March 15: In the Year of the Dragon at the Old Stone House
On Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 8 PM, Brooklyn Reading Works at The Old Stone House presents: IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON: A Celebration of Asian and Asian-American Writers.
Curated by author Sophia Romero (The Shiska from Manila), IN THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON includes a Brooklyn Poet Laureate, a playwright, and three novelists and a childrens’ book author/illustrator, all of whom will read excerpts from their latest work. A Q&A will follow the reading.
You won’t want to miss Brooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang, Novelists Susan Choi, children’s book author Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer and Sabina Meyer and playwright Linda Faigao-Hall.
A $5 donation includes light refreshments and wine.
The Old Stone House
336 3rd Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 768-3195
Between Fifth and Fourth Avenues.
Due to construction in the park, enter from the Fourth Avenue side of the house.
Hoong Yee, Richard, Janet
&
Barry
Blogging for a better world
At this year’s conference, I was joined by two other bloggers to capture in words the spirit and essence of this universe we call grantmakers in the arts – Richard Kessler and Barry Hessenius.
What is art about, really?
If you have ever heard Dr. Manuel Pastor speak, you would know what he would say.
Dr Manuel Pastor writes and speaks frequently on issues of demographic change, economic inequality and community empowerment. At his keynote speech at the Grantmakers in the Arts 2011 Conference, he said many things I thought were cool:
On December 15, 199, we became a majority/minority state.
Collaboration and conflict go together.
Collaboration is principled conflict.
Do you know the difference between chess and jigsaw puzzles?
Chess Jigsaw puzzles
2 colors many colors
some pieces are more powerful than others every piece is important
you gain by knocking a piece out you gain by putting pieces together
the goal is to win the goal is to complete
As a nation we play way too much chess
Art is making things of beauty with friends
Frances Phillips and her Beowulf socks
Frances Phillips is a quietly impressive force with a knitted sock patterned with the opening lines of Beowulf beginning with, “Hwaet…” wrapped around two slender needles tucked away in her pocketbook.
Hwaet?
“I’ll send you the instructions, you’ll love it.” Frances clearly loves literature and knitting to depths beyond me and the rest of the GIA Knitting Circle. ”Just remember to weave in your strands when changing colors mid row.”
Believe it or not, that makes sense to me. Later on during the conference, Tommer asked me if I had lost a ball of green yarn. At the moment I am knitting something in a silver cotton so no, the yarn did not belong to me.
“Hmmm, I wonder if Frances is using green in her Beowulf socks. Lynn Stern might be, she is working on a pair of multicolored gloves. Let me put the word out for you.” In my opinion, the fact that I know this stuff is actually impressive as an example of niche knowledge, thank you very much.
I turned to Frances, smiled bravely thinking to myself, “Wonderful! Just in time for holiday knitting.”
We were serenaded at the plenary brunch by Eugene Rodriguez, Linda Ronstadt, David Hidalgo and Los Cenzontles.
Throw me the lemon
Throw me the lime
Throw me the key
To your heart.
You are my dear
You are my love
You are my dove
That sings at sunrise.
Here’s something Linda Ronstadt said at the closing of the conference:
Mexican audiences know just when to howl and they know when to be quiet.
Hwaet everybody!
About the Author: Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer writes about how to be a nimble nonprofit, make life creative and make a difference at www.hoongyee.com.
She is also the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. Hoong Yee can be found surfing in the Rockaways whenever there are waves.
Do you want to know the fears, visions of perfect worlds and world changing advice of your peers and keynote speakers?
I have a special bonus post for you of interviews I conducted with people during the conference. Just leave me a comment with your email or better still, subscribe at www.hoongyee.com and get my interview post and new style notes for people who change the world delivered to your inbox.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph
How do you listen to a whirlwind?
If the whirlwind has a name, such as Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and he is before you – natty, smart, hey let me check you out stylish with a sharp lid tossed casually to the side as he picks up speed and lets the words fly -
- you sit back. Now.
As a conference blogger, I sat at Marc’s Keynote Performance at the Plenary Breakfast Session on Monday at the Grantmakers for the Arts 2011 Conference, confident in capturing the essence of the experience while having my morning coffee with a ballroom full of my colleagues.
It became very clear that Marc operates at speeds unfamiliar to most people and I was left both delighted and bewildered by his message.
So in the spirit of capturing the wind, here is what I caught from that performance:
If you can’t outrun it, get out in front of it and figure out where we’re going
Let’s transform the iconography of an environment
Practice the art of believing that these things, dance, buildings, art, have redemptive quality
Here’s a recipe for a creative ecosystem of critical adjacencies -
Take equal parts revenue potential, artistic presence and invested audience consistency.
Mix well.
Let rise.
Voila! A localized interdisiplinary network.
No amount of Facebook contact can compete with public proximity and investment
Art happens everywhere for anyone
Art is not and object or an outcome only
Art is a process and an opportunity for community
It is hard for grantmakers to track outcomes and creative stimulus but perhaps we should be looking at metrics to measure the scale and health of creative partnerships in our ecosystems
Success is tied to the growth of others
Good changes in structure focus on interdependence, not products
Invest in artists who create contextual work within communities
Let’s shift nonprofit practice and structure to value accumulated surpluses
Formula for changing the world -
Audience development + good fiscal health = healthy arts field
Whew! If you want to get closer to the wind and get more of Marc, check out http://www.lifeisliving.org/
Let me leave you with my favorite piece of current wisdom from Marc:
If you can’t outrun it, get out in front of it and figure out where it’s going.
About the Author: Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer writes about how to be a nimble nonprofit, make life creative and make a difference at www.hoongyee.com.
She is also the Executive Director of the Queens Council on the Arts. Hoong Yee can be found surfing in the Rockaways whenever there are waves.
Do you want to know the fears, visions of perfect worlds and world changing advice of your peers and keynote speakers? I have a special bonus post for you of interviews I conducted with people during the conference. Just leave me a comment with your email or better still, subscribe and get new style notes for people who change the world at www.hoongyee.com.
I write for love and money. It is my everyday passion. What's yours? 
