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RETROSPECTIVE
MONTH OF JUNE 2011
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Le 21 Juin, Chicago s'est joint pour la toute première fois à la célébration de la Fête de la Musique : l'événement “Make Music Chicago”, organisé par l'association Rush Hour Concerts en partenariat avec le Consulat général de France, s'est déroulé tout au long de la journée sur une trentaine de sites à travers toute la ville, et avec la participation de 150 groupes de musiques, amateurs comme professionnels. Gospel, rock, jazz, chanson française... tous les genres étaient les bienvenus à Make Music Chicago, qui a bénéficié d'une couverture médiatique importante, et dont le “Grand Finale” a été retransmis en direct par la station de radio WFMT.
L'opération a été couronnée d'un franc succès et a suscité l'enthousiasme de la communauté de Chicago, charmée par l'idée de fêter la musique et le solstice d'été. Maintenant le 21 Juin 2011 passé, beaucoup n'attendent qu'une chose : que Make Music Chicago revienne l'année prochaine!
Make Music Chicago en images:
Facebook du Consulat -Site Make Music Chicago
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JUNE 30: LEGION OF HONOR CEREMONY TWO WWII VETERANS OF THE MIDWEST
On June 30, Mr. Charles ROHDE from Missouri and Mr. Edmund T. Truckenbrodt from Ohio were awarded the French Legion of Honor medal for participating in the liberation of France. Family members and friends gathered at the French Consulate to attend the ceremony.
Mr. Charles ROHDE enlisted at the age of 20, in January 1943 as a Technical Sergeant in the Headquarters Company of the 467th Artillery. From January 1944 to October 1945, he participated in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. For his remarkable deeds and courage, the American Government presented him with prestigious awards the Bronze Star Medal, the European, African, Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with one Bronze Service Arrowhead, the Good Conduct Medal, three Overseas Service Bars, and five Bronze Battle Stars.
Mr. Edmund T. Truckenbrodt, enlisted at the age of 21 in June 1944 as a rifleman in company M of the 15 th Infantry Regiment of the 3 rd Division. From January 1945 to March 1945, he participated in the northern France, ardennes, and central europe campaigns. For his achievements and bravery, the American Government presented him with prestigious awards the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the European, African, Middle Eastern Theater Medal with two Bronze Stars, the Combat Infantryman badge and the World war ii victory Medal. |
Left to right, Mr. Charles Rhode,
Consul general Graham Paul and
Mr. Edmund T. Truckebrodt
The Veterans are sharing memories |
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| JUNE 18: "UNE SOIREE MAGNIFIQUE" CELEBRATION OF FRANCE GALA PRESENTED BY THE MINNESOTA INTERNATIONAL CENTER IN THE PRESENCE OF CONSUL GENERAL OF FRANCE GRAHAM PAUL. MORE THAN 400 GUESTS ATTENDED THE EVENT. |
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Consul General Graham Paul and auctioneer
Karen Sorbo |
Consul general Graham Paul and
Mrs Martha "Muffy" McMillan, Gala Honorary Chair |
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| JUNE 14: RENAISSANCE AWARDS CEREMONY WITH FRENCH AMBASSADOR FRANCOIS DELATTRE ON CAPITOL HILL |
Annual Awards Ceremony for Renaissance Française - USA recognizing Americans who have promoted France, the French language and cultures where French is spoken. Held Tuesday, June 14, 2011, at 2203 Rayburn Building on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. A unique aspect is that Honorees are selected by Americans to receive the French awards.
Honorees and Delegates were then invited to the Ambassador's Residence to join the Congressional French Caucus in a reception.
Among this year' honorees:
- Reid Henri LEWIS from Elgin, Illinois received the Médaille d’Or de Solidarité et Valeur. This medal distinguishes persons who have devoted themselves to public service, or to social works of a charitable, philanthropic, civic or sporting nature, intended to improve the quality of life.
