Three Creativity Camps will run between July 6 and August 6, for three age groups. They are:

From the Ground Up, for ages eight to 11: As part of the Matrix “Ghostwaters” project, students will use theatre and puppetry to learn about the wildlife that inhabits the waters of Detroit. Young artists will explore acting on an introductory level with emphasis on stage presence and character work. They will also learn the basics of puppet construction as they build hand and rod puppets.

The Environment and Me, for ages 11 to 14: Young artists discover how personal choices and actions affect the environment. Through improvisational writing and performance exercises the class will create a script about preserving our natural resources one person at a time, one decision at a time.

Better World, Better Me, ages 14 to 18: Teen artists will have the opportunity to develop a new play based on a pressing environmental issue of their choice. With mentoring in workshops on acting, poetry, dance and music, students will develop and present an original theatrical work. This work will be professionally performed at Matrix Theatre. The students will also have the opportunity to learn the technical aspects of live theatre. A field trip to an outdoor high/low ropes course will help to encourage students to conquer fears and work together, while a creativity-intensive weekend camping trip will bring them into nature.

For information on Matrix Theatre’s Summer Camps, or to register, please call 313-967-0999.

Matrix Theatre Company is a non-profit community-based theatre located in Southwest Detroit. Established in 1991, Matrix creates everything from scratch, from puppets of all sizes to over 90 original plays. Matrix Theatre Company uses the transformative power of theatre to change lives, build community and foster

social justice. It creates opportunities for children, youth, adults and elders, especially those in isolated or challenged communities, to become creators, producers and audiences of original theatre. For further information or to follow Matrix on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger, go to matrixtheatre.org.

As we get closer to the U.S. Social Forum and the debut of our giant Justin Dart puppet, there are less and less opportunities for community members to help in the collaborative creation of the puppet. But we want you to come out, no matter what your puppet-making experience is, and be a part of the process!

On Saturday May 22 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. we’re inviting everyone to come out and paint the paper-mache head, work on the frame, sew his signature hat and boots, and make buttons to be distributed to crowds.

Come down to Matrix Theatre Company at 2730 Bagley in Detroit, MI 48216.

The puppet will not only be used at the Social Forum, July 26 marks the 20 year anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and we are gearing up to march around the country with the puppet that represents one of the key figures in making the ADA a reality.

Call 313-967-0999 for more information or send an email to Volunteer Coordinator Ken Srdjak at ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org.

Whether you know a lot about Justin Dart’s story or just a little, this is a great chance to come out and be a part of this art project that celebrates not only Justin Dart,

This may be one of the last chances for the community to work on the puppet, so please spread the word!

Imagine downtown Detroit as a fertile paradise, as it existed long before industry came. Ghost Waters is Matrix Theatre Company’s three-year education, arts and awareness project which explores the ponds, marshes and rivers now hidden beneath downtown. Ghost Waters can be found where now sits Cobo Hall, Comerica Park and the Michigan Central Depot. What was lost in these places will be brought back to life through artistic stories, communal education activities, field trips, student showcases, workshops, street art and theatre pageants, all centered on water: its history, its present, and its role in the destiny of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

Ghost Waters’ next public event is the Water Fest, on Saturday, May 15, 2010 from 11am to 3pm outdoors at Matrix Theatre Company. Matrix is located at 2730 Bagley in Detroit’s Mexicantown. Performances, music, puppet workshops, food, and fun family activities will all focus on water consciousness.

A ghost water is any body of water that was buried in the name of human progress. Many of Detroit’s waterways were used as sewers and eventually buried, but hidden rivers still flow beneath the city. The project examines Detroit’s water history, its current water problems and their impact on the future. Ghost Waters aims to serve as a vehicle to foster a renewed sense of place in Detroit’s ecosystems. The importance of recycling, water-consciousness, sustainability, and the right of every human being to have access to clean, running water are some of the topics Ghost Waters will connect to, artistically and through community engagement.

