Tom - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm a former actor, theater producer and community organizer based in Chicago who is interested in getting artists and creative people (like you) to get involved in civic affairs and become a leader!I'm teaching classes on creativity, the arts and social change at Loyola University, DePaul University and the School of the Art Institute, all in Chicago.I've been working on the Creative America Project that is about inspiring and training cultural workers and creative professionals to lead in the public sector - including running for local office. By local office, I mean school board, library board, city council and county commission. I think creative people have values, skills and experience that makes them excellent candidates for public leadership. Apply your vision and passion and re-make the world as you would have it. Don't complain about the government - BECOME the government.My home page: www.tresser.com .
- PFAW Interactive - Stop Telco Retroactive Immunity

http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=f eIJKQMEF&b=3908519

I was part of this people-powered video protest!

My Interests

I'm working for Collaboraction , a multi-media theater company in Chicago that does highly innovative, dynamic, KICK-ASS work. They just closed their signature piece SKETCHBOOK 7 at the Steppenwolf Garage.

I'd like to meet:

Progressive activists of all stripes and causes. Change agents inside companies. Artists who are working in the schools, community settings and social change efforts. Hip Hop activists and poets who want to make a difference. Green activsts, media activists and bloggers who want use new tools to change the world for the better. Community organizers. Union organizers. Environmental and sustainable development activists.

Books:

"A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink. www.danpink.com .

Heroes:

Saul Alinsky, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Martin Luthor King, Gail Cincotta, Ghandi, John Stewart, Albert Einstein, J.K. Rowling

My Blog

Draw a Cartoon for Science

The Union of Concerned Scientists is concerned about political interference with science. They are looking for creative, original, and compelling cartoons about political interference in science...
Posted by Tom on Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:19:00 PST

Comedian, Author, Activist Runs for Senate (No kiddin')

He was on "Saturday Night Live." He wrote "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot: And Other Observations," and "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." He...
Posted by Tom on Sun, 25 Mar 2007 07:19:00 PST

Learn to Lead! Attend a DFA Training in 2007!

The DFA Training Academy's mission is to focus, network, and train grassroots activists in the skills and strategies to take back our country. This isn't just about the next election, or what we can d...
Posted by Tom on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 02:18:00 PST

Young Artists Go To Actvist Camp - or is it - Young Activists Go To Arts Camp?

Art in Action Youth's Leadership Program is entering it's 7th year of nurturing the next generation of ArtiVists. Art in Action Youth Leadership Training is a ten-day long summer camp in santa Cruz, ...
Posted by Tom on Fri, 12 Jan 2007 02:14:00 PST

Government Closes Science Libraries - Dumb Move

From the L.A. Times... The NASA library in Greenbelt, Md., was part of John C. Mather's daily routine for years leading up to the astrophysicist's 2006 Nobel Prize for shedding new light on the Big Ba...
Posted by Tom on Tue, 12 Dec 2006 10:52:00 PST

Musicians Elected to Congress!

Congressman-Elect John Hall sings the national anthem on The Colbert Report with host, Stephen Colbert. John was part of the rock band Orleans from 1972 to 1977. Remember "Still the One" and "Dance Wi...
Posted by Tom on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 10:39:00 PST

Expert Says Public Education Kills Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case fo...
Posted by Tom on Sat, 25 Nov 2006 02:30:00 PST

Big City Students Suck at Science

A least half of eighth graders tested in science failed to demonstrate even a basic understanding of the subject in 9 of 10 major cities, and fourth graders, the only other group tested, fared little ...
Posted by Tom on Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:36:00 PST

Sign the "First Freedom First" Petition - Freedom is good

Established in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, religious liberty -- the right of individuals to worship or not -- was and is a defining American value. Often referred to as the...
Posted by Tom on Sat, 11 Nov 2006 06:13:00 PST

Participation in Arts, Society Linked

People who participate in the arts, even if only reading literature, are twice as likely to volunteer in their communities as those who don't, according to a new study released by the Nati...
Posted by Tom on Sat, 04 Nov 2006 06:22:00 PST