NewsLetters 2004- 2003 Autumn 2004 NewsLetter Welcome To Latitude?s Autumn 2004 Update!!! Latitude Artists Take Lexington By Storm! What an amazing summer, Latitude participants scaled some incredible heights. Currently Latitude artists are busy helping to create a super art car. (sponsored by Lexington Art league) For a peek, it is parked behind Third Street Stuff. The Clock Shop is still exhibiting an installation by Latitude artists about time and "found" technology in their windows on Short Street. In July Latitude artist and Kentucky Foundation for Women fellowship recipient, Della Mae Bullens exhibited her work at the downtown branch of the public library. August marked a wonderful exhibit of artists from Latitude at the Lexington Arts and Cultural Council (LACC). 12 artists from Latitude participated. You can read about the exhibit and see photos of some of the artwork and the artists and read a great cover story article on Latitude in Ace Weekly on-line, go to: www.aceweekly.com click on Archive, then click on August 12, 2004 ______________________________________________________________________________ ideaJam Latitude artists have been meeting for over a year every Monday morning for a freewheeling jam of ideas, insights and spontaneous talk, called ideaJam. The "idea" behind ideaJam is to playfully talk through any idea which surfaces. Often these ideas result in fully realized projects. Earlier this summer ideaJam participants decided that they wanted to sponsor a dance, which though open to the public, would still especially support people thought to have disabilities. We discussed the norm for most dances of this type and decided that we could create a club atmosphere. IdeaJam created Club Hub Bub. Open till 2am our dance featured techno music and a super laser light show! Recently we discussed how people thought to have disabilities are portrayed in theater. We read parts of Shakespeare?s Richard the Third and decided to create a forum during which portions of various well known plays which have significant roles for people considered to have disabilities will be performed. ideaJam will sponsor the series and it will be open to the public. ______________________________________________________________________________ MegEzine Poet Meg Pike has sent out her most recent collection of poetry. To subscribe to Meg?s Ezine "MegEzine" email Meg at megpike2000@yahoo.com below is a recent poem by Meg. Time Is The Essence By Meg Pike time and the pen are the essence of the holy book come let?s take a look your metronome hook your tongue music is god?s life ______________________________________________________________________________ Latitude/IdeaFestival During ideaFestival Latitude hosted workshops by Dr. Elias Katz (co-founder of the first arts program in this country for people thought to have disabilities) and workshops by Indianapolis based "Theatre of Inclusion". Both workshops were very well attended and written comments by attendees were outstanding. Our thanks to the University of Kentucky, Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute for partially subsidizing TOI.. Plans are currently underway to invite TOI back for more workshops in the spring. Naturally our thanks go out to ideaFestival for creating the whole thing, and for supporting Dr. Katz?s workshop. For more info on ideaFestival go to: www.ideafestival.com for more info on Dr. Katz and the National Institute of Arts and Disabilities (NIAD) go to: www.niadart.org for more info on Theatre of Inclusion go to: www.homepage.mac.com/toiinc/ ____________________________________________________________________________ Latitude As Advocate (a gentle evangelism) From Bruce and Crystal When Minds Wide Open art center was begun some six or seven years ago now, the goal was simply to replicate and expand on a model community arts program I had worked at in Oakland California. (See NIAD and Dr. Katz above) I was very naive regarding the day to day life of so many with developmental disabilities in Kentucky. Despite the studies, and insistence from the state that the quality of life for people with disabilities is sufficient, my own eyes tell of a significantly different story. When my partner Crystal and I began Latitude, our specific goal was to create the best, most elegant and efficient community day program model in the state. This we have achieved. Specifically we felt that if we were able to do this, the state and other institutions dedicated to creating opportunities for people with disabilities would, first accept our premise that day programs and group homes were typically extremely negative environments for people, and then to begin searching jointly for creative solutions. This has not been the case. The people Latitude serves, their guardians and friends have been particularly consistent in their wish for Latitude to continue to push for positive change relating to basic quality of life issues. It is our great privilege to serve those we support in this way, and we pledge to continue to advocate for positive reform. _____________________________________________________________________________ A Blast From The Past Last summer (2003) Latitude created a wonderful mural on the side of Third Street Stuff, and additionally one of our participants had an idea to create a community garden in downtown Lexington. The dedication of the mural and the kickoff for the new gardening organization were blended into one super community event which can now be read about on line. go to: www.aceweekly.com Click on Archive then go to July 31, 2003 Drop By! We encourage everyone to drop by Latitude for a visit, calling us first is a nice courtesy but if you find yourself near us drop by, barge in, meet us, don?t be shy, let?s all play a part in changing the world for the better! Latitude is located at: 167 Saunier Street in downtown Lexington phone: (859) 806-0195 ask for Crystal Bader or Bruce Burris ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 2003 NewsLetter Happy Holidays From Latitude We want to take a moment to share just a few highlights from 2003 and to say thank you for your support over the past year! January saw a one woman art exhibit at the Carnegie Center by Latitude artist Beverly Baker. The show was a smash hit, Beverly sold many of her drawings and she received excellent reviews from the media. In March Della Mae Bullens and Bruce Burris received a Fellowship from The Kentucky Foundation for Women. This Fellowship allows Della to be paid for the sewing that she does, and pairs her with different artists from the region who collaborate and create with Della. Recent artist collaborators have included noted University of Kentucky Professor of Art, Arturo Sandoval and Pat Gerherd of Third Street Stuff. Work created during this process will be exhibited statewide in 2004- 05. During the month of April Latitude, and artist's lobbied successfully to save the Carnegie Center from closure! In May a well known Latitude artist served as an "Artist in Residence" over a period of three weeks at Transylvania University. August was a very exciting month for us at Latitude. We had a public dedication for the mural we created on the exterior walls of Third Street Stuff, (Mayor and many other notables in attendance) and simultaneously launched a community gardening program first envisioned by a Latitude artist! Latitude moved to a great new space in September, come pay us a visit! This November Latitude received a grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission which will allow us to record and transcribe the oral histories of some of those folks who are in our program who are considered by some to have disabilities. These narratives will then reside in the archives of the Oral History Commission, which does not currently contain any stories of those with developmental disabilities. The histories will also become a part of Latitude's own oral/visual history archive "Album of noises...people...talking...sleeping...working....nothing" In December Latitude sponsored the Radical B.U.G.S (Build Urban Garden Spaces) float in Lexington's annual Christmas parade. It has been a full year to say the least here at Latitude and we invite anyone who has interest to come and visit us. We thank you all for your continued support! Getting Personal: We welcome new staff member Teresa Thompson. Teresa is a ceramic artist, and is a particularly active member of the arts community. Teresa practices Yoga and lives on a farm with four goats. Bruce Burris has had a busy year outside Latitude. Bruce is a founding member of Radical B.U.G.S a group commited to building community gardens downtown and "con/temp", a contemporary art gallery on a truck! Bruce was recognized by Ace readers as "Lexington Activist" for 2003. Crystal Bader and her husband Shaun added a pug named Kousa to their pet menagerie and Crystal received a "Rising Star" award from the Lexington Young Professional Association.