ACTA Welcomes Two Members to its Board of Directors
ACTA is pleased to announce that Paula “Pimm” Allen and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson have recently been elected to its Board of Directors. Allen, a Traditional Resources Specialist for United Indian Health Services, Inc. in Arcata, California, has served the northern California Native Community for over fifteen years in the areas of culture and health. Dr. Jackson is a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing Communities Center at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC and also directs its Culture, Creativity and Communities Program. Executive Director Amy Kitchener noted, “We are thrilled to have two such accomplished and highly regarded individuals join our board. Their expertise and commitment will be invaluable to our organization.”
Learning and Legacy at the Fund for Folk Culture: An Interview with Betsy Peterson
In 2009 the Fund for Folk Culture, a national intermediary serving the field of folk and traditional arts, suspended operations after eighteen years. Grantmakers in the Arts recently asked Amy Kitchener, Executive Director of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, to interview Betsy Peterson, former Executive Director of the Fund for Folk Culture (FFC), about what led to this decision and to share some of the important experience the Fund gained during its years of operation. The interview, published in GIA Reader, is available on Grantmakers in the Arts' website.
Dan Sheehy Named as Director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Last month, Dan Sheehy, Acting Director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage since April 2009, was named Director of the Center.
Sabar: Life is a Dance! Premieres in San Francisco
Set against the backdrop of the African dance movement in the United States, Sabar is a dramatic feature film about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Sabar examines how we constantly negotiate and choreograph our way through the bigger and sometimes arrhythmic dance called LIFE.
The San Francisco premiere will screen at the Museum of the African Diaspora. Sabar is directed by Chike Nwoffiah, a member of ACTA's Board of Directors.
ACTA Grantee Featured in the New York Times
California Tribe Hopes to Woo Salmon Home, by Jesse McKinley of the New York Times, features the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, a grantee of ACTA's Living Cultures Grants Program in 2010.
ACTA's Apprenticeship Program Featured in the Redding Record Searchlight
A family tradition: Grandfather teaches grandson art of saddle making, an article by Laura Christman of the Redding Record Searchlight, features master artist Gaylerd Thissell and his grandson and apprentice Lance Zazueta, participants in ACTA's Apprenticeship Program in 2010.
Danny 'Slapjazz' Barber and Sekani Thomas: An Apprenticeship in Hambone (aka Patting Juba)
Master artist Danny ‘Slapjazz’ Barber (Spring Valley) and his apprentice Sekani Thomas (San Diego) participated in ACTA's 2009 Apprenticeship Program in an apprenticeship in hambone, or patting Juba, an African-American tradition which stems from life under slavery in the United States.
