Produced by the Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College Chicago, Democratic Vistas Profiles is a series of literary essays that take a deep and personal look at creative individuals who are reimagining the ways the arts and communities interact and the roles the arts play in a democratic society.
Democratic Vistas draws its inspiration and name from Walt Whitman's great essay on the vital role of art and creativity in our emerging democracy.
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Profile 1: Education of Umberto Crenca
Jon Margolis
Artist/activist Bert Crenca's role in developing AS220, a youth-centered community art gallery in Providence, RI, that helped to revitalize the city
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Profile 2: Genesis of a Dance
Rohan Preston
Liz Lerman, founder of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, and her ethical commitment to dance as a means of building community and connecting people across disciplines
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Profile 3: Franco Dragone at the limits of Las Vegas
Chris Jones
Describes the "reinvention of Vegas culture" by Cirque du Soleil and Belgian performance artist Franco Dragone
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Profile 4: Following the Heard: How Jay Allison Went Searching for Sound and Inspired a Radio Revolution
Lauren Cowen
Peabody Award-winner Jay Allison's role in bringing public radio to Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and his creation of the Transom.org website and Public Radio Exchange, to support and promote innovative broadcasting and community radio
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Profile 5: 'Art the Works': T. Allan Comp and the Reclamation of a Toxic Legacy
Erik Reece
T. Allan Comp's work to drain and refurbish toxic coalmines for use as public spaces
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Profile 6: Nonconforming Uses: Achitect Teddy Cruz at the Borders of Tomorrow
Rebecca Solnit
Visionary architect Teddy Cruz's ideas represent "tearing down old conventions and charting new ways of thinking," notably, through his innovative approach to communal housing
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Profile 7: Dancing on the Through-Line: Rennie Harris and the Past and Future of Hip-Hop Dance
Jeff Chang
The career of hip-hop artist and visionary choreographer Rennie Harris, and his profound influence on street dancing
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Profile 8: Being Baccara and Chasing Aimee: The Artist as Avatar - A Tale in Two Parts
Wagner James Au
A look at Second Life and some of the influential artists / avatars of its virtual worlds
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Profile 9: 'Tickling the Balls of God': Suzan-Lori Parks and her Many Creative Acts
Steven Leigh Morris
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks devised her 365 Days / 365 Plays project as an "experiment in the democratization of an elitist art form"