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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>View all videos and artist spotlights, or share your own at <a href="http://www.mycreativecompass.org/Community/Local-Artist-Spotlights">http://www.mycreativecompass.org/Community/Local-Artist-Spotlights</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><img border=0 width=53 height=43 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.jpg@01CD9CB8.DCAA5B80" alt="Description: CPAClogo_black"> <b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>Thursday, September 13, 2012<span style='color:red'> </span></b> <b><span style='font-size:10.5pt'>Contact: Susan dePasquale</span></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:4.5in'><span style='font-size:10.5pt'> 216.575.0331, ext. 127</span> <span style='font-size:10.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h2><b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>video interviews tell the story of Cuyahoga County artists</span></b><span style='font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p class=MsoNormal><span style='background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>CLEVELAND – The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) has released video interviews with the <a href="http://cultureforward.org/our-programs/fellowship/2012">2012 Creative Workforce Fellows</a>. This release completes the 2011-12 video catalogues, “Investing in Artists. Strengthening Community.” Each three-minute video interview offers a snapshot of the process and the motivations of each of the twenty artists who received a $20,000 award for 2012. The Fellowship artists were chosen by panelists from across the country based on the creativity, innovation and proficiency of their work. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Anne Trubek, a Cleveland Heights writer, who is celebrated locally for her work on “Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology,” shares her latest project about handwriting and how “revolutionary our moment is in terms of handwriting.” During her fellowship year, she also developed and offered free writing courses to help people strengthen their voices and better tell their story. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>As contributor to a very different anthology, “Love Insh Allah, The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women,” Huda Al-Marashi is fostering community understanding as she shares her life as a first generation Iraqi American. Having begun her writing career following the tragedy of September 11, she felt that “there was a price to pay for not writing.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Michael Oatman, playwright-in-residence at Karamu House, focuses on writing plays about the challenges African American men continue to face in society. First presented in a staged reading at Cleveland Play House FusionFestival in 2008, with a world premiere at Karamu House in 2010, his play “Before I Die: The War Against Tupac Shakur” will be presented at Washington D.C.’s Essential Theatre’s New Play Reading Series.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>These are only three stories of artists, who are shedding light on, and influencing the fabric of greater Cleveland’s cultural landscape. In addition to the individual videos, the title video “Investing in Artists. Strengthening Community.” offers a larger picture of the artists in the community. It chronicles the sense of invigoration these artists have received from the Fellowships and reflects on the countless individuals that will be touched by engaging with these artists now and in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Tom Schorgl, president and CEO of CPAC states that “by supporting these artists, we have committed to advancing the culture and vitality of greater Cleveland.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Videos were created with additional in-kind support by <a href="http://www.paulsobota.com/">Paul Sobota Photography</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>The Fellowship is made possible by the generous support of Cuyahoga County residents through a grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture (CAC). CAC’s mission is to inspire and strengthen the community by investing in arts and culture. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.cacgrants.org">www.cacgrants.org</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>CPAC is a nonprofit arts and culture service organization dedicated to strengthening and unifying greater Cleveland’s arts and culture sector. Since its founding in 1997, the organization has accomplished this through a range of programs and services within its core competencies of capacity building, public policy and research. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.cultureforward.org">www.cultureforward.org</a>.</span><span style='font-size:8.0pt;background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.5pt'>###<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>