Cultural Incubator


 
 

Kembata Community Enrichment Project

The Kembata Community Enrichment Project, a not for profit local initiative, advances literacy and builds cultural bridges of understanding and education between the Kembata Community of Ethiopia and the people of Phoenix by raising funds and collecting books for the Library at the newly-established Durame Campus of Wachemo University and the public libraries in the Kembata region. Simply stated, getting books to people who currently don’t have access to them. The Kembata region is located in south-central Ethiopia. Kembata people are one of the indigenous people in Ethiopia. The society has a distinct culture and its own language called kembatissa. 

Currently, the Kembata people live in highly-dense areas causing economic challenges and social issues. In order to alleviate the Kembata society from deep rooted economic and social challenges, and to move the society forward, education is an important factor. Learning through reading helps the society get exposure to the rest of the word’s current technological advancements and promotes critical and creative thinking for making progressive cultural transformation away from backward cultural practices. Without continuing to open one’s mind and allowing oneself to be taught, a person become stagnant, ignorant, and frozen in time.

Photo credit: Desalegn Liranso

Update
September, 2019

Tamiret Namana Ersado of Phoenix makes the first delivery of books from our Kembata Community Literacy Project to Temesgen Heliso in Ethiopia. Temesgen's organization will oversee an orderly distribution of our books as they do with books and other items for various cultural enrichment projects. Generous donors in Phoenix donated books at two Starbucks stores (Sunnyslope Starbucks and 7th Avenue/Missouri Starbucks) on consecutive Saturdays in late March - early April including many art/culture related books, children's books, old text books, and fiction and non-fiction books. Books in English are in big demand. People also generously donated almost $100 through Facebook and the phICA website to support the project's expenses like transport. Tamiret and our project collaborator Aman Wanore paid the cost of extra, overweight luggage out-of-pocket in order to support this worthwhile project.

Tamiret went to his native country on vacation to visit family and friends and agreed to take books with him. Aman coordinated the drop off with Temesgen. A creative photographer captured the moment.

 
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This is a Cultural Incubation project with Aman Wanore and members of the Phoenix Ethiopian-American Community and Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art (phICA). Book drop offs will be arranged in various Phoenix locations. Please consider contributing to this worthwhile literacy promotion endeavor.

phICA is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)3 educational organization committed to arts advocacy and education through its programming.

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REBECCA ROSS RAINMAKER PROJECT

Sculpture at the Rain and Art Garden at Curry Elementary School, Tempe, AZ

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Standing at the center of the Rain and Art Garden at Curry Elementary School will be a sculpture in a form suggestive of The Washington Monument or an ancient Egyptian obelisk. In many cultures, obelisks are objects that commemorate events and times. Since this area was once a bicycle lockup, this metal obelisk would be covered with metal sprockets recycled from Tempe bicycle shops. Using perforated metal as a background with blue painted bicycle parts will reference the history of this area, relate to the both the color of water and the school, and suggest raindrops.

The obelisk sculpture will consist of a welded metal framework covered with sheets of perforated metal attached along the edges. The perforated metal background (pictured above) will be silver in color. Bicycle sprockets will be painted blue, and will be adhered to the perforated metal with Silicon or Lexell. Both of these adhesives have proven effective and long-lasting in outdoor municipal projects.

Fifth-grade students will work with the artist to create scale models of obelisks. This will involve discussion of artistic concepts, choices and application of color, and attachment of metal objects to signify bicycle elements. In addition, the artist will lead students in a creative writing exercise in which they will write original poems using ideas of bicycles, rain, and plants. The artist will work in a mock studio on campus where students will be invited to observe and participate in the making of the artwork.

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{9} Collective

“I have a vision for {9} Collective that encompasses all of the arts and genres of expression. I created a space where young, emerging artists can learn and grow and established fine artists have a platform to launch new works and stretch the limits in their medium. My goal is to raise the bar, engaged the community and elevate awareness” -Laura Dragon, founder of 9 Collective

{9} Collective illustrates the creative spirit and features exceptional contemporary fine art and artists. It incorporates music, poetry, dance, workshops and yoga to create an overall creative environment for self-expression in the Downtown Phoenix area.

{9} Collective is inspired by Laura Dragon who in August, 2017 asked that phICA become the fiscal sponsor in order for the Collective to be able to fundraise for various projects and initiatives in order to make individual donors’ contributions tax deductible under phICA’s 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service.

{9} Collective includes five initial members who are responsible for its ongoing operation and finances. Those five are: Kathy Taylor, Jon Wassom, Torn Paper Creations, LLC, FunWow (Carrie Beth McGowan), and Lynn Hoyland. In addition to these five core members, there will be a variety of invited guest artists at different times during any season.

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Martha + Mary/Citizens’ Space PHOENIX 

phICA is working in collaboration with Martha + Mary to nourish and fortify the organization as a future freestanding not-for-profit. 

