Professional Workshops
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Copyright A-Z
Friday, March 4, 2011
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Steven McDonald, general counsel at the Rhode Island School of Design
What is copyright? How do you go about getting one? What does it mean to have it? To whom does it belong? And, perhaps most important, what can you do with the copyrights of others? Join us for a practical, informative, and even entertaining discussion of copyright principles as they apply to artists, authors, and cultural producers.
Steven J. McDonald is general counsel at the Rhode Island School of Design and previously served as associate legal counsel at Ohio State University. Steve has experience with a wide variety of copyright-related issues, including the development of intellectual property policies, guidelines, and educational materials; IP licensing; and alleged infringements of copyrighted materials both on and off the Internet.
Download the registration form for this workshop. Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Monday, February 28.
Activating the Archives
Monday, March 14, 2011
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wesley Chenault, library research associate at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History
Archivist, scholar, and performance artist, Wesley Chenault, explores ways to bring history alive through creative uses of archival materials.
The registration form for this workshop will be available three weeks before the event.
Deep Documentation: Whys and Ways
Monday, March 21, 2011
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Jori Ketten, Community Music Works, RISD Project Open Door, the Hive Archive; Emmy Bright, AS220
Jori Ketten and Emmy Bright demonstrate the benefits of documenting the work of artists and arts organizations and discuss ways such documentation can be used to better understand the work we do.
The registration form for this workshop will be available three weeks before the event.
Participatory Interpretation: Making Meaning Through Performance
Monday, April 11, 2011
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Megan Sandberg-Zakian, theater artist and educator; Adrian Moore, M.A. student in public humanities
Twenty-first century museums, historical societies, and other cultural organizations are interested in more than just feeding audiences information – we want our programs and collections to matter, to have an impact on people’s lives. We want audiences to ask questions, to make personal connections, to have opinions, and to participate in the interpretation of history and culture. And what better way to do that than to literally engage the voices (and bodies!) of audience members through performance? This workshop will take participants through a process designed to show how performance activities can engage new audiences and draw existing audiences into a deeper engagement with subject matter or programming; can build community, connect people, and generate dialogue; and can promote a participatory encounter rather than a passive one, encouraging active, meaningful audience engagement. The workshop will combine best practices from national models such as the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and the ArtsLiteracy Project at Brown University to offer strategies for “participatory interpretation” – and have lots of fun while we’re doing it!
The registration form for this workshop will be available three weeks before the event.
PAST WORKSHOPS
Exhibition Content Development
Monday, November 8, 2010
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
John Nicholas Brown Center
357 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
Facilitator: Jan Crocker LLC is a partnership of experienced exhibit developers, designers, and project leaders who honed this process after decades of working as members of teams with diverse backgrounds. They teach their process in workshops and use it to develop exhibits for their clients.
This workshop teaches collaborative teamwork in a fun and participatory process of developing exhibit content. Teams members will learn to focus their multiple perspectives into a hierarchy of content messages that are the base for a cohesive, exhibit point-of-view.
The workshop fee is $15, and includes lunch. To register, please complete the registration form on the JNBC Web site. Fax or mail your registration form to Chelsea Shriver by November 1, 2010. Space is limited, so register today!
The Public Humanities Toolbox
Friday, October 1, 2010
9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
John Nicholas Brown Center
357 Benefit Street
Facilitators: Al Lees, co-developer of the Public Humanities Toolbox and Leah Nahmias, resident history educator at American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning and co-developer of the Public Humanities Toolbox
The workshop fee is $15, and includes refreshments in the morning. To register, please complete the registration form on the JNBC Web site. Fax or mail your registration form to Chelsea Shriver by September 27, 2010. Space is limited, so register today!
Creating an engaging, interactive Web presence need not require a big budget or extensive technical know-how. The Public Humanities Toolbox shows how to take advantage of low cost (often free) Web tools to build audiences and present information and collections online. The Toolbox’s strength is its reliance on popular, easy-to-use applications such as WordPress, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, and Scribd, to provide cultural organizations with ways to interact with their communities and find new audiences online. The Toolbox is targeted at small institutions that lack a dedicated tech person or the budget for outside consultants. This workshop will provide an introduction to the Toolbox applications and examples of how nonprofits and public humanities organization are using these tools in exciting and creative ways. Participants are encouraged to bring a laptop with wireless Internet capabilities and an idea for a digital project that they might pursue with the tools they learn about in the workshop. For the last hour of the workshop, participants will break into collaborative small groups and think about how best to choose tools and create an action plan for projects.
