Louisiana Partnership for the Arts


July/August 2004			Vol 1. No. 1

Features: LPA Membership Macbeth - SFT Biedenharm Calendar of upcoming events	Les Miserables - PASA Article - "Our Giver" Tatman Group
LPA Membership Dues It's that time of year to renew your membership in the LPA! The LPA Executive Committee has voted on some changes that should make renewing your membership even easier this year. Dues will now be taken on a pledge basis and will be calculated on your total arts budget. This will help organizations that would like to be a part of the LPA and who receive funding through the LDOA or DAF programs, but that have other non-artistic activities. Dues are calculated by multiplying your arts-related expense by .00125 (just over one-tenth of one percent). For local arts agencies, dues are calculated at .0025 of your total budget. Organizations brand-new to the LPA may enter at a flat $50 rate their first year. We hope this will encourage the dozens of organizations that are not a part of the LPA to join us and experience the many benefits being a member affords them. Many details will follow, including pledge instructions and individual membership dues. Look for your dues renewal letter in the mail soon. Back to Newsletter Top
Macbeth
NEW ORLEANS, LA - The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane (SFT) continues its 11th season of professional theatre with the classic tragedy Macbeth. Performances are from July 8 - July 23, and the show features real life husband and wife couple Danny Bowen and Clare Moncrief as "Macbeth" and "Lady Macbeth." Also in the cast are Gavin Mahlie as "Banquo," Cassie Steck Worley, Lara Grice and Megan Sauzer Harms as the "Witches," Dion vanNiekerk as "MacDuff," Gary Rucker as "Malcolm," Daniel LaForce as "Ross," Sharon London as the "Doctor," and Michael Salinas as "Lennox." For tickets and information call the box office at (504) 865-5105 x 2 or go online to our website. Back to Newsletter Top
Biedenharn Museum & Gardens – Upcoming Events —"Windows To Heaven: Russian Icons from the Collection of Daniel R. Bibb" Exhibit through December 31, 2004 —"The Zoo Garden" Exhibit In ELsong Garden – through the Summer —"River Reads" In ELsong Garden - July 29 —"Clockwise in the Garden" - September 7 —"Market-Fresh Designs" Garden Path Class - September 14 —Celebrate Grandparents Day - Read to a Child - September 17 —"Make an English Trough" Garden Workshop - September 18 Biedenharn Museum and Gardens is located at 2006 Riverside Drive in Monroe, LA, 71201. For more information, call 318-387-5281 or 1-800-362-0983. To see our complete calendar of events, visit our website at www.bmuseum.org. Back to Newsletter Top
Les Miserables LAFAYETTE (La.) – The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Department of Performing Arts and the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana (PASA) will present Les Misérables, Broadway’s legendary musical. The production is a special school edition which will run Thursday, July 22 – Saturday, July 24; and Tuesday, July 27 – Saturday, July 31 at UL Lafayette’s Burke-Hawthorne Theatre. All performances will begin at 8:00 pm. In addition to the evening performances, there will be matinees on both Saturdays at 1:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased by phone at 482-5072, online at www.pasa-online.org or at the door. General admission is $12. Students and senior citizens with valid ID pay $6. Back to Newsletter Top
"Our Giver" by Ashley Mendoza It was almost spring, and we were beginning to be frightened. Session was approaching, and we knew it was “do or die” for Arts in Louisiana. Those who had been here years ago could remember the brilliant colors of the world, the vigorous sounds of music and laughter, the pensive looks on the faces of artists and art-lovers, and the thriving creativity in the State. These memories were fading now, having been slowly eroded by years of steadily decreased funding for the Arts. The world was without color and creativity. When the people looked around, everything was dull. Where color was left, it was fading into pits of black and white. Where music could still be heard, it was muffled by sounds of science and technology. Where creativity once fostered, children’s minds were being filled with monotonous, repetitive, cookie-cutter facts exactly like those of their classmates. There was a day in Louisiana where things were not so dull. There used to be culture around every corner. One could walk into New Orleans and find a very diverse city, filled with people embracing the lifestyles of their neighbors. There was music and dancing and cooking and culture like no other place on earth. One could travel to Shreveport