Download the MP3 of the Call Here

1st National Arts Conference Call

1/11/12

CALL AGENDA:

  • 10:05pm Welcome
  • Intro to purpose and length of call, agenda and date of next call Janelle
  • Note-taker: Heather, please send any and all notes from everyone to info@interoccupy.org
  • Brief Procedural Comments (see Call Participation Guidelines at bottom, # 5 especially)
  • Communication using phone keypad (go through numbers 1-5)
  1. 1 Stack, 2 Twinkles, 3 Disagree, 4 Direct Respond, 5 Point of Process
  • Be concise so many can speak (tone is sign to wrap it up)
  • Say “check” or  “I yield” after comments so we know you are finished
  • Request volunteer to take notes in real time on the Agenda & Notes
  • Direct Participants to the Agenda & Notes page at http://bit.ly/Arts-Agenda-Notes and post link on Participant console
  • Encourage everyone to check InterOccupy Arts FB page for call updates
  • 10:15pm Project Presentations (35 min)
  • Explanation (start with national, method of finding presenters, time limit and sound, plenty of other opportunities to share and get more in depth.)
  • National/Int’l Projects: 1.5 min time limit
  • Rhonda Varsane: Global ART contest, OccupyART
  • Janelle Treibitz: Global Day of Creative Action
  • Amy Walsh: Archive of Desire
  • Gan Golan: ArtIsMyOccupation.org
  • Jenny Graf Sheppard: Occupy Trading Cards
  • Presenter Name?: The Crow and The Wolf Project
  • Nat’l/Int’l STACK: 1 min time limit
  • For Stack: Projects arising out of or are directly supporting the Occupy movement. Projects that are currently underway.
  • 10:35 Local Projects
  • Trina McGee: Occupy Chicago Rebels Arts Collective (Chicago)
  • Mary Campbell: Occupy Staten Island (NYC)
  • Paul McLean: Occupy with Art (NYC)
  • Teresa Ascencao: Toronto youth arts project, Occupy Arts Initiative (Canada)
  • Josef Palermo: Rothko “Red” Guerilla Gallery (DC)
  • Bill Turck: Occupy My Heart, Occupy novel (Chicago)
  • Lex: Artists for the 99% (San Francisco)
  • Greg: TUPAC/Arts & Culture Committee (Portland)
  • Local Projects STACK: 1 min time limit
  • 10:50 BreakOut Groups (30 min)
  • Explanation (how we got topics; list and explain topics; ask national and local projects, if willing, to go to those breakout groups)
  • Existing National Collaborations/Projects Janelle (Joe)
  • Potential National Collaborations/Projects/(might be biggest group and facilitator has skills to handle larger group) Gan
  • Arts Call Roles and Objectives (to help figure out themes for future calls) Teresa
  • Resources for Artists (ones you know about, how you’ve gotten yours, questions about getting them) Caron
  • Brainstorming around Local Projects Nadine (facilitator and Maestro exp, can take experience)
  • Procedural comments
  • People will be put into rooms with each other, all mics will be on
  • There should be a facilitator, but when get in the room, assign a notetaker to email us notes from discussions? And at the end to choose someone to report back to the big group.
  • Explain button pushing for which group they want to go into
  • Assign group numbers and re-read group options
  • Group assignments


  • ·    11:20pm BreakOut Group Report Backs (15 min)
  • o   Give contact info for where notetakers send their notes: janellet@occupydc.org
  • ·    11:35pm Final Procedural Call
  • Show of hands for those who wish to share their contact info for the call
  • Invite volunteers to join the InterOccupy Arts Call Planning Committee
  • Need more Maestro tech assistants
  • Request volunteers for occupations to host the Jan 25th Arts call
  • Big thank you for the note takers


  • ·    Closing Comments
  • Ask Participants to stack to make recommendations to improve the Arts Call.
  • At the tone, the call will formally end.  Those who wish to stay and chat can remain and will be on open mic for another 30 min.

 

Facilitators:

Janelle, Brandy, Chris

 

Purpose: Derived from the online survey to . . .

1) Learn about each other, the different working groups and projects

2) Raise Awareness and Collaboration of current projects and future events

3) Share resources, skills and ideas Nationally and Globally

4) Discuss message of Occupy and how to portray that to the community

 

National Project Presentations

 

Rhonda: not available

 

Amy: ArchiveOfDesire.com

Geographical representation containing visions and ideas for the future. Using the slogan “Another world is possible” as inspiration. The project is Mapping Utopia. Ideally, maps will be searchable as they accumulate.

Needs: “We are looking for Artist; Activists; Educators; Students; Cartographers; Environmental Scientists; Urban Planners; Programmers; Young People; Old People; Everyone in between. Whether you have 2 hours a day free or just two hours a year, get in touch! Email awalsh09(at)gmail.com.”

 

Janelle:

International Day of Creative Action February 12, 2012. Australia, Spain, Berlin, Boston.

Needs: All Occupiers, from all Occupations are encouraged to get creative, attain consensus and support from various occupations with coordinated artful events.

