Category: Arts and Culture

Creating an Alternative US-Cuba Relationship with Cuban Poet and Producer Marcel Lueiro Reyes

Please join us for this timely community conversation and as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! The presentation and discussion will be held on Monday, Oct. 16, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street.

Marcel Lueiro Reyes is a popular educator and socially-conscious media producer who has worked at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Havana for the past twelve years. Marcel is a specialist in the fields of popular communication, culture and the arts in Cuba. Many of his poetry collections have been published and some have even won national literary prizes. Marcel has traveled to many countries, as both a popular educator and a journalist. During this tour Marcel will share the reality of the Cuban people, focusing on community-based experiences in the struggle to create a more inclusive and democratic socialism. Marcel is eager to discuss the perception of US policies on the island as well as the influence of people from the US on beloved aspects of Cuban life, such as baseball, music and film. Marcel’s blog: lueiropoeticas.blogspot.com.

This event is in Spanish with English translation. Cosponsored by Witness for Peace witnessforpeace.org. For more info email [email protected] or call (203) 946-7450.

Storysharing at the Institute Library May 19

The Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., is sponsoring a monthly story sharing group on the third Thursday of each month from 6 – 8 p.m.

The group gives its members an opportunity to share stories in a very informal atmosphere. The stories may be of any kind – traditional folk tales, myths, stories of personal experience, etc. The group is open to all levels of experience, so people with no formal experience of storytelling can try things out in a supportive atmosphere. No one is required to tell; if you simply want to listen for a while, that’s fine. If you feel so moved, come to the first session with a story ready.

We hope to encourage people to discover stories (their own or others), to become more skilled at telling them, and to build community. The group and the individuals in it will determine which is the most important. The group will be coordinated by Arnie Pritchard, local storyteller and Board Chair of the Connecticut Storytelling Center.

Meetings are from 6 to 8 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month.

For more information, visit us at http://www.institutelibrary.org.

Is Your Nonprofit Looking For Funding in 2017? Upcoming Workshops for Grant Writers

Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

If you are planning to apply for a grant through the 2017 Responsive Grants Process, you will want to attend this webinar! Join us for a Grantseeker Information Webinar Thursday, Feb. 9, 1-3 p.m. www.cfgnh.org/StrengtheningNonprofits/WorkshopsEvents.aspx.

Who should attend? Nonprofits serving the 20-town region of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, including the five towns served by its partner in philanthropy, the Valley Community Foundation. Or Nonprofits applying for a 2017 Responsive Grant from either foundation.

Participation is strongly encouraged, even for experienced Responsive Grant applicants.
Learn: all of the community foundations’ grant processes; how to apply for the Responsive Grant process; the timeline, from start to finish; application types and attachments; upcoming workshops to support your application preparation. Space is limited; please register early. Attend from your office: Register to receive information on accessing the live webinar via your computer. Attend in person: Register to join us at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven on the day of the webinar.

Applications are online! You don’t have to wait for the Grantseeker Webinar to start your application. The deadline for Responsive Grant applications is 5 p.m., Thursday, March 30. For more grant information and eligibility criteria, visit cfgnh.org/grants or valleyfoundation.org/grants.

The Listen Here Short Stories Reading Series continues 3rd Tuesdays

The Institute Library is proud to host the Listen Here Short Story reading series. Join us for a night of classic short stories selected by the staff of the New Haven Review and read by cast members of the New Haven Theater Company. Reading starts at 7 p.m., with talk back at 8 p.m. Also, freshly baked cookies–a different batch at each reading–and tea are available.

Admission is free!

Join us every third Tuesday of the month at the Institute Library, 847 Chapel St., New Haven. Our next reading will be Jan. 17. Stories TBA.

Please note that the Institute Library is one flight up and not wheel-chair accessible. For more information, visit us at www.institutelibrary.org.

Calling All PAR Readers: Help Fund the Theresa (Carr) Tree and Memorial Plaque in Jocelyn Sq. Park

by Joan Cavanagh, a friend of Theresa Carr

Theresa Carr, May 23, 1954 – March 27, 2014

“Keep doing our work.”

