URGENT Call to Action!!

Please email or call 4 or more of those listed below:

EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Governor Malloy   governor.malloy@ct.gov   860-566-4840
Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman   ltgovernor.wyman@ct.gov   860-524-7384
DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith   Catherine.Smith@ct.gov

AND LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP
Sen. Len Fasano   Len.Fasano@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8871
Sen. Martin Looney   Looney@senatedems.ct.gov   860-240-0375
Sen. Paul Formica   paul.formica@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8371
Sen. Cathy Osten   Catherine.Osten@cga.ct.gov   860-240-0579
Rep. Toni Walker   toni.walker@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8585
Sen. Joan Hartley   hartley@senatedems.ct.gov   860-240-0006
Sen. Craig Miner   Craig.Miner@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8816
Rep. Henry Genga   henry.genga@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8585
Rep. Ezequiel Santiago   ezequiel.santiago@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8585
Rep. Chris Soto   Chris.Soto@cga.ct.gov   860-240-8585 
Rep. Melissa Ziobron   Melissa.Ziobron@housegop.ct.gov   860-240-8700

AND FIND YOUR OWN LEGISLATORS HERE!

Vivid Ballet presents Swan Lake Act II

Vivid Ballet and Connecticut Youth Ballet will be returning to the Blackstone Library (Branford, CT) to present an interactive reading of "Swan Lake" by Margot Fonteyn, and will be led by company artist Lauren Rutledge. As a part of this event, participants will be able to meet and dance with fully costumed enchanted swans from this classic tale. 

The event will be geared toward ages 2-6, but all are more than welcome! 

Thursday - June 1, 2017 - 10:00-11:00 AM 

Blackstone Library Auditorium

758 Main St, Branford, CT 06405

For more information see the library's event page or call 203-488-1441

Vivid Ballet is delighted to also announce their Spring Performance featuring Swan Lake: Act II! Come enjoy an evening of both classical and contemporary ballet as we present an act from one of the world's most beloved ballets along with tastes of the diverse repertoire from our inaugural season. Tickets are on sale now!

 

Order Online Here or call the Shubert Box Office at 203-562-5666. 

Vivid Ballet’s Summer Intensive offers pre-professional and professional dancers the highest caliber of classical ballet training with world renowned instructors, augmented by a rich diversity of classes and performance experience. The Intensive is designed to build technical strength, encourage artistic exploration and promote human flourishing.  Join us to experience the True, the Good, and the Beautiful through dance!

 Summer Intensive

Program Overview

The Summer Intensive provides a supportive environment that fosters physical and artistic challenge. Six days of intensive dance combine technique and repertory as well the opportunity to forge community and friendships with your fellow dancers.

Class Offerings

Ballet and pointe technique, modern, repertoire, pas de deux, pilates, hip-hop, and contemporary.  Instructors include Silas Farley (New York City Ballet), Ad Deum II (Houston, TX), Lars Nelson (New York City Ballet), Elizabeth McMillan (Vivid Ballet Artistic Director), and Vivid Ballet Company Artists. 

For more information or to register visit vividballet.com.

 

 

 

Award-winning Filmmaker Karyl Evans Explores Life and Work of Renowned Landscape Architect Beatrix Farrand

The first documentary film ever produced about nationally renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, by six-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Karyl Evans, will premiere locally at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival at Yale on Monday, June 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Whitney Humanities Center in New Haven.

Six-time Emmy Award winning filmmaker Karyl Evans’ most recent documentary explores the life and career of landscape architect Beatrix Farrand, who is consideredthe most important female landscape architect in the first part of the 20th century.

“The Life and Gardens of BEATRIX FARRAND” is a captivating film about a woman born into privilege, but determined to make a name for herself in the male-dominated profession of landscape architecture. Against all odds, Beatrix Farrand (1872-1959), who was the niece of famed American author Edith Wharton, went on to design some of the country’s most important landscapes, including Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.; the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden; the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Bar Harbor, Maine; and the East Garden at the White House.

As one of the founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects she is credited with helping to open the landscape architecture profession to women. Farrand was also the first woman to be hired as the landscape consultant to Yale University and worked in that capacity from 1922-1945. During that time, she designed plans across the campus,

from the Marsh Botanical Gardens to landscape plans for the Yale Medical School. The film also highlights three exquisite gardens designed by Farrand in Connecticut, including Hill-Stead in Farmington, Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, and Promisek in Bridgewater, all of which have been recently renovated.

With rare archival images and illuminating interviews with Farrand scholars, Evans’ 40-minute documentary film gives a fascinating overview of Farrand’s 50-year career which included over 200 commissions. The film includes more than 60 Farrand-related sites, along with interviews with landscape architect Diana Balmori, landscape historian Judith

Tankard, and New Haven-based landscape architect Shavaun Towers.

Admission is free to the screening on Monday, June 5 and is open to the public. Visit NHDocs.com website for more details about NHDocs which runs from June 1 - June 11, 2017. The Whitney Humanities Center is located at 53 Wall St., New Haven, CT. 

