An Alternate ROOTS Anthology

Introductions

An Introduction to The ROOTS Reader
About this selection of writing from and about the Regional Organization of Theaters/Artists South, a coalition of artists and activists working for social justice in communities of the southeastern United States. By Linda Frye Burnham (2003)

An Introduction to Alternate ROOTS
How ROOTS began and what it stands for. By Kathie deNobriga (1993)

Running Commentary: Alternate ROOTS
On a first encounter with Alternate ROOTS at the 10th Anniversary ROOTS Performance Festival in Atlanta. By Linda Frye Burnham (1987)

Essays

A Bridge Conversation on Innovative Approaches to Linking Nonprofit and For-profit Models
Adam Huttler and Ruby Lerner talk about entrepreneurial strategies and changing paradigms for arts-service organizations. By Adam Forest Huttler (April 2008)

A Bridge Conversation on Who Will Carry the Work Forward
An intergenerational conversation at the State of Nation Arts & Performance Festival and a tribute to Nayo Watkins. By Caron Atlas, R. Lena Richardson and Carlton Turner (June 2008)

A Call for Cultural Development
On the role of the "home-grown" artist in a vital, characteristically Southeastern culture, a "local life aware of itself." By Dudley Cocke and Ruby Lerner (October 2003)

Afterwords: A Conversation Around "Making Art/Making Home"
An online discussion of issues and ideas arising in an Alternate ROOTS collaboration with 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. (October 2003)

Afterwords: A Conversation Around "Making Art/Making Home" – Part 2
An online discussion of issues and ideas arising in an Alternate ROOTS collaboration with 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. Part 2 (October 2003)

An Introduction to Alternate ROOTS
Introduction to Regional Organization of Theaters/Artists South.Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Kathie deNobriga (October 2003)

An Introduction to the ROOTS Reader
Introduction to the CAN Special Project about Alternate ROOTS By Linda Frye Burnham (October 2003)

Appalachia's Roadside Theater: Celebration of a Community's Culture
The beginnings of a nationally known company from Appalachia that has closely examined the art of celebrating the community from which it comes. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Donna Porterfield (September 2002)

Attending to Your Process for Healthy Collaboration
Artist and teacher Sheila Kerrigan has some pointers for artists and their community partners in collaborative projects. Her article is adapted from her new book, "The Performer's Guide to the Collaborative Process," published in February 2001 by Heinemann. By Sheila Kerrigan (March 2001)

Beyond Victimization
On not letting our identities by defined by our oppression. Published in High Performance #72, Vol. XIX, No. 2, 1996. By Dan Kwong (October 2003)

Cheerleader for the Revolution: Thoughts on Carpetbag Theater Company
Critical writing based in the case studies of "Performing Communities: An inquiry into ensemble theater deeply rooted in eight U.S. communities." By Ann Kilkelly (November 2002)

Common Memory: The Community Visual Art Challenge of Gwylène Gallimard
A South Carolina artist and her community build a river to Alaska. Entire book (.pdf) plus commentary and an interview. By Linda Frye Burnham (December 2004)

Community-based Art for Social Change
A definitive essay on art and social change. By Kathie deNobriga and Mat Schwarzman (October 1999)

Conversations at the Intersection of Art and Activism
Ideas from "FOCAS: Focus on Community Arts South" by Alternate ROOTS. By Linda Frye Burnham (April 2003)

How To Use a Consensus Process To Make Decisions
Author of "The Performer's Guide to the Collaborative Process" presents a brief, accessible guide to consensus. By Sheila Kerrigan (September 2004)

I Am of a Place...
What it really means to create new artwork out of the place where you live. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Jo Carson (October 2003)

It Was a Time of Hope – A Time of Challenge
About some of the roots of community arts in the Southeast: vigorous action initiated by artists of color in Atlanta. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Alice Lovelace (October 2003)

It's About Building Relationships: Duke Performance Students Engage Community in Durham
An artist and collaboration expert writes about teaching a 2003 course at Duke University, in Durham, N.C., "Community-Based Performance: Where Art and Activism Intersect." By Sheila Kerrigan (November 2004)

Keeping it Real: The People's Agenda for Economic Justice
A report on the "Dialog with America's Families" in South Carolina before the state's primary. By Linda Frye Burnham (February 2004)

