
  • Narrative Medicine, using the power of narrative to help patients discover their own stories of illness and create ones of healing that pull toward recovery.

The conference will feature the following keynote speakers:

  • Greg Greenway – Singer and poet who works with the social awareness of Woody Guthrie
  • S. Pearl Sharp – Writer/actress/filmmaker/broadcast journalist focusing on cultural arts, health and healing, and Black history
  • Kayhan Irani – An artivist using the the arts to deepen engagement with social issues and societal transformation. A writer, director, performer, and facilitator of Playback Theater
  • Katherine Towler – Poet, author, teacher – writes lyrical novels of family and place

To submit a workshop proposal, visit the TLAN 2010 Call for Proposals Page.

For further information, please contact the TLAN Coordinators.

Callid & Kristina Keefe-Perry
TLA Network Coordinators
coordinator@tlanetwork.org
877-303-TLAN (8526)

[Please note that (a) presenters are not paid for their presentations and must register for, pay for, and attend the conference, (b) conference fees begin at $200 with reasonable room and board available, (c) a limited number of partial scholarships are also available, and (d) no individual should submit more than three proposals.]