Project Jericho of Springfield, Ohio was honored with a 2008 Coming Up Taller Award and received $10,000, presented by First Lady Laura Bush at the White House in November.

Project Jericho is a collaborative program of Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center and Job and Family Services of Clark County in Springfield that enables at-risk students to tap their own creativity to forge a path to productive lives. The program utilizes several art forms, including photography, theatre and dance to foster positive social interactions among its participants, who are encouraged to apply the skills and discipline earned through the arts to their daily lives. Recognizing the role of healthy family dynamics in leading young people away from at-risk behaviors, Project Jericho also sponsors the Family Connections Program for clients of the Department of Job and Family Services, through which young people and their families collaborate on art-based projects to strengthen bonds and improve communication.

The Coming Up Taller Awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of young people, and provide them with new learning opportunities and a chance to contribute to their communities. The awards also highlight the contributions that historians, scholars, librarians and visual and performing artists make to families and communities by mentoring children. More than 300 nominations were received by the program in 2008. Coming Up Taller is an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

Photo Information:
Left to right: First Lady Laura Bush; Scott Dawson, Director of Education, Project Jericho; Anthony Mitchell; Caren Prothro, Board Member, President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

A Dayton cultural fund has just awarded a grant that will enable Dayton’s professional theatre company, The Human Race Theatre Company, to increase their national reach in the field of musical theatre development. The combination of innovative funding and expertise could push Dayton to the forefront of creativity in theatre.
 
The grant for nearly $94,000 comes from The Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund.  It will help fund activities from July 2009 through July 2010 including two summer musical festivals as well as the Summer Lovewell program, two residencies and two major musical productions at The Loft Theatre.  The Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund has long supported artistic projects that expand the reach of the organization and the art form itself. 

“Dayton has long been a center for innovation,” said Human Race Executive Director Kevin Moore. “The airplane, the cash register, the electric starter engine, the ice tray – just a few of the many innovations created in Dayton.  We plan to use the creative energy in the Miami Valley to make this a center for the creation of new musicals.”

For the past eight years, The Human Race has been cultivating new musicals through its Musical Theatre Workshop program. It has developed relationships with both established (Stephen Schwartz, Tom Jones) and emerging (Joseph Thalken, Gregg Coffin, Rob Hartmann) writers.  Regional and national artists have been showcased in premieres, workshops and residencies.  But with the help of the grant, the 2009-10 season will bring all of these projects together under one arm of The Human Race – MUSICALS IN DEVELOPMENT.

NEWS-HERALD ARTICLES

The News-Herald in Willoughby did a series on the arts in education during the month of November.  The reporters spoke extensively with Ohio Arts Council Deputy Director Mary Campbell-Zopf and Ohio Citizens for the Arts Executive Director Donna Collins.  The paper had three articles as well as an opinion piece.  The following is an excerpt of one of the articles:

'Art ties in everything'
Twenty-six-year-old Lisa Focareto remembers her weekly elementary art classes as free time to do crafts, play with clay and twist pipe-cleaners.  Time feels much more precious now for Focareto, who grew up to teach elementary art herself. She gets only one lesson a quarter — or four hours a year — with each third-, fourth- and fifth-grade class in Willoughby-Eastlake's seven elementary schools.  By necessity, her plans are more tailored than those in her childhood classes. They're also more tied in with other coursework.  Third-grade classes compare geometric and free-form shapes, rules and symmetry with her projects.

"They get it," she said of the kids. "It's just a different application. Art ties in everything."

In a system where educators worry standardized testing and shoestring budgets supersede a complete education, she does her best to stay relevant.  No matter how little time Focareto gets with each class, kids learn that art history ties in every work of art with a real life.

To read the rest of this article click here.

To read the other arts education articles visit www.news-herald.com.

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS CREATES NEW FUNDING CATEGORY FOR ARTISTS’ COMMUNITIES

For the first time in more than a decade, The National Endowment for the Arts has created a new funding category, this time for Artist Communities. 

The Artist Communities Grant program will focus on organizations whose primary purpose is providing artists' residencies. 

“I can't overstate the importance of this recognition of our field by the NEA -- not as an end-point, but as a beginning. Earning our own category at the NEA is an incredible symbol of the relevance and immediacy of our field's work: to support living artists in the creation of new work and the exploration of new ideas. The Alliance was founded on the belief that supporting today's artists in the creation of new work is essential to human progress -- not as a luxury, not as a leisure activity, but as a vital and necessary force in society.  –Caitlin Strokosch

For more information visit www.nea.gov.

GOVERNOR TED STRICKLAND AND FIRST LADY FRANCES STRICKLAND RECEIVE CHILD OF APPALACHIA AWARD

Name: Sen. John Boccieri, (D) 33rd District

Years in Office: 2000-2006 State Representative, 2006-present State Senator

Committees: Agriculture; Energy and Public Utilities (Ranking Minority Member); Insurance, Commerce and Labor; State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs 

Hometown: New Middletown

Education: B.S., Economics, St. Bonaventure University; M.A., Public Administration, Webster University, St. Louis; M.A., Business, Webster University, St. Louis

Recent Honors: Merle Shoemaker Award for Integrity in Office, Jack Wolfe award by the Ohio Association of Election Officials for service to the state and promoting free elections; Awarded Legislator of the Year by the American Veterans Association (AMVETS), the East Central Ohio Education Association, and the Ohio Young Democrats; Air Force: Iraqi Campaign Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Air Force Air Medal.

Marital Status, Children: Married, three children.

Favorite Arts or Cultural Pastime: Watching Broadway plays

Favorite Artist: Norman Rockwell

Last Book Read: “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown