Puffin Foundation West
Press and Announcements for Puffin Foundation West
JEREMY SCAHILL is National Security Correspondent for The Nationmagazine and is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute.
Scahill is author of the New York Times bestseller Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army(Nation Books, 2007). Nation Books will release Scahill's second book, Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield, on April 23, 2013.
He is the writer, with David Riker, and a producer of the documentary feature film, Dirty Wars, which won the Cinematography Award for U.S. Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2013. IFC Films releases Dirty Wars in theaters June 7 throughout the United States.
Scahill has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Yemen, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere across the globe. Scahill is a frequent guest on a wide array of programs, appearing regularly on The Rachel Maddow Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Democracy Now!. He has also appeared on ABC World News, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, BBC, al Jazeera, CNN, The NewsHour, and Bill Moyers Journal.
...If you’d like to see some of the action in the Market today, check out http://downtowncolumbus.com/pearlmarket for the photo album.
Don't forget about the EBT/SNAP Benefit Program that gives you two dollar of spending power for every buck you got up to ten dollars.
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AT THE ALBA/PUFFIN AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM UNITED WE DREAM WAS AWARDED $100,000
OLIVER STONE, FILM DIRECTOR AND SCREENWRITER WAS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER TALKING WITH PUFFIN FOUNDATION PRESIDENT, PERRY ROSENSTEIN.
AMY GOODMAN, OF DEMOCRACY NOW!! WHO CHAIRED THE ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION WITH OLIVER STONE.
...Saturday, April 27
The SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL HARMONY PROJECT under the leadership of DAVID BROWN, Founder the The Columbus Harmony Project, in partnership with CITY YEAR, an organizations that reflects the idea that young people, following or between their high school and college years should be challenged to spend a "year" in their "city" tackling the needs of their community, has been invited to perform at City Year's National Leadership Summit in Washington D.C on May 13th. Since this will be the first time outside of Columbus for many of the student, City Year will be adding a CAPTURE THE EXPERIENCE component to the trip. PFW has provided a grant so that each student will receive a disposable camera to document their experience traveling to, sightseeing, and performing in D.C. The film will then be developed into a keepsake for the students.
Holly Mosher's Documentary Bonsai People: The Vision of Mohammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who through the Grameen Bank began providing microcredit to entrepreneurial projects in impoverished commnities and by doing so found that these loans were able to help solve many of the problems associatied with poverty, hunger and inequality, will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on April 17th! For more information click on the LINK. We are PUFFIN PROUD!!!!
SECOND SITE IN PROGRESS - Migrating Mural: Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep
MIGRATING MURAL UPDATE New Mural in Progress
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We Are proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915. This play by Jackie Sibblies Drury, which has garnered her, as the author, the most outstanding reviews from NY critics, will be put on September 5-21 in the Vern Riffe Center’s Studio 2. This is a play within a play and we as the audience will come upon a group of six actors their director in their preliminary rehearsal. The play they are beginning to rehearse tells the story of a German military force which is under orders and set to lay claim to the natural wealth of Namibia and in doing so the annihilation of the Herero tribe will be a given. The history is constructed around actual letters that were written by German soldiers who undertook this genocide and the play within the play challenges the viewer to separate art from life as the actors work out their characters’ role by improvising the lives that they are portraying both German and Herero. PFW is pleased to be a partner in bring this play to Columbus and our grant ensures that you can PAY WHAT YOU LIKE TO SEE IT ….SO GO SEE IT.
PFW provided a l’il support for this project in 2011 Congratulations SHULI!!!!
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE PREMIERE OF
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Columbus' own formidable artist of much repute ROGER WILLIAMS wished to apply his amazing talent to speak to us about the Environment and PFW gave him a Grant (See Grants awarded in 2013) to create an original painting that would then be transposed to a 7'x8' TRAVELING MURAL that will be able show up on walls all over town. * This mural will get its first airing in time for EARTH DAY on the North Wall of MADLAB'S Theatre on N. Third Street @ Chestnut and will be seen by the tens of thousands of drivers coming off the 670 Ramp into town. The Mural entitled OZONE MAN was painted in Roger's deconstructionist high-energy style. The artworks depicts san electrical fixture with an (ugly) energy-saving fluorescent bulb that is now unplugged and the lamp has been transformed into a wind turbine and from the blades everything green and wonderful is coming forth; butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs, hearts and flowers and, yes TWO PUFFINS! Thank you ROGER and THANK YOU MADLAB!!!!!!
* If you or your community group has a wall and wants to display this mural e-mail us at puffinoh@columbus.rr.com
SIXTEEN MILLION CHILDREN, let us repeat that, SIXTEEN MILLION CHILDREN go to sleep hungry at night IN AMERICA every night. PFW has worked with many organizations and has added grant dollars to their awards to ensure that food security could be part of their program(s). PFW has provided grant awards to help establish a Garden Project at a Public School; given seed money to create a Community Garden; helped to provide healthful snacks at a neighborhood Settlement House or at other After-School or Summer programs in Central Ohio. We have given grants to organizations which have asked their patrons not only to buy tickets to their events but to also bring canned goods as part of the admission price. Please see our website regarding the number of grants we have given in 2013 that incorporate the idea that HEALTH IS WEALTH.
PFW has given a specific grant to the Pearl Market which is operated by the downtown development SID Public Services Association. This is to help fill the gap and get more farm-direct produce to all visitors to the Market. The SID will also use specific marketing tools to reach the 39% of downtown residents east of the market and 37% of residents west of the market who are living below 100% of the federal poverty level. This is important as the Market will be offering SNAP/EBT (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance- Electronic Benefits Transfer) wireless services to qualified consumers. WHAT? SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest food safety net program in America. The Downtown SID will offer an incentive program to SNAP/EBT card users to help pay for a doubling of redemptions, meaning that $1.00 will be worth $2.00. This is a benefit to the shopper who by coming to the Pearl Market will have greater access to fresh vegetables, fruits, and it will give the farmers extra income. And that means we are improving the environment, keeping local farmers growing and coming to market, and adding to a stronger local economy as more consumers are connecting with local growers and the dollars are not going out of the community to box stores and chains. Pearl Market offers unmatched transportation accessibility whether by car, bike, bus, or on foot. All the major bus lines serving low-income neighborhoods in Columbus converge at a point not even a block from Pearl Market. We hope all other potential grant partners come on board so we soon see a day when no Columbus child goes to sleep hungry.
FIVE (real) SISTERS PRODUCTIONS asked Puffin West for a grant for their soon to be completed Documentary which was filmed in Columbus, OH entitled KINGS, QUEENS AND IN-BETWEENS. This documentary challenges common assumptions about drag and gender and the "rules". The film revolves around two local drag performance groups, The West Family drag queen performers (led by Nina West and Virginia West) and The Royal Renegades drag king troupe (helmed by Cool Ethan and The Reverend Roy Rogers). This documentary will bring to the screen snippets of their personal, creative, and/or political expression as drag queens, kings and transgender performers. Nina West, for instance, has raised untold funds for charities and is a regular guest on local TV news. A number of other members of the groups have used their local celebrity to address such questions and issues as: What is Drag? Why is there an anti-marriage law? How do we overcome anti-GLBTQ discrimination policies? Why are we still living in an atmosphere in the mid-west of Don't Ask Don't Tell? These issues are also incorporated in their performance pieces. This film, being edited as this is written, will give everyone the opportunity to explore how Drag can make us question categorizations of male/female, gay/straight, and butch/femme. There will be concurrent social outreach/audience engagement surrounding the film and already it is slated to be shown to numerous charitable partners and social action groups nationwide. You will also be able to follow it on its own FACEBOOK PAGE, see scenes from the film on youtube and other online media outlets. more info at
(http://www.facebook.com/KingsQueensInBetweens)
"Kings, Queens, & In-Betweens" -- A Documentary on Drag (trailer): http://youtu.be/sV-0gvC3N7I
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Columbus Dance Theatre's Company (CBT) will rock and roll to the sounds of Columbus' own and internationally recognized string quartet, CARPE DIEM, with guest musician Andrew Lipke. This one of a kind world premier will push classical instruments to their limits as they take on classic rock. CBT will be dancing to classic rock hits including, White Room, Sunshine of Your Love, Great Gig in the Sky, Freebird and many others. The rock tunes are being arranged by Carpe Diem and Lipke, a pianist and guitarist will add his vocals and some original compositions to the playbill. Artistic Director and Choreographer, Tim Veach, will be pushing his dancers into new territory by combining movements taken from ballet, jazz, and street dancing. "It is a no holds barred event with our dancers pushing their physical edge," said Tim Veach. The PFW grant will offer Settlement House Kids the opportunity to see the exciting dimension of live music and a dance performance and they will be invited on stage at the end of the performance to show the dancers and the audience "what they got going on” as well.