In keeping with the mission statement of community support, American Repertory Theater of Western New York has created a website and Facebook Page dedicated to opening up online forums to discuss issues facing WNY Artists. This new Website Public Forum page is entitled "The Voices of Western New York Artists."

These public forums are designed for all members of WNY Cultural Groups, media, individual artists and anyone with an opinion that faces Artists in Western New York.

Those visiting The Voices of WNY Artists website and the Facebook page are encouraged to post opinions, offer links to blogs & websites, announce upcoming shows and, most importantly, utilize their voices for the sole purposes of creating dialog and being heard.

 Iara Lee: Cultures of Resistance Film Premiere 

Does each gesture really make a difference? Can music and dance be weapons of peace? In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, travelling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change. This is their story. CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.

Iara Lee, a Brazilian of Korean descent, is an activist, filmmaker, and founder of the Caipirinha Foundation, which supports projects to secure peace with justice.

Besides the now increasingly harrowing weather reports, a recent national report in the past month has caught my attention.

Newsweek gave the US Citizenship test to 1,000 Americans to test their knowledge of their country's past and present history. The result yielded a staggering 38% failure among those who were tested.

To understand the difficulty level of this test, I both took the Newsweek condensed version and the multiple-choice, full version US Citizen test.