Program:
Place Matters
- Budget:
-
$100,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities
- Population Served:
-
Ethnic/Racial Minorities -- General
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
-
General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
<p>Since our inception, City Lore has documented and advocated for cherished local establishments, public spaces and community landmarks. Over the past twelve years, in collaboration with the Municipal Art Society, this project has grown exponentially in size and scope. Local, national, and international "place advocates" view us as a model. We’ve mounted historical sign projects, walking tours, exhibits, public forums, preservation campaigns, and technical assistance workshops. Current initiatives include our Census of Places that Matters (see www.placematters.net), with more than 650 nominations from the public, including parks, historic sites, public art, beer gardens, industrial sites, unique stores, and more. In 2006, we published Hidden New York: A Guide to Places that Matter with Rutgers University Press. This year we are launching a new iteration of the www.placematters.org web site. In addition, we have funding from the Dutch government for an outdoor exhibit in Lower Manhattan commemorating the Quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s voyage with signage marking key sites in New Amsterdam.</p>
Program Long-Term Success:
The long-term goal of Place Matters is to change public policy at the city, state, and national levels. We would like to see a larger proportion of vernacular, ethnic, and historic properties given protection, with cultural and historical value recognized along with architectural value. In addition, we would like to see changes in policy as well as public perception that make it more likely for cherished establishments and local establishments to remain as neighborhood anchors even in times of escalating property values and rents.
Program Short-Term Success:
<div>Place Matters aims to publish the Place Matters toolkit, and revamp the </div>
<div>placematters.net web site so that it is faster and easier to nominate sites to the Census of Places that Matter and to search this growing encyclopedia of places that sustain history, memory, and cultural activities <br />
</div>
Program Success Monitored by:
<p>The Programming Committee of City Lore's board of directors, charged with an annual evaluation of all of City Lore's porgrams. </p>
Program Success Examples:
<div>In 2008-09, Place Matters co-led a community-wide coalition to put back into productive use land left undeveloped after a failed urban renewal project. In 2007, we mounted a large historic sign project with a multi-racial group of community partners on the Lower East Side. In 2006, the program published "Hidden New York: A Guide to Places that Matter" (Rutgers University Press). In 2003, we successfully proposed the former Triangle shirtwaist factory building as the first New York City landmark to be designated for its association with labor history. In 2001, we researched and wrote successful nominations for three Census sites to the State and National Registers of Historic Places: Bohemian Hall (a still vibrant community center/beer garden started by Czech immigrants in Astoria, Queens); the former Cuyler Church (center of Mohawk community life in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn from the 1930s-1970s); and Casa Amadeo Music Store (the oldest, continuously occupied Latin Music store in New York City, located in the South Bronx). <br />
</div>
Program:
Arts in Education / Professional Development
- Budget:
-
$300,000
- Category:
-
Education
- Population Served:
-
Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
-
Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
Program Description:
<strong>Education. </strong>City Lore runs a rich and varied education program, combining in-depth arts-in-education programs with national outreach. In New York City, we have "adopted" PS 11 in Woodside, Queens, where we run artist residency programs in multiple grades. In addition, we bring folk and fine artists into more than 20 NYC schools, reaching over 5,000 students. Our programs highlight the immigrant traditions and histories of many cultures represented in the schools, and are designed to support National Standards in social studies, literacy, and the arts. We were recently featured as a case study by Harvard University's Project Zero in their publication "The Qualities of Quality: Understanding Excellence in Arts Education." We also conduct professional development for social studies teachers in partnership with the New York City Board of Education. This staff development project in American History is funded through a series of grants from the U.S. Department of Education (ranging from one to two million dollars), and a recent award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our national programs include our <em>CARTS (Cultural </em><em> </em><em>Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) Newsletter</em>, the<em> CARTS Culture Catalog</em> (a mail order catalog for teachers to acquire multicultural materials for their classrooms), and a Teachers Center and library here in our offices at City Lore.
Program Long-Term Success:
<p>Long-term success will be defined by a school system in New York City that brings the arts into every school, and integrates the arts across the curriculum. We envision a day in which the backgrounds of every student, no matter where in the world they come from, are part of the curriculum, and that a wide range of both fine and traditional art forms are highlighted in the schools. </p>
Program Short-Term Success:
We consider the continued monetary commitment of the schools, and the receipt of annual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts to be an indicator of our success in the schools. We are particularly proud of having received a U.S. Department of Education Model Arts Development and Dissemination grant. We are working with 7 schools on the 3 year project, and conducting an institute for teachers each year, each one highlighting arts and culture from a different part of the world, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. We are currently working to dramatically revamp the Education portion of the City Lore web site.
Program Success Monitored by:
City Lore's education department uses professional evaluators for our major programs. Recent evaluators include professionals from Bank Street College, Pace University, and the Center for Children and Technology.
Program Success Examples:
City Lore's annual education newsletter called CARTS (Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) brings together some of our best practices. In addition, City Lore has increasingly professional video documentation of our arts residencies in more than a dozen public schools where we have worked in-depth.
