SCOPE Wednesday, February 25 – The Voice of the Missoula Cultural Community

Today is Wednesday, February 25, and on this day in 1804 Thomas Jefferson was nominated for US President at a caucus of 100 “Republican” congressmen. Yes, that party name is correct and was politically correct in those days when party-leader Jefferson, the hero of modern day “Democrats,” labeled himself “Republican,” which denoted anti-big government. The renamed Democratic-Republican party in the 1820s splintered into two factions: the Democratic Party and the Whig Party, the latter opposed to “King” Andrew Jackson and modeled on the British Whig party, which sought to replace aristocratic feudalism with a system of commerce, merit, and initiative. Abraham Lincoln was a Whig before he switched to the Republican party. There were four Whig presidents elected before that party evolved into the GOP. There is — believe it or not — a modern American Whig party. Ghana and Korea have Whig parties and the movement is having something of a rebirth in England. So endeth the civics lesson for today. For another taxing bit of history trivia, see END NOTE.

General Interest items

#1a – The third roundtable devoted to implementing the Creative Enterprise Cluster initiative in the Missoula area takes place this Friday, beginning at 2:00 p.m., in the Conference Room at the MonTEC Building, 1121 E. Broadway. The focus of this gathering is Media Arts, the whole range of creative talents that fuel production of feature and documentary films, DVD, HDTV and videos, and a wide variety businesses in the newly emerging knowledge industry. Sten Iverson, who heads the Montana film office will be among the presenters. This roundtable is being coordinated by the Missoula Cultural Council, which has collaborated with the Montana Associated Technologies Roundtable in the two previous gatherings that introduced the concept of “Creative Enterprise Clusters.“ For background info on the “Cluster” concept of economic development check the MCC website and to get a glimpse of practical applications click on UM Media Arts Department

#1b – The work of seven Missoula artists is included in an exhibit that opens March 29 in Missoula’s Sister City of Palmerston North in New Zealand. Organized by the Montana World Trade Center as a strategy for opening doors to commercial contacts, the exhibit also will include works by Montana’s Native American artists. The Missoula artists are Nancy Erickson, Monte Dolack, Stephanie Frostad, Keith Graham, Marian Lavery, Sheila Miles, and George Ybarra. The Missoula Cultural Council will be taking examples of Missoula-made crafts along with promotional materials from local cultural events and organizations. To be included contact Louise at 721-9620 or [email protected]

#1c – Filing cabinets, storage cabinets, desks, chairs, credenzas, divider or exhibit panels — they’re all part of the agglomeration of surplus office furniture and equipment being made available to Missoula area non-profit cultural organizations through the in-kind donation program of the Missoula Business Committee for the Arts. First dibs go to those organizations that have provided MCC with the information needed for the in-kind donation data base it will maintain for future offerings. To get the form and arrange a time to see what’s available, call 721-9620 or email [email protected]

#1d – Paula Manley is co-founder of The Learning Commons, an educator, and co-creator of the Media Arts Leadership Institute. She focuses on catalyzing healthy organizational development and leadership development in nonprofit organizations, particularly in Oregon and southern Washington. She defines leadership as “the capacity of a human community to shape its future, and specifically to sustain the significant processes of change required to do so.” This definition conveys the essential point that leadership is not the province of a solitary leader, but rather is a capacity needed within a community or group. That means, she notes, that leadership is more about co-creating with others, rather than directing or controlling.

#1e – The Garnet Preservation Association has hired Jeffrey J Smith as its new part-time Executive Director. He is the former Historic Preservation Officer for the town of Virginia City and owns Historic Montana Publishing, which has published five books on Montana history. The latest book is The Montana Book of Days, with James Todd woodcut illustrations, some commissioned just for this work

#1f – March 1 is the deadline for proposals for new lectures and presentations in the Montana Committee for the Humanities’ statewide Speakers Bureau, which provides high-quality, low-cost humanities programs to organizations and communities throughout the state. The MCH Speakers Bureau is the largest such program in the state, focusing on contemporary Montana and its issues, state history, literature, native peoples and many other humanities topics. Applications and more information are available online at http://www.humanities-mt.org/speakers.htm or by e-mailing [email protected]

#1g – The Oregon Council for the Humanities calls its programs by scholars and speakers Chautauquas. More than 80 Oregon communities each year gather at a Chautauqua to talk, learn, debate, and share their understanding of the world. Here‘s how one of those speakers describes the program: "Oregon is beautiful, and fragile, and her people live deep in cultural heritage that could soon be gone. We preserve wilderness in the high country; we make laws to preserve family and we brag about the beauty of Oregon. But how do we save our cultural identity before we become a faceless port in a global economy? I am talking about the lore and language of Oregon people of all kinds — Indian, pioneer, immigrant, child. Ranchers, loggers, old-ways fisher folk. I am not talking about some kind of vague aesthetic loss, but the deep wound you feel when essential things are killed. There are cultural imperatives among us like rare birds our children may never hear sing."

