After receiving renewed interest from agencies in attending our conference and careful consideration, we have invited our colleagues on the “other side” of our business to join us in Traverse City. It is important that Michigan arts organizations participate in the conference, as these colleagues are coming from distances both far and farther.

Additionally, the sooner you register the better – as there are a few agencies “on the sidelines” waiting to see if they should attend pending registrations. We appreciate your consideration in attending and hope you find the conference programs interesting and impactful. We have kept conference costs at a minimum to allow for budgets of every size, starting at just $35.

          

Book Your Hotel: Deadline: Monday, May 28

Summary: 
In an effort spearheaded by Eugene Jenneman, Director of the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, MI, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)  has awarded $30,000 to facilitate a tour of the Miami-based Cuban performing group Tiempo Libre to selected venues throuought Michigan. Collaborative partners in the initial proposal include venues in Canton, Charlotte,  East Lansing, Flint,  Kalamazoo,  Ludington, Marquette, Roscommon, Saugatuck, Sault Ste Marie and Traverse City.

“A special thanks and congratulations goes out to Gene for his tireless efforts in paving the way for the members and venues of Michigan Presenters to receiving this generous grant.  Gene’s leadership, vision and collaborative spirit has benefited our membership in so many ways and this is just one example of his significant contributions to helping arts organizations throughout Michigan.” -Bryan Jao, president, Michigan Presenters

Detail:
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman has announced that the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is one of 788 not-for-profit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. The Dennos Museum Center is recommended for a $30,000 grant to facilitate a tour of the Miami based Cuban performing group Tiempo Libre to the Dennos and other venues in the state of Michigan. The 788 Art Works grants total $24.81 million and support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts.

According to Tiempo Libre’s website, tiempolibremusic.com, “The three-time Grammy-nominated Cuban music group Tiempo Libre is one the hottest young Latin bands today. Equally at home in concert halls, jazz clubs and dance venues, Tiempo Libre’s Miami-based members are true modern heirs to the rich tradition of the music of their native Cuba. Classically trained at Cuba’s premiere conservatories, today, the group is a hit in the U.S. and abroad, celebrated for its incendiary, joyful performances of timba, an irresistible, dance-inducing mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and the seductive rhythms of son.”

The Dennos Museum Center will collaborate with the Wharton Center at Michigan State University in developing this project. The Wharton Center first brought this amazing performing group to Interlochen for a public performance and the Dennos for school performances in January 2009.

Chairman Landesman said, “The arts should be a part of everyday life. Whether it’s seeing a performance, visiting a gallery, participating in an art class, or simply taking a walk around a neighborhood enhanced by public art, these grants are ensuring that across the nation, the public is able to experience how art works.”

“I was completely blown away by this group when they performed at the Dennos in 2009 for schools,” says Gene Jenneman, Director of the Dennos Museum Center, “I wanted to find a way to bring them back to Traverse City and make them accessible to smaller venues like ours around the State. This grant will allow us to get group to venues from Canton to Marquette, about ten or so in all, and in doing so the Traverse City community will benefit and the Dennos will impact the state as a whole.” The grant will support part of the performing fees for both public and school programs in each community.

The NEA received 1,624 eligible applications under the Art Workscategory for this round of funding, requesting more than $78 million in funding. For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov.

Kenneth Foster is the Executive Director of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), a multi-disciplinary, contemporary arts center in San Francisco.  With a BA from Metropolitan State College and MA from New York University, he has worked in arts administration for nearly 30 years directing arts presenting programs at Millikin University, Penn State University and the University of Arizona, prior to coming to YBCA in 2003. Mr. Foster has been active in national arts service organizations throughout his career, including serving as Chair of the Board of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) from 2000-2003. He is a founding member of The Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium and has a particular interest in contemporary art practice in non-Western cultures. In 2007, his book: Presenting the Performing Arts; From Theory to Practice was published by APAP. In 2009 he published “Thriving in an Uncertain World; Arts Presenting and the New Realities” and has lead several workshops on this topic. In 2008, he received APAP’s prestigious Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award for Exemplary Service to the Field of Performing Arts Presenting.

“Becoming the 21st Century Presenter”
With globalization, changing demographics, the rise of technology and the collapse of the 20th century economy, the culture is changing around us at an extraordinary speed. What is really happening, how does this affect presenters and how can we respond so that we sustain our organizations and lead our communities in the 21st century? In his position as the director of a contemporary arts center in San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Ken Foster is in a position to see and experience these trends first hand. In this presentation he shares his observations and gets us thinking and talking about how we embrace the change that is happening to us.

 

Simple How To: 

STEP 1: Register for the website (if not already)

STEP 2: Once logged in, you can submit routing requests to be published

STEP 3: Visit the ‘Routing‘ page for opportunities
*Note, these pages will only be visible to current members that have registered on the website.  If you have difficulty in registering, please do not hesitate to contact me.