Tag: APASO

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One Month In

Last night I escaped to the pool of the apartment complex I’m staying in.  I’m tending to this nasty sunburn that I received down here on the first couple days when I fell asleep on the beach.  It is not pretty and I am about to get on a train for twenty-seven hours.  I laugh at it because it is all a part of this journey that I am so fulfilled to be on.

While I was down by the pool, I met this woman who had just recently moved with her husband from Michigan.  She was also escaping for a moment.  Her husband was taking care of their one year old while she enjoyed the hot tub.  They moved to Tampa because her husband is in the Air Force and he was placed in Tampa. 

After she told me the basics: How they met? Where they got married? Why they came to Tampa? She told me her passion for art and music from video games that get mixed into different music genres.  Then, we got on the topic of fan fiction.  Remember Claire at the Starbucks in Austin?  She was a fan fiction author.

When I met Claire and her fans, I had no clue what fan fiction really was, but I faked it well.  Last night in the pool, I was educated.  The abridged version is fiction written in order to combine two or more characters from different story or plot lines.  A good example would be if I wrote about Harry Potter in a samurai story with Edward from Twilight.  There are no boundaries to what the story can do so it really unleashes the imagination into limitless scenarios.  Even though it doesn’t have boundaries, it does have very philosophical rules.  I’m not educated enough to really go into them, but can say some thought really did go into the creation of fan fiction.

This conversation at the pool last night though really got me thinking about my journey in just a month.  Tomorrow I go to New York to stay put because I am quickly running out of funds.  In New York I can stay with loved ones who are family and being in New York, I will have plenty of content as well as resources.

My intentions of completing this full year are big and bold.  As I look over this first month, I am overwhelmed by the greatness I have come across. Las Vegas opened my eyes to things that we have overlooked in our country like social responsibility from private entities in our communities, the fact that refugees are still coming to our country in hope of a better life, and what a community looks like when it’s second strongest source of revenue stops.

 In Austin, I met Claire the fan fiction writer, Teresa who is working on a project to really show talented dancers in our country, the entire group from the APASO conference and hundreds of more. Their stories are all individual and have a right to be shared.

This progression of eye opening moments and great lifelong stories have been constant since Austin into San Antonio, Beaumont, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mobile, Panama City, Saint Petersburg and now into Tampa.  Rhonda sharing with us in Beaumont to my Cab driver in New Orleans talking about the progression of New Orleans over the last fifty years all has relevance in our lives.  All of it as a whole makes us a community and that continues to be an underlying theme in Project Kinect.

I’m not sure yet of the outcome of this year will be and I probably won’t until much later in the year.  I am sure though that there is a benefit to what I am doing even if only for entertainment.    We need to know each other better without judgment and without prejudice.  We will never get further as a society if we don’t take the time and find the common ground with one another.

As I take the next twenty seven hours off line, on a train, heading toward New York City, please take a moment to think about what Project Kinect can mean in your life.  If it does nothing, then that is that.  For majority of us though, we really need that human connection on some level so Project Kinect should really hit close to home.   In order for me to continue with this and see really where this movement can go, I need all the help I can get.  I ask that you please share this, donate, email me, or any other assistance you can think of.  Once I have the resources I need to reach out to as many people as possible then and only then can we see the capacity of Project Kinect. 

Thank you all for your support so far and see you in New York City.

Tons  of love,

Gregg

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Arlene Goldbard’s Keynote Speech

When I was volunteering at the APASO conference, I got the pleasure to hear Arlene Goldbard speak.  She is a writer who has taken her own path to teach the public about the cultural arts.  This is what we always refer to as “the arts” but that term doesn’t give it the importance and correct frame that it really is.

The beginning of her speech was very much like what we would hear about the situation from our country from most anyone in the cultural arts.  Funding is being cut and we are trying to fight that battle the old democratic way; with petitions, letters, and getting the men and women we voted in to get change moving.  Arlene pointed out the benefits but then went on to describe how our country has changed and we now cannot ask the question, “funding for the arts?” because that keeps us focused on the much smaller idea of the picture.  The real question she asked was, “Who are we as a people? What do we want to be known for: our stupendous ability to punish, or our immense creativity?”

