Street Art - Fort Lauderdale Edition

Culinary and libation explorations in downtown Fort Lauderdale arts neighborhoods.

Original article can be found on https://www.artscalendar.com/street-art/
Photo by Andy Royston

As a relatively recent transplant to Fort Lauderdale, I have enjoyed exploring the various neighborhoods within this diverse city. As someone who works in the arts, finding an apartment in the Flagler Village neighborhood, which is home to two of our most unique, arts-centric districts, the MASS District and FATVillage (Music and Arts South of Sunrise and Flagler Arts and Technology, respectively), has been especially gratifying. The districts are home to many great restaurants, bars, art studios, boutiques, and of course, exciting street art.

I recently accompanied my team from the Cultural Division to FATVillage on a tour of the great murals located there. Our purpose was to explore ways to create self-guided street art tours of neighborhoods in Broward County. The visit also served as a great reminder of the wealth of art that can be found around us and the role public art (whether planned or unplanned) can play in enhancing our environment.

Some of these murals came to life through collaborations between FATVillage and various artists, while others simply appeared, according to Tayina Deravile, FATVillage’s director of arts administration and community engagement. Both of Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s arts neighborhoods offer unique experiences for residents and visitors. Whether you explore on your own or attend one of the lively art walks, you can easily spend a couple of hours exploring the art, followed by lunch and coffee at one of the many great restaurants and coffee shops.

Considering this is a culinary and libations theme, here are some of my favorites. If you’re looking for a great coffee experience with your art, head over to Brew Urban, located in FATVillage. If food and art is more your speed, check out Henry’s Sandwich Shop, Here and Now, or Sistrunk Market Place. These gems can be found among the district’s warehouses and murals and may just show you a side of Fort Lauderdale you never knew existed.

The arts in Broward offer myriad ways to stay connected and engaged, We’ve compiled a list of organizations that are now open and offering programming for the community. Here’s more on our Broward’s Re-openingpage.

Changing the Tune

Broward Cultural Division’s new director, Phillip Dunlap, brings a love of the arts and a fresh, egalitarian attitude.

By Christie Galeano-DeMott
Photography by RJ Hartbeck

Phillip Dunlap sits in a boardroom on the top floor of the main library overlooking downtown Fort Lauderdale on a May afternoon. It’s his third day as the director of the Broward Cultural Division, and his enthusiasm for his new job and the local art scene is palpable. 

“The fact that the local government here is not only recognizing the value in supporting the arts but is putting its money where its mouth is, that’s amazing,” he says. 

Having previously dedicated himself to the mission of Jazz St. Louis, a nonprofit focused on the arts, he knows exactly how local organizations can feel when striving to raise money, struggling to make payroll or letting people go because of budget cuts. Dunlap started as one of six staff members at the agency with a budget of $1.2 million and helped the organization grow to a team of 15 employees with a $3.5 million budget before he left. 

In his new position as director of the Broward Cultural Division, he oversees an $8 million operating budget with an additional $5 million to $7 million in capital appropriations for public art. Dunlap’s now on the other side of the table, ready to help organizations and artists with a sympathetic heart and a fresh set of eyes. He’s also ready to learn all he can from the community, the county’s ecosystem and the local arts landscape. 

“This job is bigger than me,” the 37-year-old says. “We are stewards of the public’s investment, here to serve Broward County and its residents.”

His strategy? Don’t rush the process. Instead, he plans to take the next several months to listen and gather feedback from organizations and artists. Dunlap wants to understand how the Broward Cultural Division can better serve the community—through artist grants, public art, arts education and support for artists and organizations—and how it can better represent the county through new events. He wants to ensure he’s inclusive and transparent. There’s an urgency to do it right, not fast. 

Dunlap’s story is a testament to the impact the arts can have. As a gay adolescent growing up in a small town in Iowa, he says he didn’t have any role models. Instead, music and theater were his outlets for self-expression, allowing him to connect with others who shared similar interests and passions. With his newfound love of music, it never occurred to him to pursue anything but that when he got into Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Recognizing the effect of the arts on future generations, Dunlap gets emotional when recounting one of his proudest moments at Jazz St. Louis: He watched a former participant of JazzU, a music program Dunlap created for middle and high school students, return after graduating college as a professional musician to perform on the stage where it all started.

“That’s the power of the arts,” he says with a sigh. “It gives opportunities. It’s a life-changer.”

Dunlap’s view of art is simple: He calls it the soul of the community. It’s a way for people to come together and share an experience, whether that’s a museum exhibition, musical performance or art fair. It also allows people to explore prominent issues like racial equality and inclusion in a thoughtful way. 

