Contact: Anne Katz, Arts Wisconsin
608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org
Panel presentation with Rocco Landesman, Chair, National Endowment for the Arts and Madison community leaders
at the Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 | 3:30-5:30 pm
National Endowment for the Arts Chair Rocco Landesman (a graduate of UW Madison) is coming to Madison and Reedsburg, Wisconsin in November for a tour of arts and creative places in the region. Arts Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s premier independent arts and creative economy service and advocacy organization, will host a panel discussion on Tuesday, November 15, 3:30-5:30 pm, on “creative placemaking” with Mr. Landesman and Madison-area community leaders, to take place at the Goodman Community Center on Madison’s near east side. A reception will follow.
“Creative placemaking” is a phrase resonating nationwide to describe the ways in which arts, culture and creativity expressed powerfully through place can create vibrant communities, thus increasing the desire and the economic and civic opportunity for people to thrive in place. Mr. Landesman has led the way to promote and advocate for this concept and provide investment and resources through the Endowment, including the establishment of the “Our Town” grant program to support creative placemaking programs and projects across the country. “Our Town” was inspired by the NEA’s quarter century of commitment to creative placemaking, including the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. The City of Madison was awarded a grant in honor of the 25th anniversary of this program to support the development of public art in the proposed Central Park. In July 2011, the NEA awarded an “Our Town” grant to the Wormfarm Institute of Reedsburg for arts/agriculture/creative place development work in Sauk County.
During the panel discussion in Madison, Mr. Landesman and distinguished panelists will discuss the past, current and future ways in which Madison, Dane County and southcentral Wisconsin advance the authentic, unique and creative assets of this special region for economic, educational and civic benefit for all residents.
The panel agenda and panelists are:
* Welcome – Debra Karp, President, Board of Directors, Arts Wisconsin
* Opening remarks – Wisconsin Arts Board Chair and former Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton
Panelists:
* Moderator – Jennifer Alexander, President, Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce
* Rocco Landesman, Chair, National Endowment for the Arts
* Lorena Barbosa Mireles, social work senior at UW Madison, recent winner of a Dr. Pepper Tuition Award
* Joe Parisi, Dane County Executive
* Bob Sorge, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Madison Community Foundation
* Chris Walker, assistant professor, UW Madison Department of Dance and Artistic Director for UW-Madison’s First Wave Spoken Word and Urban Arts Learning Community
Host sponsors: Arts Wisconsin in partnership with the Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Robert E. Gard Wisconsin Idea Foundation, Wisconsin Business Incubator Association, Wisconsin Downtown Action Council, Wisconsin Economic Development Association, and Wisconsin Rural Partners.
This event is free and open to the public. Space is limited, so RSVP your attendance to Arts Wisconsin, artswisc@gmail.com, by November 14, 2011. Parking is limited at the Goodman Center; additional parking is available on the street or in the lower lot at St. Bernard’s Church, 2438 Atwood Avenue (one block from the Goodman Center).
For more information, contact Anne Katz, Executive Director, Arts Wisconsin, 608 255 8316 | akatz@artswisconsin.org.
