In this issue:
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Cecily Stevens, Poetry Out Loud first place winner, moves
on to California State Championship
-
Darija Walker Appointed to the Arts & Culture Commission
of Contra Costa County
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The California Cultural Data Project
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Congratulations to Contra Costa TV
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President Bush Proposes Cuts in Arts Funding
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- Dancers' Choice Award 2008 Nomination Deadline Extended
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Cecily Stevens, Poetry Out Loud first place winner, moves
on to California State Championship
Shown left to right starting with the back row:
Joslynn Aquino, 4th Place, Pittsburg High; Cheryl Evans, Deer Valley High; Rachel Cattaneo, 3rd Place, Las
Lomas High; Christina Bowerman, Las Lomas High; Annelyse Gelman, 2nd
Place, Miramonte High; Cecily Stevens 1st Place, Salesian High; Maria Sandoval, Pittsburg
High; Hollyeva Allen, Deer Valley High;
Bottom Row: Adam Zittel, 5th Place, Salesian High; Jesse
Touchstone, Mt. Diablo High; Hunter Oney, Mt. Diablo High (Not shown Myra Orgain, Miramonte High)
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Congratulations from AC5 to each and every one of the
participating students in the Contra Costa County Finals of the First
Annual Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest. Everyone delivered
excellent performances and may be proud of their achievement. You may view
the entire program on Monday, March 3rd at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, March 4th at
9 p.m., on CCTV Comcast channel 27 and Astound channel 32. For future
airing dates visit the CCTV website at www.contracostatv.org.
First place winner Cecily Stevens, from Salesian High School
in Richmond,
was awarded a very generous prize of $500.00 donated by the Dean &
Margaret Lesher Foundation. She was selected from a total of twelve
students, the finalists from six area high schools, based on her
memorization and recitation of two poems chosen from a list provided by
Poetry Out Loud. Cecily will now move on to Sacramento for the California State
Championship, to be held March 14, 2008. The winners from each state
competition will then advance to the National Finals scheduled for April
29, 2008 in Washington DC.
In conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts
and the California Arts Council, AC5 sponsored Poetry Out Loud, which
encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through
memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master
public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their
literary heritage through the dynamic aspects of the spoken word. AC5 is proud to have made this experience
possible for over 200 county students.
A special note of appreciation to our volunteer judges: Susan Bonilla, County Supervisor,
District 4; David Duer, AC5 Commissioner, Development Director UC Berkeley
Libraries; Beverly Lauderdale, writer and teacher; Sarah Michael, AC5
Commissioner, composer and musician; Sunny Solomon, poet and bookseller, and
Darija Walker, AC5 Commissioner and arts activist.
Also, please support the following organizations whose
donations helped make this event a great success: Berkshire Books, Concord
* California Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley *
Clayton Books, Clayton * Circuit City, Pinole * Mark Ballock Photography, San
Ramon * Onstage Theatre, Pleasant Hill * Nob
Hill Foods, Martinez * Trader Joe's, Concord
For information
about how your high school may participate in Poetry Out Loud 2009 please
contact us by email at ac5@ac5.org.
For more information about Poetry Out Loud please visit www.poetryoutloud.org.
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Darija Walker Appointed to the Arts & Culture Commission
of Contra Costa County
 Our newest member of AC5, Darija Walker, was recently
appointed by Supervisor Federal Glover, District 5. Darija is an activist for the arts community
in and around the Bay Area. It is her philosophy that creativity is the very
foundation for the growth of a prosperous society. She is the youngest member
on the AC5 Commission, and hopes to inspire other young adults to take action
within their own communities. During her four year term, Darija plans to focus
on raising funds for AC5, building better relationships with schools and other
youth related organizations and adding vigor to current and upcoming events for
Arts & Culture in Contra
Costa County.
The California Cultural Data Project
What is it?
The California Cultural Data Project is the most ambitious and comprehensive
effort ever to gather and analyze information about the contributions of the
cultural sector to California's
economy and quality of life.
