FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2008
Contacts
Hank Tatum
214.932.6078
Hank.tatum@levensonbrinkerpr.com
Anne Bothwell
214.740.9262
abothwell@kera.org
KERA to Launch Art&Seek
DALLAS/FORT WORTH - KERA announced today it is launching in late May a multimedia, community-based arts initiative that will bring unprecedented attention to the arts in North Texas.
Unified under the name Art&Seek, the project includes the upcoming launch of a new Web site developed as a gathering place for the arts. The site will include an automated calendar where organizations can post their own events as well as original Web content provided by KERA staff and community partners. In addition, the site will be home to the Arts+Culture blog where artists, curators, performers and other arts professionals contribute to discussions about what’s happening in the arts in North Texas. In addition, KERA will provide expanded coverage of the arts on its public radio and television stations through interviews, reviews and special programs.
The creation of Art&Seek reflects the vision of KERA and its President and CEO, Mary Anne Alhadeff, to bring expanded local services and programs to the region. “The arts are happening everywhere in North Texas and KERA is uniquely positioned to show its commitment to community-based content and services through this initiative that involves the public with all of the exciting and diverse opportunities taking place in the visual and performing arts.”
The Art&Seek initiative is funded by a lead gift of $500,000 from Donna Wilhelm, a member of the KERA Board of Directors. Wilhelm says that her support for KERA’s arts initiative comes at a time when the North Texas region is undergoing a huge cultural renaissance. “The abundance and the quality of the arts that we have available to us every day are amazing. Art&Seek will be an important resource for North Texans to expand their cultural horizons and enjoy new experiences. Because of the arts, the whole image of our region is changing.”
In addition to the grant from Donna Wilhelm, KERA received a $33,500 award from the Allen and Kelli Questrom Foundation to fund a planning document that has guided the project.
Two longtime Dallas area journalists have been named to coordinate the arts initiative. Anne Bothwell will serve as Director of KERA’s Arts Unit. She is the former Assistant Arts Editor of The Dallas Morning News, where she supervised popular music and pop culture coverage, created new sections and coordinated award-winning coverage of the South by Southwest interactive, film and music conference. Jerome Weeks recently joined the Art&Seek project as arts reporter and producer. Weeks was the longtime book columnist at The Dallas Morning News as well as interim book editor and drama critic covering theater in Texas, and Broadway and off-Broadway productions in New York.
“KERA is shining a high-intensity light on the arts in our region,” says Anne Bothwell. “Our goal is to weave the value of the arts into the daily lives of everyone.”
The Art&Seek Web site will feature an interactive, easily searchable calendar of arts and culture events around North Texas. Arts groups interested in participating in the calendar listing can email artandseek@kera.org.
KERA’s Arts+Culture blog now exists at www.kera.org/blogs/culture. Arts professionals interested in guest blogging should contact Anne Bothwell: abothwell@kera.org.
About KERA
Founded nearly 50 years ago, KERA is a not-for-profit public multimedia organization rooted in the social, educational and cultural fabric of North Texas. KERA is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of North Texans by providing quality programming and services. The organization’s long and distinguished production history includes award-winning programs The Writer’s Studio (supported by Donna Wilhelm), Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater, The West of the Imagination, Matisse & Picasso, documentaries about the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (multiple years), the Deep in the Arts initiative, After Goodbye: An AIDS Story, Dallas: A Stake in the Arts, Frozen Music: The Making of the Meyerson; Kindred Spirits: Contemporary African-American Artists, The Kimbell, With Ossie and Ruby, and many radio and television reports, reviews and commentaries.
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