Profiles - Artists, Organizations, and Projects

WMMT’s mission is to be a 24 hour voice of mountain people’s music, culture, and social issues, to provide broadcast space for creative expression and community involvement in making radio, and to be an active participant in discussion of public policy that will benefit coalfield communities and the Appalachian region as a whole.

Named one of the best shows of 2007 by the Chicago Sun-Times, Aquí Estoy (Spanish for "I am here") was based on months of interviews conducted by Albany Park Theater Project youth ensemble members about the lives of undocumented immigrants in Chicago. Aquí Estoy was composed of two provocative theater pieces: "Amor de Lejos" chronicled the tough lives of day laborers who immigrated from Central America and Mexico; "Nine Digits" told the moving story of a Chicago teen who had been an undocumented immigrant since his parents brought him to the United States from Colombia at the age of six.

The Arizona Commission on the Arts supports the development and retention of statewide jobs in the arts, culture and education sectors; access to quality, vital arts and arts education opportunities for all Arizona citizens; increased economic impact in local communities through partnerships that develop tax and business revenue. The Commission's mission is to ensure that Arizona is a place where people broaden, deepen and diversify their engagement with the arts, as creators, audiences and supporters in ways that are satisfying and integral to the community.

Arms Around America is a community-based performance project. It culminates in a season of podcast episodes and an evening of three short plays based on the oral histories of families around the country whose lives have been shaped by guns. The goal is to foster dialogue among diverse community members about the role of guns in American society. Community partnerships form the foundation of our work. Partners include arts presenters committed to the development of the work and community organizations whose missions touch on gun-related issues.

“Around the Corner” puts the contributions of immigrants and refugees on display for people to learn about new Americans. In 2003 nine Metropolitan State University photography students partnered with Urban Coalition 2003 to document the lives and contributions of immigrants and refugees in the Twin Cities. Students worked with civic leaders and community-based businesses and organizations that represent the economic, cultural, and civic changes that have been affected by immigrants and refugees.

The Art & Soul project used the arts as a catalyst for collaborative, creative explorations of the values, hopes, and fears of the Starksboro, Vermont community. The project employed art and storytelling as a means to foster and protect a local culture, and to actively engage community members in respectful civic dialogue to help plan for their common future. Through the project, the town of Starksboro began a process of identifying and protecting the people, places, and traditions that its citizens treasure. The Art & Soul project had three primary components.

PSU’s Art and Social Practice MFA is composed of a unique combination of individual research, group work, and experiential learning. The program’s blend of critical and professional practice, collaborative social engagement, and transdisciplinary exploration produces an immersive educational environment. Based in Portland, Oregon, the program operates out of Field Work, a downtown storefront classroom and event space. The program’s Flexible Residency model allows for travel and even the ability for students to reside outside of Portland during their course of study.

Art at Work, founded by Marty Pottenger in 2007, is a national initiative piloted in Portland, Maine, designed to improve municipal government through strategic art-making projects with city employees and elected officials. Since 2007, the project has fostered collaborative efforts between artists, city departments, unions, and elected officials that have yielded posters, photographs, prints, and poems crafted by city workers. Art at Work is grounded in the belief that art serves as a way for government workers to share their experiences with the broader community.

Art for Change (AfC) is a 501(c)3 organization that encourages the advancement of progressive social change by using art as a catalyst for disseminating information to people. AfC provides space to discuss and explore that information, stimulating individual and collective reflection, which leads to action and change.