A series of recommendations for fostering the arts in Dallas has been released by SMU's Meadows School of the Arts and Creative Time, a New York-based public arts organization. In October 2009 Creative Time received one of the inaugural two Meadows Prize artist residency awards from the Meadows School.
Creative Time's residency has taken the form of a yearlong study of the Dallas art community to identify strengths and potential areas for growth. During the course of three weeklong visits to Dallas over the past year, Creative Time's team met with a wide range of members of the art community, including artists, curators, collectors, gallery owners, visual and performing arts organization leaders, school administrators, philanthropists, writers, community organizers and city officials.
"Our goal was to begin an inclusive dialogue about where Dallas could focus energies to nurture its artistic life, a conversation that we hope will continue long after our residency has ended and will lead to new initiatives, policies and opportunities for artists," said Creative Time President and Artistic Director Anne Pasternak.
The group identified 13 key elements necessary for the Dallas art community to thrive. Many are already in place and working effectively, while others are lacking or nonexistent, Pasternak said. For each element, Creative Time developed several recommendations to further strengthen programs and structures and to create new opportunities.
A conversation about Creative Time's study and the Dallas art community is now open to audiences online with D Magazine's FrontRow. Creative Time encourages everyone to read the report, consider its recommendations, and post reactions on the website at frontrow.dmagazine.com/creativetime.
In addition, as a follow-up to the report, the Meadows School will host a public symposium titled "The Freedom of the City: Models of Urban Engagement and Creativity in the 21st Century" 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 9 in the Bob Hope Theatre, Owen Arts Center. The event will explore new models of public art practice in the urban environment. Participants will include socially engaged artists such as Rick Lowe, creator of Houston's Project Row Houses, and Tom Finkelpearl, executive director of the Queens Museum of Art, as well as members of Creative Time and prominent Dallas community builders. Admission is free, and no tickets are required. For more information, call the Division of Art at 214-768-2489.
José Antonio Bowen, dean of SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, was one of 10 recipients of the 2010 Awards for Excellence in Community Service presented Nov. 9 by the Dallas Historical Society (DHS).
The DHS, the oldest historical organization in Dallas County committed to preserving the area's entire history, established the Awards for Excellence in Community Service in 1981. The awards recognize community leaders in a variety of fields who have made significant contributions to the quality of life in Dallas and the surrounding area. Outstanding individuals are selected for this honor from nominations solicited from the Dallas community.
Award recipients are chosen by a DHS selection committee, led this year by chair William T. Solomon. The luncheon honoring this year's recipients was held at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. Honorary chair for the luncheon was Mary Anne Cree, longtime Dallas philanthropist, and event co-chairs were Michelle Neuhoff Thomas and Stewart Hyer Thomas.
After months of planning, Grammy Award-winning chamber ensemble eighth blackbird (right) comes to Dallas for its first weeklong residency Oct. 17-23, 2010. As recipients of the University's 2009-10 Meadows Prize, the group will participate in 20 different events during the week, including four that are free and open to the public: an open rehearsal, a reading workshop of student compositions, an open panel discussion, and a public concert. The sextet will return to the SMU campus in November 2010 and February 2011.
In October 2009, SMU's Meadows School of the Arts announced the first two recipients of the inaugural 2009-10 Meadows Prize, a new international arts residency: eighth blackbird and the New York-based public arts organization Creative Time.
The prize includes housing for a one-to-three-month residency in Dallas, transportation expenses, studio and office space, and project costs, in addition to a $25,000 stipend.
In return, recipients are expected to interact in a substantive way with Meadows students and collaborating arts organizations, and to leave a lasting legacy in Dallas.
"The first set of the new Meadows Prizes went to two extraordinary collectives, both of whom specialize in making the seemingly impossible possible," said Meadows Dean José Bowen. "eighth blackbird has found a way to make difficult contemporary classic music exciting, entertaining, approachable and profitable. Those are skills our students need.
Above, eighth blackbird members (back row, left to right): Nicholas Photinos, cello; Tim Munro, flutes; Matthew Duvall, percussion; Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets; (front row) Matt Albert, violin and viola; Lisa Kaplan, piano. Photo by Luke Ratray.
Singing strings: The Meadows Guitar Ensemble presents music spanning 3 centuries from Spain, South America and the United States at 8 p.m. April 13 in Caruth Auditorium, Owen Arts Center. Free. For more information, contact the Division of Music in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, 214-768-1951.
Perkins Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The work of Julian Samora (right), the founder of Latino studies, becomes a case example of how a scholar addresses social justice in his work in an upcoming Perkins Interdisciplinary Dialogue. "A Struggle for Social Justice: The Chicano Voice of Julian Samora – How Does His Legacy Respond to Conservatives' Attacks on Churches That Preach Social Justice?" takes place April 14 in the Prothro Hall Refectory, Room 104. The discussion will be moderated by Anthony Cortese and Susanne Johnson of the Department of Sociology in SMU's Dedman College. Light dinner at 6:30 p.m., discussion 7-8:30 p.m. RSVP to Rachel Lamb, Perkins School of Theology.
