TEACHING / WORKSHOPS
TEACHING ARTIST
“We Shall Not be Moved” opera based upon the memoir stories written by the children in the Hip H’Opera after school program.
Art Sanctuary - taught in an inner city after school program at the high school level using the book “Pieces from the Past” and the film “Standing on My Sister’s Shoulders”.
Art Sanctuary Celebration of Black Writing Literary and Arts Conference at Temple University, 2015
WIDENER UNIVERSITY, 2017, culture and sexuality class
Hip Opera – a collaboration of Opera Philadelphia and Art Sanctuary funded by the Knight Foundation. Taught creative writing at 5 Philadelphia High Schools in an after school program. Two of my students were chosen to perform their spoken word backed by Opera singers and an orchestra in the International Children’s Festival at the Annenberg Center.
MEMOIR & ART WORKSHOPS
Out Loud !!: A 6-week memoir workshop for LGBTQIA2S+ Elders that I facilitated. Participants chronicled their stories and shared their history and that of the communities they came from. The memoirs are collected in a print book available for purchase.
Pieces: A archive of audio pieces gathered over 17 years from memoir writing workshops I facilitated. It includes stories shared by the storytellers about themselves and the communities they come from. “Pieces” seeks to both educate and inform. The promotional imagery used analog photos that I took of South Philadelphia, 9th Market, and South Street in the late 1980’s.
My Body / My Story
Covenant House
In 2016, Linda Garfield and I collaborated for "Stories from the Closet: Clothing Portraits". The money collected from Linda’s birthday party went to New Day Drop-In Center in Kensington which provides basic needs to victims of human trafficking.
In 2012, Linda Garfield and I read that Philadelphia was one of the poorest cities and many people were food insecure. The topic became "What Nourishes Us: Food Portraits". The money collected at my party went to the Food Trust, whose mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. The portraits made were included in the installation along with the participants who came to the Fringe.
Shout 2012: Moderator/instructor for 8-week writing workshop for HIV survivors culminating in a live performance of participant monologues written during the class. 'Shout' was performed at the closing for the 'Witness' gallery show at The Asian Arts Initiative. I was awarded an Honorarium from Philadelphia Fight and the DVD is archived and available for viewing in their AIDS Library.
Mixed media installation - part of "Endow-a-Home"
Endow-a-Home: In 2011, I partnered with Linda Dubin Garfield for “A Place to Be: Portraits of Home”. We held mixed media memoir workshops at three homeless shelters in Philadelphia and included their art in our installation in the windows at The Book Trader.
Fringe Festival, 2009
The Right Foot, 2008: A collaboration with Linda Dubin Garfield for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. This time I filmed the women’s shoe stories and also photographed them. It was installed for the duration of the festival at The Book Trader where the film played on a loop. Linda’s portraits and those of attendees were also installed.
Clothing: Stories from the Closet, 2006