What’s wrong with New York’s prison system and what can we do about it?

- Approximately 87,000 people are behind bars in New York’s prisons and jails
- More than 75% are African American or Latino
- Parole denials can keep people in prison decades past their minimum sentences, even with a clean record
- New York’s rate of prisoners in 23-hour-a-day lockdown is more than twice the national average
- It costs nearly $55,000 per year to house one person in a New York State prison
- Prisons do not solve the problem of violence because they are part of the cycle of violence

Join a discussion to build a statewide voice for change. Help develop a vision of community-based, compassionate, reintegrative, public health models for solving social problems – instead of mass incarceration. Change the dominant narrative – remember that prisoners are people, not faceless demons. Challenge the policymakers.

Sponsored by Syracuse Peace Council, Center for Community Alternatives and NYS Prisoner Justice Network

Free to the Public

Join Green Party members for a Teach-In!

Free and open to the public. Join the discussion as we demystify NY state economics and the recent Cuomo tax plan that was touted by both the liberal establishment and tea partiers as a step in the right direction; learn about the economic and social benefit of Single-Payer healthcare for all New Yorkers; and hear about how real progressives have run successful campaigns for office.  Confirmed speakers include: Howie Hawkins, Green Party; Gustavo de la Rosa, MD; Karen Nezelek, Single Payer NY. Childcare and transportation will be available – to make arrangement, please RSVP by Feb. 5th to 443-9041 or syracusegreen@yahoo.com

In a year long collaboration with ArtRage and The Syracuse International Film Festival we will host a screening from the SIFF archives about once a month. Don’t miss these great independent films! $5 Suggested Donation.

FINNSTER
by Thomas Korthals Altes (Netherlands) Fiction, 47 min

Finn (15) is an uncomplicated schoolboy until one day, coming home from school he catches his father Roelof in his moms dress. The man, Finn has looked up to his whole life, wants to become a woman. Finn, just discovering his own sexuality, is troubled by this new discovery. A struggle with feelings of shame, love and loyalty follows. Luckily Lizzie, his new found friend, is there to help him.

What a shock when teenage Finn’s comes home from school and catches dad wearing mom’s dress.  Discovering his own sexuality is trouble enough for Finn, now the man he’s always adored wants to be a woman! Seems like dark days ahead—til newfound friend Lizzie comes along.

AND

ANDROIDES
by María Pérez (Spain) Fiction, 15 min

Facing a boring and lonely summer,  androgynous teenage Simon takes to trying alien communication. No news is dull news till a mysterious girl comes into the neighborhood – and turns Simon’s life around.

“Is the spray can mightier than the sword?”

William Parry has created a moving tribute to the artwork depicting a people’s struggle to overcome a harsh existence.  Full-color photographs are featured on the pages of his book AGAINST THE WALL – THE ART OF RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE.  Join us at ArtRage where Parry will talk about his book and screen the photos that make up this amazing collection.

British street artist, Banksy and a London-based organization, Pictures on Walls, held their annual event in Bethlehem and invited 14 other international street artists to work with Palestinian artists.  The artists used the opportunity to utilize the Wall as a giant billboard for their own political messages with massive stunning imagery.  Some Palestinians however, reject the “beautification” of the walls:

Old man:  “You paint the wall, you make it look beautiful”

Banksy: “Thanks”

Old man:  “We don’t want it to be beautiful.  We hate this wall.  Go home.”

While the views among Palestinians residents  differ, most simply don’t have time for the Wall, as they’re too busy trying to cope with an oppressive dailly existence that is made more so by the very Wall adorned with artwork.

“The idea for this book started as I was walking around Bethlehem taking in the volume of witty and moving artwork, realizing that someday the wall will fall and the artwork should be saved for posterity.  I have tried to provide a glimpse into the spirit of the grafitti and the complex reality that generates it.” – William Parry, author.

Free to the Public.

Sponsored by Working for a Just Peace in Israel & Palestine. A program of the Syracuse Peace Council.

! FUNDRAISER !

photo © joan farrenkopf

FUNDRAISER ($10 donation welcomed)

OPEN HOUSE  1-5pm
LIVE MUSIC • FOOD • RAFFLE • OPEN MIC!

