Vision...
We are all searching for something: understanding, love, inspiration, validation. Life is a pursuit for illumination, the truth from our experiences.
And if it can be said that art imitates life, shouldn't art reflect that deep rooted quest; that yearning for wisdom and insight?
All too often we rely on inadequate means of solving problems; ones that isolate and divide us. We are offered options that repress, pen-in, and punish instead of restoring, uniting, and informing. Recognizing this deficit, I use the arts to transform society, to bring us back to the collective path and ignite the spirit with beauty and truth.
Welcome to my quest: artivista!
upcoming :
The TV show that I've been writing for the last two years is going on air THIS Saturday, June 27th, at 4:00pm on Channel 25 in NYC.(Cablevision - 22)
It is called We Are New York and is a fabulously sweet, funny, emotional series. I've used the show in immigrant communities around the City and people love it!!!Finally there is a TV show in English that they can understand. And, that shows the real struggles and sweetness of immigrants in NYC. They see people like themselves, working together to solve problems and make a better life.
If you are not in NYC, and I know many of my fabulous friends aren't, then you can see trailers and clips of We Are New York online!
There's more that is going to be rolled out with the show, lesson plans for teachers, a guide book for volunteer facilitators, and self study materials!! It is going to be a truly multi-media, multi-disciplinary approach to Community Engagement and Language Learning!
It's a new way to learn English, to learn about NYC, and all done through experiencing the characters' joys and pains.
If you can, please tune in on Saturday at 4:00 pm to Channel 25! Please help by spreading the word ... and tell me what you think!
The Power of Words Conference - Liberation, Transformation, and Celebration Through the Spoken, Written, and Sung Word.
September 4-7, 2009
Goddard College - Plainfield, Vermont
Friday, September 4, 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM: Theater of the Oppressed - Image Theater: A workshop in storytelling for social justice.
Saturday, September 5, 7:30 PM: Keynote Address - Creativity, Art, and Social Justice.
The wonderful book I co-edited, is on the shelves!
To order copies visit: Routledge Press
... read a review of it.
Telling Stories to Change the World is a powerful collection of essays about community-based and interest-based projects where storytelling is used as a strategy for speaking out for justice. Contributors from across the globe--including Uganda, Darfur, China, Afghanistan, South Africa, New Orleans, and Chicago--describe grassroots projects in which communities use storytelling as a way of exploring what a more just society might look like and what civic engagement means. Together, these projects demonstrate the contemporary power of stories to stimulate engagement, active citizenship, the pride of identity, and the humility of human connectedness.
great news :
COLORLINES Magazine profiled me in their July/August issue. Read the article.
The Storytelling Project curriculum (Teaching about Race and Racism through Story Telling and the Arts) is now available for free download (pdf).
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Guillermo Linares awarded me a certificate of recognition for my work in immigrant communities.
The Associated Press featured me in an online, multi-media article about artists in America who explore issues of immigration.
The NY Daily News wrote a feature article on me and my work (pdf).