This is a request for PAR readers to contribute what they can to help raise $675 to plant a tree and erect a memorial plaque in Jocelyn Square Park for Theresa. Please make your contributions out to PAR, note in the memo line that it is for “The Theresa Tree,” and send to PAR, P.O. Box 995, New Haven, CT 06504, on or before Jan. 1, 2017.

Many PAR readers knew Theresa Carr, whose activism spanned several communities and countries. A self-identified “Marxist-Leninist Lesbian Feminist,” she gave her fierce intelligence to the interconnected struggles for peace and justice.

In her years in New Haven, Theresa worked with many groups including the New Haven Action Committee Against Repression, New Haven Coalition for Justice in El Salvador, Spinsters Opposed to Nuclear Genocide (SONG), the Women’s Pentagon Action(s) and the Coalition to Stop Trident. The actions often involved arrests for nonviolent civil disobedience. She also served on the board of the New Haven Women’s Liberation Center and worked in her trade as a union carpenter.

Creativity was her hallmark. With other members of SONG, she once painted a blank billboard in full daylight at the State Street exit off I-91 with the iconic image of a woman kicking a neutron bomb; and, during a trial of SONG members for actions against U.S. military intervention and funding of repressive regimes in Central America, the marble (male) justices on the steps of the courthouse on Elm Street one morning mysteriously wore purple headbands.

Theresa traveled extensively and worked in many other communities. In Florida, she completed a master naturalist program, cared for stranded whales, and became an active member of the Key West Tara Mandala Buddhist Sangha community.

In 1981, Theresa bought and rehabilitated a house on Walnut Street across from Jocelyn Square Park with her partner. Later she spearheaded the renovation of the deteriorated city park, now a beautiful oasis in our neighborhood. Friends of Jocelyn Square Park awarded her a Certificate of Appreciation on Sept. 3, 2005.

Following a double mastectomy and a rigorous alternative treatment protocol for metastatic breast cancer in 2011, Theresa cultivated land in northern Florida until her cancer returned. Her last words before she passed here in New Haven at her Walnut Street home were, “Keep doing our work.”

Please help mark this important life as we move into our next, crucial phase of resistance in these fearful times.

Latin American Film Festival Nov. 9-13

by Jane Mills, LIFFY

Latino & Iberian Film Festival at Yale or LIFFY is coming up November 9 – 13 and is free and open to the public.

The schedule is shaping up. Opening and closing night films will be shown at Luce Hall Auditorium, 34 Hillhouse Avenue. These films are described below.

All films will have English subtitles; filmmakers and actors will be in attendance for many of the films. Some evenings will feature receptions.

Opening night Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. features Pinches actores (Freakin’ Actors) Mexico, France (2015, 119 min.) Director: Hermanos Dufour. Comedy, Drama. Q&A with actress Grecia Monroc. Six friends overcome a series of adversities and challenges as actors. One dreams of being a soap opera star; another puts up with a jealous wife and less than promising roles; a young actress believes in the power of acting as an art form but has to deal with the industry’s sexism; a leading man doesn’t care who he has to step on to get to the top; and a family man’s acting dreams begin to slip away. Finally there’s the eccentric Mad who shares these stories and his own in this love letter to acting.

Closing night Sunday, November 13, at 8 p.m. features La Gunguna (The Gunguna) Dominican Republic (2015, 87 min.) Director: Ernesto Alemany. Dark Comedy. Q&A with Ernesto Alemany (Director). The Gunguna is a tiny .22 caliber pistol that once belonged to General Trujillo and had enormous sentimental value for the dictator. It is sought out by collectors worldwide who are willing to pay a pretty penny for it. Some are even willing to kill for it. The gun will fall in the hands of a construction worker in desperate straits, a corrupt border patrol sergeant, a merciless loan shark, a local Chinese mobster, an arms dealer and a sleazy bar owner.

For more information, contact: Margherita Tortora, Founder and Director, [email protected] or Jane Mills, (203) 278-3723.

A complete schedule will be online at http://liffy.yale.edu or http://www.facebook.com/liffyyale. Times and locations of films vary throughout the festival.

