WELCOME TO ...
CHALLENGE AND HOPE (A YOUTH ARTISTS
COALITION DISCUSSION CENTRE)
UPDATE: 9.19.1999 In trying to republish some updates and a new links page etc, somehow all our previous stuff on the forum vanished...Im very sorry, but now it will be a new beginning.
ABOUT THE DISCUSSION CENTRE
This is to be a forum for all young people, probably of an artistic talent ( but
certainly not exclusively so - I want every young person inclined to contribute),
to exchange ideas, seek help and guidance from available adult mentors/guides, and
generally address issues and challenges ( both of an artistic nature and global or
personal ones) that you face and that concern you...School seem a joke? not being taken
seriously? Working on your music /dance/painting/writing/whatever and not sure where to go
with it? Want feedback, new ideas, collaborators? Wonder " what it all means?"
What to DO with what you do?
This is a place to come together and simply share and explore these things ( and whatever
else may come up), and maybe in the process to help the world along a bit by
supporting each other in your endeavours and looking at these issues -
because if our work is strengthened, then our ability to move and transform others is
stronger too; and thats how we make the world a bit better ...
HOW THIS STARTED
As a parent and musician (click here to a link
regarding my work), I've had the recent good fortune to meet two very talented young
people via the Internet, with similar troubles and issues (namely, the horrible state of
education and the pressure by some teachers to conform to a societal way of thinking and
more crucially, of learning). I was struck by the fact that they didnt know each other,
but they had such an equivalent experience; I thought, " there have to be more than
these two, and what if a bunch of them could get together?" and the net seemed the
best way to do this, so here we are. Here were two people who knew what the game is, and
what this generation is up against... and it gave me great hope to know that there were
young people like this, people blessed with talent, vision and concern...and I know there
are so many more out there, and even many more than that who dont even know what they are
capable of because the System has already squashed it. And I want all of you
to blossom and bloom and nurture each other and to meet each other because if not , the
System will win ...and I think that yours is the crucial generation, so if you get to know
each other now, then when you are older and in a position of influence, you might have a
little network that can really make some great and beautiful things happen.
ABOUT THE YOUTH ARTISTS COALITION
Well at this point it launches here
with the Discussion Centre, and whatever evolves from what transpires on the Discussion
Centre will determine what activities the Coalition will get into...its your forum
and your resource, let me know what it is you need, and Ill do my very best to make it
happen for you. I envision setting up mentoring programmes, links to other resources,
etc...
RULES AND GUIDELINES
There arent too many - just be thoughtful, sincere, and above all respectful.
Everyone has a view and you can disagree with it intensely, but name-calling doesnt help
anything. Try instead asking the other person to explain why they feel that way -
get the other person to search themselves for a really good explanation, and they'll in
turn do the same for you. Eventually you get to the core of different views and you can
see what the underlying aesthetic principles are. You may still disagree, but
everyone will have learned something.
Im not too hip on profanity, and neither is the web host - so keep it clean
please, (or I'll boot ya off...and I will!)
At this time, there's no limit on the length of submissions or how many times you can post
- if we run out of webspace on the host, we'll look for larger digs. Anyway, enjoy, and
let' see what happens...
GETTING AROUND THE SITE
There is a problem with navigation bars sometimes in FrontPage, and in the prefab navigation bars at the TOP of each page, you cannot get HOME. Use the navigation bars at the BOTTOM of each page and you'll have no trouble. You will still need the TOP navigation bar for some of the posting work and finding threads.
