From: Michael Sartisky <msartisky@leh.org>
Subject: News from LEH
Reply: msartisky@leh.org


January 2010 e-Newsletter
left_round LEH receives major gift to expand Scott Collection

The LEH is pleased to announce that it is once again the beneficiary of the extraordinary generosity of a private foundation (one that prefers anonymity) that has given the LEH a grant of $84,000 explicitly to purchase seven additional major works by the famed New Orleans John Scott that were recently restored from his flooded studio. Included in this grant is $6,000 for a comprehensive catalogue of the LEH's 30-work Scott collection. The new pieces will be installed in January.
left_round LEH names New Orleans jazz musician & scholar "Humanist of the Year"

Dr. Michael White, acclaimed New Orleans jazz clarinetist, scholar and Xavier University music educator, has been named "2010 Humanist of the Year" by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Each year, the LEH honors Louisianians who have made outstanding contributions to the study and understanding of the humanities. In addition to Humanist of the Year, awards are given for Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities, Chair's Award for Institutional Support, Humanities Documentary Film of the Year, Individual Achievement in the Humanities, Public Humanities Programming, Humanities Book of the Year, the Humanities Teacher of the Year and, new this year, the Michael P. Smith Memorial Award for Documentary Photography. The LEH is the Louisiana affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mark this date! The 2010 awards ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. March 6, 2010, at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens on River Road in Darrow, La., just south of Baton Rouge. For ticket information about the awards ceremony, contact Brian Boyles at the LEH, 504-620-2632 or boyles@leh.org.

Recipients of the 2010 LEH awards include:
  • Humanist of the Year - Michael White, Ph.D., of New Orleans, renowned jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, jazz historian and Xavier University music educator.
  • Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities - Gloria Fiero, Ph.D., of Lafayette, retired professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Professor Emerita in History and Art..
  • Chair's Award for Institutional Support - Phyllis Taylor of New Orleans, chair and president of the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation.    
  • Legislators of the Year - Senate President Joel Chaisson of Destrehan, La., and Senator Lydia P. Jackson of Shreveport for their steadfast and effective advocacy to assist the LEH in securing state resources to support its statewide humanities programs.
  • Public Humanities Programming - Todd Mouton, Louisiana Crossroads, of Lafayette, and Virginia Carter, Ph.D., and Kathleen Poole of the Kentucky Humanities Council.
  • Individual Achievement in the Humanities - Ann Dobie, Ph.D. of Lafayette, and David Kunian of New Orleans.  
  • Humanities Documentary Film of the Year - All Over but to Cry, by Jennifer John Block of New Orleans.  
  • Michael P. Smith Documentary Photography - Syndey Byrd of New Orleans.
  • 2010 Humanities Book of the Year - Bienville's Dilemma, by Richard Campanella, Ph.D., of New Orleans.
left_round Smithsonian exhibit to tour six Louisiana towns in 2011-2012

The LEH is pleased to announce that a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition will tour six Louisiana towns from May 28, 2011 to March 11, 2012. The six communities were selected through an open competition to host the exhibition entitled Journey Stories, which examines the intersection between human migration to and within America and the transportation technology that enabled the settling of our nation. The traveling exhibit will appear in the following communities in this order:

·  St. Martinville - The Acadian Memorial - May 28-July 9, 2011    
·  Leesville - Vernon Parish Tourism Commission - July 16-Aug. 27, 2011
·  Denham Springs -Old City Hall Museum - Sept. 3-Oct. 15, 2011
·  Lake Providence - Louisiana State Cotton Museum - Oct. 22-Dec. 3, 2011
·  Long Leaf - Southern Forest Heritage Museum - Dec. 10, 2011-Jan. 28, 2012
·  St. Francisville - West Feliciana Historical Society - Feb. 4-March 11, 2012

Journey Stories examines the intersection between modes of travel and Americans' desire to feel free to move. The story is diverse and focused on immigration, migration, innovation, and freedom. It is accounts of immigrants coming in search of promise in a new country; stories of individuals and families relocating in search of fortune, their own homestead, or employment; the harrowing journeys of Africans and Native Americans forced to move; and, of course, fun and frolic on the open road.

Journey Stories is the fifth LEH-sponsored Louisiana tour of a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition. Since 2000, the LEH has invested more than $113,000 in projects in 23 small towns in 23 different parishes throughout the state, where exhibitions and ancillary public programs have attracted a total audience of more than 100,000 people.

