First Person Arts Offers New Artist Series in 2008
First Person Salons premiere Feb. 13th @ Gershman Y
Popular StorySlams continue on Feb. 26th @ L’Etage
PHILADELPHIA – First Person Arts’ 2008 season is now in full swing with an exciting lineup of events including the February premiere of the new First Person Salons at the Gershman Y and the continuation of the wildly successful First Person StorySlams at L’Etage. Through these monthly series, First Person Arts continues to celebrate memoir and documentary arts by embracing the city’s creative community, giving audiences a chance to experience engaging real life stories and tell their own tales in a community setting.
On Wednesday, February 13th First Person Arts will launch the salon series from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at the Gershman Y (401 S. Broad Street). The salons, which will be held at the same time each month on second Wednesdays, will showcase cutting edge original works by local artists through a variety of artistic mediums, from the written word and documentary film to visual and performing arts. The multi-disciplinary and interactive Salons are designed to engage audiences directly in the creative process.
The first Salon will feature several Philadelphia-area artists whose work pushes the boundaries of memoir and documentary arts. Nicole Dupree explores the personal history and memories sparked by objects she has collected throughout the years. Part of her presentation will involve actually giving some of the objects away. Documentary filmmaker David Kessler turns his camera from the neighborhood portraits of his successful Shadow World series to a new project documenting the lives of artists at work and at home in their studios. Titled Studioscopic, Kessler’s series includes a profile of Jenny Kanzler, a Philadelphia painter who explores the discomforts of memory in her work and Laura McKinley, who approaches self-portraiture through stripped-down, multimedia compositions. Rounding out the diverse group of artists is photographer Corey Armpriester, whose images frame the lives of everyday Americans through the lens of a suspicious state and storyteller Sharon Cole, who traces the ribbons of a formative adolescent road-trip through Aquafresh toothpaste.
On Tuesday, February 26th, the First Person StorySlams return to L’Etage (6th & Bainbridge Streets) with Philadelphia’s take on the theme of “Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection).” The monthly competitive storytelling series, which began in April 2007, has captivated the city’s storytelling community and attracted an online audience through monthly liveblogs and videocasts on www.uwishunu.com.
Everyone with a true story and a little sense of competition is encouraged to participate. Storytellers are invited to interpret the theme as inventively as they’d like, sharing with the audience tales about any real life experience that relates to the theme.
At each slam, ten participants have the chance to step up to the mic and tell a story within a five minute time limit. Contestants are judged by their peers, and each month’s highest scorer wins an invitation to the Grand Slam to compete for the title of Philadelphia’s Best Storyteller at the seventh annual First Person Festival of memoir and documentary arts in the fall of 2008. SBK Pictures’ Jim McGorman – whose filmmaking moves easily between slice-of-life storytelling and visual imagery – will host the February Slam.
First Person Arts is a nonprofit organization and producer of the annual First Person Festival and other programs that tap into the power of personal stories and speak to diverse audiences, including people whose voices are not often heard. First Person Arts is guided by the belief that the sharing of personal experience is a powerful way for people to celebrate uniqueness, bridge differences, and find common ground. For more information, please visit www.firstpersonarts.org.
Upcoming First Person Salon Events
Wednesday, February 13; artists: TBA
Wednesday, March 12; artists: TBA
Wednesday, April 9; artists: TBA
All First Person Salons are held at the Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. every second Wednesday of the month
$5-10 sliding scale
Upcoming First Person Arts StorySlams Events
Tuesday, February 26; theme: Brotherly Love (and Sisterly Affection)
Tuesday, March 25; theme: The Road Not Taken
Tuesday, April 22; theme: The Awkward Pause
All StorySlams are held at L’Etage, 6th & Bainbridge Streets
Doors open at 7:30 p.m., slams begin at 8:30 p.m.
$5-10 sliding scale, ages 21+
For more information, contact First Person Arts at (267) 402-2056 or www.firstpersonarts.org. Artists working in all media and from all levels of experience, whose work is based in real-life experience, are encouraged to apply to present their work at future Salon events. To apply, visit www.salons.firstpersonarts.org or email salons@firstpersonarts.org. For information about participating in the StorySlams series, email storyslams@firstpersonarts.org.
Press Contact:
Canary Promotion + Design
Emaleigh Doley, emaleighATcanarypromo.com
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