What is New Haven Review?

by Bennett Graff, New Haven Review

It is New Haven’s own literary journal, founded in August 2007 to draw attention to the writing scene in the greater New Haven area. In its role as the literary heart of the Elm City, New Haven Review publishes essays, fiction, and poetry in print and on the web twice a year. Individual issues feature work from both local and national writers, placing them in dialogue. New Haven Review is also a program of the Institute Library.

But New Haven Review is so much more!

Its editors and contributors blog for its website about the arts and literature.

It features, hands down, the best theater reviewing in all of New Haven—covering nearly every play production from Long Wharf to Yale Rep to New Haven Theater Company to smaller independent productions.

It hosts author talks at The Institute Library by local writers.

It collaborates with New Haven Theater Company in the presentation of the Listen Here! Short Story Reading series the 3rd Tuesday night of each month.

It commonly throws for its subscribers the best winter party in town at the Institute Library.
Want to know more?  Find us at http://newhavenreview.com and subscribe!

Listen Here Short Story Reading Series

by Bennett Lovett-Graff, New Haven Review

Join us for an evening of classic short stories selected by the staff of the New Haven Review and read by cast members of the New Haven Theater Company. Reading starts at 7 p.m., with a talk back at 8 p.m. Also, freshly baked cookies and tea are available. Free! Join us the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Institute Library, 847 Chapel St, New Haven. The next reading will be June 21, the theme: “Love Affairs.” Our stories: “The Most Girl Part of You” by Amy Hempel and “City Boy” by Leonard Michaels. Please note: The Institute Library is one flight up, not wheelchair accessible. For more information, go to http://www.institutelibrary.org.

Institute Library Reading Series May 17

by Bennett Lovett-Graff, Publisher, New Haven Review

Join us for a night of classic short stories selected by the staff of the New Haven Review and read by cast members of the New Haven Theater Company. Reading starts at 7 p.m., with a talk back at 8 p.m. that explores the background, meaning, and dramatic interpretation of that night’s stories.  Also, freshly baked cookies and tea are available.

Admission is free!

Join us every third Tuesday of the month at the Institute Library, 847 Chapel St. Our next reading will be May 17. Our theme: “Strange Days.” Our stories: “House Taken Over” by Julio Cortazar and “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever. Please note that the Institute Library is one flight up and not wheelchair accessible. For more information, visit us at http://www.institutelibrary.org.

May Day Celebration on the Green 2016!

by Jeff Spalter, May Day Celebration Committee

Come celebrate May Day, International Workers’ Day, from noon until 5 p.m. Sunday, May 1, on the New Haven Green. (Raindate: Sunday May 8.)

maypole-smallThis is the 30th consecutive year of May Day on the Green. May Day is a multi-cultural festival featuring live music, poetry, dance, children’s activities, speak-out time, a May Pole Dance, free vegetarian food and displays and information tables from local labor, peace, social service and social justice groups. May Day is a participatory event that is free and everyone is invited.

At a time when labor unions are being harassed around the country, we celebrate labor unions as being a workers’ best hope. At a time when immigrants are still struggling for their rights, we celebrate our immigrant heritage and culture. At a time when violence threatens our communities, we say tax the rich and give us jobs. At a time when US forces and drones are still deployed around the world, we say no more war.

Our featured performers on the Green include Coalition Hip Hop, N-Finity Muzik and Not Here.
For more information visit us at http://www.facebook.com/newhavenmayday or call Jeff Spalter (203) 843-3069, [email protected].

May Day mission statement: to organize a multi-cultural festival that honors and celebrates our labor history and the labor, peace, social service and social justice groups that today continue the struggle for peace and human rights.

What is New Haven Review?

by Bennett Graff, publisher, New Haven Review

It is the New Haven’s own literary journal, founded in August 2007 to draw attention to the writing scene in the greater New Haven area. In its role as the literary heart of the Elm City, New Haven Review publishes essays, fiction, and poetry in print and on the web. Individual issues feature work from both local and national writers, placing them in dialogue. It is a program of the Institute Library.

But New Haven Review is so much more!

Its editors and contributors regularly blog for its website about the arts and literature.

