Recent Event:
Aspen Arts Strategy Group: Los Angeles
March 6, 2013
Aspen Arts Strategy Group Los Angeles Participants: Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Alfre Woodard and Homeboy Industries Founder Greg Boyle.
In October 2012, over 30 arts leaders from around the nation assembled in New York City for the inaugural Aspen Arts Strategy Group. Led by Aspen Institute Arts Program Director Damian Woetzel, this gathering convened artists, policymakers and arts administrators as part of a year-long effort to shine a light on the Citizen Artists initiative, define the value of artist engagement in a wide array of civic roles, and begin building templates for engagement, collaboration and coordination amongst artists, institutions and administrators. Read more here.
Following the success of this initial gathering, the Aspen Institute Arts Program decided to convene several Strategy Groups around the country, in an effort to bring this national dialogue to strategic convenings in other cities – where discussion will be shaped by issues and leadership specific to those communities.
On March 6, 2013, The Aspen Institute continued its groundbreaking work in Los Angeles, partnering with The Music Center to expand the Citizen Artists framework. As a longstanding innovator in arts education, as well as community and participatory programming, The Music Center is well suited to introduce the Aspen Arts Strategy Group to the West Coast.
The day-long event included an Arts Strike at Skid Row's Inner-City Arts education center, a closed-door roundtable session, and a Citizen Artists Public Forum at Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall. This culminating event was open to the public and featured the illustrious roster of Strategy Group participants in series of short discussions on activism, policymaking, community-building, and the role of music in society; additionally, several participating musicians and dancers led a series of demonstrations of the arts in action.
Featured Past Event:
Washington Ideas Roundtable Series: The Arts, Healing and our Military Community
Damian Woetzel, Cmdr. Moira McGuire, and Rocco Landesman. Photo by Tarek Rizk.
The lives and families of today's military are being impacted by a unique set of challenges associated with the signature wounds of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; traumatic brain injury and psychological health issues, including post-traumatic stress. The military has increasingly looked toward creative arts programs to work in addressing the needs of returning servicemen and women, and many artists and arts organizations have taken on this charge as well.
This lunchtime discussion, part of the Washington Roundtable Series 2012, explored the potential of the arts to serve as part of a broader solution in healing and healthcare for wounded service men and women. The conversation, moderated by Arts Program Director Damian Woetzel, brought together Arthur Bloom (Founder, Musicorps), Rocco Landesman (Chairman, The National Endowment for the Arts), and Commander Moira McGuire (Clinical Care Coordinator, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center).
Recent Event:
Inaugural Aspen Arts Strategy Group on Citizen Artists
All Strategy Group photos by Erin Baiano.
On October 2-3, 2012, the Aspen Arts Strategy Group - a program of the Aspen Institute Arts Program supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation - convened 30 artists, policymakers and arts administrators to tackle issues facing the arts sector, and to develop strategies on how the arts and artists can contribute to the challenges facing society through roundtable discussions, working-groups and presentations. The closed-door sessions aimed to build templates for engagement, collaboration and coordination amongst artists, institutions and administrators, in realms from education to healthcare and diplomacy.
The Strategy Group culminated in a Discussion and Demonstration with Yo-Yo Ma, Damian Woetzel and other guests in a celebration of the inaugural Aspen Arts Strategy Group and the mission of Citizen Artistry. The invite-only event took place at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, on October 3rd at 6pm. For more information on this past event, please e-mail Erica Sheftman, Projects Manager, at erica.sheftman@aspeninstitute.org.
Featured Past Event:
(Photo: Erin Baiano)
On May 16 Meryl Streep, and New York City Public School 7th grade teacher Carla Espana joined Arts Program director Damian Woetzel in a discussion on civic engagement through the arts in education, in communities, and in international affairs. Read more...
Meryl Streep also collaborated with the Arts Program at the US China Forum on the Arts and Culture in Beijing. See video...
Photo highlights from past events!
Culture and Conflict: The Power of the Arts to Bridge Divides
“Beauty is a great way to connect. When you see a painting or a performance that is beauty, you find yourself opening up," Dutch composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven said at Thursday’s Arts panel “Culture and Conflict.” Twaalfhoven joined ballroom dancer-turned-legendary instructor Pierre Dulaine in a discussion moderated by Institute Arts Program Director Damian Woetzel. Read More
Turnaround Arts: Creating Success in Schools
Roundtable featuring Kaya Henderson, Chancellor of Washington, DC Public Schools (left), and Rachel Goslins, executive director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) (right), in conversation with PCAH member and Aspen Institute Arts Program Director Damian Woetzel. Read More