The launch of the California CDP has been made possible through the
leadership of:
California
Arts Council
Los Angeles County Arts Commission
The Getty Foundation
The
James Irvine Foundation
The
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Why is it Important to Your Arts Organization?
This statewide data collection effort for arts and culture was launched in Pennsylvania in
September 2004. It was designed to provide an easier application process for
potential grantees through the development of a standardized form for
organizational data that will accompany grant requests to the partnering
funders. Applicants will only need to
complete this form once each year.
In addition to creating a streamlined application process for more than
5,000 arts and culture organizations throughout California, it is hoped that access to
reliable data about the cultural sector will enhance both individual
organizational capacity as well as the overall effectiveness of the nonprofit
cultural community.
Get Involved
Get started with the California CDP - visit the Web site at www.caculturaldata.org today. Create an account by clicking on New User
Registration. Review the online training and start your profile.
Get the most from the California CDP. Attend a free training session: Bay Area training sessions will be offered
March 10- 14. These important training sessions will show you and your
staff how to enter data into the California CDP and use its powerful reporting
features. Register now for one of the upcoming California CDP new user training
sessions, which are being offered throughout the state: http://www.caculturaldata.org/news.aspx.
Congratulations to Contra Costa TV
AC5 often collaborates with Contra Costa TV (CCTV) to record
our events for later broadcast. In February 2007, CCTV filmed and edited the
Symposium on California Arts and Healthy Communities, an event AC5 produced in
partnership with California Lawyers for the Arts. This video recently won a
Western Access Video Excellence (WAVE) award from the Alliance for Community Media's Western States
Region.
The Symposium on California Arts and Healthy Communities
video has been shown on more than 23
community access stations throughout California. Congratulations on a job well done!
President Bush Proposes Cuts in Arts Funding - A Message from Americans for the Arts
On Monday, February 4, 2008 President Bush sent his FY 2009
budget request to Congress, beginning the yearly appropriations process for the
nation's cultural agencies and programs.
On the heels of signing the largest
Congressionally-initiated funding increase for the arts in 28 years, President
Bush has proposed a senseless $16.3 million cut for FY 2009 for the National
Endowment for the Arts (NEA)-from $144.7 million to $128.4 million. After three
years of minimal, but incremental, funding growth, we are surprised to see an
attempt to erase this progress.
For the eighth consecutive year, the President's budget has
eliminated funding for the Department of Education's Arts in Education
programs, which includes funding for model arts programs and collaborations
with schools, teacher professional development, and arts programs for at-risk
youth.
Also, the FY 2009 budget request calls for a rescission of
$200 million in already-approved funding for the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting (CPB). As a trusted
community resource, CPB uses the power of noncommercial television and radio to
enrich the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education
services.
Finally, and on a positive note, the President requested a
funding boost of over $8 million for the Office of Museum Services, calling for
the amount of funding available for grants up from $31.3 million to $40
million.
- Dancers' Choice Award 2008 Nomination Deadline Extended
This new honor will create an open opportunity for the community to nominate and
sing the praises of an individual, group or organization that the Bay Area dance
community may not know about or have not had the opportunity to thank.
To suggest an individual, group or
organization for this award, visit www.bayareandw.org and click
on the "Dancers' Choice Award" link to download a nomination form. Completed
nomination forms must be received by Monday, March 3, 2008 (extended deadline). All valid
nominations are reviewed equally, regardless of the number of nominations
submitted.
The Bay Area Dance
Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates dance, dancers, artists and
supporters that keep dance alive in the Bay Area. In addition to the Isadora
Duncan Dance Awards (Izzies) and the Voice of Dance award to be presented at the
ceremony this year, BANDW will present the first annual Dancers' Choice Award on
Monday, April 28, 2008.
Contributors: Robin Moore & Pat Rusich
AC5 is partially funded by:
  
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