iCreate notes: Lenora Romero and Kay Stillion are sending a listing to a(n unspecified) local weekly to promote the free Music Outreach program. Classes (guitar, ukulele and violin) Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the Shaffer Hotel. Board member, Pegeen (We Do Music), who also teaches in the music program, will be starting classes at the Sanctuary Zone in Estancia, starting day yet to be set. To learn more about the Sanctuary Zone and its programs, take a look at Winter 2012 newsletter. 

#iCreate Music Outreach up date

Kay Stillion writes,

iCreate has two new music classes. On Tuesdays in Mountainair, we now offer ukulele and voice at 3:00pm, right before guitar at 4:00pm. Ukulele classes are also available at OffCenter Fridays at 3:30pm, right after guitar at 2:30pm. The guitar classes at the Shaffer have grown quite large, so we now have three guitar teachers. Pegeen Mouser is our new teacher.  

We had a recital at OffCenter, April 13th for Rick Gutierrez. A first for iCreate, this was Rick's second recital, and he did songs left handed. The guitar he had earned earlier was stolen, so he asked to do the program again but left handed. He also performed a right handed song at the recital  that he had written, It was very moving and well received.

OffCenter Community Arts Calendar

from iCreate #Mountainair's ABQ Music Outreach partner... and perhaps a few ideas local artists and Mountain Arts on Broadway art center program committee might find interesting.

Call for artists and art!

"Movable Masterpieces"  Ongoing Community Art-Making  Exhibit & FUN!draiser Starts Friday, Jan. 6th, 5 - 8 pm OFFCenter's emerging and established artists together with your family and friends can move from "masterpiece" to "masterpiece" on Friday night, (Jan., 6th) as you paint artwork together. Make an offer on any painting you like at any stage until the last brushstroke on Jan. 18th. All proceeds benefit OFFCenter Community Arts - a safe place for everyone to make art free of charge.

FREE Re:Envision Recycled Art Workshop

Shrines from the Glass Graveyard Found Object Workshop with Lindy Hirst Thur., Jan. 12, 2012, 6 - 8 pm Free but call 247-1172 or email: studio808@qwestoffice.net to register Lindy will bring her personal collection of melted glass bottles and trinkets dug up from Albuquerque’s famous Glass Graveyard for you to explore shrine making with these antique relics. Lindy Hirst, founder of THE STUDIO and teacher of many of its classes and workshops, is a long-time New Mexico resident. She received her MFA from the University of New Mexico and has spent many years sharing her extensive knowledge with students from all over the state. This series of workshops and open studio time are brought free to the public in part thanks to funding from The FUNd at Albuquerque Community Foundation, New Mexico Arts and Bernalillo County. If you sign up for a workshop, please inform us at least 24 hours in advance if you're unable to attend, so we can have time to notify those on the waiting list.

Friday May 20: Sonic Follies

The line up includes Gerard Bezzeg, Poets and Writers Picnic favorite and host of "Hello in the There!" (New Mexico Eclectic), along with a number of other singer/song writers and poets from slam and traditional spoken word to cowboy and folk, guitarists for all seasons, styles and tastes, a mandolin player and a fiddler. The event is also supposed to include open mic time.

Sonic Follies: Music, Poetry & More  a fundraiser for the OFFCenter / iCreate Guitar Program

Friday, May 20th, 5:30 - 8:30 pm Suggested Donation $7 at the door Come join in the fun with many wonderful performers! This special concert raises funds for OFFCenter and the unique iCreate Guitar program held free every week at OFFCenter. iCreate is a non-profit organization fostering creativity and the arts in underserved communities. Their volunteer instructors present the guitar workshop on Fridays at OFFCenter where people can attend 12 free sessions, learn 5 songs by heart, perform a recital and earn their very own guitar!  Please help support the continuation of this unique program held at OFFCenter!

Alas, the long awaited and much anticipated list of performers did not come in a ready to use format. Silly me expecting a flyer, a program or even plain text I could copy and paste. I'm hoping for the best from OCR because I won't type out the program after having specifically asked for ready to use copy. 

Sat May14: iCreate Bake Sale & Tomato Table

~ 9:30am - 12n in front of the #Mountainair PO. Rebecca Lueras is putting on an impromptu iCreate / musical outreach bake sale to raise funds for helping send talented local youth Shawn Brown (an iCreate music outreach alumnus) and his trumpet overseas for a very important and prestigious concert competition. Exciting, isn't it? I'm waiting impatiently for more details to share with you.  

Donations and baked good to sell are also welcome.  If you can help out by baking up or otherwise stirring up some sweets for sale, please call Rebecca, 847-0973, to let know so we'll have an idea of what we've got. 

At the same time and table, Joan Embree will be selling tomato plants to raise funds (water and, literally, seed money) for the Community Garden. According to Joan, "We still have MANY tomato plants that need homes. Most of the remainders are beefsteaks and plums (Roma) tomatoes. Need some? Contact me at 847-2539. The plants are outgrowing their paper-cup pots."

After our morning of selling and good deed fundraising, we will retire to Joan's home at 407 S. Sunset, for a 12:30 pm Community Garden planning meeting and major decision making session as we consider 2011 directions and options (and we have them) of where to relocate our garden and about to be homeless seedlings. Interested in the Mountainair Community Garden? Bring a sandwich and join us. 