M+M has been involved in several projects over the past several years: art exhibitions at the Arizona State University Art Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, operators of the Welcome Diner in Downtown Phoenix and developers of the neighborhood spot “4404”. We are currently under construction on Yourland, a 20-acre historic redevelopment that is adjacent to Sky Harbor Airport, and recent projects include producing SIGNBAND or Citizens’ Space PHOENIX.

It is the great hope of Martha + Mary that our projects, at their foundation, are of love and service.

phICA is working in collaboration with Martha + Mary to nourish and fortify the organization as a future freestanding not-for-profit. 

M+M has been involved in several projects over the past several years: art exhibitions at the Arizona State University Art Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, operators of the Welcome Diner in Downtown Phoenix and developers of the neighborhood spot “4404”. We are currently under construction on Yourland, a 20-acre historic redevelopment that is adjacent to Sky Harbor Airport, and recent projects include producing SIGNBAND or Citizens’ Space PHOENIX.

It is the great hope of Martha + Mary that our projects, at their foundation, are of love and service.

Donate

 
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Ted Decker Catalyst Fund

phICA is working in collaboration with Ted Decker Catalyst Fund to enable the organization to continue its work in the Phoenix, State of Arizona, United States, and international cultural communities it serves.

Since 2003, the Ted Decker Catalyst Fund has been making legacy investments in artists’ futures by awarding advocacy, marketing, and mentoring mini-grants to encourage artists to more effectively position themselves for success in their careers.

Ted Decker has been a mentor to numerous local, regional, and national artists for over 35 years in the areas of advocacy and marketing. The Ted Decker Catalyst Fund formalizes his vision and bolsters his efforts to help and encourage artists with professional practices in their art careers.

Contributions in any amount are accepted and appreciated. All contributions go directly to support artists.

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Beth Ames Swartz / Reminders of Invisible Light Project

Beth Ames Swartz, The Thirteenth Moon, Evening near Serpent River, 2007, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 72″ x 60″ (1.83m x 1.52m)
photo credit: John D. Rothschild

We’ve kicked off an Indiegogo campaign that runs through October 31 to raise the remaining project funds for post-production by February, 2016. Please make as generous a donation as you can today. You’ll receive credit in the film and other perks! To make a donation click hereThanks for your support!

“Beth Ames Swartz/Remainders of Invisible Light” is a film documentary to be distributed to local and national public, cable, and broadcast television; Video on Demand; DVD; web; film festivals and university educational opportunities. The film is targeted to adults male and female, ages 25 – 54 and 55+. Eight, Arizona PBS, is the Presenting Local Public Station for the project. The Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art (phICA) is the Executive Producer as well as the fiscal sponsor and funds will be raised and disseminated through this nonprofit organization.

Beth Ames Swartz is a contemporary visual artist whose multi-dimensional paintings and installations, presented in series, explore global wisdom systems and invite the viewer to explore a higher level of personal awareness, and attain a deeper understanding of self, human connectivity and the sacredness of life. She articulates her vision for each series by translating these systems into evocative works that highlight universal themes of love, compassion, personal growth and sustainability. Swartz’s highly textured artworks serve as portals to healing. Swartz’s 55 year fine art career includes more than 70 museum and gallery exhibitions, three books, five catalogs, numerous critically acclaimed reviews and three traveling museum exhibitions including a premiere exhibition at The Jewish Museum in New York. She received the Arizona Governor’s Individual Artist Award in 2001, and was the subject of a Phoenix Art Museum retrospective in 2002. The Veteran Feminists of America honored Beth in 2003 for her contribution to the arts nationally.

This film invites viewers to explore their beliefs and those of other cultures to learn how they can believe in their own healing processes and growth that can lead to a more universally connected humanity. Beth Ames Swartz’s life serves as an inspiration—a blueprint—for others to achieve a life of purpose filled with courage, generosity, resilience, and love and acceptance for others despite numerous debilitating travails, especially in a world where connectivity with art, humanity and our environment has become increasingly disposable.


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Cynthia Hogue And Rebecca Ross, When The Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina

Cynthia Hogue Photo (Sylvain Gallais)

In 2010, phICA provided incubation support to Rebecca Ross and Cynthia Hogue and their fundraising efforts to write and publish When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. The book is a compelling collection of interview-poems by Hogue and photographs by Ross that portrays the experiences of twelve evacuees. These evacuees include ordinary people from all walks of life. When the Water Came gives form and voice to the resourcefulness of individual evacuees expressed through their own words and in the photographs of faces, rescued possessions, and lost homes. Through images and words, these survivors tell us about courage, dignity, and resilience.

“In When the Water Came, people who made it through Hurricane Katrina speak out. From hundreds of pages of transcribed interviews, Cynthia Hogue has crafted harrowing poems of devastation and possibility. Rebecca Ross’s water-tossed images soak into us, leaving indelible marks.”
-Peggy Shumaker, Just Breathe Normally and Gnawed Bones

When the Water Came: Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina
Interview-poems by Cynthia Hogue
Photographs by Rebecca Ross
Published by University of New Orleans Press, August 2010