Become a Young Audiences Teaching Artist

We want artists who…

• are committed to inspiring the imaginations of young people
• know the craft of their art forms deeply, through study and experience, and have their own dynamic artistic practices
• bring young people into the world of their art forms, and embolden them to explore
• see themselves as learners and teachers, and seek out opportunities for growth
• show a willingness to collaborate
• have experience with, and strategies for, working with the complexities and challenges of school environments
• are based in the Portland metropolitan area
• We welcome applications from residency and performing artists in all disciplines. We are especially looking for artists who teach residencies that explore ceramic murals, Mexican folkloric dance, photography, and metal arts. Our programs are based in a 10-county area in Oregon and SW Washington. Schools (especially elementary schools) are the largest populations served, and some programming takes place in community settings. Some of our roster artists also choose to become arts providers for the Right Brain Initiative, through Young Audiences.

Benefits of Becoming a Young Audiences Artist

• Extensive and diverse opportunities to hone teaching, presentation, and artistic skills, and to network with other artists
• Reliable payment for services
• Stipends for professional development
• Support in planning and working with schools
• Program publicity via YA’s website and communications with schools

For more information, contact Adam Friedman, Artist Program Specialist, at adam@ya-or.org or 503-225-5900, extension 226.

Click here to get started – the application deadline is Friday, March 15, 2013 at 4:30PM

The Obo Addy Legacy Project Receives an NEA Grant

Just in case you missed this in the local press, here’s a copy of the press release.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:      Susan Addy
December 4, 2012                                                               susan@oboaddylegacyproject.org

THE OBO ADDY LEGACY PROJECT receives NEA grant to support THE MASTERS PROJECT — A tribute concert for NEA National Heritage Fellow Obo Addy (deceased) featuring Jazz Master Randy Weston and his Trio

Grant one of 832 Art Works grants totaling $23.3 million in funding nationwide

PORTLAND, Ore. — National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman has announced that the Obo Addy Legacy Project is one of 832 non-profit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. The Obo Addy Legacy Project is recommended for a $12,500 grant to support a tribute concert to be held one year after Obo’s death.

This project features a collaboration with The Obo Addy Legacy Project traditional drummers from Ghana and the Randy Weston Trio showing the connections between jazz and West African music. Randy Weston and his group will be offering an outreach activity at Cleveland High School for students in the jazz program.

“I’m proud to announce these 832 grants to the American public including The Obo Addy Legacy Project,” said Chairman Landesman. “These projects offer extraordinary examples of creativity in our country, including the creation of new work, innovative ways of engaging audiences, and exemplary education programs.”

Susan Addy said, “This project was a dream of Obo’s – to showcase his rhythms and the traditions of his country with the artistry and creativity of Randy Weston and his African infused work.”

In March 2012, the NEA received 1,509 eligible applications for Art Works requesting more than $74 million in funding. The 832 recommended NEA grants total $22.3 million, span 13 artistic disciplines and fields, and focus primarily on the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing works for the benefit of American audiences. Applications were reviewed by panels of outside experts convened by NEA staff and each project was judged on its artistic excellence and artistic merit.

For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at www.arts.gov.

source: Susan Addy

photo: The Oregonian

Featured Artist: Gideon Freudmann

Gideon Freudmann in his studio with a few cellos.

Hometown hero Gideon Freudmann has been teaching with Young Audiences for 11 years (first on the YA roster in Massachusetts then in Connecticut – he still teaches regularly on the east coast – and in Oregon for the last seven year) and blowing up the inter/national circuit with his electric cello compositions and performances. Portlanders can hear (and see) Gideon with The Portland Cello Project (December 13 & 14 – Aladdin Theatre), Caravan Gogh, and as a soloist playing live accompaniment to silent films (December 8 – The General at TaborSpace). Everyone else can catch Gideon on NPR’s All Things Considered, in the soundtrack to Weeds, or on one of his 17 CDs. And for that special little someone in your life, you might consider Gideon’s CD CelloTales (with story teller Leeny Del Seamonds) which won a Parents Choice award in 2005.

What is your art practice outside of teaching?  Composer, Recording artist, performer. As a composer I write mostly for solo electric cello and (acoustic) cello ensembles that bring out the best in traditional and modern music. I perform many of my ensembles with the Portland Cello Project.

