Clinton and Bernice Rose Senior Center (District 6)

LEAD ARTIST:
John Schneider is a professor in the Marquette University Theatre Program. He was a founding member and resident playwright for Theatre X in Milwaukee from 1971-2004. He is also a talented musician. The John Schneider Orchestra has been playing pop songs of the 1920s-1950s since 1989.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION of "To the People who Came Before":
John Schneider interviewed senior citizens at the center about their past voting experiences. These were used to create a musical piece about 5 minutes long. The piece was then sung by some of the talented seniors at the center during the hours of voting.

Silver Spring Neighborhood Center (District 9)

LEAD ARTIST:
Dasha Kelly is an eloquent and accomplished writer and spoken word artist. She is the founder and director of Still Waters Collective. SWC has crafted a series of programs and community initiatives that use creative writing and spoken word as tools for building leadership and shaping self-esteem. She and her colleagues are experts at improvisation.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION of "Collaborative Words":
Kelly worked with three other spoken word artists to engage voters on a voluntary basis to create short collaborative verbal art pieces. The poets had a list of nonpartisan words that people in line can select from. The poets, on the spot, created one-minute poems. Young and old were be able to participate.

Fairview Charter School (District 11)
(The project will take place outside.)

This project is the same as the one approved for Albright United Methodist Church (District 2).
To hear a sample of "The Right to Vote?" Please click the play button

United Community Center (District 12)

LEAD ARTIST:
Raoul Deal has his MVA, Painting, from the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas\UNAM (San Carlos). Deal is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Visual Art and is an Artist-in-Residence in the Cultures and Communities Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2005, he received an "Artist of the Year" award from the Milwaukee Arts Board.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION of "Ex-Voto":
The Latino Arts Gallery (inside the UCC) traditionally holds its annual Día de los Muertos exhibit at the end of October and the beginning of November. In this exhibit, artists display traditional and non-traditional Day of the Dead altars. For 2008, the exhibit coincided with the presidential elections. Deal built an altar for this exhibit and developed a performance art piece dedicated to the history of immigration and voting in the US. Deal's grandfather and his wife are both immigrants. For this piece he used elements of costume, movement, and light. He assumed the personas representative of the different cultural groups he explored.

Raoul Deal performed at the United Community Center for MVP. This picture is from "Confluencias," performed at Walker's Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee in 2004. Deal, moving in slow motion, reenacted a perpetual cycle of building and destruction.

Pulaski Indoor Swimming Pool (District 14)

LEAD ARTIST:
Wild Space Dance Company will be working under the direction of Artists Director Debra Loewen. Founded in 1986, Wild Space Dance Company is one of Wisconsin's most creative performing companies. Its mission is to expand the audience for contemporary dance through performances and outreach programs throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Known for site-specific works and artistic collaborations, Wild Space merges contemporary dance with text, architecture, and visual art to develop innovative performances (http://www.wildspacedance.org).

PROJECT DESCRIPTION of "Line Up/ On the Boards/ Dive In":
Three dancers were inside the Pulaski Pool performing in various pool spaces and outside. (The pool was closed for swimmers on Election Day.) The three dancers explored highly stylized gestures and movements of voting, including cointing, taking one's turn, lining up, making decision and waiting for the results.