Although Dunlap has never worked for a government entity before now, he has plenty of experience working with it. In addition to working on behalf of the U.S. Department of State on arts programming abroad, he was involved with Missouri Citizens for the Arts, a statewide arts advocacy organization where he worked with lobbyists to drive arts policy. He also sat on the grants panel of the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, the largest annual funder of nonprofit arts in the region, where he reviewed applications and recommended funding for local agencies. 

As for Broward County’s art scene, Dunlap, who had never visited Fort Lauderdale until he came for his job interview, was blown away by it—a compliment to his predecessor and all the organizations working together to provide residents and visitors alike with thought-provoking and entertaining work from local and international artists. On the other hand, Dunlap sees his surprise about the area’s superb arts culture as an issue to tackle. He doesn’t want the local arts community to be the county’s best-kept secret. 

“I want to make us a destination for the arts,” he says. “The arts not only serve our community; they are also an economic development tool. I want our arts scene to be the leader.” 

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 Issue of Venice Magazine

Welcome to the New Director of the Cultural Division

Phillip Dunlap comes to Broward County from Missouri where he served as Director of Education and Community Engagement for Jazz St. Louis, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the thriving of jazz in America.

As someone who is a champion for arts and cultural diversity in communities, Dunlap served as President of Missouri Citizens for the Arts, organizing local and state-wide arts advocacy initiatives. He also served as Board President of Growing American Youth, a youth-focused LGBT social support organization in St. Louis, and is a member of the Board of Jazz Education Abroad, an international jazz-education and cultural diplomacy organization.

“Mr. Dunlap is a seasoned advocate for the arts and has a proven record of developing community partnerships to promote cultural development, education, and arts funding.

“He has grown programs to become impactful community initiatives that bridged generations and provided cultural opportunities on an international level. Mr. Dunlap has pioneered a wide range of community business engagement initiatives and this experience will be beneficial to our community.”

Monica Cepero,
Broward County Deputy County Administrator.

During his tenure with Jazz St. Louis, he pioneered after school initiatives for middle and high school jazz training programs, national-level collaborations with Jazz at Lincoln Center, artist residencies, early childhood, and music therapy programs.

“I am passionate about cultural diplomacy and education, and excited about the opportunities that await me in Broward County. The Broward community has an impressive history of supporting arts programs and their investment in cultural diversity really makes them an international destination. I look forward to playing a role in expanding on that solid foundation.”

Phillip Dunlap,
Director, Broward County Cultural Division

Also having a passion for teaching, Dunlap has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Webster University, and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville where he taught Jazz History and Music Business. In 2016, he created Business in the Arts, a course for the Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis that examines business concepts as they appear in the non-profit arts and culture industry.

He holds Bachelor of Music degrees in Jazz Performance and Music Theory/Composition and a Master of Music in Jazz Performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Dunlap will manage the Broward Cultural Division, with a staff of 18 and an annual operating budget of $9 million along with an additional $5-7 million dollars in capital appropriations for public art. His first day with the County will be May 6th.

Broward Cultural Division, the County’s local arts agency, enhances the community’s cultural environment through the development of the arts with grants, public art, education, advocacy and events. For more information call 954-357-7457,  visit the Broward Cultural Division website and follow @BrowardArts on Twitter and Facebook.

Speaking in Jazz: Lessons from the 2017 Thailand Jazz Workshop

Over the years, I have done a fair amount of work that is classified as Cultural Diplomacy. In my case, this typically centers around teaching and performing jazz in various countries around the world. My work in this arena has taken me to Guyana, Afghanistan, and most recently, Thailand, where for the past few years, I have taught for a week each spring at Rangsit University (about 30 minutes outside of Bangkok). The program is a collaborative effort by Jazz Education Abroad, Rangsit University, and the US Embassy in Thailand. I love doing this work and find it both a challenge and a joy to engage in, and on some level, it is nice to show others in the world that not all Americans are crazy……at least not entirely.

When you travel a lot, you begin to recognize the enormous amount of privilege you have as an American. Of course, you must allow yourself to see it as such, and some Americans may just observe things in a way as to conclude “this is just the way things are.” It is a view point afforded to those at the height of privilege, and as an American, it is in a sense, where I exist. This is not of my choice, but a product of hundreds of years of American policy, capitalism, imperialism, and many other factors I am not trying to unpack here. It is, however, my choice in how I choose to wield my privilege, and how I choose to let it inform my actions, reactions, and interactions with those of other cultures.

Improv class, working as a group, to write out a solo

Teaching is already a challenge, and even more so in situations where English, as prevalent as it may be, is not spoken or understood by everyone. Thailand was no exception, but recognizing this, and owning my privilege, helps me to be an effective communicator in these situations. I am not always successful, but I am always humbled and I always learn from these experiences.

