Smith College
Office of College Relations
Smith College
Garrison Hall
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
www.smith.edu/newsoffice

...............................................................................................................................................................

March 25, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Women Artists To Discuss the Creative Process at Smith Symposium

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-A free public symposium, titled "Women Artists as Citizens of the World," will take place Thursday-Saturday, April 4-6, at Smith College. The event will feature a panel discussion and workshops by artists Priscilla Kane Hellweg, Sheree Renée Thomas, Elizabeth Roberts, Ama Patterson and Pan Morigan (see biographical information at end of release), who will examine the process of creating new work while also carving out a space for their voice and vision.
The symposium will begin with a panel discussion at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 4, in the Nielson Library Browsing Room. Moderated by Smith theatre professor and Chrysalis Theatre artistic director Andrea Hairston, the artists will discuss their creative processes as well as the strategies they use to produce work and persevere in a media-saturated, celebrity-driven cultural climate.

In conjunction with the panel discussion, the artists will offer the following workshops:

"Filmwriting, A Five-Act Mystery in Two Hours," led by Elizabeth Roberts.
4-6 p.m., Friday, April 5, Wright Hall Common Room;
 
"Creative Conflict Resolutions: Fun Ways to Deal with Serious Issues," led by Priscilla Kane Hellweg.
1-3 p.m., Saturday, April 6, Wright Hall Common Room

"(Short) Fiction Writing," led by Sheree Renee Thomas and Ama Patterson.
3-5 p.m., Saturday, April 6, Wright Hall Common Room.


The symposium will culminate with a concert by Pan Morigan featuring music from her newly-released CD, "Castles of Gold: Songs and Stories of Irish Immigration of Irish ballads," as well as original music and songs from the World Music repertoire. The concert is at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, in Helen Hills Hills Chapel.

All events in this symposium, including the concert, are free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. Participation in any of the workshops requires pre-registration by 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 3. Sign-up sheets are available in Room T205 in the Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts, Green St. "(Short) Fiction Writing" workshop participants should leave a story they wish to be critiqued.

Biographical Information of Panelists:


Priscilla Kane Hellweg is the artistic director of Enchanted Circle Theatre which presents innovative, educationally-inspiring and cross-culturally-oriented theatre for children and adolescents, incorporating dance, music, theatre, literature and visual arts to provide an integrated arts-in-education experience. Her education programs have earned national acclaim. Her current project, "Between the Canals: The Evolution of a Mill Town," is an exploration of the political, socioeconomic and cultural impact the working mills had on the city of Holyoke;

Sheree Renée Thomas is the editor of New York Times Book of the Year "Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora" (Warner, 2000), winner of the 2001 World Fantasy Award and the 2001 Gold Pen Award. She is the founding publisher of Wanganegresse Press and the founding editor of the literary journal, Anansi. Thomas teaches creative writing at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center in Manhattan and is currently editing a second volume of "Dark Matter," scheduled for publication in January 2003; completing her fiction chapbook, "How Sukie Come Free and Other Tales" (March 2002); and writing her first novel.

Elizabeth Roberts' short films have been broadcast in Europe, North America and Asia and shown at the Sundance, Seattle and Los Angeles film festivals. Her music video "Underdog," produced by Zeitgeist for Hightone Records, helped launch Kelley Ryan's group, "astroPuppees." Roberts was a Sundance Screenwriters Laboratory finalist for her dramatic comedies "Idiot Box" and "Vent." Her story, 'Bitter Aspects,' was selected by Wanganegresse Press editor Sheree Renée Thomas for publication in 2003. Roberts' first novella, "Hooked In," is the basis of a sci-fi novel series that her production company, "gratitude pictures," will develop for television.

Pan Morigan has recently produced a radio special for Public Radio International called "Castles of Gold: Songs and Stories of Irish Immigration," narrated by Frank McCourt and Roma Downey. On the CD, Pan performed as a vocalist and instrumentalist, researched, arranged and produced all the music and created four songs for the project. "Castles of Gold" aired on public radio stations across the United States and New Zealand on St. Patrick's Day of this year. "Castles of Gold" was released on Green Linnet Records March 2002. Pan has composed and done vocal coaching for Chrysalis Theatre, New Century Theatre, as well as college and university productions.

Ama Patterson studied fiction writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and at the Clarion West Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop in Seattle. She co-facilitated Azna's Pen, an open writer's workshop in Babylon, N.Y; served as a juror for the 2001 James Tiptree, Jr., Award; and is on the board of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association in Huntington, N.Y. Her critically acclaimed short fiction is included in "Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora" and in the Drumvoices Revue anthology "Voices from the Cities," edited by Eugene B. Redmond. She is writing her first short story collection.

Andrea Hairston is associate professor of theatre and Afro-American studies at Smith College where she directs and teaches playwriting, and African, African-American and Caribbean theatre literature. A playwright, director, actor and musician, she is the artistic director of Chrysalis Theatre and has produced original theatre with music, dance, and masks for almost 25 years.

This project has been generously supported by the Smith College Lecture Fund, the Office of Institutional Diversity, Women's Studies, Theatre Department, Chrysalis Theatre, the Fund for Women Artists and Enchanted Circle Theatre.
For more information and/or if you are interested in participating in the workshops, call Andrea Hairston at (413) 586-2262 e-mail ahairsto@aol.com.

-30-

..............................................................................................................................................................

News Release Directory // News Office Home Page // Smith College Home Page

© 2001 Smith College // Please send comments to:
webmaster@smith.edu.
Page maintained by the Office of College Relations.