OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
By Jennifer Dowley

    One of the more interesting movements in the arts in America over the last 20 years has been the deep commitment among some artists to move out of the studio/off the stage and into the community for the inspiration andimplementation of their work. This artwork is not just about the artist's vision but about what emerges between the artist and the participants. For the last 24 years ­ quietly and unseen because for the most part, they work overseas, Eliot Osborn and Louise Lindenmeyr have been guiding Project Troubador along just such a course. Their work is less about the events they stage and more about what results from these engagements. Eliot says Project Troubadour is about allowing deep connections to be made between even the most unlikely people because music and art¹s voice moves so easily beyond language and culture. Louise describes their work as animating what is already being done in the villages - that the performances are a catalyst to help the villagers say and do what they need to ­ that the mask making and playwriting workshops provide an affirmation of how they can use what is already theirs.

    I have always felt that artists are the ultimate humanists and humanitarians. Their work explores and supports what it means to be human, making it possible for all of us to join them in an open inquiry of our world, and to connect to a deeper terrain of human consciousness. Project Troubador is something important ­ proof that in little ways, these explorations can have a big impact.  They are interested in what connects us all as human beings, and their work seeks to get to that common touchstone. It is no surprise that the U. S. State Department sends them abroad, and I can say with complete equanimity that the world is a better place because of Project Troubador's and that as an American citizen, I am grateful for theirdiplomacy.

    Jennifer Dowley is currently President of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.  Prior to moving to the Berkshires, she was Director of Museums and Visual Arts at the National Endowment for the Arts, in Washington, D.C.

INSIDE LOOKING OUT

    By nature, man has shown himself to be a slow learner. Only when wounded and cornered does he seem to be able to make choices that transcend his own interests in favor of those that encompass a more universal view. So perhaps by necessity, much of what propels us toward enlightenment and the common good finds its origin in our darkest hours. Happily, there is a silver lining. Once united by horror and grief, mankind has shown heartening glimpses of a broader thought process that holds the promise of a world we would all prefer to live in.

    As bleak a moment in American history as 9/11 will forever be, it is also an opportunity. With all we have suffered and endured, we would be wise to do something special with it... something that transcends our own interests in favor of everyone's... something that will greatly improve our chances of never experiencing these depths of despair again. To attain this higher ground, we need to do the simplest of all things... change... and we need to do it before we create a whole new legion of people who dislike us for doing to them what was done to us. In place of that course of action, we need to see that building relationship is wiser, safer, and more affordable than using our might to get both our allies and our enemies to cleave to our will. In so doing, our humanity will surface, and only our humanity is capable of inspiring the trust and understanding which we are so anxious to experience.
   
    Regardless of what avenue our elected officials choose for our nation, we are asking you to help Project Troubador continue to pursue the one we have been constructing for twenty-four years. The eyes of the world are upon us, straining to see what we as people will choose to do now. Read on and surmise for yourself what we are up to, but realize how much more effective we can be with you than we will be without you. Help us embrace the opportunity that this moment presents. Join us in doing something with it.