Knowledge Building

• Community Arts Institute | Jazz.NEXT | Jazz Touring Network Presenter Workshops | Mid Atlantic Region Accessibility Retreats
• | Mid Atlantic Folklife Association | Mid Atlantic Folklorists Retreat | Mid Atlantic Forum | PennPAT Workshops and Roster Artist Retreat | Publications | Database Submission Forms | Traditional Arts Resources

The Foundation's Knowledge Building programs develop the effectiveness of mid-Atlantic and national artists and arts organizations and enhance their participation in MAAF's programs and services.

Programs include:

• Community Arts Institute is a symposium periodically offered by the Foundation to provide training to artists and organizations in planning and managing community-based arts projects involving visiting artists.  Special sessions are offered on visioning innovative and ambitious projects, encouraging regional exchange, integrating artists with civic life, and stimulating broad cultural participation.
  
• Jazz.NEXT is a national jazz initiative designed to encourage innovative approaches that can be enhanced through the incorporation of technology to address audience development, communications, distribution, marketing, and creating a more robust jazz infrastructure.  The program seeks to develop new models to help shape operating practices among artists, organizations, and presenters in order to build a more sustainable environment for jazz.  Jazz.NEXT will support a limited number of projects, annually convene grant recipients to foster dialogue and share information, and widely disseminate program findings through selected case studies.
• Jazz Touring Network Sessions are convened bi-annually at various locations in the mid-Atlantic region and provide Jazz Touring Network members and other interested presenting organizations with opportunities for professional development, peer mentoring, and planning for regional touring projects.
• Mid Atlantic Region Accessibility Retreats are held on an annual basis to address the challenges of accessibility in the cultural sector.  Accessibility coordinators from Mid Atlantic’s member states and their guests join together for two days of intensive workshops with leading accessibility experts from public and private agencies to look at current issues, share idea for success, and set goals.
• Mid Atlantic Folklife Association serves Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
  The Foundation provides a range of services to acknowledge the mission and good works of MAFA and to encourage its further growth. The Foundation also maintains the MAFA membership roster and assists with it's biennial conference.
• Mid Atlantic Folklorist's Retreat is sponsored by the Foundation approximately every 18 months.  The purpose of the retreat is to provide a forum through which folklorists and other folk arts professionals can network, share information about their programs, explore potential collaboration, and explore various ethnographic methodologies.
• Mid Atlantic Forum features a series of essays submitted by mid-Atlantic folklorists and special guests.  The series seeks to further the exchange of information and ideas among folklorists and their peers.
• PennPAT Workshops and Roster Artists Retreat . PennPAT provides professional development workshops for all Pennsylvania artists in the areas of touring preparation, marketing and making connections with presenters. PennPAT's Annual Roster Artists’ Retreat provides professional development workshops, networking and one-on-one consultations for roster artists only.
• The Foundation periodically releases Publications to further enhance or document specific programs. Currently available for purchase are From Bridge to Boardwalk: An Audio Journey Across Maryland's Eastern Shore, Folk Arts and Cultural Traditions of the Delmarva Peninsula, and Artists & Communities: America Creates for the Millennium.
• Database Submission Forms. Our online database features jazz musicians, community artists, residency host site organizations, and folk arts practitioners. Anyone matching the criteria can request a listing on this public information resource.
• Traditional Arts Resources provides links to many traditional arts organizations in the region and nationwide focusing on professional organizations, societies, public programming, and education programs in folklore.