The LEH will cover all exhibition rental costs - $9,000 over the three-year cycle - and dedicate up to $39,000 in grants (contingent on the availability of funds) for planning, local exhibitions and public programs to the six host sites. In addition, the LEH will provide continuous technical assistance to the sponsoring organizations on exhibition and program development, fundraising, publicity and promotion, collaboration and budget planning - all of which will benefit these organizations long after Journey Stories leaves town.

Journey Stories is an initiative of the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program that brings together the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities organizations like the LEH, and small rural museums in a collaborative effort to serve rural audiences. The partnership, established in 1991, was formed as a creative response to the challenges faced by rural museums to enhance their own cultural legacies.

For additional information, contact Rachel Norman at 504-620-2479 or norman@leh.org.
left_round PRIME TIME Family Reading Time

PRIME TIME Goes Digital with Foundant Technologies
A recently established relationship with Foundant Technologies, a Montana-based grants management software company, has made applying for PRIME TIME grants more convenient.  PRIME TIME has already begun to employ the company's Grant Lifecycle Manager (GLM) that "makes it easy to receive and evaluate online applications, record decisions, and measure outcomes."  

The Foundant software is very user-friendly, and will make submitting PRIME TIME grant applications as well as other data collection forms easier and faster for applicants.  Interested agencies should note that some paper forms are being phased out, and applications for fall 2010 and beyond will be collected using Foundant's GLM. Currently, only grant applicants (the individual completing and submitting the PRIME TIME grant application) and program coordinators will use the online system. Scholars, storytellers, community organizers and preschool coordinators will continue to work with the relevant paper forms until further notice.  
The PRIME TIME staff will be available to support software users during the transition.  Additionally, demonstrations will be conducted during upcoming Training Workshops. Visit the PRIME TIME webpage for a link to the LEH's Foundant website. For additional information, contact Shantrell Adams at 504-620-2625 or adams@leh.org.

January 2010 PRIME TIME Training Workshop
The January Training Workshop dates are Jan.16 -17.  The workshop will be hosted at the Louisiana Humanities Center at Turners' Hall in New Orleans.  Approximately 40 participants from Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana are expected to attend. Contact Shantrell Adams with questions regarding the workshop.
left_round RELIC: Readings in Literature and Culture

With reduced state funding for RELIC programs in 2010, many libraries across Louisiana, not wanting to disrupt the popular reading series, are beginning to fund RELIC programs from their own budgets. The Franklin Parish Library, for example, decided that losing its annual spring RELIC program simply was not worth the local disappointment. "I have attended every RELIC program [14 years]," one Winnsboro patron declared.

Individuals, foundations, reading groups, community organizations and libraries interested in funding or partially funding RELIC programs in their communities should contact Jim Segreto, Director of RELIC Library Programs, at 504-620-2477 or segreto@leh.org.  

RELIC programs scheduled for winter and spring 2010:
  • Baton Rouge, Goodwood Branch, East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Becoming American: The Literature of Immigration and Acculturation. 7-9 p.m. Thursdays, April 15-May 20. 225-231-3746.
  • Houma, Terrebonne Parish Library. The Creole Identity and Experience in Louisiana Literature and History.  10 a.m.-noon Wednesdays, Feb. 24- March 31. 985-876-5861.
  • Napoleonville, Assumption Parish Library. Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State.  4-6 p.m. Thursdays, March 25-April  29. 985-369-7070.
  • Shreveport, The University of First Presbyterian Church. Elizabeth I of England and Her Times.  6-8 p.m. Thursdays, Feb. 18-March 25. 318-222-0604
  • Winnsboro, Franklin Parish Library. Where Is North Louisiana? 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Apr. 6-May 11. 318-435-4336.
left_round Louisiana Cultural Vistas magazine

The Winter 2009/10 edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas is now out. There is still time to purchase $20 gift subscriptions for family, friends and business associates. The new issue features:
  • Paintings by William Woodward culled from the collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art and The Historic New Orleans Collection. Woodward (1859-1939) was a Louisiana impressionist painter best known for his scenes of the French Quarter at the turn of the 20th century.
  • The recently discovered photographs of John T. Mendes, an amateur photographer who documented New Orleans in the 1910s and 20s. An LEH-funded book by the University of New Orleans Press has been released and an exhibit of Mendes's photographs will remain through February at The Historic New Orleans Collection.
  • Biographies of three generations of Native-American women from Louisiana's Koasati tribe, excerpted from the book Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times.
  • The origins of New Orleans' nicknames, from "Crescent City" and "Queen City of the South" to "Big Easy" and the "City That Care Forgot."
  • A history of riots that broke out in New Orleans' Desire Housing Project in the early 1970s, excerpted from the LEH-funded book Showdown in Desire by Orissa Arend.
  • An examination of the cultures that defined New Orleans' character from Ned Sublette's 2008 LEH Book of the Year, The World That Made New Orleans.
left_round LEH-sponsored events

Kenner: Feel the heartbeat of Mother Earth and the Native American people as you listen to the traditional music of the Yellow Moon Singers drum group at Native American Music Day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 16 at Rivertown Heritage Park (rain location: Rivertown Exhibition Hall). Learn how their music carries a custom that has been passed down through generations, preserving language, history and spirituality.  Hear the whispering wind as a Native American flutist plays the bamboo flute and demonstrates how it is made. Admission is $3 for adults and $2.50 for children and seniors and includes admission to the Native American Museum. For more information, call 504-468-7231.