 

About the Filmmaker
In 2016, Karyl Evans won the National Academy of Television Arts and Science’s “Outstanding Director” Emmy Award for her work as the director of “Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio,” commissioned by the GMChorale and narrated by Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep. Evans, owner of Karyl Evans Productions LLC in North Haven, Connecticut, has produced many historical documentaries over the past 30 years about Connecticut history. Her productions include “The New Haven Green: Heart of a City,” narrated by Paul Giamatti, as well as a series of

documentaries for public television including the “History of African-Americans in Connecticut” and the “History of Connecticut Cities.”

Evans was a full-time professor at Southern Connecticut State University for two years;
she is currently a fellow at Yale University, and is one of the organizers of the New
Haven Documentary Film Festival at Yale. To download photographs, learn more about Karyl Evans and “The Life and Gardens of BEATRIX FARRAND" visit BeatrixFarrandDocumentary.com.
 

Paid Arts Internships for Young Aspiring and Emerging Arts Administrators, Educators, Artists

Eligibility:
To be eligible, individuals must:
Be a Connecticut Resident
Demonstrate Financial Need
Align to COA's READI framework
Have availability to successfully complete the program
Be enrolled in an accredited College of University OR be an emerging arts professional within the following categories: arts administration, arts presenting/curating, media arts, performing arts, visual arts, arts education, and literary arts.

Awards:
The internship is for 25 hours per week for 10 weeks. Selected organizations will be granted $3,750 per intern and will pay the intern at the rate of $15 per hour.

Funding Period:
Interns will receive payment from the organization where their internship will take place. The internship must take place from June 5th through August 11th, 2017.

How to Apply:
Prepare a Word document and include the following information:

1. Applicant Information
    Include full name, title, home address, contact information, affiliated College/University or affiliated professional Arts Organization. Indicate whether you are a College Student or an Emerging Arts professional. Indicate your are focus of the following options: arts administration, arts presenting/curating, media arts, performing arts, visual arts, arts education, and literary arts (100 word maximum).

2. Personal Statement
    Provide a brief description of the internship experience you visualize. Be very specific to how you see an internship of this nature helping you to meet your professional and career goals. (500-word maximum).

3. Describe how you align to our READI Framework (Please follow this link for explanation of READI). (500 word maximum).

4. Financial Need
    Please indicate how a apid internship opportunity will help you financially. (200-word maximum).

5. Required Attachments
     a) Applicant's Resume
     b) One letter of recommendation/support from applicant's affiliated arts organization or College/University
    c) Cover letter

Send email with attachments to Adriane Jefferson at Adriane.Jefferson@ct.gov.
The subject line of the email should read: Arts Workforce Initiative: Your Name
You will receive a confirmation email.






Reporting Requirements:
Selected interns will be required to submit a weekly report of their internship experience, including their work duties and internship milestones. Students will also have a bi-weekly check in with Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Questions:
Contact Adriane Jefferson at 860-256-2786 or Adriane.Jefferson@ct.gov.

Advocacy Alert!!

ADVOCACY ALERT

Last week the White House submitted a budget proposal to Congress that eliminates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and the Corporation for National and Community Services (Americorps), among other federal agencies. Eliminating the NEA would be a devastating blow to the arts and cultural ecosystem of our region, Connecticut, and the nation.  With only a $148 million annual appropriation - that's 0.004% of the total federal budget - the NEA awards grants to artists and organizations in every Congressional district, generates more than $600 million annually in additional matching funds, and supports 4.8 million jobs. Congress will now consider this budget proposal. Funding federal arts and cultural agencies has historically received bipartisan support, and we want you to share your voice with our Congressional representatives. President Trump himself has said, "The Congress, as representatives of the people, make the determination as to what the spending priorities ought to be." 1. Take 2 minutes now to contact your members of Congress and join the #SaveTheNEA campaign. Send a customizable message to your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose any attempt to eliminate or cut funding to the NEA. 2. Call or write your members of Congress and tell them to continue funding arts and culture.  Senator Richard Blumenthal (202) 224-2823 706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 www.blumenthal.senate.gov Senator Chris Murphy (202) 224-4041 136 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 www.murphy.senate.gov 3. Post on Facebook and Twitter to help rally support. 4. Learn more about the NEA and its impact locally, statewide and across the nation Americans for the Arts Mobilization Center: http://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/arts-mobilization-center Fact vs. Fiction: Government Arts Funding (National Assembly of State Arts Agencies): http://www.nasaa-arts.org/Advocacy/Advocacy-Tools/FactvFictionGovtArtsFunding.pdf  "The Real Cost of Abolishing the National Endowment for the Arts" (The Atlantic): https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/03/what-eliminating-the-arts-and-humanities-endowments-would-really-mean/519774/ "Trump's Budget Worry State's Arts and Cultural Leaders" including Eugene   O' Neill Theater Center's Preston Whiteway (Hartford Courant): http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-nea-neh-cpb-funding-cuts-proposal-0317-20170316-story.html

U.S Representatives
John Larson                                                                                                            Jim Himes
(202)-225-2265                                                                                                       (202)-225-5541
1501 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 20515                              1227 Longworth House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515

www.larson.house.gov                                                                                            www.himes.house.gov

Joe Courtney                                                                                                           Elizabeth Esty
(202)225-2076                                                                                                        (202)-225-4476
2348 Rayburn House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515                                      221 Cannon House Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515
www.courtney.house.gov                                                                                        www.esty.house.gov

Rosa DeLauro
(202)-225-3661
2413 Rayburn Office Bldg. Washington DC 20515