{"id":36018,"date":"2015-02-18T16:05:58","date_gmt":"2015-02-18T23:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=36018"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:55:42","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T19:55:42","slug":"idyllwild-arts-panel-explores-the-artist-as-social-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/02\/18\/idyllwild-arts-panel-explores-the-artist-as-social-activist\/","title":{"rendered":"Idyllwild Arts panel explores the artist as social activist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The panelists who discussed \u201cArt in Society\u201d at Idyllwild Arts on Friday were (from left) John Pennington, George Blake, John David Mooney, Claudia Rankine and Mariana Amatullo. Photo by J.P. Crumrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Claudia
Claudia Rankine, award- winning poet.
Photo by J.P. Crumrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Idyllwild Arts Academy President Pamela Jordan spoke to an enthusiastic audience of students and community members at the first in a series of public discussions on the role of the artist in society, at the IAF Theatre on Friday, Feb. 13.<\/p>\n

Directly addressing her students, she said, \u201cIdyllwild Arts is not only a place to make art, but it is also a place to use one\u2019s art to make a difference.\u201d She recalled that a founding principal of the school and summer program was the broader integration of art with society. She referenced founder Max Krone who said, \u201cThe arts provide the best common ground for friendly cooperation among the peoples of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In introducing moderator and faculty member Chris Wegemer, Jordan credited him with having the passion and vision to initiate this public discussion of the role of the artist in society by convening a distinguished panel of artists to talk about how art can influence social change.<\/p>\n

Before introducing the panel, Wegemer talked of how Idyllwild Arts was, from the beginning, a forum for societal change where many activist artists taught at the Summer Program for then-Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. He quoted German playwright Bertolt Brecht, \u201cArt is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it,\u201d in setting the theme for the afternoon \u2014 that artists are not just lonely creators, separate and apart from society, but are often important instruments of social change, moving civilization in new directions through the practice of their craft.<\/p>\n

The panel included Mariana Amatullo, co-founder and vice president of Designmatters at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena; Claudia Rankine, Henry G. Lee, professor of poetry at Pomona College in Claremont and National Book Award finalist; George Blake, doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Santa Barbara; John Pennington, artistic director of the Pennington Dance Group and A Room to Create in Pasadena; and John David Mooney, internationally known sculptor.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Pennington, artistic director of the Pennington Dance Group, and 14 years with the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company.
Photo by J.P. Crumrine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pennington spoke first of Bella Lewitzky, his mentor, who founded the dance program at IA, noting that one of her seminal beliefs was that art is a catalyst for societal change and social justice. Pennington, who was a member of her company for 14 years, said Lewitzky created dances about social issues that mattered to her. \u201cShe could not understand war and these themes kept making their way back onto the stage,\u201d he remembered. He recalled Lewitzky refusing to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, when she said, \u201cI am a dancer, not a singer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy her act of non-compliance, she gave others the courage to [refuse to comply],\u201d Pennington said. And, illustrating how activism in art can have economic consequences, Pennington recalled Lewitzky\u2019s returning a $70,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts because it contained a clause forbidding creation of \u201cobscene\u201d art. Although the grant return put the Lewitzky company\u2019s future at risk, Pennington noted Lewitzky said she would not accept a grant with censorship as a condition. The clause was eventually removed in subsequent NEA grants. Pennington encouraged students to \u201clive your lives and change the lives of those around you. Find a mentor, strive for excellence and contribute to your community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using jazz as his reference, ethnomusicologist Blake encouraged students to find their \u201cemotional virtuosity,\u201d and like great jazz improvisers, \u201cwork with who\u2019s around you, learn to listen and make it meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sculptor Mooney asked students, \u201cWhy, when we create art, do we give it all we\u2019ve got?\u201d He posited that art fills voids, in space and in society. \u201cDiscover where the voids are and fill them,\u201d he encouraged his audience. \u201cBe a problem solver. By giving, we become. Give your talent back to society and make the place a better place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poet Rankine said that although she does not think of herself as a social activist, she is an active listener, at all times, to everything in her life. \u201cI pay attention,\u201d she said. \u201cI try to take moments of everything I have read or heard and find a place for it in the piece.\u201d She challenged students to \u201cbe aware, be conscious. All of that awareness contributes to the making of art and the making of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amatullo, the last of the panel to speak, got an extra round of applause as mother of IA senior Theatre Arts student Nico. Her day-to-day work, in the program she created for the Art Center College of Design (Designmatters), is specifically designed to have students work to advance social change by applying good design to an array of social problems. \u201cRemember a key concept \u2014 as artists you have an amazing opportunity to make a difference through who you are,\u201d she said. \u201cListen to yourself and integrate who you are, where you come from, your passion and your education in learning to create and influence change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In answer to a student question of what is success in the arts, Rankine answered, \u201cYou sign up for a lonely life. You\u2019re always striving for something that doesn\u2019t exist. Success happens when that thing that you imagined gets made.\u201d Amatullo reminded students that their projects, their activities, affect the spaces and people around them and encouraged students to \u201clearn by failing better and learning from those failures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Idyllwild Arts Academy President Pamela Jordan spoke to an enthusiastic audience of students and community members at the first in a series of public discussions on the role of the artist in society, at the IAF Theatre on Friday, Feb. 13. Directly addressing her students, she said, \u201cIdyllwild Arts is not only a place to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIdyllwild Arts panel explores the artist as social activist • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/02\/18\/idyllwild-arts-panel-explores-the-artist-as-social-activist\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/02\/18\/idyllwild-arts-panel-explores-the-artist-as-social-activist\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/panel3.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"The panelists who discussed \\u201cArt in Society\\u201d at Idyllwild Arts on Friday were (from left) John Pennington, George Blake, John David Mooney, Claudia Rankine and Mariana Amatullo. 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