 

Dawn Gon: ArtIsMyOccupation.org

I am in Oakland, really excited about the site beginning today, providing resources for artists. There is an application, contact info, and resource list on the website. Want to elevate the voice of artists and implement the global movement through art, through the sharing of ideas and information.

Needs: Feedback; Great Ideas; Subject Matter

 

Jenny: OccupyTradingCards.org

Identify important parts of movement, artists and writers. One side is a visual representation, the flip side is narrative. The cards are available in sets of 9, each set has a specific theme, such as “Action” or “Tactics and Strategies”. Email .

Needs: Artists, Historians, Documentary Authors

 

Crow and the Wolf: CrowAndTheWolf.com TheCrowAndTheWolfproject.tumblr.com

Two female artists from San Francisco started project in July, concerned with the artists purpose and the decline in art education. Then traveled to OWS, and have been on the road for eight months. Currently at Occupy Greensboro working on street puppet theater. Doing a documentary, seeking projects. Contact for more info.

Needs: Projects; Upcoming events along their journey

 

Stack: Other National Events

 

Carol: Globalize This

Curating Globalize This at Otis College of Design. The exhibition has roots of anti-globalization movements throughout history in print, highlighting a section on various Occupy posters. Contact her for more info about the exhibition at . or her website PoliticalGraphics.org.

Needs: Occupy Posters; Contact

 

Becca: NotAnAlternative.com

Not An Alternative is a hybrid arts collective and non-profit organization with a mission to affect popular understandings of events, symbols, and history.

Occupy Real Estate

 

Maria: HipHopOccupy.org

Occupy Seattle creates interaction with city through Posters/ Banners; Youth Classes; MC’s and hip hop events. Want to share experiences, events with like minded occupations.

 

Sharon: Music 4 Democracy You Tube Channel

You Tube Channel devoted to music at Occupy events.

Needs: Music from Occupy Events

 

Local Presentations

 

Trina: Occupy Chicago Rebel Arts Collective; Occupy Chi Arts and Recreation

Connect artists to Occupy to spread Occupy message, collaboration, the first Occupy novel.

ArtsOccupyChi.tumblr.com http://occupychi.org/committee/5

 

Mary: OccupyStatenIsland.org

March 4 event, music and improv.

Needs: Artists, Musicians, Ideas

 

Paul: OccupyWithArt.com

Yoko Ono’s OWS Wish Saturday, January 14th at Liberty Square. 10,000 cards with a wish message. They would like to send wishes to Occupations!

Call for Entry Deadline February 6th, for event March 3. Live performances under 5 minutes.

http://www.occupywithart.com/owslow-lives/2012/1/5/official-call-for-entriespresenters-for-low-lives-occupy.html

(Facilitating Dream textile felting project to make soft sculpture with different squares from different occupations, in Catskills, Hudson River Valley NEED MORE INFO)

 

Teresa: Occupy Arts in Montreal and Toronto

In Canada, asking for Canadian Occupy connections. (TransGenesis youth art project. Contact )

Chelsea Edmonton Chelsea.ess@gmailcom

Needs: Canadian Artists

 

Bill:

Occupy My Heart: A Revolutionary Christmas Carol A play written by W.C. Turck with positive response in Chicago during the holidays.

The Last Man The first novel about the Occupy movement: a futuristic, corporate parody about the hypocricy of humanity.

Wants: To make an impact in Chicago, Nationally, Globally

 

(ArtistsOfThe99Percent.tumblr.com

Southern Exposure. Want to create a large body of artists. “Capitalism and Art” “Is Art Labor”)

 

Vanessa:

Photographing 1,000 portraits at different occupations.

Needs: Collaborators, possibly Video documentation in similar style

 

Karen W. Australia: unavailable

 

Eric: No camping at Zucotti or Liberty Park, we are planning culture events from 12-2

Needs: Song Sheets; Theater Skits, especially with movement for warmth!

 

If your group did not get mentioned, please email with a brief description!

 

Breakout Groups

 

1) Existing National Projects

2) Potential Collaboration of National Events

3) Art Call Roles, Themes and Goals

4) Resources for Artists

5) Local Projects

 

Reportbacks

 

Group 2/ Kathy: Possible National Coordination

- National database of Media Connections

- Mediation, using language

- How to continue

- Place to put ideas, develop further

 

Group 2/ Mallory: Possible National Projects

- State of dis-Union Address J24

- Felt project/ blanket

- Tiny Tents Taskforce (Occupy Boston)

 

Group 3/ Noel: Goals of Art Calls

- Work with art to have positive healing

- Work on Present not future

- Use arts as a means of peacebuilding

 

Group 4/ Sharon: Resources

- Lee invites all to Occupy Aspen to idea festival July 4th

- Crystal in Misoula, MT

- Sustaining groups: Limo Liberals/ Radical Movements

- Move to Amend, local ordinances

 

Group 5/ Heather: Local Groups

- Collaboration between artists of different mediums: visual art, theater, video, music, etc.

