America the Beautiful: A Celebration of Our National Parks Presents Experiential,
Multidisciplinary Programs to Bring the Grand Canyon to Life
in Fort Worth through May 2011

NEWS

For Immediate Release: 5/2/2011

Contacts: Kira Johnson, ICFW khjohn33@hotmail.com (817-870-1141)
Paige Hendricks, PHPR Inc. pkhendricks@phprinc.com (800-776-9720)

Grand Canyon National Park Comes to Life in Fort Worth
Public Exhibits, Event, Performance Programming Details for May 2011

    (Fort Worth, Tex)… In collaboration with Grand Canyon National Park, Imagination Celebration Fort Worth (ICFW) has created and is presenting a series of remarkable programs inspired by and produced through extensive partnerships with the Park and numerous Fort Worth arts and cultural organizations to yield exhibits and performances, many open to the public this month.

    “The Grand Canyon will come to life across the city of Fort Worth with a magical series of arts and cultural exhibitions, performances by Native American cultures from the Grand Canyon, and presentations of newly-commissioned original works in music, dance, and film,” said ICFW founder and executive director Ginger Head Gearheart.

    ICFW is implementing performing arts programs in schools across the city and hosting artists from a wide array of disciplines to present performances to thousands of students, families, citizens and visitors. The following events are open to the public. All are subject to change, so check the website www.icfw.org or call 817-870-1141 for updates to scheduling.

o Gala Event: An Enchanting Evening in the Grand Canyon May 5, 7:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St., Fort Worth, TX 76107
 

Tickets must be purchased in advance: $150 per person and up. This ticketed gala celebration with food, drinks, and entertainment will honor the openings of the “Treasures of the Grand Canyon” art exhibit at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center; “Grand Canyon’s Green Heart,” a botanical exhibit at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden; and “Grand Canyon Through the Lens of Adam Schallau,” a photographic exhibit from Grand Canyon’s artist-in-residence at the Fort Worth Public Library.

Leadership from Grand Canyon and other national parks, academic interpreters from Grand Canyon, and Grand Canyon resident artists will be in attendance. Guests will enjoy signature cocktails and a Grand Canyon inspired menu by Chef Tom McGrath.

Highlights include special performances:

  • Ram Dance by Havasupi “Guardians of the Canyon” tribal members
  • Highly acclaimed works demonstrated by a Hopi basket weaver, Hopi Kachina carver, and Navajo rug weaver
  • Regional premiere of Grand Canyon-inspired music compositions for cello performed by Rhonda Rider
  • Newly-composed music by students as part of the award-winning Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project, performed by New York-based string quartet ETHEL
  • Special guests such as Grand Canyon National Park rangers and leadership from the National Parks
  • A special rendition of “America the Beautiful”
  • Regional premiere screening of Grand Canyon film, Grand Canyon: A Journey of Wonder

Tickets must be purchased in advance. Contact www.icfw.org or 817.870.1141
o Performing Arts: Open Rehearsals for string quartet ETHEL May 3 & 4 7:00 p.m., Sanders Theatre, Fort Worth Community Arts Center 1300 Gendy St Fort Worth, TX 76107
 

Open rehearsals of a new work for string quartet ETHEL created by composer Raven Chacon on May 3 & 4 at
7 p.m.

This is Raven’s first piece composed for string quarter. Raven has worked with the Native American Composers Apprentice Project for about six years and ETHEL has worked with the project for about five years.

Since 1984, the Grand Canyon Music Festival has been dedicated to bringing the world’s finest musicians to Grand Canyon National Park in celebration of the power and beauty of this magnificent World Heritage site. Since 1985, the Festival has extended this gift of music to the students of northern Arizona’s under-served and rural communities, primarily at schools on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations. In 2001, the Festival initiated its Native American Composers Apprentice Project (NACAP) to extend its outreach to training talented Native American students in the art of composition.

Composers-in-Residence Raven Chacon (Navajo), Trevor Reed (Hopi), and Michael Begay (Navajo) work with high school students selected for their interest and talent in music. During a rigorous three week period each student receives intense one-on-one instruction from and interaction with the composer on the art and technique of composition, from inspiration to notation to performance. Subjects covered include comparative discussion of western music theory and composition and oral traditions of indigenous cultures, overview of western and native instruments, music notation, orchestration, and artistic expression. During the Grand Canyon Music Festival's September season, student composers workshop their pieces with resident NACAP string quartets and attend rehearsals and concerts. Student compositions are premiered and recorded during the Grand Canyon Music Festival season, and are the focus of outreach to 10 Navajo and Hopi Reservation schools. Each of the young composers receives a portfolio of their NACAP work, including a professionally copied score and professionally recorded CD.

Phone 817.738.1938 http://www.grandcanyonmusicfest.org/nacap.htm or www.fwcac.com
o

Exhibit: A Sense of Place - Artists Explore the American West May 2011 Sid Richardson Museum 309 Main Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102

This program has been generously funded in part by the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.

