Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.

The Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue was founded in 1997 by Anna Deavere Smith to support the development of those artworks and projects specifically concerned with social conditions and to foster dialogue between artists, activists, scholars and audiences that could both enhance the artworks and encourage a broader, more open exchange of ideas. The main activity of the Institute was the organization of three summer series where numerous works were created, staged, and discussed with the participation of volunteer audiences, teachers and professors, cultural critics and other guests. Participating artists include Judith Francesca Baca, Dawoud Bey, Donald Byrd, Ping Chong, Mary Conway, Keith Antar Mason, Bradley McCallum, Robbie McCauley, Noni Pratt, Suzzy Roche, Demetria B. Royals, Dread Scott and Art Spiegelman.

From 1998 to 2000, Smith and The Ford Foundation, the Institute's principal funder, selected Harvard University as the IACD home base for six-week long summer intensives. Hosted by the University's American Repertory Theater and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, the Institute brought together artists, scholars, activists, and audiences to develop and discuss works of art about the vital social issues of our time. This unique "think-and-do-tank" presented workshop versions of productions, exposing the process of creation and fostering civic discourse on the themes expressed by the work. While the Institute still exists today, its activities have changed since relocating to New York City. As its website, http://www.artsandcivicdialogue.org, states: "we are now redesigning the Institute with the intention to ignite a new generation of artists who will be able to combine skill, artistic virtuosity and the intellectual passion to pose powerful questions about the state of our world and the ever evolving human condition."

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