- Systems to coordinate events and schedule events with different types of artists

- Engaging non-occupiers

 

 

Final Stack:

 

Teresa: Awakening the spiritual side. Awareness of animal torture.

 

Karin: #F12 International Day Of Creative Action. Occupy Melbourne, Australia spawned the idea.

 

Group 4/ Crystal: Clearinghouse of communication; Resource website

Direct Response: ArtIsMyOccupation.org and InterOcc Facebook

Magick: Interested in how we can work around consensus

 

Facilitators: Join the National Arts Planning Committee!

 

Jannelle: J25 needs volunteers, please email

 

Group 1b Breakout: Existing National Projects

 

Question about the quality versus process of art-making. [Missed most of this starting comment due to computer complications]

 

One approach used in Boston is approaching the making of the art as the important part of the process, over the product. Too much emphasis on the hegemonic ideas of art and not enough on the transformative aspects.

 

Paul: Very consistent with concerns raised on arts and culture working group on a number of initiatives and strategies from starting with laying the platform for an Occupational Art scool. Part of project of Art Street to Main Street is to try to develop models of how that can be brought to communities.

Wisdom on working across occupations with everyone already involved in own projects. [missed some of these comments due to computer complication]

Paul: The prime obstacle is proprietary impetus from artists and that means photographers wanting to keep work in own silos, and I think in some ways finding collaborative media is attractive seems to be a grassroots kind of phenomenon that really follows more traditional memes of face to face encounters and friendships. But are new tools online that are being developed.

 

Trina: Rebel Arts Collective is the possibility to connect us to people who want to collaborate and who want to connect. And so creating alternative spaces for ourselves seeing as we couldn’t set up a site. SO ability to propose projects and collaborate across the city and across the country and work together and create ne wthings that way.

 

Crow: We are traveling and a lot of was can serve to connect , smaller occupations to larger cities, starting to build that relationships . We’d love to continue this discussion as we travel and as we meet each other.

 

Also finding how smaller occupations are yearning to be involved. With internet connections, a lof them are rooted in face to face interactions and are yearning for that kind of interaction with Occupy. Being able to connect with one to another.

 

Different types of networks for doing essentially the same thing. 60’s model.

 

Jovanni: I was attracted to this call… been working in photography… art has always been a way to communjitcate dignity without speaking much. Emotional weight in words and so I’m interested in the way …. Cut off by end of breakouts.

 

Here are the notes I took during our Group 4 ? breakout:

 

Lee – Occupy Aspen – Has been given a free lot and has a great house – would love to share with other Occupiers free of charge – the center of the world comes to aspen for Christmas and for the Aspen Institute – 300 private jets come in for it – Occupy Aspen Ideas Festival he’d be more than happy to house people at his house, and there are mini camping spots which would cause a lot of controversy – they pay $5,000 to go to it – it happens around July 4. He can cook for us.

 

Crystal – Missoula, MT – Their group is kind of struggling now – Missoula has only 50,000 people. May have to take down their tent. Went to Zuccotti end of Oct and made a little film – she’s a media arts major in her 50s. www.crystalkingston.com she has some handouts of different resources for good films, books, so forth that she put together. Is putting together a website with resources. Wants to document the energy situation in eastern, – Occupy Missoula FB page and is an admin of Occupy Montana group. They have a student group also – very interested in the coal thing. Not very many people to protest in eastern Montana and people are happy that the economy is booming.  The local people aren’t really fighting it. They had a lot of people in the beginning, but they have a lot of people that are friends with the county commissioners.

 

Lee: They have that in Aspen, too. The “limousine liberals”. Aspen is a company town. his email is

 

Crystal: They’re talking about starting a new more radical group. She can put links on the FB pages. The Missoulean newspaper – “occupy corner” – a calendar of different actions, not just Occupy but Move to Amend action plan. Tried to befriend people in the media – making it look like activism is normal, not fringe. She’s making a banner right now for Occupy Missoula.

 

Sharon: Talked about the negative reports in the media of Occupy locations vs. the actual experiences she’s had at Occupy locations – OWS and Occupy Seattle. Also two Occupy groups up where she lives on Orcas Island and San Juan Island in Wa. State. She offered ideas for how to bring out more people at least on a weekly if not a daily basis to Occupy locations where the populations are smaller and attendance has dwindled. For instance, having a musical performance or sing-along (not in really cold weather, though) that is advertised ahead of time, or a think tank topic for community discussion at the Occupy location, or a Move to Amend action, like Occupy the Courts on Jan. 20. She offered www.youtube.com/music4democracy as a place to post musical performances taking place at Occupy locations. She thanked Lee for inviting us to Aspen for a specific event, saying that as a singer/musician, it’s helpful to be called upon to show up at a specific happening at an Occupy site.

 

Breakout Group 3: Roles and Goals of Art

• To work with positive healing concepts that encourage spiritual growth and awakenings of various degrees and dimensions.

• Expressions of environmental connectedness. (Art in the hands of famers and agricultural workers)

• As a means of peacebuilding and creative communication locally and internationally.

• Art as a means to creatively altering the present and invite others into a poliphonic education about the current issues at hand.