Lafayette: From Jan. 27-31, 2010, the 5th Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival continues its mission of understanding Cajun and Creole cultures through film screenings, film panels and cultural exchanges among French Louisiana, the United States and francophone nations. The festival is also committed to presenting nationally and internationally acclaimed humanities-themed documentaries and filmmakers with truly original voices. For more information about schedule and venues, visit www.cinemaonthebayou.com or call 337-235-7845.

Lafayette: Louisiana Crossroads presents Chris Thomas King's 30th Anniversary Celebration of Tabby's Blues Box at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21 at Vermilionville Performance Center. From Baton Rouge to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and far beyond, guitarist, pianist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Thomas King has blazed a uniquely rootsy musical path. For these anniversary shows he'll perform with his trio and shine a light on some of the legendary blues players and styles of the Baton Rouge region while also showcasing his original tunes.  His father's music and legendary Blues Box (which closed after 24 years in Nov. 2004) are an enduring influence on King, whose screen credits have included the roles of seminal bluesmen Tommy Johnson (in the Grammy-winning O Brother) and Lowell Fulson (in the Oscar-winning Ray).  For more information, call 337-233-7060 or visit www.louisianacrossroads.org.  

Lake Charles:  Louisiana Crossroads presents Chris Thomas King's 30th Anniversary Celebration of Tabby's Blues Box at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Central School Theater.  From Baton Rouge to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and far beyond, guitarist, pianist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Thomas King has blazed a uniquely rootsy musical path. For these anniversary shows he will perform with his trio and shine a light on some of the legendary blues players and styles of the Baton Rouge area while also showcasing his original tunes. His father's music and legendary Blues Box (which closed after 24 years in Nov. 2004) are an enduring influence on King, whose screen credits have included the roles of seminal bluesmen Tommy Johnson (in the Grammy-winning O Brother) and Lowell Fulson (in the Oscar-winning Ray). For more information, call 337-491-9147 or visit www.louisianacrossroads.org. This event will be broadcast live on KRVS 88.7 FM and krvs.org.

New Orleans: On Jan. 19, Southern Rep Theatre - continuing its artistic mission of New Play Development and its commitment to community outreach - will host Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright, librettist and author Doug Wright during an open-to-the-public lecture on the craft of playwriting. Wright's lecture will be followed by a question and answer session. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Rep Theatre, 333 Canal St., 3rd Floor, New Orleans. For more information, visit www.southernrep.com or call 504-523-9857.

Shreveport: Beginning Jan. 31, the Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana continues its Uniquely Louisiana Collectors series with Focus Gallery: Selections from the Collection of David and Nicole Holcombe. The exhibit will include approximately two dozen works in a variety of media by Louisiana artists, some well-known and others not as well, collected over a period of 25 years by David and Nicole Holcombe of Alexandria. Included in this collection are works by Latin American artist Maria Lopez, Natchitoches State University Professor of Art Bill Bryant, and ceramicist Chris Kelly among others. For more information, visit www.centenary.edu/meadows or call 318-869-5014.
left_round Louisiana Humanities Center events


January 13, the Louisiana Humanities Center's series on the New Orleans Mayoralty concludes with a panel discussion on Mayor Ray Nagin.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and discussions begin at 7 p.m. 

January 20, the "Professors" piano night series on New Orleans music continues with Tom Worrell.  Show starts at 7 p.m.

The Louisiana Humanities Center is located in the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' Turners Hall, 938 Lafayette St., New Orleans. For more information about these and other events, contact Brian Boyles at boyles@leh.org.
left_round LEH grants deadlines


Louisiana Publishing Initiative - Feb. 15. Contact John R. Kemp at 504-620-2481 or kemp@leh.org. For more information about the publishing initiative and other LEH grants, visit the LEH website at www.leh.org.
Safe Unsubscribe
This email was sent to boyles@leh.org by msartisky@leh.org.
LEH | 938 Lafayette Street | Suite 300 | New Orleans | LA | 70113