Artability Artist Spotlight: Camille Shafer

Article by Nicole Gurgel, Alternate ROOTS Content Developer (Albuquerque, NM) This is the first in a four-part series that highlights differently-abled artists and runs throughout Alternate ROOTS’ Artability campaign, which provides scholarships for artists with disabilities to attend ROOTS Week.

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The Land Man & A Love For

Article by Carrie Brunk, Clear Creek Creative (Clear Creek, Rockcastle County, KY) Photos by Melisa Cardona (New Orleans, LA) Clear Creek Creative is a member of Alternate ROOTS’ 2014-15 Partners in Action cohort. It’s a bold move to drive off a rural

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A Terrifying Liberation: The Opportunity in Appalachia’s Uncertain Future

Article by Ben Spangler, Appalshop (Whitesburg, KY) Appalshop is a member of Alternate ROOTS’ 2014-15 Partners in Action cohort. Central Appalachia is presently in a strange place as the collapse of the coal industry leaves the region in an historical moment

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LOVEbaltiMORE

Article by Ashley Minner, ExComm Member (Baltimore, MD) Photos by Sean Scheidt (Baltimore, MD) Baltimore is always the center of my world, but over the past few days it seems like it’s become the center of the world. We have seen

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In Solidarity with Baltimore

By Carlton Turner, Alternate ROOTS Executive Director (Utica, MS) “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” –Frederick Douglass This quote has been on my mind today as I think about the uprising that is

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Art, Ability, & Access: A Dialogue

Nikki Brown, facilitating at the Community Organizing Learning Exchange. Photo: Rodrigo Dorfman, 2014.    Article by Nikki Brown, Alternate ROOTS ExComm Member (Durham, NC) From June 8-July 3, 2015, Alternate ROOTS will launch our first-ever Artability campaign on Indiegogo, raising

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Selma: A Bittersweet Celebration

Article & Photos by Katina Parker (Durham, NC) Saturday, March 7th. Selma, Alabama. Tens of thousands from around the world packed the streets leading to and from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the

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The Mississippi Performing Arts Summit: Doing the Right Work, Right Now

Article by Wendy Shenefelt, Alternate ROOTS Programs Associate (Jackson, MS) On February 15-16, 2015 New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, along with Alternate ROOTS, and Turner World Around Productions convened the Mississippi Performing Arts Summit in Jackson,

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Power & Subversion

Article by Joseph Thomas (Philadelphia, PA) I began to explore the subject of power in 2012 during the rehearsal process for a play written by Jean Genet called Splendid’s. The play takes place in a hotel suite where seven gangsters

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Progress and Healing

Article by Rebekah Stevens Progress Theatre is currently on tour, performing in New Orleans March 12-14 and in Dallas April 10-11. In late February, Progress Theatre (PT) kicked off 2015 with our first residency of The Burnin’ at the University

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Shifting Narratives through Art and Culture

Article by Kiyoko McCrae (New Orleans, LA) On January 20th and 21st, Alternate ROOTS held a meeting for the 2014 Partners in Action cohort. During the two-day meeting, a theme emerged: How can art help to shift narratives? Robert Martin

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Next Gen: At the Intersection of Past, Present, and Future

Article by Nicole Gurgel, Alternate ROOTS Content Developer (Albuquerque, NM) Next is a futuristic conversation. It’s talking about the psychic space of the future. Next is a stepping stone, a progression– it’s thinking about legacy. Next is a conversation with

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#SpotlightonFerguson

Article & Photos by Katina Parker (Durham, NC) Since August, Katina Parker has been traveling to Ferguson, documenting and organizing against police brutality. Here, she shares a series of photo essays and her written, first-person account of the #Blacklivesmatter movement in Ferguson. 

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The Sweetness and the Spoil: Durham Stories of Resistance

Article by Nia Wilson (Durham, NC) and Rodrigo Dorfman (Durham, NC); Photographs by Rodrigo Dorfman Reflections: Building towards “Mother to Mother” Nia: August 10th 2014: I heard about the premature deaths of two young Black men — John Crawford in Ohio

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Scholarships Available for the 2015 Americans for the Arts Convention

Scholarships Available for the 2015 Americans for the Arts Convention, Applications close February 26th! Americans for the Arts is offering scholarships to help you attend our Annual Convention, held this year in Chicago, June 12-14–and also several preconferences, including Art, Power, and Empowerment:

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JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: ROOTS WEEK VISUAL ARTS COORDINATOR

Alternate ROOTS seeks a dynamic and visionary Visual Arts Coordinator for ROOTS Week. Thanks to continued support from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, ROOTS is able to dedicate time and energy to the cultivation of service to its visual arts members

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Breathing Room for Something Unstoppable

“Wholehearted.” Collage for June Jordan by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Article by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ph.D. (Durham, NC)           A. Opening Prayer (take deep breaths in the stanza breaks) C(h)ant.   Breathe. Dedicated to Eric Garner* And to

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Something to Behold in West Baltimore

By Jamie Haft, (Syracuse, NY) This article was originally published at Roadside Theater: Art in a Democracy. It is reprinted here with permission.  This is a story about how residents, artists, community organizers, university professors, and students responded to a

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WANTED: ONLINE ORGANIZER FOR SOCIAL-JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

WANTED: ONLINE ORGANIZER FOR SOCIAL-JUSTICE CAMPAIGN Deadline: Friday, January 23, 2015 Please send cover letter and resume to: cindy@nationinside.org Nation Inside is looking for an Online Organizer for a short-term contract (one day a week for 20 weeks) to provide

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REMINDER- SculpTour RFP Proposal Deadline

Sculptors, Just a reminder that the proposals in response to Suwanee’s “SculpTour” RFP are due by this coming Friday, January 9th at 5:00 PM.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!  See attachment for RFP – SculpTour 2015 RFP – and below for

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Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in communities of place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, we call for social and economic justice and are working to dismantle all forms of oppression—everywhere.