Vision Driven Artists (VDA) Workshops are free and/or low-cost capacity-building workshops for self-producing artists/musicians, arts organization staff, and event curators in all disciplines. Attendees learn new skills, gain new resources, and meet and connect with other local artists.

***All workshops will be held online until further notice. All workshops in the series are FREE and OPEN to the public. However, you must pre-register to receive a link to the webinar. Please check back for links to register*** https://www.visiondrivenconsulting.com/vdaworkshops.html

Monday, January 11 - Taxes for Artists 

Facilitated by Tamara Ali Bey 

Monday, February 8 - Fundraising for Artists & Arts Organizations 

Facilitated by Brittany Campese

Monday, March 8 - Intro to Arts Grants 

Facilitated by Tezarah Wilkins 

Monday, April 12 - Finances for Artists

Facilitated by River Nice of Be Intentional Financial

Monday, May 10 - Social Media & Marketing

Facilitated by Brittnie Knight

Monday, June 14 - Website Basics for Artists 

Facilitated by Marria Nakhoda

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the Liminal States event with Tatsuya Nakatani must be postponed to a later date, to be determined. All those who have already registered will be automatically sent the performance information/link once a new date has been set.

Percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani will perform multiple bowed gongs from the desert near his home in New Mexico.

Bowerbird is pleased to present Liminal States, a new series of late night, live streamed concerts intended to be listened to as you fall asleep. Aiming to center and calm, the musicians will seek to lead listeners to that magic space between awake and asleep. Tune in and bliss out. 

Admission to this online event is Free / Pay What You Wish. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please register at https://bowerbird.ticketleap.com/tatsuya-nakatani-liminal-states/. SPACE IS LIMITED. A link will be sent to you the day of the event. The performance will start at 11:00pm Eastern Time and will run approximately 45 mins.

This event is part of the Liminal States Series

About the artist: Tatsuya Nakatani is an avant-garde percussionist, composer, and artist of sound. Active internationally since the 1990’s; Nakatani has released over 80 recordings and tours extensively, performing over 150 concerts a year. His primary focus is his solo work and his large ensemble project, the Nakatani Gong Orchestra. With his activity in the new music, improvisation and experimental music scenes, Nakatani has a long history of collaboration. He teaches master classes and lectures at universities and music conservatories around the world. Originally from Japan, he makes his home in the desert town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Nakatani creates his distinctive music centered around his adapted bowed gong, supported by an array of drums, cymbals, and singing bowls. In consort with his hand carved Kobo Bows, it is an instrument he has spent decades developing. Nakatani approaches his orchestral project (NGO) as an arrangement of formations of vibrations, incorporated in shimmering layers of silence and texture. Within this contemporary work, one can still recognize the dramatic pacing, formal elegance and space (ma) felt in traditional Japanese music.

More performances in the Liminal States Series: 

MARILYN NONKEN performs FELDMAN 

Wed, January 20 at 11pm

JEFF ZEIGLER

Sun, January 31 at 10pm

LARAAJI

Sun. February 14 at 10pm

LAURA BAIRD

Thu, February 25 at 10pm

TATSUYA NAKATANI

Wed, March 10 at 11pm

MARY LATTIMORE

Thu, March 25 at 11pm

VARIANT 6

Thu, May 6 at 10pm

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, the Liminal States event with Tatsuya Nakatani must be postponed to a later date, to be determined. All those who have already registered will be automatically sent the performance information/link once a new date has been set.

100,000 Folds: A Collaborative Sculpture Project to Commemorate Those Lost by the Coronavirus Pandemic

6pm-7pm

Join 100,000 Folds in honoring and mourning COVID-19 victims through origami. This community sculpture project is folding 100,000 pieces of paper - one for each of the first 100,000 deaths in the United States from the pandemic. During this event, gather virtually with artist Joanna Hutchinson to learn to make the folded pieces, and build community while folding with others. The folded paper units will be assembled into larger sculptures to be displayed in Philadelphia upon completion, when it is safe to do so. Participants in this online folding session will get a sneak preview of some of the plans for the final sculpture. Participants will receive a package of 50 custom cut sheets of paper to fold during this event, sent to the mailing address provided through the USPS. After the event, participants are asked to send their folded work to the artist by USPS. This online event requires students to have a device to join the class with reliable internet access. Registration is required in order to receive the Zoom link. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/100000-folds-a-collaborative-sculpture-project-tickets-141048948201.  If you are interested in participating in the project, but not the online event, you can sign up to work independently at 100thousandfolds.com.

Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild supports and celebrates World Storytelling Day: New Beginnings on March 20, 2021 @ 7 PM EST.  This event is free to the public and will be streamed at a special site set up just for the event! Registration is required. All registered guests will be provided with the video link on the day of the event. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/patchwork-storytelling-guild-supports-celebrates-world-storytelling-day-tickets-145555810347

According to Denise McCormack, president of Patchwork, “Storytellers traditionally tell to live and intimate audiences, but we’re delighted to be able to bring our stories, with all of their integrity and charm, right into people’s homes. It’s thrilling to see that this age-old art form has found a place on such a broad, accessible, and diverse platform, and we’re happy to use it.

The stories are incredible and run the gamut from folk and fairy tales to personal memoir, each one as unique as the teller who tells it.

This really promises to be a great show, and the audience can sit back and relax and just enjoy the experience of imagining those once-upon-a-times that capture our fancies and our hearts, right from their own living rooms.”

This program is sure to delight storylovers everywhere, and we encourage everyone to spread the word!

More info on Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild and ways to get involved: https://patchworkstorytelling.org

The cast of tellers includes Denise McCormack, Dennis Strain, Karen Maurer,  Ed Lewis, Jill Lamede, Ray Tackett, and Rob Aptaker.

About the Tellers

DENISE MCCORMACK

Denise McCormack has been telling professionally for more than a decade, presenting programs throughout the tri-state area--to listeners of all ages and in a multitude of venues-- and is deeply committed to sharing the benefits of storytelling in a broad spectrum of applications from education and community to business, health, and well-being.

Among her many roles in storytelling, McCormack is president of the Patchwork Storytelling Guild, and an active member of various other local and national organizations wherein storytelling plays an integral role.  

DENNIS STRAIN

Dennis Strain has been telling stories for over twenty years.  His storytelling journey started in Harrisburg where he told with two storytelling groups: Tapestry of Tales and Susquehanna Tellers.  Retirement brought him to Philadelphia in 2005.  He joined Patchwork: A Storytelling Guild that year, and told frequently at Tellabration In Philadelphia and at the N.J. Storytelling Festival. Dennis currently resides in Elizabethtown and teaches a four session course entitled Storytelling For Beginners.  Dennis tells traditional tales, with an emphasis on Irish folklore.

 KAREN MAURER

 Karen Maurer is one of the best-loved storytellers in the Lehigh Valley and enjoys a remarkably storied background as a library youth services coordinator, writer, and blogger of children’s literature.  She tells tales to all ages, coaches and runs Storytelling Workshops for children and teens, and writes songs for Chiles’ Play, a children’s musical duo with her brother, Dan.  Maurer has engaged audiences with her storytelling for more than two decades, is a member of the LVSG board, an advisor to the Patchwork community, and a presenter and reviewer of books for middle grades and teens for area literature conferences and on her blog, booksnstories.blogspot.com.

 ED LEWIS

 Ed Lewis is a storytelling "groupie" attending as many storytelling events as possible.  He is a current Board Member of his local Sacramento Storytelling Guild, Board Member of the Storytelling Association of California, and one of the Pacific Region Liaisons to the National Storytelling Network, besides  being a producer of Storytelling Festivals and other Storytelling events in the Northern California area.  

A retired Early Childhood Education professor, Ed has taught storytelling classes for teachers and has had the good fortune of telling stories to children and adults throughout the world.  His especial favorites include personal, folk, and tall Tales.

JILL LAMEDE

Jill Lamede, The Tintagel Storyteller, lives in the magical birthplace of King Arthur, and may often be found telling tales on the cliffs above Tintagel Castle. Having been an actress all her life, she only discovered storytelling some 25 years ago and realised she had found her true calling at last. In ancient days tiny Tintagel was a major port – excavations have found pottery fragments from all over the Mediterranean and even further East. The stories that would have been heard in the taverns would be the ones told by the visiting sailors and merchants – so these are the tales Jill loves to tell.

RAY TACKETT

Ray Tackett is a retired computer engineer with a passion for flying AND STORTYELLING. Ray's aviation experiences led to the founding of his Piston Engine Story Factory.  Inspired by the writing styles of Ernest K. Gann and the imagination of Marshall Dodge, Ray has crafted a repertoire of stories for grownup enjoyment. The stories are mostly about flying and mostly true.   