 That question resonated in me for the rest of her speech.  What do we want to be remembered for?  While that left tons of thoughts firing in my brain, she then went on describe the six skills to social transformation that also parallel with artist’s essential habits of mind.  For the benefit of sharing a lot of information, I’m just going to bullet point them

 

  • ·         Social Imagination
  • ·         Empathy
  • ·         Ability to Improvise
  • ·         Awareness of cultural citizenship and the ability to inhabit it fully
  • ·         Connectivity
  • ·         Creativity

 Arlene really got me thinking after these six points were made, but then she spoke about cultural arts in our daily lives and it completely screamed at me.  For me, this is the bridge to awareness of why the arts are needed in all of our lives.

                        Wherever I travel, I see people plugged into their iPods, listening to music as they move about their cities and towns. Some commentators regard this as a social problem: we are isolated, we don’t talk to each other anymore, and so on. But I see it as exactly the opposite: I think we are self-medicating, prescribing for ourselves music that attunes our bodies, feelings, minds, and spirits to precisely the support, inspiration, beauty, and meaning that will sustain us through the day and its challenges. When we want to express identity, understand each other better, connect to sources of strength, find inspiration, create pleasure, celebrate and commemorate peak moments, we turn to music, dance, drama, still and moving images.

                        Whenever we human beings have free choice in how we use our time, for a huge number of us, the choice we make is art. We, the fellowship of art as the secret of survival, know this in our bones. It is inscribed in our own stories of becoming artists or those whose path in life is to manifest creativity in other ways, building arts organizations or teaching those who will become practitioners. Think for a moment: what set you on your path?

 If only the population really understood that the cultural arts played a huge part in their lives, would they then stand a little more firm in the ground for getting more funding and making it play a larger part in our society as a whole.  I understand that there are still many steps to be taken before we are to get to that point, but once we do, then we will have a more structured plan forward as well as a unified one.

 Arlene soon went into a wonderful conversation about paradigm shifts and how they happen often because older systems of understanding do not necessarily hold true with new train of thoughts.  This conversation evolved into framing the picture and that if we frame what is happening or needed correctly, then we can make the bigger impact.  It always goes down to marketing in today’s society and framing the situation does just that.

 This speech was then followed up by a workshop about creating social movements.  Do you see why she spoke to me so clearly? I’m not going to go into that because that is something for Arlene herself to share with you.  If you are interested in her workshop, then definitely get a hold of her and invite her to conduct one with your organization. It will be truly impactful for what is happening in your lives. I am going to end this post by a quote and a couple open ended questions.  The quote is this:

              “Life is a mistake that only art can fix”

 If you find this quote true, then how do we get everyone aware of how it is used in our daily lives?  We all have forms of art, whether it is music, painting, dancing, puzzles, television, decorating, playing house with children, it all has real-estate in our lives. Art will not leave us because it is in our DNA so we need to nurture it and give it all the tools as a society in order to be more efficient and productive as the whole.  I encourage all cultural arts groups to take time out of your day, highlight the art in peoples’ lives.  Then, maybe even use those public moments in public spaces, create art for those unaware masses and expose them to something that they have never seen before; a type of dance, live painting, collective rhymed speaking, theatre, whatever, but get it out there so the exposure is there.  This also includes using technology to its fullest.  As I continue this year, I will continue to show you the amazing revelations of art using technology because I think it is important in order for the cultural arts to become s power house in our country.  Without the support that is needed for the cultural arts to become a significant placeholder in our country, the cultural arts will stay that finger painting that gets thrown away after a day on the fridge. We cannot continue to let the cultural arts be the societal trash of our country which sits right along healthcare and education….. But that is for another arena.

If you want to read all of Arlene Goldbard’s speech, check it out here.

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In the Near Future

Can’t wait to be in Austin.  Check out the Association of Performing Arts Service Organizations(APASO)  conference March 7th-10th.  It is going to be a great time to hear about a ton a greatness happening in our arts community. This is sponsored by Austin Creative Alliance.  Check out their websites so you can get fully educated on all the amazing things they’re working on and getting out to the community.

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