1 – 2pm – Atlantic Flyway

2 – 4pm
Open Mic/Sparky stories

4 – 5pm
Hanna Richardson & Phil Flanigan

AT ArtRage, 505 Hawley Ave.
315.218.5711
•

~ RAFFLE ~
Many Amazing Prizes including a Nook!
Raffle Tickets on sale at Sparkytown and ArtRage

Carved from the Heart - by Ellen Frankenstein and Louise Brady

One man loses his son to a cocaine overdose. Grieving, Stan Marsden, a Tsimpsean wood carver decides to create a totem pole in his son s memory and invites the town of Craig, Alaska to help. Before he is done, the pole becomes a communal project, bringing people of diverse backgrounds and ages together. Carved from the Heart intertwines the process of carving and erecting the Healing Heart totem pole with the participants’ stories of personal loss, grief, substance abuse, suicide and violence. This powerful film explores questions of death and dying, family relationships and parenting, domestic violence, and the impact of the war in Vietnam on veterans and their families. It also acknowledges the intergenerational grief growing out of the rapid changes in lifestyle, and the interruptions to the passing on of tradition and knowledge within Alaska Native and American Indian communities like Craig. But, most importantly, Carved from the Heart demonstrates the enormous power of mutual support, culture, art, and ceremony in enabling a community to face tragedy, provide support to its members, and find a path to healing.

All films are free to the public and no reservations are necessary – seating is on a first come, first serve basis.

In a year long collaboration with ArtRage and The Syracuse International Film Festival we will host a screening from the SIFF archives about once a month. Don’t miss these great independent films! $5 Suggested Donation.

THE MIRACLE
by Jeffrey Jon Smith (USA) Fiction, 29min

When she was born Tekki Lomniki had, as she says, “legs that were twisted like a soft pretzel.”  But that didn’t stop her from making tracks, and THE MIRACLE is her joyous life.

LIFE IS A BITCH
by Michaela Hoffova (Czech Republic) Animation, 8 min

FORMOL
by Noelia Rodríguez Deza (Spain) Documentary, 15 min

In a ‘ghost’ village, apparently deserted,  past, present and future all blend and the traces of hundreds of lives remain preserved in the ‘formol’ of time.

Carved from the Heart by Ellen Frankenstein and Louise Brady

One man loses his son to a cocaine overdose. Grieving, Stan Marsden, a Tsimpsean wood carver decides to create a totem pole in his son s memory and invites the town of Craig, Alaska to help. Before he is done, the pole becomes a communal project, bringing people of diverse backgrounds and ages together. Carved from the Heart intertwines the process of carving and erecting the Healing Heart totem pole with the participants’ stories of personal loss, grief, substance abuse, suicide and violence. This powerful film explores questions of death and dying, family relationships and parenting, domestic violence, and the impact of the war in Vietnam on veterans and their families. It also acknowledges the intergenerational grief growing out of the rapid changes in lifestyle, and the interruptions to the passing on of tradition and knowledge within Alaska Native and American Indian communities like Craig. But, most importantly, Carved from the Heart demonstrates the enormous power of mutual support, culture, art, and ceremony in enabling a community to face tragedy, provide support to its members, and find a path to healing.

All films are free to the public and no reservations are necessary – seating is on a first come, first serve basis.
For more information visit the Gifford Foundation site http://www.giffordfd.org/Initiatives/WhatifFilmSeries.aspx or http://www.fanlight.com/catalog/films/373_cfth.php

TRUST: Second Acts in Young Lives ~ A Nancy Kelly film.

Many who are familiar with Chicago’s theater scene, know of the Albany Park Theater Project’s (APTP) amazing work with youth. Nancy Kelly’s formidable new documentary TRUST allows us an in-depth look at APTP’s story-telling process and how their work helps transform the lives of young people. The story of Marlin, originally from Honduras, is one of sexual violence, separation from her mother, and the harsh realities of immigration. TRUST follows her harrowing, personal story that then becomes the basis for an original play. The film captures the respect, support and tenderness that APTP’s ensemble members show Marlin and beautifully illustrates the healing power of art and community.

“Trust: Second Acts in Young Lives is one of those brilliant pieces which reminds us what documentary does best: captures small, specific stories which illuminate much broader issues and themes.”  – Rick Ayers, Huffington Post

All films are free to the public and no reservations are necessary – seating is on a first come, first serve basis.

For more information visit the Gifford Foundation site http://www.giffordfd.org/Initiatives/WhatifFilmSeries.aspx or http://trustdocumentary.org/

In a year long collaboration with ArtRage and The Syracuse International Film Festival we will host a screening from the SIFF archives about once a month. Don’t miss these great independent films! $5 Suggested Donation.

A MATTER OF DEGREES
by Rick Godin (USA) Documentary, 24 min

See the Adirondacks in a time when mastodons roamed its valleys, tapirs swam its rivers, and whales slid above places where towns stand today. Exclusively produced for The Wild Centers wide-screen theater, this original film takes you an epic trip and shows how much climate shapes our lives.

WHEN YOU NEED THEM
by Pablo Cubarle (USA) Experimental, 24 min

Meet Marcos: a lonely Argentinean computer whiz, think geek squad, not Genius Bar, living in New York City. All those gadgets and technology networks comfort Marcos yet isolate him from most social interaction. Attempting to achieve a balance between techno and human companionship, Marcos awkwardly navigates his way through a dating website where he finally thinks he’s found life-long romance – or has he?