ROB APTAKER

 For over forty years, Rob Aptaker spent time visiting Native American people from many tribal nations. He has learned stories, tribal traditions, and songs, and he has taken part in ceremonies and celebrations.  Rob is an avid student of Native American oral histories and of Native American historical and anthropological records.

Rob asserts, “As a non-Native who has been privileged to learn some of the stories, songs, and traditional ways of North America’s indigenous people, I strive to serve as a bridge between the visible world of modern America and the vibrant but often overlooked reality of Red World People. If there is artistry in my presentations and performances, it is not in imitation; rather, it is in finding the words, sounds, and gestures to help audiences connect with what is universal in the unique and particular story I am sharing. To make history and culture come to life for school children, I call on the power of stories to awaken their imaginations.”

This event is FREE to the public and will be streamed at a special site set up just for the event! Registration is required. All registered guests will be provided with the video link on the day of the event. Please register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/patchwork-storytelling-guild-supports-celebrates-world-storytelling-day-tickets-145555810347

Donations will be accepted during the event on behalf of and in appreciation for the tellers, but are not mandatory.

Harpist Mary Lattimore will perform from her home in California.

Bowerbird is pleased to present Liminal States, a new series of late night, live streamed concerts intended to be listened to as you fall asleep. Aiming to center and calm, the musicians will seek to lead listeners to that magic space between awake and asleep. Tune in and bliss out. 

Admission to this online event is Free / Pay What You Wish. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please register at https://bowerbird.ticketleap.com/mary-lattimore---liminal-states/. SPACE IS LIMITED. A link will be sent to you the day of the event. The performance will start at 11:00pm Eastern Time and will run approximately 45 mins.

This event is part of the Liminal States Series

About the artist: Mary Lattimore is a Los Angeles-based harpist. She experiments with effects through her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand pedal harp, concocting half-structured improvisations which can include both ambient glitter and unsettling noise. Her first solo record, the Withdrawing Room, was released on Desire Path Recordings in 2014. The solo recordings that followed, At the Dam and Collected Pieces, were released by Ghostly International. Mary has also recorded synth + harp duo projects with Elysse Thebner Miller (And the Birds Flew Overhead) and Jeff Zeigler (Slant of Light) and has co-written reimagined scores for the 1968 experimental silent film Le Revelateur, directed by Philippe Garrel (who approved of the project), and the Czech New Wave classic Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, and performed these scores live throughout the US with Jeff Zeigler and the Valerie Project, respectively. She has contributed and written harp parts for such artists as Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore, Sharon Van Etten, Meg Baird, Steve Gunn, the Clientele, Hop Along, Jarvis Cocker, Karen Elson, Ed Askew and Quilt.

More performances in the Liminal States Series: 

MARILYN NONKEN performs FELDMAN 

Wed, January 20 at 11pm

JEFF ZEIGLER

Sun, January 31 at 10pm

LARAAJI

Sun. February 14 at 10pm

LAURA BAIRD

Thu, February 25 at 10pm

TATSUYA NAKATANI

Wed, March 10 at 11pm

MARY LATTIMORE

Thu, March 25 at 11pm

VARIANT 6

Thu, May 6 at 10pm

Spiral Q "Yes We Can" Family Zoom Workshop

During this 3 part ZOOM workshop series, families will be introduced to the elements that make up a Spiral Q giant puppet parade and how these accessible art forms bring communities together to express their creativity and amplify what they care about. 

Sessions will focus on different elements of a parade: 

Saturday March 27th 2-3pm - Session 1: Mini giant puppets

Saturday April 10th  2-3pm - Session 2: Signs, messaging, Chants, and Rhythm

Saturday April 24th 2-3pm - Session 3: Movement & Virtual Parade

You do not need to attend all three workshops BUT you are encouraged to do so!

We strive to keep our workshops as accessible and sustainable as possible. This means that most of our material suggestions are everyday items that can be found around the home or purchased at a local convenience store.

All ages - younger folks may need help from older family members

Registration is required so that we can send you the Zoom link. Please register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoL4FIFsVA3sJhjpcfKPhod6GCdc1FV30devfAbdLiO4IeaA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Info on Spiral Q: Founded in 1996, Spiral Q builds strong and equitable communities characterized by creativity, joy, can-do attitudes, and the courage to act on their convictions. We imagine a city whose streets reflect the full spectrum of its residents’ creativity. We see a responsive and engaged society that rallies consistently to overcome the challenges of discrimination and oppression. We envision a world of abundance that mobilizes its resources to nurture shared vitality. http://www.spiralq.org/