Program:
Urban Folklore
- Budget:
-
$150,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities
- Population Served:
-
Adults
-
Ethnic/Racial Minorities -- General
-
Poor/Economically Disadvantaged, Indigent, General
Program Description:
<strong>Urban Folklore</strong>. Established in l993, City Lore’s People's Hall of Fame honors grassroots contributions to New York's cultural life. Taking as its symbol a historic New York subway token, we present "tokens of our esteem" -- actually plate-sized, bronze versions of the subway token -- to individuals and organizations who are contributing creatively to the folk culture of New York City. In 2007, we gave awards to the Pearls of Wisdom Storytellers; Peter Benfaremo, the Lemon Ice King of Corona, who, sadly, died the year after the awards; and Renee Flowers, original member of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Wildcats Girls Drill Team at the age of 11 in 1972, its director from the age of 13, still its fearless volunteer leader at the age of 43.
<p>Other urban folklore initiatives include a web story map of New York City called “City of Memory,” funded by the The Rockefeller Foundation and NEA, <a href="http://www.cityofmemory.org">www.cityofmemory.org</a>.</p>
Program Long-Term Success:
City Lore is committed to the principle of cultural equity and cultural democracy, the right of every cultural group to the venues and resources it needs to express its identity. The long term success we seek is a city that values the cultural expressions of its diverse communities, values and supports ethnic festivals and celebrations, ethnic clubs, and street performers. We strive for a city that protects cherished longstanding establishments and local landmarks, and the works to preserve the distinctiveness of local neighborhoods such as Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and Coney Island.
Program Short-Term Success:
<p>For the People's Hall of Fame, celebrated for the 11th time in 2009, we consider success to be measured in the pride felt by the honorees and their communities to have their local cultural heroes honored. For City of Memory (<a href="http://www.cityofmemory.org">www.cityofmemory.org</a>) we measure success by the number of New Yorkers who utilize our site, and, especially, by the number of visitors to the site from the ethnic and local communities that are featured on it. </p>
Program Success Monitored by:
City Lore's Programming Committee of our Board of Directors evaluates the success of individual programs. The full Board evaluates the overall success of the organization is attaining its goals.
Program Success Examples:
<p>Our success is not measured in the prolific output of City Lore, but in the quality of each of our programs, whether a school residency or a documentary film. Recent successes include the documentary, "From Mambo to Hip Hop," about the South Bronx, and the evolution of salsa and hip hop in a small geographic area of New York City, now available on DVD, and winner of an Alma Award for Best Documentary. Online, visitors new to City Lore might want to visit two of our traveling exhibitions, now online: Missing; Streetscape of a City in Mourning and Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory, both accessible at <a href="http://www.citylore.org">www.citylore.org</a>. </p>
Program:
People's Poetry Project
- Budget:
-
$100,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities
- Population Served:
-
Adults
-
Deaf and Hearing Impaired
-
Immigrants/Newcomers/Refugees
Program Description:
<strong>The People’s Poetry Project.</strong> City Lore was inspired to create the <em>People’s Poetry Project</em> because, while many groups are dedicated to traditional music and literary poetry, no other organization is systematically presenting the diverse oral poetry traditions of New York City, the U.S. and beyond. Poetry plays a key role in New York’s ethnic and cultural communities. Founded by City Lore and Poets House in 1999, the <em>People’s Poetry Gathering</em> transformed Lower Manhattan into a poetry village, attracting sizable audiences<strong>. </strong>Held in 2001, 2003, and 2006, the <em>Gathering</em> had a significant impact on poetry programming at events such as the national Dodge Poetry Festival. Since 2006, our funding has not been sufficient to mount the large festival, but The People’s Poetry Project continues to produce events such as our recent Mohawk Poetry Dinner which featured Theresa “Bear” Fox from the Akwesasne Reservation, and the West Indian Roots of Hip Hop in collaboration with THE POINT CDC. <strong> </strong>
<p><strong> </strong>In 2003, City Lore’s People’s Poetry Project launched a multi-pronged initiative to document and disseminate poetry from the world’s endangered and contested languages. As part of the initiative, we began collaborating with Kewulay Kamara, a traditional poet and master of ceremonies from Sierra Leone, who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 17. With our support and collaboration, Kamara sought to document and transcribe the Kuranko language epic poem, <em>In Search of Finah Misa Kule: Voice of the King</em>, journeying back to Africa to reconstitute the ancient epic handed down in his family after the only written copy, set down by his father in Arabic script, was destroyed in the recent Civil War in Sierra Leone. We recently received funding from the Ford Foundation to enable Kewulay to travel to Dankawali village with a film crew to document a full performance of the epic. </p>
Program Long-Term Success:
In the long run, we want to see City Lore and the People's Poetry Project as a major portal for and presenter of folk, ethnic, and traditional poetry forms. In an ideal world, we would have the funding (about $150,000) to re-instate the People's Poetry Gathering in alternate years.