It features, hands down, the best theater reviewing in all of New Haven—covering nearly every play production from Long Wharf to Yale Rep to New Haven Theater Company to smaller independent productions.

It hosts author talks at The Institute Library by local writers.

It collaborates with New Haven Theater Company in the presentation of the Listen Here! Short Story Reading series.

It produced for Connecticut NPR the author interview radio show Paper Trails.

It commonly throws for its subscribers the best winter party in town at the Institute Library.
Want to know more?  Just find us at http://newhavenreview.com and subscribe!

Amistad Awards Rally Calls for Justice for All

by Joelle Fishman, CT People’s World

From Ariel Johnson’s beautiful rendition of Change is Gonna Come to the closing performance by Ice the Beef Stop the Violence Start the Peace, the 2015 People’s World Amistad Awards inspired young and old alike with its message of unity and struggle.

Themed “Justice for All – In Solidarity with Black and Latino Youth – Stop the Right-wing Attacks,” the event greeted actions by youth to end racism and achieve a future with hope and dignity.

“The 2016 elections are the battleground for every democratic right we’ve ever won,” declared Joelle Fishman in the Call to Action. “We can stop….candidates who want to bring us back 175 years. We will not go back! We must go forward!”

Awardees included Jill Marks, a leader of New Haven Rising and Alder-elect in Ward 28; Ciro Gutierrez, member-leader of SEIU 32 BJ building cleaners union in Hartford, and Cindy Harrity, Communication Workers of America Local 1298 organizer, retired.

Marks said she was moved to become a grassroots leader after knocking on thousands of doors and hearing the problems of ordinary families. She urged those present to join the fight for good jobs and attend a New Haven Rising rally Dec. 12.

Gutierrez, born in Peru, described how he became involved in the social movement during the right-wing coup in his country. When his family came to U.S. after losing their public sector jobs to privatization, he continued his commitment to workers’ rights through his union.

Harrity, unable to project her voice due to illness, prepared comments read by husband John Harrity. Cindy, well known for her successes as a union organizer, urged those present to “be unreasonable” when confronted with exploitation, unfairness or any injustice.

The awards were held on the 96th anniversary of the Communist Party USA. Edie Fishman, who joined the YCL at 14, now in her 80th year in the working-class movement, received flowers from the youth. She recounted experiences which won social security, unemployment compensation, health and safety on the job, and ending Jim Crow racial segregation. “When we stick together and fight together we can win,” she said.

Performances also included Capoeira by Raca em Moviemento Dance Studio and poetry by Gaylord Slaters and Aaron Jafferis.

Arts Build Community: Call for Proposals

by Nichole René, Communications Manager, GNH Arts Council

The Arts Council is pleased to announce the third round of support for creative community engagement projects: Arts Build Community. Artists and arts organizations are invited to submit proposals for projects that actively engage community members in the creative process. We believe that participatory art making experiences can have a profound impact on our community. They can enrich the quality of community life, enhance the lives of individuals, and build connections between people. Small project stipends of $1,000 to $2,000 will be given to selected projects.

Deadline for proposals is January 15, 2016. Successful proposals will suggest project activities and events that reflect an understanding of the community or relationship with target audience. To review the complete RFP requirements and submit your application, please visit the Arts Council website at http://www.newhavenarts.org/seeking-community-engagement-through-art-proposals or email [email protected] or call (203) 772-2788.

Previous recipients include: Adam Christoferson’s Inspired Songs of New Haven, a song-writing project with youth, adults with mental illness, and veterans dealing with PTSD; an inter-generational drawing project led by the Free Artists of New Haven to create murals of Latino leaders in Fair Haven; a  project inviting the public to create Symbolic Healing Objects for children at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital; and a series of workshops at neighborhood libraries with the artist Krikko, where community members created portraits of their neighborhoods that will be displayed together as a neighborhood mosaic.
Visit the Arts Council online at http://newhavenarts.org, call (203) 772-2788, like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/artscouncilofgreaternewhaven, follow us on Twitter @newhavenarts, or Instagram @newhavenarts. #ArtEverywhereNHV.

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