Pam Hall with her project Towards an Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge, an impressive work made in collaboration with community members. Photos courtesy of Pam Hall.
Towards An Encyclopedia Of Local Knowledge Now Online
The Encyclopedia of Local Knowledge is a collaborative art-and-knowledge project by former MFAIA faculty advisor and beloved community member Pam Hall and hundreds of participants in communities on the Northern Peninsula, Bonne Bay, Fogo and Change Islands, Newfoundland. It explores art as a form of making and moving knowledge and reveals many ways of knowing that are local, living, and still fruitfully in use. It is now wonderfully digitized and it can be found online here. The beautifully bound print version is available here. Pam also appeared on the CBC Radio show Crosstalk on March 19, 2018 talking about her project.
Pam’s work in rural locations in Newfoundland and elsewhere has been ongoing since the late 1980s. Drawn deeply to place and to the labour of practice (and the practice of labour), she has worked with and around rural knowledge-holders, especially in the fisheries, for many years. Her parallel interests in the body, especially the female body, have also provided sites for her exploration of what knowledge might be, who “makes” it and who has the power to “name” it as knowledge and thus provide the basis for its value. This project was the central work of Pam’s Interdisciplinary PhD and was extended through her tenure as the Inaugural Public Engagement Postdoctoral Fellow at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Fellowship was supported by Memorial’s Faculty of Arts, the Office of Public Engagement and by the Shorefast Foundation on Fogo Island. This research and creation was profoundly influenced and generously supported by the residents of Fogo Island and Change Islands who shared their time, their knowledge and their hospitality.
You can find Pam’s Ph.D. thesis online: Recruiting the visual: knowing our commonplace towards an encyclopedia of local knowledge. For more information on Pam and her work, or to contact her about this or other projects, please visit her website.