The 2017 Thailand Jazz Workshop was a week full of learning, performances, and opportunities to exchange ideas with others. During the week, over 300 students came together to learn about jazz. They came from Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Nepal, and China. They were some of the most grateful, humble, and hungry-for-knowledge students I have worked with.

Each day, I taught four classes, beginning with Improvisation at 10 am, jazz combo at 11.30 am, piano master class at 2 pm, and big band at 3.30 pm. After all that, we had faculty concerts from 5.15 pm – 6 pm, and then dinner or a concert rehearsal. The days were certainly long, but the questions from students, smiles on faces, and “thank you teacher” as they exit, make it all worthwhile.

Myself and Tu, one of the students in my 13-piano Zebra Ensemble

Some of the greatest challenges during the week came with my jazz combo. I am generally given some of the youngest and least advanced students to work with, which I prefer to more advanced students. I also ended up with a wide range of abilities among this group due the sheer number of students, so some were much more advanced than others. I was also presented with a roadblock in that the only drum set in my room was an electric drum set, which sounds great in practice, but is actual the worst. Actually, it sounds horrible in every sense of the word! In the end, I was able to scavenge pieces of a drum kit and decided to take a New Orleans approach to the ensemble, which ended up working great.

Combo 13 in concert

The language barrier came up in this class when I discovered that only two of the students spoke English. Thinking I would have help in translating the lessons to the Thai language, I discovered one of the students was from Hong Kong, and the other from Nepal. None of the Thai students spoke English, and none of the English speakers spoke a lick of the Thai language. Music, however, is somewhat universal, and I was able to teach through singing and common musical terms.

The second challenge was that my large ensemble, called the Zebra Ensemble, (a term from Dan Herle at North Texas) consisted of 13 piano players, two drummers, and two bass players.

Epic piano ensemble, performing Armando's Rumba

In the end, I tend to thrive in these challenging situations. I have found myself to be resourceful and adaptable in arenas that others would find challenging. In fact, I seek these situations out and use them as a way to continue to improve my teaching. Being curious and willing to take risks is something that has served me well. After all, the place of being uncomfortable is where we tend to learn the most, and one doesn’t learn by staying in the same lane.

Students and faculty of the 2017 Thailand Jazz Workshop

Nice Work If You Can Get It: two new films go inside the jazz player's anguish and metier

 • Miles Ahead, starring Don Cheadle and Ewan McGregor, directed by Don Cheadle, produced by Don Cheadle, Mark Amin, Steven Baigleman, Robert Ogden Barnum, Pamela Hirsch, et al.

• Born to be Blue, starring Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo, directed by Robert Budreau, produced by Robert Budreau, Leonard Farlinger, Jennifer Jonas, and Jake Seal

• The original piece was written for The Common Reader, a publication of Washington University in St. Louis. The original can be found by clicking HERE.

•  •  •

Existing almost exclusively in the jazz world provides for an interesting existence. People’s perceptions about what you “do” creates interesting conversations and constant explaining to people that give you blank stares punctuated with an equally blank nod of the head. What is jazz, anyway? As it turns out, not a lot of people know, yet it is my job to find creative ways to teach people about the music. In my line of work, we are always trying to find ways of relating the abstract (jazz) with the common, which tends to be something more palatable or mainstream like baseball, fashion, or in this case, film. The latter provides fertile ground for parallels with jazz, or in this case, the telling of stories that focus on jazz musicians. After all, who does not like a good movie?

The spring of 2016 was unique in that two movies focusing on jazz were released: Born to Be Blue, featuring Ethan Hawke as the pretty-boy, West Coast jazz icon Chet Baker and Miles Ahead, which features Don Cheadle as trumpet legend, Miles Davis. Both are great movies for different reasons.

The fact that Miles Ahead is almost entirely fictional has been a major point of contention in the jazz community since its release. The film examines a point in Davis’s life where he had quit playing (roughly 1975-1980) for no other reason than he felt like he had said everything he had to say.[i] This is true, but the events portrayed in the film surrounding Davis and journalist David Brill, played by Ewan McGregor, as they chase down a stolen tape of Davis’s music are fictional; yes, the car-chase gun battle did not happen. Interestingly, Cheadle said in a Rolling Stones interview that McGregor’s character was essentially created in order to get the movie financed, and that “… until Ewan came on, until we had cast the proper white co-star, there was no Miles Davis movie.” A revelation about the power of the almighty dollar and race in the entertainment industry.

