CHILEAN ARTS EDUCATORS PARTICIPATE IN RESIDENCIES IN CLEVELAND

Through a partnership grant to Baldwin-Wallace College from the Ohio Arts Council's International Program, five Chilean arts educators participated in residencies in Cleveland during January and February. With Laura Joss, head of music education at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory, music teachers Rodrigo Tapia, Raimundo Garrido and Andres King visited local high and middle schools and observed Baldwin-Wallace music education students. Visual arts teachers Juan Arros and Laura Huichaman taught art lessons in Spanish at Buhrer Elementary, a bilingual school in Cleveland.

The Chilean arts educators experienced Ohio's cultural offerings with visits to the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, among others. The music educators also attended the Ohio Music Educators Association Conference in Cincinnati.

Ohio Arts Council exchanges with Chile began in fall 2000 when six Ohio artists and arts educators conducted planning residencies in Chile. The OAC's International Program is designed to foster long-term involvement in international cultural exchange. These exchanges encourage Ohio arts professionals to build partnerships with their colleagues abroad. For more information call 614/466-2613.

BUILDING DIVERSE AUDIENCES RESTRUCTURED

The Ohio Arts Council's Building Diverse Audiences (BDA) Program has been put on hiatus for one year while it is restructured. The BDA program provides seed money to arts organizations to build audiences of African Americans, Appalachians, Asians, Latinos/Hispanics, Native American Indians and people with disabilities. The Ohio Arts Council will not accept new applicants to this program, but will accept applications from organizations that were funded in FY2002.

A recent evaluation of the program confirmed that the OAC is unique among arts agencies in the scope and longevity of such a program. The evaluation confirmed that the framework for BDA is on target with its emphasis on internal change as integral to diversifying audiences. While the study revealed a high level of success among organizations participating in the BDA Program, there are challenges in maintaining organization¹s participation beyond the grant period. For more information contact Phyllis Hairston at 614/466-2613 or e-mail
phyllis.hairston@oac.state.oh.us.