- Dr. Albert VALDMAN, Ph.D. from Bloomington, Indiana was awarded the Médaille d’Or du Mérite Francophone. This medal recognizes those who devote themselves to the development or tightening of linguistic or cultural ties between France and other countries sharing the French language, or to the development of the French language and culture in their country.
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Left to right: Rep Russ Carnahan, St. Louis, MO, Co-Chair, Congressional French Caucus;
Honorees: Ambassador Craig Stapleton, Greenwich, CT; Reid Lewis, Elgin, IL;
Renaissance Française - USA President, Jane Robert, St. Louis, MO, Ambassador François Delattre, Washington, DC. Honorees: Katharine Branning, New York, NY; Christopher Pinet, Bozeman, MT (not pictured, Honoree Dr. Albert Valdman, Bloomington, IN). |
Reid Henri LEWIS is founder and director of Aventure Française, Inc., a total-immersion language school with weekend and summer programs for middle school, high school and adult students. Created in a recreational setting in 1987, Aventure Française models the use of the French language for authentic purposes while engaging students in fun, novel activities, primarily out-of-doors.
During the American bicentennial celebration in 1976, Mr. Lewis led a 23-man canoe trek to replicate the La Salle Expedition from Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico in 1681-82, creating temporary camps along the Mississippi River to teach residents about the French in America. He also re-enacted the 3,000-mile voyage of Joliet-Marquette in 1673-74 and served as consultant, translator, crewmember, and actor in a film about the Mississippi River for the Cousteau Society. As founding member and board director of La Compagnie des Amis de Fort de Chartres, Mr. Lewis contributed to the restoration of the last eighteenthcentury French fort built in the Illinois Country. |
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His current projects to enhance Franco-American friendships include locating La Salle’s
ship Le Griffon and serving as a representative to Chicago-Paris Sister Cities, the Chicago Marathon, Alliance Franco-Américaine du Midwest, and France-Louisiane Franco-Américaine. A French-immersion teacher, adventurer, environmentalist, and motivational speaker for forty years, Reid Lewis delivers multimedia
presentations to schools, civic groups, and corporate meetings in the United States and abroad. The French government has awarded Mr. Lewis the title of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. |
| ALBERT VALDMAN is Rudy Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, where he chaired the Department of French & Italian and Linguistics and established the Creole Institute, the only center in the United States which specializes in research and training in the area of applied linguistics with a focus on French-based creoles. He earned his Ph.D. at Cornell University and was granted an honorary doctorate from the University of Neuchâtel. He served as president of the International Association of Applied Linguistics and as president of the American Association of Teachers of French. He is now on the Comité International des études Créoles and on the scientific network “étude du français en francophonie” of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie. |
Dr. Valdman is past President of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) and Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, as well as French and Italian Languages at the University of Indiana |
Dr. Valdman first authored two pioneering basic resources published in France: Le créole: structure, statut et origine (1978) and Le français hors de France (1979). He then was at the forefront of studies of North American varieties of French, developing course and reference materials through the Creole Institute. He has written some 200 articles for journals and written or edited several books, including A Dictionary of Louisiana Creole (1998), the Haitian Creole-English Bilingual Dictionary (2007), and the very first Dictionary of Louisiana French
As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009).
He also co-authored a college French program, Chez nous: branché sur le monde francophone, now in its fourth edition. He is the founder and editor of the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition.
Dr. Valdman has been a member and served as officer of several national and international professional associations and organized several conferences and conventions. In recognition of his work, the French
Government has named him Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques and he was received into the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française in Quebec. |
HISTORY OF THE RENAISSANCE FRANCAISE
La Renaissance Française was founded in 1916 as a private cultural organization by French president
Raymond Poincaré in anticipation of the allied victory in World War I. Its original mission was to
facilitate a return to French language and culture in the regions of Alsace and Moselle after years of
German domination. As this objective was accomplished between the two world wars, the association
was recognized as a public non-profit organization benefiting from the patronage of the President
of the French Republic and the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of the Interior, of Defense, and
of Education. It has broadened its mission to include the promotion of French culture generally, as a
cradle of humanism and respect for all beliefs and nationalities.