Meadows at the Bath House: SMU's Meadows School of the Arts presents a concert of art, music and dance with the band Jampact and digital artists Carola Dreidemie, assistant professor in the Division of Art, and Richard Klein. Jampact features Meadows Dean José Bowen (right, piano), Buddy Mohamed (bass), and Meadows faculty members Kim Corbet (trombone and synthesizer), Akira Sato (trumpet) and Jamal Mohamed (drums). SMU dance students Albert Drake and Tawanda Chebikwa will also perform. The show begins at 8 p.m. April 17 in the Bath House Cultural Center at Dallas' White Rock Lake, 521 E. Lawther Drive. Tickets are $10 each. For more information, contact Kim Corbet.
Cowboys chat: The SMU Athletic Forum welcomes Dallas Cowboys owner, president and general manager Jerry Jones, noon-1:30 p.m. April 20 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway. Tickets are $60 each. For more information, contact Brittany Timmerman, 214-768-4314.
Clements Center Brown Bag Lecture: Clements Center Fellow Raul Coronado will discuss "A World Not to Come: Revolution, Modernity, and Latino Literary History, 1810-1860" at noon April 21 in the Texana Room, DeGolyer Library. Sponsored by SMU's Clements Center for Southwest Studies. Bring your lunch.
Faculty and students in SMU's Meadows School of the Arts have found a new way to blend their talents. "Meadows at the Bath House," a new series of performances that cross genres and disciplines, opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 28 at Dallas' Bath House Cultural Center.
The series reflects the Meadows School's interest in expanding its interdisciplinary offerings in the community, fostered by Dean José Bowen.
The inaugural show features the music and dance explorations of BL Lacerta. The interdisciplinary ensemble includes three musicians and two dancers: Corbet on trombone and synthesizer, Kevin Hanlon (Associate Professor of Music Composition) on guitar, and pianist David Anderson of SMU's Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. The Meadows-trained dancers are Tawanda Chabikwa (M.F.A. '10) and Jennifer Mabus (B.F.A. '93).
"The group rigorously rehearses improvisationally, with dancers routinely making music and musicians moving on stage with the dancers," Corbet says.
The second show, set for 8 p.m. Nov. 13, features the Meadows faculty jazz quintet Jampact along with videographers and movement artists. The group includes Meadows Dean José Bowen (piano) and Meadows faculty members Akira Sato (trumpet), Jamal Mohamed (drums), Buddy Mohamed (bass) and Corbet.
Tickets to each performance are $5. The Bath House Cultural Center is located at 521 E. Lawther Drive on the east side of White Rock Lake. For more information, contact Kim Corbet at 214-542-5663 or visit the Bath House Cultural Center website.
Grammy-winning new music ensemble eighth blackbird (right) and New York-based public arts organization Creative Time have been selected by SMU's Meadows School of the Arts as recipients of the inaugural 2009-2010 Meadows Prize, a new international arts residency.
The announcement was made Oct. 14 at the "Act 3, Scene I" gala at the AT&T Performing Arts Center by José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School.
The prize includes housing for a one-to-three-month residency in Dallas, transportation expenses, studio/office space and project costs, in addition to a $25,000 stipend. In return, recipients are expected to interact in a substantive way with Meadows students and collaborating arts organizations, and to leave a lasting legacy in Dallas, such as a work of art that remains in the community, a composition or piece of dramatic writing that would be performed locally, or a new way of teaching in a particular discipline.
eighth blackbird formed in 1996 when its members were students at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Since then, they have appeared in concert halls and festivals worldwide; released four acclaimed CDs, including the Grammy-winning strange imaginary animals in 2008 (Best Chamber Music Performance); received numerous grants and awards; and commissioned and premiered new works by eminent composers, including Steven Reich's Double Sextet, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
During their time in Dallas, eighth blackbird will introduce new music and provide workshops for chamber ensembles with the Meadows School and other local schools as well as the wider community. Their legacy for the city will be a curated music series in partnership with the Dallas Arts District.
Through the Meadows Prize, Creative Time's consultants will make several extended trips to Dallas over a year's period to develop recommendations for growing and nurturing the Dallas arts community. The group intends to lead discussions, identify stakeholders, and help participants agree on goals and a plan of action. The aim is to bring together artists, collectors, gallery owners, arts organizations, urban planners, schools and city officials to lay the preliminary groundwork for a process that will lead to a master plan for the arts in the city.
The new Meadows Prize replaces the Meadows Award, which was given annually from 1981 to 2003 to honor the accomplishments of an artist at the pinnacle of a distinguished career. The Meadows Prize will be presented each fall to up to four artists. Recipients must be pioneering artists and scholars with an emerging international profile, active in a discipline represented by one of the academic units within the Meadows School: advertising, art, art history, arts administration, cinema-television, corporate communications, dance, journalism, music and theatre.
Colleges worldwide are investing millions in "smart" classrooms, but Meadows Dean José Bowen has challenged his colleagues to "teach naked" – by which he means, sans machines. Dean Bowen believes too many professors use PowerPoint as a crutch rather than a creative tool – and class time should be reserved for discussion, he contends, especially now that students can download lectures online and find libraries of information on the web.
Statistics back him up: A study published in the April 2009 British Educational Research Journal found that 59 percent of students in a new survey reported that at least half of their lectures were boring, and that PowerPoint was one of the dullest methods they saw. They gave low marks not just to the popular slide-display program, but to all kinds of computer-assisted classroom activities, even interactive exercises in computer labs.
"The least boring teaching methods were found to be seminars, practical sessions, and group discussions," said the report. In other words, tech-free classrooms were the most engaging.