Got marquee? This arts idea is downright poetic

Many a small town worth its salt has a movie theater marquee waiting for some terrific homebred poetry to entertain and enlighten the masses, and an arts alliance in need of a good community involvement idea. Thanks to some bright folks in Stevens Point, Wis., and to the marquee value of having a daily blog as well-read as the Daily Yonder, here it is: The Haiku Marquee Project, in which the state's student body -- from pre-school to high school -- has been asked to submit haikus for display at the town's Fox Theater this fall. (Yonder photo)

Reads the release in the Stevens Point Journal: "This is a cooperative venture between the Arts Alliance of Portage County, the Sanders family, which owns the Fox Theater, and the Woodrow Hall Jumpstart Award. The two haiku will be posted on the marquee each month, and 10 honorable-mention poems will be displayed in the Fox Theater show window. Haiku should consist of three lines and no more than 17 syllables. Poems must be the original work of the poet."

Qualified? Interested? Poets may submit no more than three haiku to: Haiku Marquee, Fox Theater, 1124 Main St., Stevens Point, WI 54481; or email them to jimpollock@charter.net. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 14. Include your name, address, phone number and, if you are a student, grade level.

Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday is Saturday; how about singing 'This Land Is Your Land' to mark it?

The 15th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival opens tomorrow in the singer-songwriter's hometown of Okemah, Okla., and it will be a special one, running through the 100th anniversary of his birth on Saturday, July 14.

The Woody Guthrie Centennial website says, "His songs have run around the world like a fast train on a well oiled track. They've become the folk song standards of the nation, known and performed in many languages throughout the world. Pretty Boy Floyd, Pastures of Plenty, Hard Travelin', Deportees, Roll On Columbia, Vigilante Man and This Land Is Your Land are among the hundreds of his songs that have become staples in the canon of American music."

You know what I'd like to hear on Saturday? The crowd at a Major League Baseball park singing "this Land is Your Land," which is an aspirational anthem, not a celebratory one, as "The Star-Spangled Banner" is. We need to celebrate, but we also need to be a nation of shared aspirations. "This Land" would be especially appropriate at Yankee Stadium, next to "the New York island," and in the city where Guthrie, who died in 1967, lived longest. But it sounds good anywhere. Sing it on Saturday!

National Endowment for the Arts partners with design group to improve rural communities

The National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Project for Public Spaces will partner with the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design to "enhance the quality of life and economic viability of rural areas ... through design workshops that gather local leaders together with experts in planning, design and creative placemaking to assist with locally identified issues," according to a press release.

CIRD has hosted more than 60 workshops in all regions of the U.S. since its inception in 1991. It works with communities with fewer than 50,000 people and focusses on downtown revitalization, arts-based development, heritage preservation, land and agricultural conservation, growth management and transportation. The organization will develop guidelines for communities to apply to host a workshop. Application deadlines will be announced this Fall, and selected communities should be announced in January 2013. (Read more)

NEA honors rural craftsman with annual Heritage Awards; 2012's best -- snowshoes, baskets, gospel

National Endowment for the ArtsSnowshoes made from ash wood and rawhide by Paul and Darlene Bergren of Minot, North Dakota -- the Begrens' craftsmanship and teaching have been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Daily Yonder reminds that The National Endowment for the Arts has announced its National Heritage Awards for 2012. And that Paul and Darlene Bergren -- dog-sled and snowshoe makers from Minot, North Dakota -- are among them. "The awards honor artists who are preserving traditional crafts, music, and visual arts through teaching and the excellence of their own work. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of rural makers and musicians have been recognized, from woodcarver George Lopez (Cordova, New Mexico) to zydeco accordionist Clifton Chenier (Opelousas, LA) to weaver Teri Rofkar (Sitka, Alaska). Many folk expressions originated as the practical arts of rural life (saddlery, quilting,..making snowshoes)." A list of the 2012 winners and past winners is available here.

Rural communities in Ga., Ky., Maine, N.C., Wis. get public-private grants to create spaces for artists

Several rural communities are getting grants for "creative placemaking" from ArtPlace. a collaboration of eleven large foundations, six large banks and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Artplace has singled out Chattooga County, Georgia, for a grant in an effort to help restore artist and preacher Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens, right. The $445,000 grant will be used to maintain Finster's home and art environment in Pennville, a press release said. Finster, who said he was divinely inspired, made works that combined naive, folk and visionary art. He died in 2001.

Other rural communities gettimg grants include Sitka, Alaska, $350,000; Cumberland, Ky., $273,000; Eastport, Maine, $250,000 and Sauk County, Wisconsin, $75,000. Siler City, Sanford and Greenville, N.C., will share $485,000 to house artists at under-capacity manufacturing plants.


“Across the country, our communities are using the arts to help shape their social, physical, and economic characters,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “In rural settings, where people live far apart from one another, the arts can offer an opportunity to come together and share a common experience." The full list of 47 grants is here.