 WSIU Public Broadcasting is proud to sponsor
|
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Click to enlarge | |
Just as the traveling Chautauquas of old sought to bring education and entertainment to local communities, so does Carbondale Community Arts with its annual summer Town Square Chautauqua series. 2005 marks the sixth annual Chautauqua held in Carbondale and the fourth Chautauqua produced completely at the local level. Themes from past years include "The Industrial Age," "The Jazz Age," "I Hear America Singing: the mid 1800s," "The Lewis and Clark Expedition", and "The American Presidency."
This year, the Town Square Chautauqua presents "Visions and Dreams: The Changing American Landscape," produced in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, Shawnee National Forest.
Chautauqua 2005 profiles the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service and the emergence of the conservation movement of the late 1800s. Each evening, Carbondale Community Arts sets the stage with musical performances evocative of the period, followed by special guests who will describe their part in the emerging conservation consciousness of America. Daytime lectures and family activities, offered at locations throughout the area, will offer additional information about the changing American landscape of the 1800s. The Chautauqua will entertain, inform, and inspire you to join a national dialogue that has endured for over a century. An educational exhibit about western artists of the period rounds out the picture throughout June at the Carbondale Civic Center.
The 2005 Town Square Chautauqua features:
- An exhibit of art prints featuring the work of Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Hermann Herzog, Thomas Moran, George Catlin, Charles Russell, and Currier and Ives. These artists provided a window to the west for the thousands of Americans who would never travel further west than the Mississippi. The western artists of the 1800s played a significant role in the emerging American consciousness toward the western landscape and environment, and sparked a national debate over questions of wilderness and development that rages to this day.
- A four-day series of historical programs and musical entertainment. Evening performances take place under the historic freight pavilion on the Carbondale Town Square and included music befitting the time period. Daytime lectures are held twice daily at several locations in Jackson and Williamson counties. All presentations and performances encourage questions from the audience. Also see a related reading list and online resource links.
- Public screenings of the national documentary film, The Wilderness Idea: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot and the First Great Battle for Wilderness. The Wilderness Idea, produced by filmmakers Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey, explores this seminal chapter in American environmental politics by tracing the fathers of wilderness policy in the United States: John Muir, the brilliant and eccentric founder and first president of the Sierra club, and Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, who defined conservation as the wise management of natural resources. Combining archival materials with stunning cinematography shot on location in Yosemite, this timeless film tells the dramatic story of two founders of the American conservation movement and the historic battle that drove them apart.
See a detailed schedule of Town Square Chautauqua events and meet some of the performers. All performances, lectures, video screenings, and exhibits are free and open to the public.
Visit www.carbondalearts.org to learn more about Carbondale Community Arts activities in arts programming and education.
The 2005 Town Square Chautauqua is made possible by local partners and by partial funding from The Illinois Humanities Council and The Illinois Arts Council.