#1h – The Missoula branch of the Leave A Legacy program has severed its relationship with national program, and is regrouping. To see who’s involved, click on http://www.leavealegacymt.org

#1h – Many political pundits and cultural critics are still jawing over the budget increases proposed by President George Bush for the National Endowment for the Arts and other federal cultural agencies. The movie critic in the Cleveland Plain Dealer opined that the additional money will help but suggested that the best thing would be to privatize the NEA by turning it into a private endowment. How? By carving $1 billion out of the federal budget each year for five years, matching it with a like amount from the private sector, so that in 2009 NEA would have the proceeds from a $10 billion endowment to work and not have to hustle Congress for an annual allotment. Cool idea.

#1i – A real endowment might be on the mind of NEA Chairman Dana Gioia and Tony Chauveaux, picked by Gioia to be agency’s Deputy Chairman for Grants and Awards. Chauveaux was tapped for that post largely because of his outstanding record as Chairman of the Texas Commission on the Arts, which serves constituents in each of the six artistic disciplines as well as local arts agencies. Those program areas are described at TCA Net, the really cool website which includes the agency’s newsletter, no longer printed in hard copy since the Internet is a cheaper and more effective way of disseminating information.

On the Literary Landscape

#2a – R.R. Bowker, the company that maintains the authoritative Books in Print database, says the most recent figures show that, in 2002, total output of new titles and editions in the United States grew by nearly 6 percent, to 150,000. General adult fiction exceeded 17,000 — the strongest category. Juvenile titles topped 10,000, the highest total ever recorded. And there were more than 10,300 new publishers, mostly small or self-publishers. That’s the good news. The bad news is that only about 10 percent of books each year "earn out" what was invested in them.

The Art Scene

#3a – The Boston Museum of Fine Arts is taking flak for having loaned 21 of its Monet paintings to a fine art gallery in Las Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel. The museum is accused of having sold out to commercialism and flouting national curatorial guidelines in the name of profit. In the words of one critic, the Monets have not been loaned, they have been rented out. Under the terms of the arrangement, the museum should make at least $1 million from the expected 1,000 visitors a day during the run of seven and a half months. Admission is $15.

#3b – Missoula’s Rocky Mountain School of Photography will host a Missoula Photo Festival at the Roxy Theater March 13 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and follow it up the next day with an Open House at Gallery Saintonge, 216 N. Higgins Ave., from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The Photo Festival is a day full of classes on photography and digital imaging. Students will learn new techniques, important concepts and get information that they can use to improve their photography skills. The cost of the festival is $59 and includes a movie showing at 8:00 PM, For more information click on http://www.rmsp.com or call 543-0171.

#3c – The traveling art exhibit being arranged by the Montana World Trade Center will show in the city-owned museum in Palmerston North, Missoula’s Sister City in New Zealand. Te Manawa is the only regional museum in New Zealand to weave together the three disciplines of history, art and science. The programme includes a variety of collection based and interactive exhibitions developed in house, as well as national and international touring shows. These are supported by a strong education programme including talks, events, performances and workshops. Te Manawa has regionally and nationally important collections of Taonga Maori, New Zealand contemporary art, social history and natural history.The museum’s name is taken from the Maori word "Manawa" – meaning heart. Te Manawa refers also to Manawa-tu, the experience of the ancestor Haunui whose heart stood still when confronted by the awesome presence of the Manawatu River. The Te Manawa concept weaves together life, art and mind to express where and how we live, and deepen our understanding of who we are.

Musical Notes and Stage Cues

#4a – Kristin Lee recently opened a talent agency in Missoula and already represents nearly a dozen acts, including the Montana Transport Company.

#4b – The Montana Transport Dance Company will present Making Dances: A Family Performance on Saturday, March 6, in the UM Montana Theatre. Tickets are $6 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, and $3 for children. In the performance, Mo-Trans will reveal the art behind dance choreography, bringing children on-stage to experience the magic firsthand. Ticket information and reservations are available at the box office in the Performing Arts and Radio/TV Center or by calling 243-4581.

Cultural Tourism Directions

#5a – Creative World Travel is one of many tour companies that will be bringing visitors to Traveler‘s Rest in Lolo and other Lewis and Clark Expedition sites in Western Montana as the weather warms. The first of five RV Caravans starts in St Charles MO on May 14 for a 29-day tour that ends of at the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. The tour costs $3,395 for one person in an RV rig, plus $2,150 for each additional person. Prices include all activities, event fees and tickets, meals, transportation and campground fees for the duration of the trip as mentioned, plus the expert guidance of experienced Caravan Masters. Besides Travelers Rest they visit Bighole National Battlefield and St. Mary’s Mission and see a Living History Performance in this area.

