You might want to plan on making a stop at a Michaels craft store tomorrow. There could be a $25 gift card in it for you.
Michaels craft stores will be celebrating "Random Acts of Kindness" day tomorrow, Feb. 17, by randomly giving away thousands of gift cards to customers.
A Duke professor who made national headlines last year in announcing plans to turn grading over to her students has been nominated by President Barack Obama to a position on the National Council on the Humanities.
Cathy N. Davidson is the Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke. She was vice provost from 1998 through 2006.
She also is co-founder of the Humanities, Arts, Sciences and Technology Advance Collaboratory, a network of educators dedicated to learning in the digital age.
The National Council on the Humanities helps advise the National Endowment for the Humanities, which makes grants to support the arts and humanities.
Last year, Davidson decided to challenge her students in her interdisciplinary "This is Your Brain on the Internet" course by giving them the power to evaluate each other.
They all got A's. But as you'll read in this profile, Davidson believes they were challenged far more than if she taught the class in a more traditional way.
Screenings of six short films about Smithfield and Johnston County are scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at the Neuse Little Theatre, 104 S. Front St., Smithfield. Admission is free, but seating is limited.
The films are:
“Post 518: Johnston County, N.C.,” by Jessie Landerman. The film explores how military service affects race relations and how small-town veterans cope with the reality of racism in America.
“The Banks of Smithfield,” by Wendy Redfield. This film tells the story of the Bank of Smithfield, now First Citizens Bank, and the roles its historic buildings have played in Smithfield and in five neighboring communities.
“Percy’s Run,” by D.L. Anderson. Joshua Percy Flowers was a moonshiner and foxhunter. This film attempts to cover the ground between the two pursuits and reveal a picture of the man apart from the legends.
“The Red Dog,” by Sara Washington. Since 1941, Carolina Packers has made what many describe as “the best hotdogs in Eastern North Carolina.” This short documentary takes a look at the people who work hard to make the hotdogs.
“The Smithfield Rescue Mission,” by Brooke Shuman. This short film shows a typical day at the Smithfield Rescue Mission men’s shelter with words from current residents.
"Tobacco Culture in Smithfield," by Maggie Smith. Residents share their memories and thoughts on the importance of tobacco culture in Smithfield and how things have changed over time.
Saturday night's "10 x 10" performance -- 10 plays, 10 minutes, 10 bucks -- sold out. But artistic director Emily Ranii appealed to the audience for donations to keep theater at the ArtsCenter going.
I wondered if that might be a story, so I asked Ranii if her program was on the chopping block. She referred me to executive director Jon Wilner, who recently announced his resignation but is staying on until a new director is found.
We've reported the struggles arts programs are having in the recession. Wilner said there was no new story, just the same story. "There is no imminent plan to cancel anything," he said. "The ArtsCenter has to find a way to increase its revenue or cut its expenses."
The agency went from a $1.6 million budget to a $1.4 million budget last year and expects to do with another $100,000 less this year. Wilner doesn't want to see programs that make money -- any money -- cut. But the annual 10-minute plays are an exception. They are the most popular theater the ArtsCenter stages all year. Other works attract far smalller audiences.
Inside Saturday night's program was a slip of paper. Ranii asked us to write what having theater at the ArtsCenter means to us. I didn't fill mine out, but if keeping theater going means getting to see more from three-time "10 x 10" veteran Eric Swenson, I'd be willing to pay more.
In a cast of standouts, Swenson was funny, riveting, adorable. He went from manic in a hilarious Mamet/Dr. Seuss mashup to impish as a talking heart flummoxed by a beautiful girl. Worth my 10 bucks, when the ArtsCenter needs all the bucks it can get.
It's looking bleak right now when it comes to determining how Wake will be impacted by the expected state budget cuts.
As noted in today's article, the end of the school year on Wednesday for traditional-calendar schools marks the start of a period of uncertainty. Hundreds of teachers will likely not be rehired. Electives, arts and AP courses are being cut for this fall.
Also add in several year-round schools that are requiring families to change tracks as they collapse whole tracks or individual sections.
Jon Wilner is retiring as executive director of The ArtsCenter in Carrboro effective June 30.