Program Short-Term Success:
We are creating a Poetry Tower, edited by poet Bob Holman, with lines contributed by poets from many of the world's endangered languages. The tower will live virtually on the web, and we are planning to work with our colleagues at the United Nations on an exhibit at the U.N. We also have funding for a series of public programs focusing on poetry duels and contests in the Arabic, Trinidadian, Brazilian, and Puerto Rican communities of New York City.
Program Success Monitored by:
The Programming Committee of City Lore's Board of Directors evaluates all of City Lore's public initiatives on an annual basis.
Program Success Examples:
<p>In 2006, we hosted a program on poetry from the world's endangered languages at the U.N. (see <a href="http://www.peoplespoetry.org">www.peoplespoetry.org</a>) We also posted a world poetry map, accessible on the site. The People's Poetry Gathering, held in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2006 were influential and important programs, highlighting the importance of including folk, ethnic, and inner city poetry within the public literary cannon. The event transformed Lower Manhattan into a poetry village for three days, with more than 50 poetry and music presentations at each of the Gatherings. Well known performers include a number of the Poet Laureates, we well as Ani DiFranco, Arlo Guthrie, and Patti Smith. </p>
Program:
Special Projects
- Budget:
-
$400,000
- Category:
-
Arts, Culture & Humanities
- Population Served:
-
Adults
-
General Public/Unspecified
-
Young Adults (20-25 years) -- currently not in use
Program Description:
<strong>Special Projects. </strong>City Lore develops a wide range of special projects, some generated by the staff and others by talented filmmakers, folklorists, artists, and historians who are developing innovative projects in keeping with our mission. In 2007, we received funding from the Coby foundation to transform our national traveling exhibition, "Weavings of War" into a virtual exhibit (see <u>www.citylore.org/wow</u>.) It explores a new trend in folk art still unfolding around the world: over the past 50 years, textile artists, mostly women, from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and South Africa have broken with tradition and used pictorial imagery to communicate their personal and collective experiences with war. In addition, we produce documentary films, and serve as a conduit for filmmakers working on their own projects that relate to City Lore’s mission. Conduited films which have received national broadcast include Ric Burns’ <em>Coney Island</em>, his five part series, <em>New York</em>; and, most recently, the acclaimed <em>City of Dreams</em> about NYC women artists released theatrically and reviewed in <em>The New York Times.</em>
Program Long-Term Success:
Many of City Lore's Special Projects are incubated and nurtured for a number of years on their way to fruition. We are currently working on a documentary entitled "Voices of Kings," directed by Sierra Leone immigrant Kewulay Kamara, who lives in Jackson Heights, Queens. The video is produced by City Lore's Executive Director, Steve Zeitlin. "Voices of Kings"<em> </em>is a multifaceted initiative led by Kewulay Kamara to recreate an ancient epic handed down in his family after the only written copy was destroyed in the recent civil war in Sierra Leone. On the scale of Sundiata, <em>Finah Misa Kule </em>is narrated by the <em>finah</em>, historians and poets of the Mandeng of Sierra Leone and Guinea. Traditionally an oral work, the poem was transcribed in the Kuranko language in Arabic script by Assan Finah Kamara, Kewulay’s father. Tragically, the village of Dankawali was torched during the recent civil war, and the manuscript was destroyed. Kewulay is recreating the epic from stories, memories, and songs recalled by his own family. This epic retelling in written form and in video brings in the history of slavery, colonialism, West Africa, and the savage Civil War in Sierra Leone -- all appear in this sweeping poetry history, which also describes how reconstructing the ancient stories may hold a key to a better future for the continent. The documentary concludes with Kewulay Kamara performing the epic for the African immigrant community in New York City.
Program Short-Term Success:
Current initiatives include a number of staff generated documentary films: "Let's Get the Rhythm" about the handclapping games of young girls, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts; "Heartland Passage: Boom and Bust on the Banks of the Erie Canal," about the canal as a symbol of 19th century industrialization and 20th century de-industrialization of America. Director Stephen Ives is directing a piece on the Model U.N. about high school students engaged in the model United Nations program; and Director Ric Burns is working on a documentary about whaling, with City Lore as the fiscal sponsor.
Program Success Monitored by:
The Programming Committee of City Lore's board of directors monitors all of our public initiatives. Criteria they look at includes the size of the audience, the quality of presentation, and the long term impact of the project.
Program Success Examples:
<div>The virtual exhibition, "Missing: Streetscape of a City in Mourning" as </div>
<div><a href="http://www.citylore.org">www.citylore.org</a> is a compelling example of City Lore's work. The exhibition about the shrines and memorials that engulfed New York City after 9/11 ran at the New-York Historical Society in 2002, traveled to a number additional venues, and was then transformed into the virtual exhibition where it continues to have an impact. Two of the finest programs we have sponsored at City Lore are Ric Burns' PBS documentaries, Coney Island, and his five part series, New York. </div>