Dear Friends of New Village Press,

What a dramatic new year this is, as we turn the great wheels of Change with a capital C!

In keeping with our country’s spirit, New Village is happy to release our eleventh original title—Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame by Beverly Naidus.

Artist, writer, university educator, Beverly Naidus takes a fearless look at the evolution of socially-engaged arts taught in various educational settings. We learn the ins and outs of her own feisty career, ways she engages her students with their conscience, and the courageous paths of more than thirty teaching-artist colleagues she interviews. (more…)

Dear Friends of New Village Press,

A short newsletter to announce the newest issue of New Village Online and two upcoming book events:

Issue #4 of New Village Online—Unboxing Democracy’s Magic— offers an inspiring exploration of community building forged from democratic partnerships between off-campus communities and universities. Guest editor Len Krimerman, director of a new degree program in Creative Community Building at the University of Connecticut, infuses the work reported here with his valuable understanding of how cooperatives work. In this issue we not only encounter new ideas, we learn new vocabulary, gaining understanding of a kind of cooperative economy that uses a “Participatory Budget” process, and we discover the “Communiversity.” (more…)

Dear Friends of New Village Press,

Happy Summer! We are thrilled to announce the release of our tenth new title—Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World’s Frontlines by William Cleveland. This is a rare and moving account of local artists rebuilding the social infrastructure of communities in six parts of the world that have suffered the trauma of civil war or political repression. (more…)

Dear Friends of New Village Press,

What a joy it is to feel our nation waking up to the stirrings of its heart. Hope renewed for a brighter, more compassionate future. A dream being shared that we can create a peaceful and democratic society.

The theme of our newest issue of New Village Online is “A Festival of Democracy”, the idea behind it being that social change is not so much a task for wise leaders as it is a task for creative citizens. Every person has not only the right to contribute to the vision of the world they want, every citizen has creative abilities to tap in describing that vision.

Contributors to this issue, Arlene Goldbard and Maryo Gard Ewell, point out how community-based arts in both modern and historic forms are brilliant vehicles through which citizens can express themselves. Arlene’s essay, “The Culture of Politics”, and Maryo’s speech, “Who Walks with You?”, show potentials and models for engaging social imagination and involving more people, including children, in meaningful democratic experiences. (more…)

Dear Friends,

Imagine a city learning how to love, find its true heart, awaken its own soul through the leadership of a poet! This is exactly what is happening in Toronto, Canada, and it is an inspiration for all our towns and communities. Toronto’s Poet Laureate, Pier Giorgio DiCicco, has captivated the spirit of his city’s citizens with his beautiful notions and words. Creative City is the name of a ten-year visionary strategy, which, in DiCicco’s language, aims to “restore intimacy, curiosity, trust, and play into the happenstance encounter of citizens, in an era when the happenstance and the unpredictable are a threat.”

I too am captivated by DiCicco’s wisdom as it mirrors the thrust of New Village Press and the passions of our authors to create their beloved communities. How else can we build the cities of our dreams, if not first by engaging our imaginations with each other and sharing what we find most precious. (more…)