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December
November
This month we are involved in several projects. On November 1st fourth graders from Lubbock Avenue Elementary will visit the Imagination Garden in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. They're getting ready to harvest the vegetables they've been growing for their Stone Soup event on the 29th. On Sunday, November 5th Contemporary Dance Fort Worth will bring to culmination their wonderful "Day of the Dead Parade" with Manuel Jara Elementary, J.P. Elder Middle and North Side High School. On November 8th, as part of our continuing Retrofest Celebration and part two of our "Flower Power" series, students from Western Hills and Trimble Tech High School will not only get professional guidance from artist Ron Tomlinson and Julie Lazarus, but also a short lecture/demonstration of Bob Dylan music by Bruce Williams and a participatory dance choreographed by Contemporary Dance Fort Worth - what a deal! On November 10, D. M. and Kay Red Eagle will give a lecture/demonstration of their unique craftsmanship to fourth graders from W.J. Turner Elementary as part of our Library Series. The series will continue the next Friday on November 17 with Stories & More telling stories and performing for Como Elementary fourth graders.
October
On October 4th we have Trimble Tech and Western Hills out in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden painting in the style of Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock while listening to the music of Bob Dylan. Contemporary Dance Fort Worth will be adding their own touch by working with the students on dance movements they can then use when they dance over a long thin canvas with painted feet - talk about motion in painting!
September
We start this year off with the first installment of our Library Series on Friday, September 22 at 10:00 AM. September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Awareness Month so we are bringing in Christopher McGuire from the Guitar Society of Fort Worth to play Spanish Classical music. I will be giving fourth grade students from Washington Heights a tour of related web sites while the library staff will be guiding another group through the downtown library.
August
First we'd like to thank Ridgmar Fountain Foundation for choosing us as their non-profit charity. For the next six months all coins tossed in the fountains at Ridgmar will go to our organization for program support. They also provided us with three prizes for a raffle. First prize was a Chrysler P.T. Cruiser, second prize was two round-trip American Airlines tickets to any where in the world they fly, and third prize was a $1,500.00 shopping spree at Ridgmar.
July
June
The mission of the Debbie Allen Dance Institute is to promote dance as a foundation to nurture the creative spirit within each student while stressing the importance of all art disciplines for life long success in academic and personal achievements.
The second Fort Worth Sculpture Symposium runs through June this year at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. The Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County has for the second year brought together a group of artists to create new sculptures for the city of Fort Worth. One of the great aspects of this project is allowing the public to view these artists as they work. Don't miss this unique opportunity!
May
The end of the school year brings us to the culmination of several projects and programs that we have been developing throughout the year.
May 1st through the 5th The Andrew Long Dance Company from Austin will take up residency at Dunbar High School as the last component of our Mars Millennium Project for this year (we still have a few programs left for the spring session of school). Also, 50 schools in the FWISD will be displaying their various projects in school through the 17th. We've seen some pretty amazing things so far this year from students and teachers so please make sure you take the time to visit before the 17th. Recommended schools to visit (among several): Elementary: Luella Merrett, Morningside, Riverside Applied Learning Academy, Westcreek, North Hi Mount, and Paschal High School. Contact Principals in each school for specifics and names of participating teachers.
On May 5th and 6th the last installment of our Downtown Library Series brings Izcalli performing "Cinco De Mayo" for Mendoza Elementary with Saturday's performance open to the public at 11:00 AM on both days. The Downtown Library Series began this year and we are very proud of it's success. Thanks to our partners at the Fort Worth Public Library.
Also on May 5th two schools will attend the Gem and Mineral Show in the West Texas Room of the Will Rogers Exhibit Hall. Students will be guided through a variety of workshops and see the results and winners of this year's Gem and Mineral Art Contest.