Ghost Waters will bring the cause of water consciousness to the U.S. Social Forum, held in Detroit June 22-26, with a Procession of the Species Parade, art activities for youth, and the Savoyard Creek’s River Resurgence Pageant – where all are invited to participate in creating puppets that depict the hidden Savoyard Creek, still located below Congress Street.

Thanks in part to funds received from The Erb Family Foundation, The Kresge Community Arts Foundation, and The Skillman Foundation, Ghost Waters continues through summer 2012.

At its start in early 2010, Matrix School of Theatre students began incorporating recycled puppets, environmental themes and education about the forgotten waters into their work, which was featured in a showcase on World Water Day, March 22. An April field trip to Humbug Marsh gave participants a hands-on look at what Detroit’s ecosystems used to look like.

“We are at a pivot point with young people in terms of envisioning a new future for the city. And without some deeper knowledge about what the city is beneath its mantel of industrialism we cannot make an appropriate choice. People see outdoors not as nature, but as a negative – as dirty and bad. This was once a hyper-rich and productive ecosystem, and now there are 40 square-miles of vacant land in the city, but people still have trouble seeing a future,” said Dr. Shaun Nethercott, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Matrix.

Ghost Waters is a project that requires the creativity and commitment of the community to succeed. Anyone seeking to get involved in field trips, parades, puppet building projects or events should contact Matrix Theatre Company’s Volunteer Coordinator Ken Srdjak at ksrdjak@matrixtheatre.org or at 313-967-0999.

Matrix Theatre Company is a non-profit community-based theatre located in Southwest Detroit. Established in 1991, Matrix creates everything from scratch, from puppets of all sizes to over 90 original plays. Matrix Theatre Company uses the transformative power of theatre to change lives, build community and foster social justice. It creates opportunities for children, youth, adults and elders, especially those in isolated or challenged communities, to become creators, producers and audiences of original theatre. For further information or to follow Matrix on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger, go to matrixtheatre.org.

Learn from the past, Lead on into the future

Thirty-three years ago yesterday, on April 28, 1977, a hard earned victory was celebrated by the nearly 100 jubilant disabled activists who sat-in and took over the HEW federal building in San Francisco for almost a month. The event is still the longest sit-in of a federal building in America. These tenacious citizens and thousands of others with disabilities were demanding that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act be enforced immediately. Section 504, modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in federally funded programs. The Act had been passed in 1973, but 4 years later this section had not been implemented. The cry-out by the protesters was “ACCESSIBILITY NOW!”

Once enacted, colleges, universities, hospitals, federal courtrooms, airports, libraries, after school programs and others were required to be accessible for all people. Within a few years, we began to see ramps, bathrooms and entrances reachable for most people.

Many of us take these changes for granted, especially those of us called TBA’s: temporarily able body,” but the progress we have seen wasn’t always the case. Take for example the story of Justin Dart, who used a wheelchair as a result of polio. In 1951, while attending the University of Houston, he literally rolled his wheelchair to the bottom steps of the campus buildings waiting for students to accept his invitation to carry him up the steps to enter the buildings. A few years later, he was told that he could not earn a teaching degree because he used a wheelchair. He wasn’t alone – far from it. These barriers and deeply ingrained discriminations were ubiquitous for people with disabilities. Section 504 was critically important and began to open doors and minds. Though we have a long way to go, Section 504 was a huge leap forward, or perhaps I should say a huge ramp up in the right direction.

Section 504 also provides K-12 students with disabilities, who do not qualify for special education services under IDEA, the supports and services they need to learn and progress.

The activists who sat-in 33 years ago today demanding justice and the immediate implementation of Section 504 paved the way for the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act 13 years later. I am reminded of a famous photo of Justin and Yoshiko Dart and disabled activists gathered at a rally in front of a federal building. Behind the group is a large banner, blowing in the wind, holding the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.