Poet and MFAIA alumna, librecht baker, is a new writing tutor at Goddard College. Photo courtesy of librecht baker.
New Writing Tutor
Warm welcome to alumna librecht baker (MFAIA-WA ‘12) who is one of the new writing tutors at the Goddard College Writing Center. She is the author of vetiver (Finishing Line Press), a playwright, poet, and student of the West African drum and dance culture. baker works as an English instructor in the Los Angeles Community College District, Writing Coach, and Assistant Editor. Artistically, baker is part of the Ragdale artist community and has participated in Lambda Literary Writer’s Retreat and VONA/Voices. Her poetry is in Sinister Wisdom 107 – Black Lesbians: We are the Revolution!, Bone Bouquet (Issue 8.1), Solace: Writing, Refuge, & LGBTQ Women of Color (BLF Press), and other publications. Her one-act play, Lineage Undone, was awarded Top Performance in the “Top Papers and Performances in Performance Studies” category at the Western States Communication Association 89th Annual Convention.
M/Others and Future Humans
In association with the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology and The Multispecies Salon, alumna Karin Bolender (K-Haw) Hart (MFAIA-VT ‘07) is part of a curatorial swarm bringing together an international traveling exhibition called M/Others and Future Humans, which will kick off in Melbourne, Australia in 2018 and in future years travel on to ports un/known. For more information on the exhibition, see the Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology site for M/Others and Future Humans.
In the company of longtime art/life performance heroes Beth Stephens, Annie Sprinkle, Linda Montano, and many others, K-Haw will present a R.A.W. project honoring muddy microbial mysteries and ghostly mules, as part of Seedbed: A Soil Symposium, co-hosted by the E.A.R.T.H. Lab and the UCSC Farm & Garden and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS). The symposium will take place in Santa Cruz, CA on April 26 to 27, 2018.
Threshold, Michael Walsh and Misha Penton. Photo: Raul Casares.
Threshold, A New Music Video From Misha Penton
Alumna Misha Penton (MFAIA-WA ’13), released the music video Threshold, filmed at a cavernous old rice factory in Houston, Texas. This is the culminating version of the live performance work which premiered at the same site in spring of 2017. Threshold was conceived and directed by Penton, and is inspired by the ancient and enigmatic Greek initiatory rites, The Eleusinian Mysteries: a mother-daughter passion play of abduction, loss, and renewal. Threshold is an abstract and contemporary interpretation of these ancient Mystery rites— a mythopoetic underworld journey and an offering which speaks to the chaotic upheaval we are all feeling: what kind of world will we choose to create together? You can enjoy the video online here.
Image left: Rehearsal with the Aan Yátx’u Sáani: Noble People of the Land creative team in Juneau, Alaska, Photo: Sarah Campen. Image right: The ensemble: Walter Soboleff, Jr, Ernestine Hayes, Khinkaduneek Paul Marks, Lillian Petershoare, and Marcelo Quinto. Photo: Ryan Conarro.
Aan Yátx’u Sáani: Noble People Of The Land: The Juneau Histories Theater Project
Five community members share their own personal stories in this one-of-a-kind theatrical event, illuminating their deep connections with Juneau’s Old Indian Village and the downtown area often called the Willoughby District. With music and video projections, they weave their memories with little-known histories revealing massive changes that have marked the heart of the Capital City. Aan Yátx’u Sáani: Noble People of the Land lifts up enduring community and cultural values towards a more inclusive and just future for Juneau.
Written and Directed by alumnus Ryan Conarro (MFAIA-WA ’12) and Frank Henry Kaash Katasse, in collaboration with the storytellers: Ernestine Hayes, Khinkaduneek Paul Marks, Lillian Petershoare, Marcelo Quinto, and Walter A. Soboleff, Jr. At the Juneau Arts and Culture Center
Thursday March 29 to Saturday March 31.
Read interviews, hear audio, and see photos from the Juneau, Alaska community on the online companion project.
Produced by Ping Chong & Company, 47 Great Jones Street, New York, NY 10012 T: 212 529 1557 F: 212 529 1703. For more info contact: info@pingchong.org
https://vimeo.com/259269254
Video from SUSTAIN by Suchi Branfman.
SUSTAIN (a dance collaboration on the inside and outside) On Vimeo
During 2017, a group of dancers and incarcerated men spent every Friday afternoon dancing together creating SUSTAIN (a dance collaboration on the inside and outside). This performance is a result of that collaboration, honoring the experience and the movement created together. The dance also celebrates the ways that we are able to survive and find sustenance, whether inside or outside of the prison walls, with choreography by alumna Suchi Branfman (MFAIA-VT ’17) in collaboration with the performers and dancers at the California Rehabilitation Center. With performers: Maile Blume, Caroline Bourscheid, Nia-Renee Cooper, Rachel Fredericks, and Cynthia Irobunda. And collaborators: Eden, Albert, Raynall, Rahman, Michael, Tieja, Mark Anthony, Aaron, Isia, Chris, William, Isaac, Cameron, Ryan, and Kevin. The video for SUSTAIN is available to view on Vimeo.
Lisa Wolpe as Shylock, as herself, and in her touring work Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender. Images courtesy of Lisa Wolpe.
Shylock At Utah Shakespeare Festival
Alumna Lisa Wolpe (MFAIA-VT ’07) will be playing Shylock at Utah Shakespeare Festival this summer, directed by Melinda Pfundstein Vaughn. Advance tickets available at bard.org as seats are selling fast.
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, directed by Melinda Pfundstein. Runs from June 30 to September 7, 2018, Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre, 200 W College Ave, Cedar City, UT 84720, USA, Tel: 1 435-586-7880
Lisa also returned with her touring work Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender for the Shakespeare Association of America at the Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles, on March 28, 2018.
Grace Alfiero Named Karuna-Shechen USA’s New Executive Director
Karuna-Shechen USA has named alumna Grace Alfiero (MFAIA-VT ’10) from Pipersville, PA, as Executive Director of the organization. Alfiero joins an international team of professionals and will be responsible for overseeing communications, interfacing with the non-profit sector, and managing fundraising activities in North America. Karuna-Shechen, founded by Matthieu Ricard in 2000, provides health care, education, and social services for the under-served people of India, Nepal, and Tibet.
Students In Shakespeare Led By Amy Woodruff
Alumna Amy Woodruff (MFAIA-VT ’11) is Chair of Theatre Arts for East Jefferson High School in Metairie LA, where she is directing their spring production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring a cast of up to twenty student actors. This runs from March 22 to 31, 3018.
Pat Taylor to teach at International Jazz Dance Congress in Brazil. Image courtesy of Pat Taylor.
Pat Taylor At The International Jazz Dance Congress In Brazil
Recent graduate Pat Taylor (MFAIA-WA ’18) returns to Indaiatuba (Sao Paulo) Brazil to teach for the 10th edition of the Congresso de Jazz Dance Internacional, held April 28 – May 1, 2018. The conference celebrates the diversity of jazz dance, uniting technique and theory through master classes, lectures, workshops and discussions that reflect a dialogue with the past and also point a way to the future. Members of Pat’s company JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble will also perform at the event’s 10th anniversary gala concert.