In my recordings and live performances I employ electronic technology to create layered textures, pushing the boundaries of traditional cello music. I play the electric cello and use delays, loopers and other “toys” to take the cello well out of the classical realm. Here’s a video of a live solo performance of “Robin Hood Changes His Oil:”

Here is a video of a piece I wrote called, “Denmark”. This short film made made by Two Penguins Productions, won awards at numerous international film festivals:

How does Oregon inspire your art making?  I love nature. The beauty of the mountains, coast and everything in between are an endless source of joy and inspiration for me. Portland in particular is home to a tremendously talented and diverse collection of musicians. There is a sense of community among them and a very supportive environment. Also, all that rain makes it easier to stay indoors and get some work done!

Feeling Thankful

Artist Mark Brody, Beverly Cleary Hollyrood Students, Development Director Christi Crowley, and representatives from Kinder Morgan show off a brand new mosaic.

It’s the time of year when we start to count up our blessings. At Young Audiences, there are so many people, places, and partners to add to the list. This past week I was lucky to join Teaching Artist Mark Brody at Beverly Cleary Elementary’s Hollyrood Campus to put the finishing touches on a brand new glass mosaic which will grace the school entrance.

This multi-part piece includes fused glass acorns and butterflies (made by the kindergarten and first grade students) with lettering designed by Mark and laid out by the students. Parent volunteers gathered together to build up the background, and Development Director Christi Crowley and myself did our best to fill in the grout.

We were honored to be joined at the Hollyrood campus by Allen Fore and Marco Ullmer of the Kinder Morgan Foundation. This is the first year Kinder Morgan has supported our Arts in Education programs and we couldn’t be happier to have them on board. Their enthusiasm for the excellent work of our artists and the learning of our students was absolutely palpable.

Read on for the official press release from our school visit.

Featured Artist: Peggy Ross

Visual artist Peggy Ross with students and their creations.

Textile artist Peggy Ross has been teaching in schools for 18 years and working with Young Audiences for 15. A native of Brookings, OR and a 2005 Sunburst Artist of the Year Award Winner, Peggy has made her way as an artist and teacher through an ever evolving exploration of art media.

In addition to teaching young artists, Peggy offers classes for adults as part of PCC’s Community Education Department. If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at weaving, sewing, or “up-cylcing” your old clothes, Peggy is the one for you.

What is your art practice outside of teaching? I create with paint, textiles and collage. I began as a weaver and seamstress. Then I moved to surface design, painting and piecing fabrics to create textiles for interiors: table runners, placemats, pillows, wall hangings, etc. All of this has morphed into recent new work where I‘m painting, printing and piecing papers then using them to create stitched collages.

Songs for Young Audiences

Singer and actress Julianne Johnson.

While we’ve yet to gorge ourselves on turkey, stuffing, pie, and fluffy potatoes, the heart of the holiday season is just around the corner. On December 1, we hope you will join the amazing Julianne Johnson at the PCPA’s Winningstad Theater for Home For The Holidays, a celebration of the season to benefit Young Audiences.

In addition to Janice Scroggins and Celebration, this year’s guests this year will bring a youthful zeal to traditional holiday music. High School a capella artists Altotude, under the direction of Carl Jeppeson, give a new twist to standard holiday fare. Under Julianne’s direction, the Portland Community College vocal ensembles, The Sisters in Survival Chorus and Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Mass Choir will lend the power of 80+ voices to the grand finale. From spiritually uplifting gospel to the sophisticated rhythms of jazz and celebratory music from around the world, Julianne will bring you and your family into the season with good music for an excellent cause.

Tickets are available at the PCPA box office, by calling 503-946-7272, and at all TicketsWest outlets.

Featured Artist: Sarah Nagy

Filmmaker and animator Sarah Nagy

A near native of Portland (born in Michigan but in Oregon since age 2), Sarah Nagy‘s work as an independent filmmaker has been shown in festivals around the world, broadcast on PBS, and presented locally as part of PICA‘s Tiny TBA (TBA Festival for the junior set). She was graced with a “Best Narrative” award by fellow hometown hero Todd Haynes at the 27th Northwest Films and Video Festival.

Sarah has been teaching stop motion animation and filmmaking with Young Audiences since 2009 and named the teaching wing of her art practice – Buckman Film Academy – after her Portland neighborhood. She dreams that “someday there will be a film teacher in every school.” With Sarah here, Portland is one step closer to that reality.

Sarah’s creation: a film school for kids

What is your art practice outside of teaching? I like to make short comedic films and am trying to develop a television series. I also occasionally write short essays and send them to the New Yorker with my fingers crossed.

How does Oregon inspire your art making? The rain is great for staying inside and drawing animation!

If you could be any animal, what would you be? A cat—they get lots of sleep and they are supreme yoga masters. However, I’d miss the opposable thumbs. [Julie’s note: please check out Sarah’s Catupuncture video for a very Portland take on back ache and cat ownership.]

