CONTENTS
A BRIEF HISTORY
CURRENT ACTIVITIES
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
INITIATIVES FOR 2005
FUTURE GOALS
INITIATIVES FOR 2005
CAMP DOS CABEZAS
Camp Dos Cabezas, an educational adventure camp, identifies children at a young age who are at risk of dropping out of school and gives them the experience of a lifetime to develop their interests in academic subjects and careers. The children will camp in the Chiricahua National Monument of southeast Arizona, where they will hike through a dynamic landscape the Apaches called the "Land of Standing Up Rocks," and learn about diverse careers, like archaeology and geology, as they tour museum exhibits and historic sites. To broaden the impact of the camp, students will offer peer programs for their communities after they return to Houston. With the help of educators, they will collaborate to organize presentations in schools and community centers.
The goal of the camp is to inspire the participants to complete their primary education and go on to college. Such an uplifting and memorable experience will encourage the children to become leaders in their communities.
[ http://www.houstonculture.org/camp ]
GLOBALIZATION ISSUES
Global Directions / Local Interests - As we organize forums and workshops, and conferences on issues of globalization and localism, it is apparent that the issue affect local communities, but it is difficult to make the connections for people when discussing broad issues, like trade agreements, that seem to most people to be beyond control or comprehension. We plan to organize a conference that specifically looks at various segments of the community, as well as surrounding smaller communities, and explore how global processes affect local Interests.
Panels and presenters will investigate the local impact of globalization including: economic affects of globalization processes on Houston and surrounding small communities; impact on business, culture and tourism; local and state law; labor unions; transportation and commerce; resources (energy and water); environment; housing; medicine; and media. We plan to reach a wide audience from Houston and surrounding communities, including students, business owners, and lawmakers.
SPEAKERS BUREAU
We are developing a speakers bureau that will double as a Cultural Experts Guide for media. It is an effort to promote interest and awareness of cultural and social issues which impact southeast Texas. It will include writers, researchers, journalists, artists, community advocates and organizers, who we are certain will offer informed, meaningful and interesting presentations of their material. We will proactively seek media coverage of current topics and try to help media have contact with qualified experts, cultural advocates, and policy- and opinion-makers.
http://www.houstonculture.org/experts
ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS
Through national organizations and national media, we will promote increase awareness and interest in Houston's rich cultural heritage.
FUTURE GOALS
As we transition from programs that have been largely self-sustaining - individual admission programs like cultural arts events, conferences, and educational travel - to programs that support broader communities, we must establish support for these new initiatives. Programs we are currently implementing, including Camp Dos Cabezas, increased educational activities, more productive research efforts, and much needed charitable activities, will have a positive impact on many underserved and struggling communities.
STAFF SUPPORT
In order to produce more educational programs and to extend the benefit of Camp Dos Cabezas to children beyond the weeklong education camp, we need to establish an Education Director. This will allow us to provide educational programs and after-school activities, as well as more effective uses of our advanced educational resources for college extracurricular and continuing education.
We also need to meet increasing demand for community involvement: communication that is proactive (promoting interest in Houston arts, organizations and topical forums) and reactive (responding to requests for information); facilitation for volunteers and student interns; and special activities like media campaigns and community studies.
FACILITIES
As we move toward a goal to establish multipurpose facilities to serve many Houstonians, regional organizations and tourists, we must establish interim facilities to serve the most urgent and highest priority needs. A few of these uses include: student and volunteer workspace; artist and organization resources; meeting space; community contact; research development; access to resource materials; administrative functions; and, collection of donated health and comfort items for poor communities in Texas and Mexico; materials
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
MISSION
Houston Institute for Culture is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting cultural education and awareness through cultural activities. Our goal is to provide free and low-cost events, services and classes for the community. The organization's sphere of interest is Houston, the regions that have affected Houston's cultural history and the international origins of Houston's diverse population.
BOARD
Carmen Peña Abrego, Publishing administrator, Arte Público Press, University of Houston
Andy Campbell, Graduate student, Harvard University - Kennedy School of Government
Monika Hallqvist, Small business owner, MH Design
Mark Lacy, Founder, Houston Institute for Culture
Rose Mary Salum, Writer-publisher, Literal, Latin American Voices
ANDREW G. CAMPBELL
Andy Campbell is a graduate student at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Rice University. Campbell served as the station manager of KTRU, the Rice University student radio station, for two years. After graduation in 1997 he joined Exxon Corporation as an engineer where he spent two and half years tromping around the oil fields of east Texas. Campbell headed to New York for three years as a member of Salomon Smith Barney's Global Energy investment banking team. In 2003, Campbell moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and started the Master in Public Policy program at the Kennedy School. Campbell served as an intern on the staff of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2004. He will graduate from Harvard in June 2005.
