When Cubans argue politics

Check out what happens when two Cubans begin to argue politics; on one corner María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien, half Cuban, Democrat from CNN and anchor of CNN's morning news program Starting Point. On the other corner, John Sununu, full Cuban born in Havana, Republican and former Governor of New Hampshire and former White House Chief of Staff for Bush The First.

See the entertaining video here.

DCCAH Award winners

This year, like many times in the past, I was on the Advisory Panel to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) for the Artist Fellowship Program, and I was energized by the superior number of applications, which always makes the process harder but more fun... anyway:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) are pleased to announce the awarding of 258 grants awarded to local artists and not-for-profit arts organizations for fiscal year 2013. The awards total $4.2 million, representing all eight wards of the District of Columbia. This total does not include the new programs that will be released this fiscal year, which have been added as a result of the Commission’s $6.8 million budget increase.

The awards reflect the ten grant programs the DCCAH administers – Arts Education Program, Artist Fellowship Program, Artist Residencies In Schools, City Arts Projects, Community Arts Grant, Cultural Facilities Projects, East of the River, Grants-In-Aid, Public Art Building Communities, and the UPSTART Program.

“A thriving arts community has always been a hallmark of world class cities, and the District is no different,” noted Mayor Vincent C. Gray. “I’m particularly proud of our continuing efforts to integrate art and art based programs into the lives of young people across the District. Once again, we are leading the way.”

The DCCAH will announce additional funding opportunities because of a budget increase granted by the D.C. City Council on June 5, 2012.

“The arts in D.C. have seen tremendous growth this year – both from the Commission as well as the arts community, at large,” said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “The increase in funds for FY 2013 has provided the opportunity to spearhead this growth. The anticipation of funding a second round of applicants gives us great pride.”

This year, the DCCAH received 511 eligible applications requesting over $12.5 million in funding. The funding rate of 50% percent of eligible applications shows both the significant demand for support while also highlighting the ongoing vitality of the not-for-profit arts community.

The DCCAH funded a broad spectrum of innovative and exciting programs and institutions. These grantees will contribute to the District’s cultural landscape that provides an economic impact of over $1.1 billion to the city.

 And the winners are:

Artist Fellowship Program

Program	Organization Name	Official Amount	Ward
AFP	Ben Crosbie	$5,000	1
AFP	Dana Maier	$5,000	1
AFP	Deb Sivigny	$5,000	1
AFP	Helanius J Wilkins	$5,000	1
AFP	Holly Bass	$5,000	1
AFP	Kim Roberts	$5,000	1
AFP	Kristen Arant	$5,000	1
AFP	Nguyen Nguyen	$5,000	1
AFP	Nistha Raj	$5,000	1
AFP	Reginald Cabico	$5,000	1
AFP	Tim Doud	$5,000	1
AFP	William Wytold Lebing	$5,000	1
AFP	Ashley Ivey	$5,000	2
AFP	Brandel France de Bravo	$5,000	2
AFP	Brian Wilbur Grundstrom	$5,000	2
AFP	Evangeline J. Montgomery	$5,000	2
AFP	Jonathan Gann	$5,000	2
AFP	Justin McLaughlin	$5,000	2
AFP	Terri Merz	$5,000	2
AFP	Willona Sloan	$5,000	2
AFP	Alexandra Silverthorne	$5,000	3
AFP	Cory Oberndorfer	$5,000	3
AFP	Dana Tai Soon Burgess	$5,000	3
AFP	Dean Kessmann	$5,000	3
AFP	Elizabeth Graeber	$5,000	3
AFP	John Anderson	$5,000	3
AFP	Martin Irvine	$5,000	3
AFP	Miya Hisaka	$5,000	3
AFP	William Newman	$5,000	3
AFP	Alexis Gillespie	$5,000	4
AFP	Anna Ulrika Edholm Davis	$5,000	4
AFP	Daniel Phoenix Singh	$5,000	4
AFP	Gemal Woods	$5,000	4
AFP	Linn Meyers	$5,000	4
AFP	Marjuan Canady	$5,000	4
AFP	Sarah Browning	$5,000	4
AFP	Assane Konte	$5,000	5
AFP	Brandon Bray	$5,000	5
AFP	Emma Jaster	$5,000	5
AFP	Frederic Yonnet	$5,000	5
AFP	Jack Gordon	$5,000	5
AFP	Kymone Freeman	$5,000	5
AFP	Michael Iacovone	$5,000	5
AFP	Terry deBardelaben	$5,000	5
AFP	Colin Hovde	$5,000	6
AFP	Jeffrey Barninger	$5,000	6
AFP	Tommy Taylor	$5,000	7
AFP	Jason Anderson	$5,000	8
AFP	Melani Douglass	$5,000	8
AFP	Roderick Turner	$5,000	8

See all the winners here

Facts not Bull

About the debate: Before you succumb to the dogma, stretches and outright lies of either side, or if you think your guy is always truthful and the other guy is always full of lies, please visit FactCheck.org.

Write Home Soon

For an upcoming exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas, local student Mark Strandquist worked alongside individuals in prisons, shelters, libraries, studios for disabled artists, senior citizen facilities, mental health clinics, universities, high schools, museums, and a multitude of other locations to create hundreds of postcards all of which will be included in the upcoming AMA exhibition. 

Write Home Soon: Mark Strandquist, Art Museum of the Americas 

Opening Reception, October 25th, 2012 6-8PM 

Write Home Soon, by Mark Strandquist, is an ongoing project that bridges public installation with social practice methods.  The project includes interactive public installations, citywide workshops, and an exhibition of participant created postcards depicting places—mental, physical, metaphorical—that individuals have lost access to in their lifetime.  These postcards will be mailed to the Art Museum of the Americas and exhibited from October 25th, 2012 to January 13th, 2013. 

Write Home Soon was selected by the Washington Project for the Arts and curator Raquel de Anda to be exhibited as part of the AMA's upcoming 2012-13 exhibit "Ripple Effect."  The exhibit showcases international artists and collaborations that aim to incorporate viewers as direct participants, address pressing social issues, and blur the boundary between artistic practice and social engagement. 

Hundreds of Postcards from all over the DC Metro area have been mailed into the Art Museum of the Americas to be included in the upcoming exhibit. 

Workshop / partner locations (nearing 70) have included prisons, shelters, libraries, mental health and addiction recovery clinics, studios for disabled artists, Arts for the Aging, Habitats for Artists, the Corcoran Museum of Art, We Are Family, Street Sense, Space of Her Own, Books to Prisoners, Free Minds, Miriam’s Kitchen, a variety of museums, local universities and schools, art centers, independent galleries, and more. 

Want to participate? Then hurry and send your postcard to:

Write Home Soon
Art Museum of the Americas
1889 F Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006

Opening Reception: October 25, 6-8PM  

Mark Strandquist is a multi-media artist and curator currently based in Richmond, Virginia.  His work has been featured in various film festivals and independent galleries as well as an upcoming exhibit at the Art Museum of Americas in Washington, DC. He is currently working on a BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University.