A Video Example of Music Outreach

Everyone knows what a garden is, but what is music outreach? That particular iCreate project seems less clearly understood and thus perhaps less valued by some than the community garden.

Show not tell: perhaps this video example will address this gap. World on Fire, a documentary made for a film class. is about an amazing music school, called the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach Program (SMMO), for students from inner cities schools.

More about OFFCenter

Looking over past posts, it's hard to miss that garden posts outnumber others by something like 5 to 1. Time to address the gap. Let's start by meeting arts and community service organization that is probably iCreate's most important partner. 

OFFCenter Community Arts Project hosts our music outreach classes, recitals and concerts (next one May 20th - watch for more about it!) at their community artspace in downtown Albuquerque. Programs include a wide range of workshops, working groups and an emerging artists program.  Albuquirky House Tour on May 7th and the Folk Arts Festival in September are two events you are likely to already be familiar with. House Tour tickets available now, and you can submit your own  quirky Mini House creation until the end of April: "Little House's" call for Artists.

Even if your interest is in the Community Garden rather than creative mentoring outreach projects (just music at the moment but have included writing and could - in my opinion should - include other arts), please take the time to learn more about our partners and their programs, starting with OFFCenter. Information on the two exhibits below is from the latest OFFCenter email notice, being blogged in pieces for formatting convenience. Subscribe by sending an email message with JOIN in the subject line to info@offcenterarts.org. You can also follow OFF-Center Arts on Facebook.

Gallery Exhibit Opening - Friday, April 1st, 5 - 8 pm

OFFCenter Arts is honored to host an exhibit of artwork which was created in response to the "Through a Narrow Window: Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and Her Terezin Students" Exhibit which was presented by UNM Associate Professor Dr. Linney Wix at the UNM Art Museum in Feb. and March. "Through a Narrow Window..." was a unique exhibit containing more than 50 works created in early 1943 by artist/teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and her students in the Terezin concentration camp in former Czechoslovakia. Dicker-Brandeis utilized her Bauhaus training to teach art to the children and youth during their internment in the concentration camp 50 miles north of Prague. Dr. Wix conducted response art making/writing workshops in conjunction with the exhibit, as well as artists in the OFFCenter community were invited to see the "Through the Narrow Window..." exhibit and create artwork in response to: the children's artwork; what they learned about Terezin; the children interned there or artist/teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis.

Dr. Wix's research compiled in a companion book from UNM Press

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Creative Albuquerque hosts OFFCenter Artists, April 4- May 6

Starting Monday, April 4th, Creative Albuquerque will be hosting a group exhibit of nine different OFFCenter Artists. CreativeABQ is located at 115 4th Street - in the pedestrian mall at Copper Ave. 

We will celebrate the exhibit with a closing reception on Friday, May 6th from 5 - 8 pm to be held at Creative Albuquerque.

Please stop by to see CreativeABQ's new gallery/business space and to view these artists' works: 

Henry Armijo, Jill Cooper, Sharie Fabian, Ricardo Gutierrez, Gloria Hajduk, Mary Lambert, Marcia Sednek, Ayren Valery, Venae Warner

iCreate Student Recital

We invite you to join us for a special event at Off Center Arts Friday, March 11 at 3:30 pm. Each student completing iCreate's Music Outreach Program performs at a recital at which the student is awarded the musical instrument earned by completing the program. 

iCreate is honored to award Jaen Emanuel Ugalde a guitar for completing the program criteria, which include this recital. Jaen is a 21 yr old student at UNM and CNM whose favorite band is Hill Song United.

Program:

Elephant Walk

A Minor Waltz

A Minor Dream

Spring Blossom

Legato To Staccato

Congratulations Jaen! Enjoy your guitar and keep making beautiful music

iCreate appreciates and thanks the McCune Foundation for making this guitar and celebration possible. We also thank Off Center for hosting Music Outreach. Learn more about Off Center online, download and read the current issue of Gleaners, follow Off Center on Facebook.

Music Therapy

From the rhythmic beat of our hearts to the stories
and life of our heritage, music is a part of all of us.

What is music therapy?

Music therapy is the clinical use of music by a trained professional to meet cognitive, physical, social, emotional, behavioral, spiritual and communication needs of people of all ages and abilities. As a recognized healthcare profession, music therapy is currently improving the quality of life of thousands of people in the United States and across the world.

Who can enefit from music therapy?

Music therapy benefits people of all ages and abilities. Music therapists work in schools, hospitals, prisons, daycares, nursing homes, retirement communities and hospices, just to name a few. The Joy of Music provides services especially in the following areas:

Autism Behavior disorders Developmental delay Hospice

Palliative care Rehabilitation Alzheimers Parkinson's Disease

Why music?

Music is a rich environment. During musical activities, whether it includes listening to music, playing an instrument or moving to music, your brain experiences activity in both hemispheres, making it a unique avenue for progress.

Music is motivating, interactive and adaptable. Specific qualities can produce positive results in people when used therapeutically. Music is motivating, interactive and versatile. It is a part of every culture in every nation of the world. Music is used in celebration and sorrow; to help us learn and recall memories from times gone by.

via thejoyofmusic-therapy.com

No, of course iCreate's music outreach, program, which falls more into the category of social service, is not the same as music therapy. The kinship, however, is clear ~ as is the psychological benefit of music and its role as more than cultural accoutrement.