Historical embellishments aside (and there are a lot of them, as is typical in most biopics), the movie is entertaining and well done, staying true to Davis’s opening line of “if you’re gonna tell a story, come at it with some attitude. Don’t be all corny with this sh—t.” As a musician, the many flashbacks are of note because they are shot in a way that takes into account Davis’s aesthetic; the movie felt and looked like Miles Davis. From the graininess of the film, the colors, and Davis’s notable fashion sense, Cheadle does a good job incorporating these elements of persona in a way that adds to the film’s overall effectiveness in portraying the man that was Miles Davis. On August 25, 1959, when Davis was beaten by a cop outside of Birdland (the famous jazz club in New York, named after Charlie Parker) for speaking on very friendly terms with a white female fan, I found myself looking at the blood spatters on his white sport jacket to see if they matched those in the pictures taken after the actual incident that happened in 1959. I did not investigate beyond the casual thought.

Now, I understand why many in the jazz community were disappointed from the outset. I admit that when first saw the trailer, I was taken aback as I saw Davis, leaning out of a car, shooting a gun at the vehicle behind him as both cars squealed down the streets of New York. Many strong opinions were shared on social media, as well as in the press, and I can not say that I blame them. After all, Davis was such an iconic figure that his life and work should be able to stand on its own and without sensationalism. On the other hand, Miles’s life was so multi-faceted that it probably would not make for a great biopic in the traditional sense. This is a point that Don Cheadle does not try and push aside. His goal was not to make a movie about Davis’s life, but to make a movie that Davis would have wanted to be in. Davis’s persona and mystique is something that Davis enjoyed, but he energetically cultivated. Whether any of it was part of some elaborate act is beside the point because the fact is that Davis had a certain aesthetic and way he wanted people to see him. In this, the film was successful. Sure, many of the main plot points were made up, but Cheadle’s portrayal of Davis was convincing in the sense that if the story had been true, it would have been completely believable. If pushed to it, I bet Davis would have shot at someone to get back his music. A true telling of Davis’s life is probably better set for a Ken Burns documentary than it is for the silver screen.

Born to Be Blue, on the other hand, takes a different approach, in that the overall plot and most of the events related to the viewer are true. The film examines the year 1966, where Chet Baker lost most of his front teeth in a fight with a drug dealer, rendering him unable to play. As a result he is fitted for dentures and moves back to his parents’ home in Oklahoma, where he takes odd jobs (one of them pumping gas) and re-learns how to play. At this point in his career, he is largely broke and can not get any of his old record company friends to take a chance with him on another record (a result of many burned bridges due to heroin use). Helping him on his road to recovery is his girlfriend, actress Jane Azuka, a fictional character played by Carmen Ejogo that is likely a composite of many of the women in Baker’s life. In the movie, she is also conveniently a jazz pianist, or enough of one to be able to play in a jam session as the once famous trumpet player works to regain his chops. Baker is finally able to mount a very successful comeback (many think his most significant recordings were made in this period), but in the process also chooses his drug addiction over love.

Baker’s life was no less interesting than Davis’s, and they share many similarities including drugs, women, and record companies that treat them like cash cows instead of artists. Both began their rise to fame by playing with Charlie Parker, Miles leaving Parker because he could not abide Parker’s antics (Davis referred to Parker as “greedy”), and Baker leaving in part because, well, Parker, a victim of his enormous excesses, left this earth. Born to Be Bluehighlighted, on many occasions, Baker’s struggle with wanting to be perceived by his musical peers (Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie) as more than a pretty face with a sub-par singing voice that could sell records. After he played with Parker, Baker made up an oft-repeated tale of Parker returning to New York and telling Gillespie and Davis that there was a “little white cat on the coast who’s going to eat you up.”

Ironically, Baker was heavily influenced by early recordings of Davis, especially the 1949 recordings that eventually became Birth of the Cool. In the movie, Davis even makes an appearance is his comeback concert at Birdland and gives an obviously begrudging nod of approval. This event is fictionalized, but the somewhat contentious relationship between the two is not. One famous incident in 1963 tells of Davis approaching Baker between sets at the Blue Note, giving him a salute and saying “Man, you suck.” A few years later, Baker would grow to resent Davis and other black musicians, claiming he was a victim of reverse racism, being denied gigs and record deals because he was white.

On a broader level, both of these films tell a compelling story of both the sacrifices professional musicians make for their art and the sometimes tragic consequences that result. Many complaints could be lodged about what the movies did and not do, but I prefer to look on the bright side, and that is that in the spring of 2016, two movies were released about two famous jazz trumpet players. Despite the fictionalized aspects of both films, each stayed true to the depiction of who each of these men were, their triumphs and their faults. For our part, the jazz community can either use this as an opportunity to spark conversations that further interest in jazz, or we can sit in the corner like a scorned lover and lament the fact that, Miles Ahead in particular, was not the Second Coming.