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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-02-2012 - 4a 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 2, 2012 Action Agenda Item No. 4-a SUBJECT: Ian Finley, 2012 Piedmont Laureate — National Arts & Humanities Month DEPARTMENT: Orange County Arts PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Commission ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Press Release Martha Shannon, 968-2011 PURPOSE: To introduce and hear a brief selection from dramatist Ian Finley, the 2012 Piedmont Laureate, during National Arts & Humanities Month (October). BACKGROUND: The 2012 Piedmont Laureate Program is co-sponsored by the Orange County Arts Commission, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, the Durham Arts Council, United Arts of Raleigh and Wake County and the Alamance County Arts Council. In its fourth year, the primary goal of this program is to promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region. The Arts Commission participates so that Orange County writers can apply and Orange County sites can host the Piedmont Laureate free of charge. The Piedmont Laureate is contracted for 25 events (readings or workshops at public sites) and at least 5 media appearances throughout the four-county area in calendar year 2012. The application process was open to all writers residing in Orange, Durham, Wake or Alamance counties who met the guideline criteria. For 2012, applications were accepted from dramatists/screenwriters only. In addition to the program sponsors, the selection panel included Allison Bergman (Assistant Director, University Theatre, NCSU), Howard Craft (Durham playwright and poet), Mark Perry (Dramatic Art Department lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill), and Catherine Rodgers (Theatre Director, Meredith College). Several finalists were chosen and interviewed. Raleigh resident Ian Finley was selected as the 2012 Piedmont Laureate. Mr. Finley is including interviews from the Piedmont Food and Agricultural Processing Center in the research for a play entitled UP FROM THE GROUND, showcasing area food resources. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Orange County's portion ($1,350) of the 2012 Piedmont Laureate's stipend and website (www.piedmontlaureate.com) expenses came from 2011-12 state Grassroots funds. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board hear a brief selection from Ian Finley, the 2012 Piedmont Laureate. 2 PIEDMONT. .. .. L nMW' 2012'DRAMATIST/SCREENWRITER DRAMATIST IAN FINLEY SELECTED AS 2012 PIEDMONT LAUREATE Raleigh dramatist Ian Finley has been selected as the region's 2012 Piedmont Laureate. Mr. Finley will be introduced as the region's new laureate at the State of Arts and Culture in Wake County meeting on Thursday,January 12, 2012 at the North Carolina Museum of Art's East Building auditorium. The meeting, sponsored by the United Arts Council of Raleigh &Wake County,begins at 8 a.m. and is free and open to the public. The Piedmont Laureate program is dedicated to building a literary bridge for residents to come together and celebrate the art of writing. Co-sponsored by the City of Raleigh Arts Commission,Alamance County Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, Orange County Arts Commission and United Arts Council of Raleigh &Wake County,the program's mission is to "promote awareness and heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region." The program focuses on a different literary form each year (poetry in 2009, novels in 2010, creative non-fiction in 2011 and dramatist/screenwriter in 2012). "Ian Finley loves the theatre. That love radiates outward and is contagious," says Burning Coal Theatre Artistic Director Jerome Davis. "It's how he manages to win the hearts of all his students and it's why his writing registers with his readers as genuine. He is an integral part of our theatre, and his energy and passion are equally important parts of my life as an artist and as a citizen." For being named the Piedmont Laureate, Mr. Finley will receive an honorarium of $6,500 and serve for one year. His duties will include presenting public readings and workshops, participating at select public functions and creating at least one original activity to expand appreciation of the work of dramatists in literature.A schedule of the Laureate's 2012 activities will be posted in January on the sponsoring agency websites and on the Piedmont Laureate website at www.piedmontlaureate.com. Mr. Finley studied theatre at the University of Utah and received an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His work during that time focused on drama as a means of dialogue. Most notable was The Nature of the Nautilus, commissioned for a group of deaf actors to perform in sign language, which dealt with the controversy of cochlear implants (surgically implanted devices that provide a sense of sound to the deaf and hard of hearing). Following productions at the University of Utah and the Kennedy Center American College Theater gathering in Hayward, California, The Nature of the Nautilus was awarded the 2002 Jean Kennedy Smith Award for a play dealing with themes of disability. 3 Mr. Finley moved to Raleigh seven years ago, after graduate school. Working primarily with Burning Coal Theatre Company, he has brought more than 70 different stories from the area's history to life on stage through collaborations with Historic Oakwood Cemetery, the Mordecai House, Raleigh City museum, the Town of Cary and other North Carolina organizations, focusing on his realization that relevant, effective drama is necessarily connected to place. His historical plays, combining multiple stories within a tapestry structure and often performed in actual locations relevant to the narrative, are a unique addition to the area's cultural life. "As a teacher, I have encountered diverse attitudes towards great literature: that it is a luxury to enjoy, a chore to endure, or an obstacle to fear," says Mr. Finley. "It is none of these. Instead, it is a fundamental tool. It is the crowbar we use to escape the prison of the self and understand others. It is the hammer that builds up communities and the bridges between them. It is the light that gives us direction and hope. Literature is not for "someone else." It can, and must, empower all of us, no matter our background or current position. This is the belief that motivates me, and which I hope to promote as Piedmont Laureate." Currently, Mr. Finley is Director of Education for Burning Coal, heading its WillPower residency programs, its Summer Theatre Conservatories, and many other programs. Applications for the Piedmont Laureate position were received from a four-county area.A selection committee, comprised of Allison Bergman (assistant director, University Theatre, NCSU), Howard Craft (Durham playwright and poet), Mark Perry (Dramatic Art Department lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill) and Catherine Rodgers (theatre director, Meredith College) as well as sponsoring agency representatives, reviewed all the applications and made recommendations. For more information about the Piedmont Laureate program, visit www.piedmontlaureate.com; contact Belva Parker, arts program coordinator of the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, at belva.parker@raleighnc.gov or 996-3610; or call any of the other sponsor agencies of the program.