Admission Is Free. Imagination Celebration is collaborating with Fort Worth’s Sid Richardson Museum to develop and present a special in-depth learning series based on a study of America’s westward movement and created around the museum’s collection of paintings by Remington and Russell. The museum is working with ICFW and leadership from Grand Canyon to host a Thomas Moran master painting from the Grand Canyon Museum Collection from December 2010 through May 2011. Student groups will experience “A Sense of Place: Artists Explore the American West” and adjunct educational programs throughout this period.

Sid Richardson Museum phone: 817.332.6554 Website: www.sidrichardsonmuseum.org
Hours: Mon -Thurs 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Fri-Sat 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m.-5 p.m. Closed major holidays

o Exhibit: Treasures of the Grand Canyon - Paintings from the Permanent Collection and the Grand Canyon Museum May 2011, Fort Worth Community Arts Center 1300 Gendy St. Fort Worth, TX 76107
 

Admission Is Free. This exhibit at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center throughout the month of May features an amazing collection of paintings by master artists from the late 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibit includes works that capture our irreplaceable, treasured American landscape. The collection will eventually reside in a museum designed exclusively for the collection and proposed for eventual construction on the South Rim of Grand Canyon.

Fort Worth Community Arts Center phone 817.738.1928 Website: www.fwcac.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m. -5 p.m. Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun CLOSED

o Exhibit: Grand Canyon’s Green Heart - Special Exhibit of the Grand Canyon’s Botanical
Treasures May 2011, Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard Fort Worth, TX 76107
 

Admission Is Free This new exhibit will be presented by ICFW in collaboration with Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Association and the Desert Botanical Gardens. The exhibit includes:

  • History of botany in the Grand Canyon
  • Photographs, plant specimens, drawings, and silk screens from Grand Canyon artists
  • Historic botanic tools

Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center phone: 817.871.7686 Website: http://fwbg.org/
Hours: Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun 1 p.m.-7 p.m.

o Exhibit: Grand Canyon Through the Lens of Adam Schallau May 2011, Fort Worth Public Library (Central Branch) 500 W. Third St. Fort Worth, TX 76102
 

Admission Is Free. This photographic exhibit of Schallau’s work focuses on the landscape and the people of the American Southwest and the Rocky Mountains and the photographs made during his period as artist-in-residence at Grand Canyon National Park. In addition to his residency at Grand Canyon, Schallau was the official photographer of the 25th Annual Taos Pueblo Pow Wow and received the Luminous Landscape Endowment among many other honors. Exhibit and program elements include docent-led exhibit tours and performances by Hopi story teller, Eldrena Douma, whose great-grandparents were among the first guest artists at Fred Harvey’s El Tovar Lodge.

Fort Worth Public Library (Central Branch) 817.871.7701 http://www.fortworthgov.org/library/branches/central/
Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tues, Thurs 12 p.m. - 8 p.m. Sun 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
o Exhibit: The Grand Canyon - Traces of the Ancients, Whispers of the Past, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History May – June 2011 Fort Worth Museum of Science and History 1600 Gendy St Fort Worth, TX 76107
 

Admission Varies. Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will host a special exhibition of ancient artifacts from the Grand Canyon in a special exhibition arranged by Imagination Celebration Fort Worth. Also view the Museum’s permanent collection of Hopi Kachinas.

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History phone 817.255.9300 http://www.fwmuseum.org/
Hours: Open daily 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.

About Imagination Celebration Fort Worth

Imagination Celebration of Fort Worth (ICFW) began as a partner site for the Kennedy Center’s educational festivals in the 1980s, serving as a bridge between the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) and the city’s cultural community. In 1987, ICFW incorporated as an independent non-profit organization providing arts and cultural programming for students year-round in Fort Worth. Our mission is to transform lives and learning for students, teachers, and families through the creation, production, and presentation of an annual series of innovative programs that inspire creativity and learning in, through, and about the arts.

ICFW annually creates, produces and presents arts programs designed for K-12 students. Each year, we provide more than 75,000 arts & cultural experiences for K-12 students in FWISD and professional development training for more than 300 teachers. Most of ICFW’s programs bring artists into classrooms and school auditoriums or offer unique presentations at museums, theaters and other venues which students attend on field trips. ICFW has also created a number of ongoing programs that go beyond the standard curriculum, focusing on special interests and needs, including the Young Artist Apprenticeship Program, the Debbie Allen Dance Institute, & the Statewide Program for the Deaf. ICFW’s work has been supported with generous grants and gifts from hundreds of individuals plus many institutions, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the City of Fort Worth, The Texas Commission on the Arts, the Texas Education Agency, The Arts Council of Fort Worth and many private foundations and corporations. ICFW has been honored with two Chairman’s Extraordinary Action Grants from the National Endowment of the Arts; a Texas Medal of Arts in 2005; and, in 2008, a Coming Up Taller award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. For more information about this year’s America the Beautiful: A Celebration of Our National Parks, or about Imagination Celebration Fort Worth, please call 817-870-1141, e-mail imagine@icfw.org, or visit www.icfw.org.


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