WESTAF Update Notes #57 | February 2009
From Anthony Radich, Executive Director
This is the 57th in a continuing series of updates about the work of WESTAF
Proceedings from Symposium and Conference Released
WESTAF recently published the proceedings of Open Dialogue XI the biennial conference of the The Association of American Cultures (TAAC).  Convened in July, 2007, the conference included a WESTAF-sponsored symposium and the proceedings center on the symposium content. Titled Global Connections to Cultural Democracy the meeting brought together policy makers, academics, arts administrators, theorists, and artists to discuss global migration, cultural democracy, diversity, and the arts. Participants included U.N. Special Rapporteur, Doudou Diene, and Secretary General of the European Forum for Arts and Heritage, Ilona Kish. The final symposium session consisted of dialogue on key symposium topics from the perspective of international youth.  Participating in this panel were arts young activists working in areas including arts policy, writing and music production, and dance. Proceedings have been mailed to all conference participants and Update Notes recipients. Limited additional copies of the proceedings are available, however, please submit your request quickly—the proceedings are nearly out of print. Contact Erin Bassity at WESTAF for more information (303.629.1166 or erin.bassity@westaf.org).
Special Report on State Film Incentives
WESTAF will soon release a special advance section of the now-in-preparation proceedings from its December symposium on the creative economy. Because of the high level of activity currently underway in the area of film incentives and state economic development, an early release of this information seems appropriate.  The segment presents an even handed treatment of the impact of state film incentives and includes a robust discussion of the negative aspects of such incentives.
WESTAF Partners with DOCA to Deploy Creative Space Agent
WESTAF and the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) are pleased to announce the completion of a user-friendly, searchable Web portal that allows artists, musicians, and other creative workers to connect with realtors and property managers who have space available for creative endeavors. Appropriately named Creative Space Agent (www.creativespaceagent.org), the Web site provides listings of real estate spaces that cater to the creative community. Site users may locate a new studio, share a photography darkroom, or even find gallery space for their next exhibition. An additional feature of the site is the Need People section. Here artists can leave messages for one another about sharing studios, subleasing, or even look for project collaborators. At present, Denver realtors and property managers are populating the site with their arts spaces, while site will be launched to the public in mid-March.
Creative Space Agent is the latest online service offered by WESTAF.  It was developed in a collaboration with DOCA and the pilot site is designed to serve the creative workers in the Denver metro area. Users of the site can either advertise a space for creative work or find such a space and …(more attractive parts of CSA here, I wasn’t on the project—EB)… Creative Space Agent can by found by visiting .   The site is available to states and cities on an annual license fee basis.
American Masterpieces Exhibitions
Five member institutions of the Washington Arts Consortium have begun presenting their NEA-sponsored American Masterpieces exhibitions. The shows, featuring important historic and contemporary regional artists, include: The History of Collecting Art in the Northwest, presented by the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham; The Spokane Art Center and the New Deal,  presented by the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture in Spokane; A Concise History of Northwest Art, presented by the Tacoma Art Museum; The Last Scattering Surface: the Work of Josiah McElheny, presented by the Henry Gallery of Seattle; and Chris Jordan, Running the Numbers, presented by the Museum of Art at Washington State University, Pullman. For more information about these exhibitions please contact WESTAF.

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