Arts of Citizenship Awards 2003 Faculty and Graduate Student Grants for Community-Based Scholarly Activities in the Arts, the Humanities, and Design

The Arts of Citizenship Program at the University of Michigan has announced the recipients of its fifth annual round of faculty grants for public and community-based scholarly work in the arts, the humanities, and design. For the third year, graduate students are also receiving Arts of Citizenship grants.

David Scobey, associate professor of architecture and director of Arts of Citizenship, commented, "We had an especially large pool of applicants, nearly twice as many as last year. Proposals came from many schools and colleges in the University-Music, Social Work, Education, Architecture, Art and Design, Natural Resources, and numerous departments in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. All three campuses—Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn—were represented. I'm very excited at the exceptional quality and range of the proposals and only wish that we had the resources to support more community-based work in the arts and humanities."

The goal of the Arts of Citizenship grants program is to foster research, teaching, and creative projects that contribute to public culture and encourage innovative teaching and research in collaboration with community partners. Funds for this year's faculty grants have come from the Office of the Vice President for Research. Awards for graduate students were funded by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

For the 2003-2004 academic year, an interdisciplinary faculty Selection Committee awarded Arts of Citizenship grants to five faculty projects:

• Kristine Freeark (research investigator, Center for Human Growth and Development) will partner with several local community organizations to bring Latino youth together to learn photojournalistic skills and explore Latino culture and heritage.
• Larry Gant (associate professor, social work) and his students will work with neighborhood organizations in southwest Detroit engaging in projects that promote community building through the arts. Barry Checkoway (professor, social work and urban planning) and Lorraine Gutierrez (professor, psychology and social work) are collaborators.
• Emily Lawsin (lecturer, American culture and women's studies) will be documenting the story of Filipino Americans in Michigan, using oral histories and other source materials generated in U-M courses on Asian/Pacific Islander studies.
• Richard Tillinghast (professor, English) is linking with Native American community groups in northern Michigan to bring creative writing workshops and other cultural activities to at-risk high school students, especially those of Native American heritage.

In addition to the faculty grants, three graduate student projects were selected for Arts of Citizenship awards by the Selection Committee:

• An interdisciplinary team of nine students will work with the Greater Corktown Economic Development Corporation to build a sustainable urban village near downtown Detroit. Graduate students involved are Jason Peter Braidwood (from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Business School); Paul Coseo, Christopher J. Cox, Jen-Jia Huang, Jessica Kenzie, and Joanna M. Paine (all from the School of Natural Resources and the Environment); and Benjamin R. Smith and Ethan Solomon (from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning).
• Dolores Inés Casillas (from the Program in American Culture) will be putting together a community history of Radio Bilingüe, five locally operated radio stations serving California's most rural Mexican and indigenous areas since 1980.
• Erica Lehrer (from the Anthropology Department) will collaborate with community groups in Poland to produce a guidebook on Krakow's Jewish quarter designed to encourage independent cultural tourism and foster Jewish-Polish dialogue.

The mission of the Arts of Citizenship Program is to build bridges between the university and the community in the arts, the humanities, and design. Arts of Citizenship coordinates

• community partnerships in which U-M faculty and students work with schools, cultural institutions, public agencies, and citizen groups.
• experimental teaching that combines research with practical projects.
• support of innovative scholarly and creative work for both academic and public audiences.
• forums and visits by distinguished artists, intellectuals, and cultural advocates.

For further information about any of the projects of the Arts of Citizenship Program, call 734-615-0609; email the director, David Scobey (scobey@umich.edu); or see the website (www.artsofcitizenship.umich.edu).