Grand Canyon Goes to Fort Worth, TX
May 10th, 2011
Every year, 4.5 million visitors from all over the world visit Grand Canyon National Park. Most only stay about 2o minutes and this is after spending about 8 to 10 hours in a large tour bus for a round trip ride from Las Vegas, NV or Phoenix, AZ for a chance to see one of the most amazing places in the world. That seems like such a waste of time, especially when there is so much more to see and experience than just the views from Bright Angel Lodge. The people of Fort Worth, TX are foregoing the planes, trains and automobiles and experiencing Grand Canyon from their own back yard! No, the Grand Canyon is not victim of a recent, massive continental drift occurrence, but through experiential learning, Grand Canyon can travel.Imagination Celebration Forth Worth (ICFW) has been conducting a year long series of city-wide multidisciplinary celebrations, performances, exhibits and programs that will bring Grand Canyon to students and the general public through May 2011. Educational programs relating to the theme "America the Beautiful: A Celebration of Our National Parks" have been presented in both public and private schools since the Fall and have opened these elements to the general public through the Spring 0f 2011. Since Fall of 2010, ICFW and numerous Fort Worth arts and cultural organizations have joined in developing this series, all of which include educational components for over 79,000 school children, as well as an anticipated public audience of 100,000.
Projects included, but were not limited to, the ICFW Annual Logo Competition and City-Wide exhibit; "A Sense of Place: Artists Explore the American West," the Grand Canyon Artist-in-Residence program, "The Art of Exploration: Our Lands, Forests, Ancient Peoples and Wildlife," and the "Planting of the Oaks." May 2011 is the month dedicated to "America the Beautiful: A Celebration of Our National Parks, " where for 31 days, student and public audiences can experience a special series of events with an in-depth focus on Grand Canyon National Park, including unique exhibits, performances, lectures and other activities in cultural institutions and performance halls across Fort Worth.
The May 2011 events are numerous and offer more to the visitors of Grand Canyon. In fact, the only thing lacking is a hike to the Colorado River.
Highlights include...
- A screening of Ken Burns' documentary America's Best Idea
- Performances by Havasupai, Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni tribal members
- Grand Canyon-inspired music by cellist Rhoda Rider
- Premiere of a dance piece inspired by the return of the condor and the glory of Grand Canyon
- Premiere of "Grand Canyon 360"
- Newly-composed music by Native American students in Fort Worth with a collaboration with Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project, preformed by New York-based string quartet ETHEL
What is so amazing about this program is it takes about a year to show a smaller number of people everything Grand Canyon has to offer, yet, visitors who have spent only 20 minutes at the park say they have "been to Grand Canyon." If that is the case, participants of ICFW's program have actually experienced Grand Canyon and hopefully will one day visit for longer than 20 minutes.
For more information about "America the Beautiful: A Celebration of Our National Parks," visit the website at http://www.icfw.org/Grand_Canyon.htm.
