March 31, 2010

Art Belt update


sharing UPDATE from continuing workshops to establish the Art Belt of NE Ohio & NW PA:

To All Power of the Arts Participants and Friends,

As a reminder, our next work meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 9 at Bliss Hall at YSU from 5 PM - 7 PM. We are very excited to continue to move forward with the progress we've made thus far.

For those who were unable to make it to our last meeting and as a reminder to those that were, we broke into two work groups to raise some questions and have an open dialogue about public policy/public support and about advocacy/arts council. From these discussions nine topics/questions surfaced that we are now going to delve further into. Please see below for what each work group will be addressing:

Public Policy/Public Support (facilitated by Paul Hagman):
·         Is there anything "on the books" in Youngstown, Warren, Mahoning County and/or Trumbull County relating to public policy and/or public support for arts and culture?
·         Research selected cities that have been successful in securing public support for the arts.
·         Explore tax levy and other potential funding sources for public support.

Advocacy/Arts Council (facilitated by Bryan DePoy):
·         Research what previous groups that have tried to set up arts councils in the Mahoning Valley have done, and understand their lessons learned.
·         Why an arts council? - Define, explore, and prioritize: What are the needs of artists? What are the needs of arts and cultural organizations? What are the needs of the community at large? Where are the gaps between what is needed and what is currently available?
·         What might an advocacy group that promotes alliances look like?
·         Develop "one-stop-shopping" website.
·         Inventory assets of artists and organizations and make that available to share.

Ad hoc Committee of the Lead Team (facilitated by Janus Small prior to next meeting):
·         Develop mission, vision, and guiding principles for the Power of the Arts initiative - Progress to date will be reported at the April 9th meeting.

If you have not done so, please register here for the April 9th Meeting!

APRIL 9, 2010 REGISTRATION LINK

If you have any questions , please do not hesitate to contact the coordinators of this meeting, Janus Small Associates (contact information provided below). Hope to see you there and don't forget to spread the word!

Becky Keck & Bill Mullane
Power of the Arts Co-Chairs


Janus Small Associates
.....building strong organizations for strong communities
www.janussmallassociates.com
3220 Green Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44122
216.991.6003-office
216.991.6009-fax

Janus Small, President
jsmall@janussmallassociates.com

Adam C. Schultz, Associate

March 29, 2010

Shenago Valley artists gather together

29 Logan Avenue Gallery of Sharon, Pennsylvania,  featured in a story:
http://sharonherald.com/community/x250447664/Studio-evolves-into-creative-outlet-for-many

"Sixty artists from the Shenango Valley; Greenville; Grove City; Edinboro; Youngstown; Warren, Ohio; Akron, Ohio; and other areas now are displaying paintings, photographs, jewelry, stained and blown glass, metal work, wood pieces, fabric and knit items, pottery, gourd masks and dolls."  gourd art ideas & books

photography by David E. Dale/ Sharon Herald

How We Work

The Story of NUMMI as told by the Ira Glass/Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) program TAL (This American Life) is one that everyone in the  Mahoning Valley should put aside an hour and listen to:

MP3 here: http://www.thislife.org/sites/all/download.php?ep=403
Episode 403: http://www.thislife.org/radio-archives/episode/403/nummi

PROLOGUE.
A car plant in Fremont California that might have saved the U.S. car industry. In 1984, General Motors and Toyota opened NUMMI as a joint venture. Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system: how it made cars of much higher quality and much lower cost than GM achieved. Frank Langfitt explains why GM didn't learn the lessons – until it was too late.

Host Ira Glass introduces the story of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., aka NUMMI. In 1984, General Motors and Toyota opened NUMMI as a joint venture. Toyota showed GM the secrets of its production system: how it made cars of much higher quality and much lower cost than GM achieved. But today, GM cars still don't have the quality of Japanese imports, GM is bankrupt and on March 31, NUMMI will be closed, sending thousands of car workers looking for jobs. In this hour-long story, NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt tells the story of NUMMI and why GM – and the rest of the American car business – wasn't able to learn from it more quickly. (4 1/2 minutes)
Act One.
The rise of NUMMI, or how one of the worst auto plants in America started producing some of its best cars, thanks to lessons learned from the Toyota production system. (25 1/2 minutes)
Act Two.
Why did it take so many years for GM to begin implementing the lessons of NUMMI across the company? NPR Automotive Correspondent Frank Langfitt continues his story. (26 minutes)
see more Books about steel in the Valley