Profiles - Artists, Organizations, and Projects

Play Ball on Historic Downs Field was performed May 9th-11th, 2014 to an audience of over 1,500 people. Presented through a partnership between Forklift Danceworks and Austin's African American Cultural Heritage District, Play Ball premiered as part of District Days at Downs Field, a citywide celebration of historic Downs Field.

The Playing for Change Foundation is dedicated to creating positive social change through music education in communities around the world. We are driven by the belief that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music. Many of the regions the Playing For Change Foundation works within suffer from extreme poverty, lack of basic resources, limited medical care and educational resources, past conflicts and genocide, unstable governments, and a host of infectious diseases.

poetry readings; poetry workshops; community events; publishing and bookmaking workshops; resources for classroom enhancement

Thirty-four artists were invited to create innovative and engaging artwork after a stimulating discussion on social and economic inequality, wealth distribution, and what is so taxing about taxation. Some chose to explore how to visualize analytical data. Other artists explored the capacity for art to spark an emotional response to the research presented by the Center for Advanced Hindsight. 

The Portrait of America series initiates monumental, interactive public art exhibitions to engage communities in a constructive dialogue that triggers positive change. The exhibitions hold a mirror up to a community to reveal what is already there – the inherent dignity and promise of its people. Portrait of America partners with established community organizations to ensure a broad community outreach, meet the needs of the city, and establish relationships and programs with a lasting presence and impact. In 2004, artist Joe Standart began Portrait of America in New London, Connecticut.

Created through a series of community Weaving Bees, this abandoned playground is being woven with reclaimed materials into a neighborhood gathering space. This project is aimed at inter-generational collaboration, building friendships and community, as well as sharing weaving skills.

Prelude for Yuba Salmon is a collaborative adventure in music, environment, composition and film. Bringing together music students, environmental educators and professional musician mentors, the project explores a defining community issue in the Sierra foothills of northern California: the health of the native salmon run and the importance of watershed conservation. 

Since 1977, the William James Association has been organizing the Prison Arts Project, a  project funded by the San Francisco Foundation, the NEA, the California Arts Council and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration. Its success has been because of their dedicated team of art advocates who promote art leading to a better self-image and worth. The prison system is a place of negative behavior, and does little to endorse a positive life after release. Because the Prison Arts Project is so far-reaching, it has had the chance to impact large number of now-free inmates. 

     Prison Freedom/New Life Scripts is a curriculum delivered within prison walls to incarcerated individuals who are within a year of re-entry.       The purpose of  the program is to educate and motivate individuals to consider the areas of their lives where they have control and then develop practices of self-love and discipline to cultivate good health and positive attitudes. Both are strategies that are needed in order to, not just survive, but thrive in society.