In the 1980s the organization extended its reach to include all French-speaking countries. Accordingly,
delegations were formed in countries recognizing French as an official language such as Switzerland
and Belgium, along with Argentina, Canada and Romania. Today, under the presidency of Préfet
Antoine Guerrier de Dumast, the organization combines chapters in France with those in francophone
countries and regions. La Renaissance Française has recently established a delegation in the United
States and has formed or is in the process of forming delegations in China, Italy, Lebanon, Madagascar
and Morocco.
His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States, serves as Président
d’Honneur for the Delegation in the United States. Simone Veil, former Ministre d’Etat, past President
of the European Parliament and current member of the Académie française, serves as Présidente
d’Honneur of La Renaissance Française in Paris.
Founding in the United States
On October 9, 2009, the United States Delegation of La Renaissance Française held its first official
meeting at La Maison Française at New York University, courtesy of Professor Tom Bishop.
Complete information
Contact: Jane Robert, President: janerobert@mac.com St. Louis, MO. Tel. 314 821-6868 www.la-renaissance-francaise.com |
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JUNE 10: CONSUL GENERAL OF FRANCE GRAHAM PAUL VISITS MONET EXHIBITION AT NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI.
Consul General of France Visits Monet Exhibition at Nelson-Atkins Museum
Visit Coincides with Nelson-Atkins Inclusion in International Museum Collaboration |
Kansas City, MO. June 10, 2011–The Consul General of France, Graham Paul, as a guest of the Alliance Francaise Kansas City, visited The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art today to view Monet’s Water Lilies with Museum Director & CEO Julián Zugazagoitia and Sarah F. Rowland, Chair of the Board of Trustees. Paul’s visit coincided with the inclusion of the Museum in FRAME, The French Regional & American Museum Exchange, a formal collaboration of museums in 13 cities in France and 13 museums in the United States.
“The Nelson-Atkins joins a distinguished group of museums on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Dr. Charlotte N. Eyerman, Director, FRAME, North America. “With its outstanding encyclopedic collections, its legacy of exceptional exhibitions and publications, and its dynamic new director, Julián Zugazagoitia, FRAME congratulates The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as its newest member. We look forward to working with the director and his staff on new initiatives.”
FRAME’s mission is to promote cultural diplomacy within the context of museum exchanges of collections, exhibitions, professional staff, education and the web. Its projects have tremendous variety in scope and in subject matter. |
Pictured: Cyprienne Simchowitz, Graham Paul, Julián Zugazagoitia and Nicole Myers, associate curator of European painting and sculpture.
Photo credit: Lou Meluso |
“I am delighted that the Nelson-Atkins is now part of the wide network of exchange with these notable museums in the United States and France,” said Zugazagoitia. “I have personal memories of many of these museums, as I worked and studied in France for many years.”
Paul paid a cultural visit to Kansas City as the guest of Cyprienne Simchowitz, president of Alliance Francaise Kansas City.
FRAME (French Regional and American Museum Exchange) is a consortium of 26 museums in France and North America which promotes cultural diplomacy in the context of museum exchanges. Founded in 1999 by Elizabeth Rohatyn, Co-President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FRAME, in addition to organizing exhibitions and collection exchanges, FRAME fosters partnerships among its member museums to develop innovative Educational and Public Programs and professional exchanges among museum staff, and maintains a bi-lingual website to reach global audiences. For more information, please visit www.framemuseums.org.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 33,500 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, Noon–5 p.m. Admission to the Museum is free to everyone. For Museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org.
Press release/Source: http://www.nelson-atkins.org/
For media interested in receiving further information, please contact:
Kathleen Leighton, Communications and Media Relations Officer
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
816.751.1321
kleighton@nelson-atkins.org |
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