On Thursday and Friday, May 11 and 12th selected schools will see "Arabian Nights" at the Will Rogers Coliseum as part of our partnership with the Horse Industry Alliance's "Saddle-Up America" and the Black Stallion Literacy Project. Thanks to the Horse Alliance Foundation each of these selected schools were provided hard back copies of "The Black Stallion," & "The Young Black Stallion" for every student to read and study before the program. They also were provided videos of "The Black Stallion" for each school and "Interviews with Friends of the the Black Stallion" for each classroom.
Also, on Thursday May 11, we have dignitaries from the US Department of Education, The National Endowment for the Arts, and NASA visiting the FWISD to see some of the wonderful programs that the Mars Millennium Project has produced including the Imagination Celebration/Live Theater League High School Playwriting Competition -- at Stage West where acclaimed Fort Worth professionals will read their plays.
On Friday May 12, the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the "Imagination Promise Wall and Youth Garden" at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. Students have worked with Texas Ceramic artist, Pat Johnson to create a mural made of clay tiles. The mural will depict past present and future on earth and vision for Mars. Students will also bury time capsules created for opening in the Mars millennium challenge year 2030. Capsule will be planted at the site of the wall.
We'd like to thank Brown Lupton Foundation, Gideon Toal, Linbeck, Greenwood and Mount Olivet cemetaries, Wilbert of North Texas and The Container Store for their support of the Time Capsule and the Imagination Promise Wall.
Friday evening (May 12) the "Spur Your Imagination Gala" and the inaugural "Spirit of the Future Awards" will take place at the Worthington Hotel. The awardees are Alexandra Nechita, Arturo Rodriguez, and the Walter Farley Family.
Coming in June!
Our Second Annual Debbie Allen Dance Institute at Texas Christian University will run June 10 - 23. We still have space available so if you would like to participate in this very special and unique dance program please contact us. You can view and print a copy of the application form by following the link.
April
This month we're hoping the downtown public library can recover from the extensive damage they suffered. We have the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet scheduled for the last Friday and Saturday of April to give a Lecture/Demonstration of their American premiere of Peter Pan.
March
Even with spring break this month we have a lot of programs going into schools, two downtown library showcases and an exhibit of student art work as part of our Dream Makers at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. As part of our Library Series on March 3rd we have fourth graders from Glen Park Elementary visiting the downtown Fort Worth Library to see Stitch in Time's "Roots in Green" and then on March 10th an exhibition for high school students featuring the art work of sculpture Augie N 'Kele. Remember that each of our events at the Library are open to the public on Saturdays so please come out and enjoy!
Tish Hinojosa will conduct a workshop and perform for students at Diamond Hill - Jarvis High School March 2nd.
As part of our third grade program cowgirls selected by the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame will perform for students throughout the month.
February
This month we present Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show for all Fort Worth ISD third graders at the Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards on February 9th and 10th. Then on Valentine's Day we have a special screening of "Amistad" at the AMC Sundance Palace Theatre at 7:00 pm, with a reception for co-producer Ms. Debbie Allen and "Amistad" actor Titus Fotso at 6:00 pm.. Ms. Allen will be visiting Fort Worth to promote the 2nd Annual Debbie Allen Dance Institute that will be coming up this summer. Finally on the last weekend of the month (February 25, 26) Imagination Celebration will host 500 deaf students from across the state for our tenth annual Deaf Weekend. This year's theme is Honor the Past, Imagine the Future.
January
Starting out the new year, the decade, and the century we have three programs from our year long Library Series. On January 14th and 15th Amrita Shlachter from Stories and More will present "Stories and Folktales from India." The following week we bring in the Kennedy Center artist Dylan Pritchett who will be performing "African Tales" at Harlan Beal on Wednesday (January 18) and Phillips Elementary Thursday (January 19) followed then by Friday and Saturday performances at the Downtown Central Library.
Finally on January 28th and 29th Trudy Fair will entertain fourth grade classes with the "Spirit of the American Cowgirl" program as a part of our partnership with the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame. All Saturday performances at the Downtown Central Library are open to the public. Come out if you get the chance.