Wilner, 63, will stay on as interim director through Sept. 30 while the board seeks a replacement and has agreed to work as the center's community relations person after that for $1 a year.
"It's really what I wanted," Wilner said this morning. He said he has lost the energy The ArtsCenter needs after illness struck his wife, he underwent open heart surgery and his mother died, all within the past two years.
"I love the people I work with," Wilner said. "I don't think I am able to lead them in the way they need to be led."
Wilner joined The ArtsCenter in 2002 as an instructor in acting and directing for the camera. In 2003 he became director of children's and family programming and less than three months after that was named interim executive director.
He took the ArtsCenter from a $600,000 annual budget to about $1.5 million, creating several new programs including a youth performing arts conservatory.
Wilner also pushedhard to make Chapel Hill-Carrboro and UNC an arts destination. He spoke often of Bucks Fever, a multi-month arts festival in Pennsylvania where he came from that he said could boost tourism and visitor spending. The effort never panned out, in part, he says, because it relied on volunteers. He said without having to lead the ArtsCenter, that is a job he would be willing to take on if the community wanted.
This is a critical time for The Artscenter. The agency struggles along with all nonprofits in the recession. Wilner recently had to let go a part time community outreach person. The East Main Street shopping center the ArtsCenter is located in is slated for redevelopment, and the ArtsCenter, which owns its space, is planning a major fundraising campaign for a new building.
If anything, that big project gave Wilner more reason to step down now. "Some people don't know whne to get off the bus," he said. "I do."
Sherry DeVries, executive director of the Durham Arts Council, responded to criticism on the ABCDurham listserv this week about the move of CenterFest out of the Five Points/City Center district.
I went to CenterFest last year and had a great time. The parking lot on Foster Street may not be the most scenic, but I know from other kinds of festivals that organizers like them because they're easy to access, set up and hook to utilities. Last year we were just about to leave when the TROSA band started playing, and we moved up to the stage area to hear Cindy (sorry, don't remember her last name, anybody know?), sing "Heard It Through the Grapevine." As good as Gladys, I swear.
Anyway ... DeVries says 2008 CenterFest at the Central Park District/Foster Street site, drew 22,000 visitors, a 30 percent increase. "Artists overwhelmingly rated the site positive," she wrote, "although there were a handful of artists that are still nostalgic for the old 5-Points site." The festival had 115 visual artists, about the same as when it was downtown, and 26 performing groups, up from 16 to 18 at the old site."
CenterFest costs over $170,000, she said. In 2008 about $94,000 came from corporate sponsorship, $55,000 from concession sales, booth fees and donations, and the Arts Council funded the remaining $20,000.
To move CenterFest back to Five Points would increase costs another $25,000 to $30,000 (more security, more sound systems, more contract staffing, more equipment, more signage, more gates, more electrical, and much more staff time, etc.), she said.
"The DAC Board has made a decision that this is not a prudent business decision," DeVries said. "The festival works very well in its current Central Park/Foster Street site. Even if someone stepped up and gave us $30,000 in additional money, we think it would be wise to utilize that funding to support our community’s arts organizations, artists and arts education programs – especially in this current economy."
Timely guest post here given a conversation I had this morning with Bill Hester. who recently closed his fine arts gallery at University Square.
From Paul Hrusovsky, retired art teacher:
Every day I pass by the old Crown Volvo/Honda building and think what a wonderful structure for something great in Chapel Hill. It is a good size building with ample parking and easy access from the highway.
Since there has been a lot of chatter about Carrboro and Chapel Hill losing its edge, I was thinking that maybe this space would be a great arts center.
There could easily be two galleries and another gallery and office for the Orange County Artist guild. The back could be transformed into 10 to 15 resonably priced artists studios. For many years we have talked about finding spaces for artists. There would be no theatre or classes at the beginning as not to compete with the Carrboro Arts Center.
This is just a dream but thought maybe others would be interested in pursuing this.
Paul Hrusovsky
Artist Thomas Sayre installs two 30-foot tall earthcasting sculptures at the home of Eliza Olander. Staff photos by Shawn Rocco.