Storytelling Techniques for
Effective Interpretation,
Communication, and Persuasion
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
John Nicholas Brown Center
357 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
Facilitator: Valerie Tutson, professional storyteller
The workshop fee is $15, and includes lunch. To register, please complete the registration form on the JNBC Web site. Fax or mail your registration form to Chelsea Shriver by April 21, 2010.
Does your audience tend to drift away during a lecture or tour? Does your input get lost in the shuffle during important meetings? Do prospective employers tune you out during interviews? Your ideas may be outstanding, but your methods of presentation may be weak. Utilizing storytelling techniques can make the difference between keeping your listeners on the edge of their seats or on the brink of sleep. This is not a public speaking class. This workshop introduces attendees to the methods of storytelling (narrative flow, drama and tension, body language, hand gestures, even facial expressions) as powerful tools of communication. Registrants will conclude the session by creating and performing their own stories.
About the presenter
Valerie Tutson graduated from Brown University with an M.A. in theatre arts and a degree in a self-designed major, storytelling as a communications art. Valerie has been telling stories in schools, churches, libraries, festivals, and conferences since 1991. She draws her stories from around the world with an emphasis on African traditions. Her repertoire includes stories and songs she learned in her travels to South Africa, her experiences in West Africa, and stories from African American history. Valerie served as the co-director of the National Black Storytelling Festival in Providence and is the executive director of RIBS: The Rhode Island Black Storytellers and the director of its signature event, FUNDA FEST: A Celebration of Black Storytelling.
The workshop will include lunch.
Cultural Planning and Public Policy
April 16, 2010
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Craig Dreeszen, educator, consultant, and writer; Stephanie Fortunato, special projects manager for the City of Providence’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism
Download the registration form for this workshop (click here). Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Monday, April 12.
Interested in learning about the cultural planning and policy behind “Creative Providence,” the new Providence cultural plan? This workshop sets the recent city-wide planning process in the context of historical precedent, national trends, public policy principles, and planning methods. Craig Dreeszen, a national authority on cultural planning and a member of the Providence planning team, will be joined by Stephanie Fortunato, special projects manager for the City of Providence’s Department of Art, Culture + Tourism. The workshop will be of interest to citizens who participated in the recent Providence cultural planning process, students of public policy, and anyone curious about how planning builds community and informs policy.
Peace, Love, and Finance: Personal Financial Advice for Artists and Cultural Workers
A workshop presented by the John Nicholas Brown Center
for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
3-5 p.m.
John Nicholas Brown Center
357 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
Facilitators: E. Larson Gunness, independent financial advisor
Economic times are tough in the aftermath of the banking collapse of 2008 and 2009, and will be for some time. People face intense financial pressure in their personal lives. Artists, musicians, writers, dramatists, and other creatives feel this acutely. Many are unsure how to develop the skills and knowledge they’ll need to find their way through. Tools, resources, and approaches from the world of business and personal finance can be embraced by the arts and humanities communities, but only if the transfer of knowledge is done in a way that understands and addresses their unique needs, concerns, and interests. If you have made a commitment to your creative practice, and are struggling with the financial implications of that commitment, then this workshop is for you. Those who work in small and lean organizations dedicated to providing support to creative practitioners are also encouraged to attend.
The workshop fee is $10, and includes refreshments. To register, please complete the registration form on the JNBC Web site. Fax or mail your registration form to Chelsea Shriver by February 24, 2010.
Pursuing Freelance and Consulting Work in the Public Humanities
A Workshop Presented by The John Nicholas Brown Center
for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage
Thursday, February 11, 2010
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
John Nicholas Brown Center
357 Benefit Street
Providence, RI
Are you interested in breaking into the world of nonprofit consulting or freelance work? Do you have skills to offer but are unsure of how to connect with the organizations that might need them? Join us for a panel discussion on consulting and freelance work in the nonprofit / humanities sectors! You’ll have the opportunity to hear from a freelance writer, a freelance curator, a freelance designer, a nonprofit consultant, and a museum consultant about the challenges and advantages of their work and to have your questions answered. Panelists will address issues such as how to find opportunities, how to create a good relationship with clients, and how to find a balance between project work and the administrative tasks necessary to keep your consulting business running smoothly.
The workshop fee is $15, and includes refreshments. To register, please complete the registration form on the JNBC Web site. Fax or mail your registration form to Chelsea Shriver by February 5, 2010. Space is limited, so register today!