structured—its openness, not [an organization] burdened or defined by an edifice. Media arts centers all over the country bet their future on building edifices and the latest equipment [some to their detriment]. The essence of SWAMP is faith in people and the search for the authentic voices and the belief that [those voices] are out there.” 20 Regardless of the inevitable changes and challenges to come, this same faith, realized through education and community-building for media artists and the public, serves as the basis for what SWAMP has always been and will continue to be, now and into the future.
MARY LAMPE is the executive director of Southwest Alternative Media Project and also serves as co-executive producer for The Territory, a short-film showcase broadcast on Texas PBS stations. She has produced numerous short documentaries about art and artists for museums and has programmed film series of all genres, in addition to occasionally teaching film history.
NOTES: 1. Audiotape interview by the author with Ed Hugetz and Brian Huberman, 27 July 2005. 2. Gerald O’Grady, letter to the author, 7 October 2005. 3. Mary Batten, “James Blue (The Olive Trees of Justice),” Film Comment 1, no. 5 (Summer 1963); reprinted in James Blue Scripts and Interviews, Celebrating Southwest Alternate Media Project 25 Years, Southwest Alternate Media Project and Rice University, November 2002. 4. Roberto Rossellini: Rossellini in Texas, Ministero de Tursimo e Dello Spettacolo, ,Edizioni Ente Automomo Gestione Cinema, October-November 1987, p. 109. 5. Gerald O’Grady, “James Blue in Houston,” in James Blue Scripts and Interviews (see note 3), p. 8. 6. Audiotape interview with Ed Hugetz and Brian Huberman (see note 1). 7. Ibid. 8. Ed Hugetz, Presentation to SWAMP Board, videotape by Brian Huberman, February 2002. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid. 11. The Official SWAMP Handbook, n.d. (c. 1995), unpaginated. 12. Gerald O’Grady, “James Blue in Houston” (see note 5), p. 10. 13. The Official SWAMP Handbook (see note 11). 14. Gerald O’Grady, “James Blue in Houston” (see note 5), p. 9. 15. Redford quoted in Steve McVicker, “Fade to Black,” Houston Press, 14–20 October 1999, p. 20. 16. [Eagle Pennell Tribute], Austin Chronicle 21, no. 47, p. 2 17. Sims quoted in “Fade to Black” (see note 15), p. 19. 18. The Official SWAMP Handbook (see note 11). 19. Julian Low, letter, in The Official SWAMP Handbook (see note 11). 20. Audiotape interview with Ed Hugetz and Brian Huberman (see note 1).
NAMAC | A CLOSER LOOK 2005
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