Energized by a passion for weaving ideas and people together, the Fertel Foundation supports projects related to the arts and education. It has a special interest in initiatives from which new communities and new insights may emerge and those that challenge entrenched communities of power. The New Orleans-based foundation, established in 1999, also helps rebuild a better New Orleans – and create national models – in a post-Katrina world.
NEWS
Seeking Nominations for The Ridenhour Prizes The Ridenhour Prizes recognize individuals whose acts have protected the public interest, promoted social justice or illuminated a more just vision of society. Founded in honor of Vietnam whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour, the annual prizes carry a $10,000 stipend. Recipients in 2008 included journalist Bill Moyers, author James Scurlock and Guantanamo whistleblower/attorney Matt Diaz. (Learn more about Ron Ridenhour and the prizes here.) As we approach the end of a year in which we have witnessed an international financial collapse and a historic Presidential campaign season, we would welcome nominations for the Prize for Truth-Telling — an award honoring a citizen, corporate or government whistleblower or investigative journalist for bringing a specific issue of social importance to the public's attention — as well as for the Ridenhour Book Prize, which recognizes an outstanding work of social significance from the past publishing year. To nominate a truth-teller or a book, please click here; nomination deadline is December 1.
McCain's Stuck Narrative New America Media, Commentary, Randy Fertel, Posted: Oct 16, 2008
Editor’s note: John McCain bills himself as a war hero. He invokes his suffering in prison as a key thread to his narrative. But NAM contributing writer, Randy Fertel, says that trauma does not automatically build character, and recovering from it needs a deeper understanding of one’s own suffering. Fertel is adjunct professor of Liberal Studies at New School for Social Research, and a contributor to NPR and Huffington Post. Read more...
The Ol' Boys of Braithwaite: Hurricane Gustav and Wetland Ingenuity
By Randy Fertel from the Huffington Post: An essay on the dubious quality of hurricane coverage in national media, the importance of Louisiana's coastal wetlands to the rest of the nation, and how the Ol' Boys of Braithwaite saved dozens of houses and reassured us all. Go to article on the Huffington Post...
Ruth U. Fertel Foundation has made a major grant to support the educational outreach of an international art event in New Orleans.
When it opens on November 1, 2008, Prospect.1 New Orleans will be the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States. It will showcase new artistic practices and offer an array of programs for the local community during its eleven-week run. Part of Prospect.1 New Orleans is an education program designed to introduce local K-12 students to contemporary visual arts, offering a truly world-class view of cutting-edge creative ideas from around the world. Learn more...
“Whistleblower” panel highlights National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ conference in New Orleans
"The American Way of Dissent: Whistleblowers and Investigative Reporters" featured Bob Mann, LSU's Manship School of Mass Communications, on "The Loyal Opposition: Wartime Dissent in America." followed by a panel: Randy Fertel, the Fertel Foundation, on the Ron Ridenhour Prize and whistleblowers in government; Hamilton Fish, The Nation Institute, on the Fund for Investigative Reporters; and Esther Kaplan, Editor, The Nation Institute Investigative Fund. To read coverage of New Orleans during the conference, For more information, Click Here
Food Legend Alice Waters Visits Student Gardeners, Chefs of Edible Schoolyard New Orleans
From the New Orleans Times Picayune: At the Green Charter School's Edible Schoolyard open house Tuesday, Alice Waters' vision became reality: Students proudly served silver trays of food they had grown on school grounds.Green's garden is the first in the nation modeled on the one Waters established at a middle school near Chez Panisse, her ground-breaking restaurant near San Francisco. Learn more...
The Soul of New Orleans: Katrina Five Ways By Randy Fertel, from the Kenyon Review." Katrina Five Ways" has been named a “notable essay” in the Best American Essays of 2006, edited by Lauren Slater and Robert Atwan, and received "special mention" from the Pushcart Prize (Best of the Small Presses). Learn more...