Latitude 32° – Navigating Home
On Lacy's performance/installation community arts work at 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. By Suzanne Lacy (October 2003)

Making Art/Making Home
Essays and discussions from Alternate ROOTS collaboration with 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. (October 2003)

Making Art/Making Home: An Introduction
Introduction to essays about Alternate ROOTS collaboration with 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. By Neill Bogan (October 2003)

Making Community: Voices from the dialogues
Notes from the "Making Art/Making Home" workshops, bringing forth the voices of those who were there. By Gwylène Gallimard (October 2003)

Negotiations: Learning Hard Lessons
Why all this talk about the need to negotiate community arts projects? A story about a project that had some unsettling results. Published in High Performance #64 ,Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Robert H. Leonard (October 2003)

Practicing in Public
On the "Evoking History" project at Spoleto Festival USA. By Mary Jane Jacob (October 2003)

ROOTS & Race: Walking Our Talk
Some thoughts on the 2003 Alternate ROOTS Annual Meeting and what was decided there. By Lisa Mount (March 2004)

ROOTS Goes to Spoleto: A Report
Report on "Making Art/Making Home," Alternate ROOTS Workshop at 2003 Spoleto Festival USA. By Frank Martin (October 2003)

Running Commentary: Alternate ROOTS
On a first encounter with Alternate ROOTS at the 10th Anniversary ROOTS Performance Festival in Atlanta. Published in High Performance #39, Vol. X, No. 3, 1987. By Linda Frye Burnham (October 2003)

Singing on the Mountain: A View of Alternate ROOTS
An intimate memoir of the Southern arts organization. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Kenneth C. Raphael (October 2003)

Tamejavi
A cultural festival that's part of a year-round exploration of new immigrant and refugee life in California's Central Valley. By Dudley Cocke (May 2005)

Teaching Topics for Community-based Arts for Social Change
A list of topics that should go into any curriculum for learning how to do community-based arts work. By Alternate ROOTS (November 1999)

Telling It... The Art of Storytelling
The art of storytelling. Published in High Performance #63, Vol. XVI, No. 3, 1993. By Adora Dupree (October 2003)

The Alternate ROOTS Dilemma: From Little Black Sambo to Son of White Man
Working toward ending racism, sexism and homophobia -- the hard way. By Pat Arnow (October 2003)

The Ecology of Theater-in-community: A Field Theory
Critical writing based in the case studies of "Performing Communities: An inquiry into ensemble theater deeply rooted in eight U.S. communities." By Jan Cohen-Cruz (November 2002)

The Partnering of Artists and Communities: New Methods Evolving in the Durham CAPP
Discussion of 11 projects in ROOTS' Community/Artists Partnership Project that were underway in Durham, N.C., that would be part of the ROOTS Community Arts Revival in January 1994. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Nayo Barbara Malcolm Watkins (October 2003)

The Saints Go Marching In
On the 7th Open Dialogue of The Association of American Cultures (TAAC), including a funeral for the NEA Expansion Arts Program (1971-1996). Published in High Performance #72, Vol. XIX, No. 2, 1996. By Kathie deNobriga (December 1999)

The Selma Project: "Understanding, the Struggle for Community"
Reflection on a significant community-arts work in Selma, Alabama. Published in High Performance #69/70, Vol. XVIII, No. 1/2, 1995. By Robert H. Leonard (September 2002)

Toward a Process for Critical Response
Early writing about the Critical Response Process now widely in use to critique artworks in process, developed by the author in collaboration with Alternate ROOTS. By Liz Lerman (October 2003)

Trans-Siberia and Back Again: Capturing the Moving Mind
Gwylene Gallimard and Jean-Marie Mauclet take their latest project to a conference on the Trans-Siberian Railway. By Darryl Lorenzo Wellington (March 2006)

Turning the Mirror Outward through Funding…Inward through Transformation: Meeting the Challenge
On Alternate ROOTS' paradigm shift in funding priorities. By Carolyn Morris (March 2004)

We're All at the Table: In the Working Class Kitchen
About a chain of writers opening doors for each other in Lexington, Kentucky. Includes the founder's manifesto. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993. By Ann Kilkelly and Laverne Zabielski (October 2003)

What Happened in New Orleans? Reflections on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers
One of four essays that reflect on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers. By Andrea Assaf (February 2004)