What is one of your earliest art memories? When I was in fourth grade, a chalk mountain I drew was hung in the Childrens’ Art Museum.  It was like winning an Oscar.

Featured Artist: Will Hornyak

Storyteller Will Hornyak.

Storyteller Will Hornyak, 2004 Sunburst Artist of the Year, has been a staple on our artist roster since 1996, and is this week’s featured artist. Hailing from San Carlos, CA, Will now makes his way in the world teaching through Young Audiences and others, performing at events, and sharing his talents with festival and groups including the Portland Storyteller’s Guild. You can catch some of Will’s spooky stories — just in time for Halloween — this Friday and Saturday at Stonehenge Studios.

What is your art practice outside of teaching? I relate strongly to the wandering, itinerant Irish storytellers known as “shanachies.” They were keepers of the old stories, but they were masters of the craft who adapted those stories to suit any occasion. They threaded their way across the landscape, stitching together as they did town and countryside, public house and private hearth. I am an omnivore of traditional stories and am inspired by everything from Mexican folk-tales and Greek myths to Native American legends and Russian fairy-tales. I am half Hungarian and half Irish and have recently developed a number of Irish myths into hour-long performances for adults during the Samhain (Halloween) and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. I love how stories and storytelling can open the door to work in schools and churches, prisons and pubs and beyond.

Featured Artist: Andy Furgeson aka Red Yarn

Andy Furgeson aka Red Yarn

This week’s featured artist is none other than Andy Furgeson, aka Red Yarn: a one man (and sometimes band) of music, puppets, and forest creatures fun. An Austin, TX native and YA Roster artist since March 2011, this fall Red Yarn went full time as a teaching artist and can be found performing at schools, libraries, and community centers 5+ days a week.

(Look for his full schedule on the Red Yarn website and find his YA artist page here). In January 2010 Andy repurposed the Artclash Fun-A-Day project into Lomax-A-Day: choosing learn, record, and write about one song a day from Alan Lomax‘s 1960 Folk Songs of North America Anthology. Listen to and read from the archive of Andy’s writings and recording on Lomax-A-Day.

How does Oregon inspire your art making? In many ways. First, I’ve learned so much from the incredible community of musicians and artists I’ve found here, inspiring me to make my living by making art. Also, my creative process changes with Oregon’s seasons. In the winter and early spring I spend more time hunkered down, slowly generating new songs, puppets, and show ideas. In late spring, summer and early fall, I am out in the world, performing, collaborating, and letting the sunshine refuel my creative energy. Finally, Oregon’s natural landscape inspires my vision of the Deep Woods, the imagined world where all of my puppet characters live, where all of the animals from American folksongs coexist.

Selfless Promotion – HALLOWEEN!

Vagabond Opera’s Annual Halloween Bash and Ten Year Anniversary Party!
The Transylvanian Voodoo Ball

With Chervona, Rachel Brice, Dum Spiro Spero with Flip Cassidy and the Junkyard Gospel and more!

Vagabond Opera

Vagabond Opera raises the dead in style at their sixth annual Halloween bash! The event will ALSO mark the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the band! Held in the vintage restored Star Theater (Portland’s historic 1911 silent film and Burlesque venue) Vagabond Opera presents a stunning night of haunting music, dance, ritual and art for honoring our ancestors and those who have passed. Whether you want to dance, party or pray this night is for you!

a stunning night of haunting music, dance, ritual and art…

Featuring Russian party band Chervona, Haunting Appalachian tunes by Dum Spiro Spero with Flip Cassidy and the Junkyard Gospel and Belly dance by Rachel Brice and Karolina Lux. Also featuring wandering Butoh performers and an sacred fire ritual honoring our ancestors. The evening will also encourage audience participation with an interactive Day of the Dead altar, psychic Dino tarot readings, Lulu’s Chocolates and more for a truly eclectic and spell binding evening. Costumes highly encouraged!

Wed, October 31st

Vagabond Opera’s Annual Halloween Bash and Ten Year Anniversary

The Transylvanian Voodoo Ball

With Chervona, Dum Spiro Spero with Flip Cassidy and the Junkyard Gospel
Belly Dance by Rachel Brice and Karolina Lux
Wandering Butoh performers, Dino Tarot Readings and an interactive Day of the Dead Altar!
Costumes encouraged!
8 p.m. doors | 9 p.m. show
Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Avenue
TIckets: $16 advance | $20 door | 21+
   Buy online at www.startheaterportland.com
Call: 503-248-4700
View info online at www.vagabondopera.com/halloween

source: Vagabond Opera