Making Our Mark

June 20, 2008

SUMMER’S COMING, TIME TO MAKE YOUR MARK with MAKING OUR MARK!

Sheatre presents a totally new workshop for youth this summer, MAKING OUR MARK!

Art and mural-making with Trevor Pfeffer

Theatre and improvisation with Joan Chandler

Creative writing and poetry with Kateri Akewenzie-Damm

Songwriting and voice with david sereda

Learn by doing: learn techniques from professional artists as you make your mark with

a mural you design,

a scene you write and act in,

a poem you create and perform

and a song you write and sing.

You can focus on one art form you’re most drawn to, or experience something you’ve never done before: attend part or all of this multi-arts workshop. What we create will spring from two points of view: 1) kids today and 2) the Metis people in Owen Sound.

You’ll work with other youth aged 12-20. No previous experience or special knowledge is necessary!

MAKING OUR MARK IS A COLLECTIVE PROJECT. We’ll work on a lot of the project together as a group, and some things will be created by just one person – but together we’ll decide which particular themes and stories we’ll focus on. We’ll explore these stories and ideas using visual art, theatre, poetry and music. Our idea is to let these arts come together in an exchange, and to enrich each other — just like the participants with different interests and backgrounds will come together and enrich each other. What we create will be developed and linked together into a staged presentation onsite. Here’s how we’ll do it!

GETTING INTO THE STORY: At the beginning of the workshop, Joan Chandler (theatre), david sereda (music) and Trevor Pfeffer (mural artist) will kick things off with the group, playing cooperative games, telling stories and deciding just what this mural is going to be about. Special guests will talk about Metis history and current status as a culture within Canada. We’ll brainstorm ideas for themes and stories that best represent our community as a whole now and in the past. We’ll play with themes of “community” and “heritage” and “your culture”. Then we’ll create a storyboard for the project. Participants will present their ideas to the United Way and the Metis Association for approval, since the murals are in their building and office space.

MAKING OUR MARK WITH MURALS

July 2 – July 25

Led by Trevor Pfeffor, students will create graffiti style murals from sketches to full two-storey wall-size paintings. If you ever wanted permission to draw on the walls or to cover them with graffiti – this is it!!!

MAKING OUR MARK ON THE PAGE

July 7 – 11

Kateri Akewenzie-Damm leads the group in creative writing and poetry and performance technique. Some of the poetry will be included in the murals.

MAKING THE MURALS COME TO LIFE

July 21 – August 2

Joan Chandler and david sereda will lead this stage of the workshop, where participants respond to the stories in the murals by creating theatrical scenes and characters and songs, and by integrating their poetry.

We’ll culminate in a public unveiling and performance on August 2 that brings together the best of everything we’ve developed over this month-long exploration.

DATES: The workshop runs from July 2nd until August 2nd (Monday through Friday) at the United Way and Metis Centre located at 380 9th Street East in Owen Sound.

COST: FREE! (donations are accepted)

WHO CAN ATTEND? Youth 12-20.

Making our Mark is brought to you by Sheatre in partnership with The United Way of Bruce-Grey and with the support of The Metis Nation of Ontario.

TO REGISTER, contact:

Francesca Dobbyn, United Way at 519 376 1560

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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

david sereda, Associate Artist, Sheatre at 519 372 2888

or Joan Chandler, Artistic Director, Sheatre at 519 534 3039

Sheatre, Grey-Bruce’s only professional community arts and arts education company, is funded in part by