#5b – The Montana Scenic-Historic Byway Advisory Council met recently in Butte and drafted a mission statement that includes: (1) Expand the traveling public’s awareness of Montana’s superb scenic, natural, historic, cultural, archeological, recreational, and educational resources; and (2) Enhance the scenic, cultural, historic, natural, archeological, recreational, and educational assets within the byway and backway corridors. Stay tuned.

#5c – The Missoula-based Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research has just released two reports on community attitudes toward tourism development in Cascade and Wibaux counties. The Cascade County — that’s the area around Great Falls — resident attitude survey was administered to a random sample of 500 Cascade County households in September and October 2003. A majority Cascade County feel that tourism can enhance their quality of life by improving the condition of job opportunities and that music concerts and festivals are the kinds of future arts and cultural activities that could attract more visitors. You can read the entire report at http://www.itrr.umt.edu/reports_tourdevel.htm#TA

The Creative Community

#6a – Here’s how the Mayor of Toledo OH valued the role of art in economic development during a recent speech: “I believe that the arts are an engine for economic development. For Toledo to become a vibrant urban center, we must implement our plans that focus on arts and culture. Isn’t it true that we think more about arts and elegance now than we did just two years ago? My administration elevated arts to cabinet-level status. We released the strategic plan for arts and culture. And we launched the first comprehensive website for arts and entertainment called toledoarts.org”

#6b – The Mayor of Indianapolis in his annual State of the City speech in the Artsgarden agreed: “Economic development isn’t just about tax incentives and construction projects. Quality of life and image are as important. To attract and retain innovative, creative people, we have to offer more than just a job. Museums, theatres, galleries, festivals, public art and cultural districts are a significant part of what makes Indianapolis unique and dynamic. That’s why our Cultural Development Initiative continues its work to enhance and promote Indianapolis as a world- class cultural City. A thriving cultural community not only fertilizes the economic development soil, but allows the imagination of our community to bloom.”

#6d – The Indianapolis Arts Council operates Artsgarden and serves as central Indiana’s chief arts resource, not only for artists and arts organizations, but also for government, business, educational institutions, neighborhood and community organizations, visitors and residents. Its mission to “build the community through the arts by developing visibility, funding, audiences, information, and partnerships.” It does so with significant financial and working support from the Indiana State Arts Council.

Miscellaneous

#8a – Here’s #2 in the psychometric personality shape analysis used in the recent Montana Arts Council fundraising workshop in Missoula. The “Circle Person” is a creature of comfort, not quite as neat as the “Box person” profiled in last week’s SCOPE. Circle persons are definitely socialites, enjoying a good social life both within and outside the workplace. They also tend to join many clubs but do not cope well with conflict and will often back down in the face of an argument. In general, Circles are good communicators who can listen and empathize well with others. They can however be too accommodating at times which, can be damaging because sometimes they can be exploited. They can also be quite self-denigrating if things do not go quite as they had planned. Circles tend to act more as stabilizers than leaders in the workplace. Next week: The “Triangle Person.”

#8b – Registrations are open for the March 20 Buttercup Scholarship Run to benefit the Friends of Arlee School Scholarship Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of educational opportunity for students with an emphasis on support for mental health, academic excellence, cultural awareness, and the fine arts. For more information or to register call 726-3335 or e-mail [email protected].

#8c – The proposal by the St. Francis Xavier Foundation preserve and rehabilitate the now vacant school properties adjacent to the Catholic Church properties on Pine and Spruce streets will be the subject of a panel discussion on Montana Community Access Television on February 25 at 7 p.m. and again on

February 27 at 5:30 p.m.

Academic notes

#9a – David Horowitz is president of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture — not a favorite haunt of those who lean leftward on the political spectrum. His recent article in the Chronicles of Higher Education touched off a lively debate in academic and lesser intellectual circles. Horowitz is promoting an Academic Bill of Rights whose actual intent, he says, “is to remove partisan politics from the classroom.”

Stanley Fish, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois agreed with that intent in his article in the same publication, but differed on its merits. “Whenever I’ve been asked who won (or is winning) the culture wars in the academy, I say it depends on what you mean by winning.”

#9b – Columbia University president Lee C. Bollinger had this to say when he recently announced formation of a new "University Arts Initiatives” at that school: "All of us believe there should be far less separation among intellectual and creative activities.” Finding new ways to thrust Columbia into the arts has been a priority for Mr. Bollinger since he became president in 2002, according to the student newspaper.

#9c – The California Alliance for Arts Education has created an online toolkit to help schools bring elected officials into the classroom to learn about arts education. Though the toolkit was created specifically for California schools, other states could use it as a model. Check it out at http://www.artsed411.org/involved/toolkit.stm

END NOTE: On this day in 1913, the 16th Constitutional Amendment was ratified, authorizing an income tax in the United States.

MARK at MCC