Campbell has travel extensively, including trips to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia and Japan. He has also traveled throughout South Texas and Mexico. Campbell frequently returns home to Houston, where he is an avid connoisseur of Houston's exceptional taquerias and BBQ joints.
MONIKA HALLQVIST
Monika Hallqvist is an art director in graphic design with more than 20 years of professional experience. She is the cofounder of Visible Magazine, a museum quality publication that celebrates Hispanic and Latin American art and culture. She is also founder and owner of MH Graphic Design. Hallqvist graduated with honors in graphic design from the Iberoamericana University (UIA) in Mexico City. Before studying graphic design, she studied industrial design at the UIA and architecture at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). Hallqvist taught Corporate Identity Programs for six years at her alma matter.
Much of her career has been devoted to editorial design. She has been art director for magazines like Arquitectura, Enlace, Comercio, Vinculos, Interactions and Visible Magazine. She has also edited and art directed books about building restoration in the Historical Center of Mexico City: "Centro Historico de la Ciudad de Mexico, Vol I and II." Hallqvist has broad experience in corporate identity programs, annual reports and collateral materials.
From 1997 to present, Hallqvist has been a multiple recipient of CASE Awards (The Council for Advancement and Support of Education). She has also been awarded by the Association for Women in Communications, and was recently nominated for the Hispanic Excellence Award and received special recognition by the Congress of the United States for her contribution to the Hispanic Community. Monika Hallqvist was born in Mexico City and has lived in Mexico, the United States, Sweden, France and currently the United Kingdom. She is fluent in Spanish, English and Swedish, with working knowledge in French and Portuguese.
MARK LACY
Mark Lacy is an award-winning journalist, educator and community advocate. He is the director of the Houston Institute for Culture, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural literacy, through research, education and advocacy. He also teaches digital storytelling for the University of Houston College of Education. His cultural and social documentary classes have been featured in the Wall Street Journal. Lacy has received numerous awards and honors, particularly in the field of educational media, from CASE (Council for Support and Advancement of Education) and UPAA (University Photographers' Association of America). Lacy hosted the UPAA 43rd Annual Technical Symposium during June 2004 in Houston.
Lacy is an experienced radio host, producing programs on regional and international traditions, and community affairs. Lacy's articles have appeared in Visible Magazine, Collegium, and more. He has written about and presented workshops on economic issues in local communities. As a member of the Globalization Forum and Globalization Working Group, Lacy has organized conferences, film presentations and workshops on the positive and negative impacts of globalization.
As an organizer of educational travel programs, Lacy has done extensive research on the cultural history of the Southwest and Mexico. He is the founder and director of a new cultural education program for at-risk youth, Camp Dos Cabezas, which will take place beginning in May 2005 in the Chiricahua Mountains, as well as historic parks and museums of southeast Arizona.
Lacy has extensive volunteer experience as well. He has served as chair of the University of Houston's Visual and Performing Arts Committee, and as a grants panelist for the Cultural Arts Council of Houston, Harris County. He also served as a volunteer for FotoFest's Literacy Through Photography program.
Lacy is responsible for the overall operation and growth of the Houston Institute for Culture, including its research efforts and educational programs.
ROSE MARY SALUM
Rose Mary Salum is the founder of Literal, Latin American Voices. She was also the co-founder of Visible Magazine, the magazine that celebrates Hispanic and Latin American art and culture. She graduated from Universidad Anáhuac, Universidad Autónoma de México and St. Thomas University, she worked at the National Institute of Literature (INBA) in Mexico City, before coming to Houston. She received her master's degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. She has presented scholarly papers at international and national conferences in Puerto Rico, San Antonio, Veracruz and Houston. She has co-authored a book of short stories, Vitrales, authored Entre los Espacios (recently translated to English), another book of short stories, and written the prologue for Cartas a la Sombra de Tu Piel, a poetry book that won the literary prize Voces Selectas. Some anthologies from the United States and Spain include her poems. She was a nominee for the Hispanic Excellence Award 2003. She also received a special recognition by the Congress of the United States. She has published interviews and articles in many national and international periodicals. She was recently invited to collaborate in the Mexican newspaper Las Voces del Periodista.
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