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
Hoh, Sacco and Zinn win 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.
Historian and activist Howard Zinn has been posthumously awarded The Ridenhour Courage Prize for his determination to showcase the hidden heroes of social movements throughout history, his refusal to accept the history of only the powerful and victorious, his steadfast belief in the potential for a better world, his unflinching moral stance on fighting whatever he perceived was wrong in society, and his effort to inspire students to believe that, together, they could make democracy come alive.
The Ridenhour Book Prize honors Joe Sacco’s tenacious reporting and recognizes Footnotes in Gaza as a work of profound social significance, one that explores the complex continuum of history. At a time when peace in the Middle East has never seemed more elusive, Sacco’s illustrations bear witness to the lives of those who are trapped by the conflict. This marks the first time that the Ridenhour judges have awarded the prize to an illustrated book.
Matthew Hoh, the State Department official who resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan, has been awarded The Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling. At a time when Afghanistan was still looked at as the “good war,” Hoh came forward, very publicly and at great personal risk, to question the war’s fundamental rationale. His passionate and informed letter of resignation lit a spark and was, for many, the first extended argument against further escalation in Afghanistan.
(Learn more about Ron Ridenhour and the prizes here.)
First “Edible Evening” Is a Smashing Success at Edible Schoolyard New Orleans: More than 600 supporters turned out to enjoy a mid-March garden party under the stars at the Edible Schoolyard New Orleans. The proceeds help ensure the sustainability of this nationally acclaimed garden and kitchen model program at Green Charter School. Special guest at the event was Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse Restaurant, international food activist and creator of the original Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. Among the highlights: live music by New Orleans MusicianCorps Fellows and seasonal delicacies from great local restaurants including Bacchanal, Bayona, Beaucoup NOLA, Boucherie, Bourbon House, Chef April of ESYNOLA, Cochon, Commander’s Palace, Domenica, Emeril’s, La Divina Gelateria, MiLa, Mimi’s in the Marigny, Patois, Swiss Bakery, White Oak Plantation(Chef John Folse), Whole Foods and more! Learn more...
Chef April Goes to the White House!
April Neujean, who leads the kitchen/cooking effort at Edible Schoolyard New Orleans, was one of a handful of chefs nationwide invited to the White House in March to work with Assistant Chef Sam Kass on ways to make school lunch programs nationwide healthy and sustainable..
Healthy & Sustainable in New Orleans:
Randy Fertel is a member of the New Orleans Food Policy Advisory Committee, which has made many recommendations to improve the local food system. Read more…
Grammy Winners & MusicianCorps Members Pass New Orleans Music Tradition Along to Kids
David Pulphus, who shared a 2010 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album as part of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and Terence Blanchard, who won in the Best Improvised Solo category (his fourth Grammy), share something besides musical accolades. Both are part of MusicianCorps in New Orleans, a new initiative that combines the power of creativity with the desire to serve.
New Orleans is one of four cities chosen for this “musical peace corps” launched in five New Orleans schools last fall. Read more of this story. Read about David Pulphus and the New Orleans program in GOOD. And visit www.musicnationalservice.org
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...