and find an Arts Festival with people lining up to see the creations of their fellow citizens and share in the beauty of their creativity. Another could travel to Lafayette and find children’s creativity being nurtured and honored in schools and in the community. But, the most important thing one could find was in Baton Rouge. In Baton Rouge, there was a man whose life was dedicated to protecting the Arts in Louisiana. His name was Charlie Smith. Each morning, Charlie would wake up and greet the day with a smile, knowing that today he would fight the fight to protect funding for the Arts in Louisiana. He knew he had a tough battle ahead of him, with the enormous budget deficit Louisiana faced and people fighting over other serious issues such as healthcare and retirement. But, Charlie knew he would win. He was poetic and suave, and he loved what he did. He loved art, and was an artist himself. He had the ability to envision Louisiana without Arts, an ability no one else in the State had. He knew that without his protection and guidance, the State would become dull and barren. He could see color fading and music being muffled. He could see all children walking to the same beat, their creativity having been stifled by years of neglect. Charlie held this vision, and he did what he must to protect the rest of the citizens from seeing it. Charlie made his way each day to the State Capitol. He met with lawmakers and staff, and he expressed his concerns. He shared with them pieces of his vision, not all of it for he knew it would be too painful. He shared just enough to help them to see the importance of keeping the Arts alive in Louisiana. He did what no other could do; he sifted through the state budget and found places to include Arts funding. He brought his ideas to lawmakers and took the time to explain to them the importance of Arts funding. He fought like no one else fought. Charlie never stopped working. It was not unusual for LPA members to receive phone calls on Christmas day or at 6:30 a.m. from an invigorated Charlie, eager to share a new idea. Charlie always won. His smooth personality and hard work never failed him or the partners. With Charlie on the watch, the Arts received Dedicated Arts Funding each year, and our State prospered. But, years ago, Charlie had to move on. LPA could no longer afford to pay Charlie after membership numbers declined. Though he maintained his love of the Arts, Charlie retired to the Caribbean to fish and continued his own arts endeavors there. Louisiana was left without a Giver. Years went by with no one to fight. There was no more “white-suited” stallion leading the charge at the State Capitol. Legislators didn’t receive poems from the man with the fish earring any longer, and they soon forgot how important the Arts were. With no one to tell them different, they started to dedicate money to human cloning and space exploration and all sorts of other things. Arts programs were taken out of the State’s schools one by one until no longer were children afforded the opportunity to paint or act or dance; they were only allowed to recite multiplication tables and memorize the rules of the soon-to-come utopian Louisiana. After years of neglect, the Arts had faded and were facing extinction. Then, they found themselves at the last battle. Spring was coming. The LPA needed Charlie; Louisiana needed Charlie. Would they be able to find him? Would they be able to raise the funding they needed to get him back to Louisiana? It was up to the members to band together. Back to Newsletter Top
Calendar of Upcoming Events
Monday, August 30, 2004 Executive Committee Meeting 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 31, 2004 Partnership Meeting 10:00 a.m.	Bankers Center 5555 Bankers Ave. Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Ph (225) 387-3282

Monday, November 15, 2004 Executive Committee Meeting 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 16, 2004 Partnership Meeting 10:00 a.m.	Location to be announced
Look for a complete calendar for the year in the next newsletter Back to Newsletter Top
The Tatman Group The Tatman Group is here to meet your association’s needs. Please contact Paula Laird, your association management specialist, with any questions or suggestions you may have to better serve you. Our contact information is below:
The Tatman Group 10889 Perkins Road, Suite C Baton Rouge, LA 70809 P.O. Box 82531 Baton Rouge, LA 70884 Phone: (225) 767-7640 Fax: (225) 767-7648	DavidTatman david@tatmangroup.com AshleyMendoza ashley@tatmangroup.com Paula Laird paula@tatmangroup.com Keli Ourso keli@tatmangroup.com Jessica Seals jessica@tatmangroup.com
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