Folk and Traditional Arts Coming Up

Folk and Traditional Arts is a pilot program designed to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups by identifying, documenting, preserving, presenting, and honoring Minnesota’s folk arts and traditions.

The goal of the Folk and Traditional Arts program is that Minnesotans will have multiple opportunities to engage in folk and traditional arts forms and become more aware of the folk and traditional arts offerings available to them.

Apply today at the Minnesota State Arts Board—The FY 2011 deadline is January 7, 2011.

Report from the 1st Meeting of State Parties on the CCM: 12/30

Save the Date  -- Thursday Dec. 30th, 2010!

Join the Lao community and Jack Rossbach for an interesting presentation  that will include the report from LAO about the successful 1st Meeting of States Parties for the Convention on Cluster Munitions Held in Nov. 2010 Laos (1MSP)  along with more general information about the wonderful people of Laos.

1MSP is an international effort to ban cluster munitions (121 Countries formally attended).

Come and celebrate with notable Lao community members, Nobel Peace Prize winning Laureates and other fine individuals.  Artifacts, Photos and video from 1MSP will be present.  Bring friends, family and anyone else that you can convince this is a good time.  Entertainers welcome.  As always we will have a pot luck dinner with hopefully Lao food so bring something even if it is only yourself.

When:   Thursday, December 30th 5:00-9:00PN+.

Where:   The Lao Family building located at 320 University Ave. W., St. Paul  (Near Western and University before Rice).  Contact at Lao Family Yao Lo 651-221- 0069 for additional information.

Who:  Jack Rossbach, Coordinator of the Minnesota Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions in partnership with the Lao community. Contact Jack for additional information.  Home 651-488-0524 or jack2ros@yahoo.com

Lao Assistance Center open this week

The Lao Assistance Center is open this week during regular business hours. If you need help or assistance regarding snow-related issues or other topics, please contact us, and be sure to drive safely.

Observing Memorial Day. Offices closed

 Lao Assistance Center will be closed on November 11th in observance of Veteran's Day. We will have regular hours on Friday.

Closing Reception for Legacies of War

Tuesday, October 26, 2010, “Legacies of War” Exhibit Private Tour, Discussion & Closing Reception

INTERMEDIA ARTS 2822 Lyndale Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55408

5:30-6 pm Bryan Thao-Worra and Mali Kouanchao will lead a private tour of the exhibit.

6-7 pm Facilitated discussion about the impact of the performance and the exhibit on the local Minnesota community with invited artists, leaders and community members.

7 – 9 pm Following this tour and conversation, guests will attend the Beyond the Performance where Bryan Thao Worra and May-Lee Yang will be featured performers along with other local writers and poets of color.

FREE & OPEN to the public

$5 Suggested Donation to Support Intermedia Arts, Pangea World Theater and Lao Assistance Center, Sponsored by the Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans. "This event is funded with money from the arts and cultural heritage fund that was created by a vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008."

Intermedia Arts, Pangea World Theater, and the Lao Assistance Center collaborated to create Legacies of War, displayed at Intermedia Arts. Curated by Malichansouk Kouanchao, the art exhibit opened on September 30 and runs through October 26. Presented in conjunction with the Refugee Nation touring performance, Legacies of War mission was “to raise awareness about the history of the Vietnam War era bombing in Laos and advocate for the clearance of unexploded bombs, to provide space for healing the wounds of war, and to create greater hope for a future of peace.”

The exhibit is an overdue acknowledgment of the tragedy of the U.S. bombings during the Secret War that drove many Laotian refugees to leave their homelands, and haunts them to this day. Legacies of War uses photographs, letters, and drawings created by Laotian refugees as tools to tell the story of the trauma they experienced, and to clear the way for a new future.

City Councilperson Barbara Johnson to visit Lao Assistance Center 10/26.

Minneapolis City Councilperson Barbara Johnson will be visiting the Lao Assistance Center on Tuesday, October 26th at 4:00PM at the Lao Assistance Center to learn more about our community!

Barbara Johnson was first elected to the Minneapolis City Council in 1997 to represent the Fourth Ward in the northwest corner of Minneapolis. She has served as President of the Minneapolis City Council since January of 2006. Council President Johnson serves on the Public Safety and Regulatory Services (PS&RS), Executive and Transportation and Public Works (TPW) committees of the City Council. She also serves on the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board, the Board of Estimate and Taxation, MEET Minneapolis, the City Labor-Management Committee, the Municipal Building Commission (MBC), the Riverfront Development Corporation and Hennepin County’s Task Force on Teen Pregnancy.

Council President Johnson is a registered nurse. Her background in health has spurred her support for health sector growth in Minneapolis. Barb is very interested in establishing partnerships through biotechnology and learning from other local governments about solutions to municipal problems. She has a strong interest in parks due to the 18 years of service on the Metropolitan Parks & Open Space Commission. She also served on the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area Commission, appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Barb was a founding member of the Victory Neighborhood Association (VINA) and was the Chair from 1994-1997. She is a former Girl Scout leader and community volunteer.

We think this visit will be very interesting for many members of the community with her wide range of interests and knowledge.

County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin to visit Lao Assistance Center 10/28

County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin will be visiting the Lao Assistance Center on October 28th at 10:30 AM. Come join us and learn more about what he does and what he can do to help our community.

Peter McLaughlin joined the Hennepin County Board in 1991. He is presently chair of the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, chair of the Public Works, Energy & Environment Committee and co-chair of the Intergovernmental Committee.

He coordinated the regional effort with the help of labor, business and the community in successfully lobbying for Light Rail Transit (LRT) funding which led to the opening of Minnesota’s first light rail line, the Hiawatha Line, in 2004. In 2008, he was instrumental in establishing a dedicated funding source to expand the region’s transit system of light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit lines. He presently serves as chair of the Counties Transit Improvement Board, which invests revenues from the five-county metro sales tax for transitways and advocates for expansion of the transit system.