HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-04-2017 - 4-b - 2017 Piedmont Laureate Mimi Herman Presentation for National Poetry Month 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: April 4, 2017
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-b
SUBJECT: 2017 Piedmont Laureate Mimi Herman Presentation for National Poetry Month
DEPARTMENT: Orange County Arts
Commission
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Murray, 919-245-2335
PURPOSE: To recognize National Poetry Month with a presentation by the 2017 Piedmont
Laureate, poet Mimi Herman.
BACKGROUND: The Annual Piedmont Laureate Program is a joint collaboration of the Orange
County Arts Commission, City of Raleigh Arts Commission, the Durham Arts Council, and the
United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County. Its primary goal is to promote awareness and
heighten appreciation for excellence in the literary arts throughout the Piedmont region. The
program is dedicated to building a literary bridge, allowing residents to come together and
celebrate the art of writing, enriching the lives of everyone.
Durham resident Mimi Herman is Director of the United Arts Council Arts Integration Institute,
and a teaching artist, writer and editor. Since 1990, Ms. Herman has engaged over 25,000
students and teachers with writing residencies, as well as designing and providing professional
development in arts integration for teaching artists, teachers and administrators throughout the
country. She has taught in the Masters of Education and EdD programs at Lesley University,
and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and has been an associate editor for Teaching
Artist Journal. Ms. Herman holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Orange County Arts Commission contributes $1,350 of state
Grassroots Arts Program funds to this program, which is fiscally managed through the United
Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goal is associated
with this item.
• GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and
volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board acknowledge the
presentation and encourage literary awareness for all residents of Orange County.