Caroline Levine to speak at Art & Democracy program Caroline Levine, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present "Provoking Democracy: Why We Need the Arts," Friday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Empire Arts Center. Her presentation is a part of Art & Democracy, a new program of the North Valley Arts Council that provides arts supporters and advocates with the opportunity to examine how arts affect civic change and explore how democracy enables the creation of vibrant art. Levine will discuss a series of arts controversies from the 20th and 21st centuries, from the obscenity trial of rap group 2 Live Crew, to the use of Jackson Pollock as CIA propaganda to the destruction of Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc, in order to make the case that democracies benefit from artists who deliberately challenge the majority. Levine is a specialist on relations between art and politics. She is author of "Provoking Democracy: Why We Need the Arts" (Blackwell 2007), and "The Serious Pleasures of Suspense" (Virginia 2003). She has co-edited three collections of essays, and has published articles on writers and artists, including John Ruskin, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charlotte Bronte, Andreas Gursky, and Richard Serra. Art & Democracy is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information, visit www.culturepulse.org The North Valley Arts Council supports and promotes arts and culture for the artists, arts organizations and citizens of the Grand Forks region. -- Nicole Derenne, Executive Director, North Valley Arts Council, nicolederenne@novac.org, 701-777-6120