Image courtesy of Chicava Honeychild.
Sacred Burlesque With Chicava Honeychild
Alumna Chicava Roslyn Tate (MFAIA-WA ’12) is in the process of launching Sacred BurlesQue an online burlesque for every woman that draws from teachings of Taoism, Kundalini Yoga, Emotional Freedom Technique and other modalities blended together with the old fashion bump n’ grind. She started developing the work during her studies at Goddard when she realized that though every woman doesn’t want to be a burlesque performer, there’s something in burlesque for every woman. Alumna Stacy Dawson Stearns (MFAIA-WA ’12) is the social marketing lead on the business project building momentum primarily via the instagram handle @sacredburlesque.
Chicava is also making great strides on the research she began at Goddard on the heritage of black burlesque performers – dating back to the late 1800s. She is working on a documentary with director Sekiya Dorsett. Sekiya completed her MFA in film at Hunter College this winter with a presentation of thirty minutes of Chicava’s film to date. The collaboration has benefited greatly from being nurtured in these diverse academic environments. They are looking forward to screening a trailer at this year’s Burlesque Hall of Fame and introducing the global burlesque community to women who have been hidden figures in burlesque.
Kate Egnaczak, image left: Emotional Landscape 1-4, Marker distilled alcohol inks, 5×5 in. Image right: Emotional Landscape 12×12, Marker distilled alcohol inks, 12×12 in.
The Art Of Zero-Waste Practice
Recent graduate Kate Egnaczak (MFAIA-VT ’18) has extended her study of zero-waste producing a series of paintings with inks created by distilling used marker ink cartridges in isopropyl alcohol. The series, Emotional Landscape 1-4 and Emotional Landscape 12×12 were presented with the work of fellow Worcester Public School visual arts teachers in “A Matter of Intention” at the Sprinkler Factory in Worcester, Massachusetts March 3 to 26, 2018. The research and development of this process have been translated into a standards-based elementary school art curriculum. In dialogue with this work, Kate has accepted a research position as Teaching-Artist in Residence at the Hiatt Center for Urban Education at Clark University to further develop and document school wide zero-waste practices.

Cara Hagan from LOAM. Photo: Jon Pfundstein.
World Premiere Of LOAM
Alumna Cara Hagan (MFAIA-WA ’12) presented the world premiere of her newest performance work, LOAM at Three House Arts in Durham, NC March 2nd and 3rd. The piece will be performed in other venues across NC and the United States in the coming year. Between March 11th and 17th, Cara had the pleasure of participating in the 2018 Performática Festival in Puebla, Mexico where she taught workshops on Creative Social Stewardship and performed her work in flux, Declaration. Between April 5th and April 8th, Cara will be in Helsinki, Finland as a guest speaker and panelist at the Loikka Dance Film Festival and Future Screens of Dance Conference, speaking on issues of representation in screendance through the lens of her extensive research through the ADF’s Movies by Movers Film Festival, which she directs and curates. Additionally, Cara, along with her collaborator at the University of Arizona, photographer Adela Licona, have been awarded a collaborative residency at PLAYA for fall 2018 to work on their visual and performance project, Shedding Skin.
Mindfulness And Resistance: Brown Bodies In Western Yoga
Cara Hagan is also compiling an anthology examining Mindfulness and Resistance: Brown Bodies in Western Yoga. Since yoga’s import to the United States, it has been represented in mass media, educational and communal practice settings as a site for prevailing cultural narratives about race, the body, gender, economics, spirituality, and more. Present day studios, teacher trainings and yogic publications full of young, thin, white female bodies and dominant world views do not speak to the particular experiences of people of color, poor people, disabled, and otherwise marginalized people in the West and can often alienate would-be practitioners. However, there exist many practitioners, instructors, and activists working throughout the United States to mitigate alienation from mindfulness and yogic practice among marginalized communities and further, are presenting yoga as a form of activism; a way to reclaim both the physical and mental space affected by systemic oppression – a way to positively and productively confront trauma and engage in radical self-care. Mindfulness and Resistance: Brown Bodies in Western Yoga, is to be an interdisciplinary anthology that will explore the femme body of color as a site of resistance in the context of contemporary, Western yogic practice. Through an intersectional feminist lens, the collection will seek to present a discussion of the ways black and brown women and queer/non-binary individuals show up to the practice, both in and outside of designated yoga spaces and how those practices are relevant to the ongoing struggle for social justice in the 21st century. Diverse contributors, queer, Latinx and indigenous voices, are encouraged to contact Cara for more information at hagangelbercm@appstate.edu.

Video of dancer Arthur Grimes accompanies Cara Hagan’s Indiegogo Campaign.
Sound and Sole: Appalachian Dance and Music Indiegogo Campaign
Cara Hagan has an Indiegogo Campaign to raise funds for a new film dance project: Sound and Sole: Appalachian Dance and Music. A collaboration between Cara and renowned Appalachian dancer Arthur Grimes, a native Appalachian and self-taught clog dancer who has dedicated his life to preserving the history and culture of the high country, while making it clear that Appalachian traditions come from a mixture of cultural influences. Dancing on stages across the high country with notable bands like the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Old Crow Medicine Show, Arthur uses the stage to bring joy, history, and mutual understanding to audiences of all backgrounds. Support Cara’s upcoming film project that celebrates and honours the work of Arthur Grimes by contributing to her Indiegogo Campaign here.

Image courtesy of Stacy Dawson Stearns.
Mojo Technique Season And Other Teaching
Stacy Dawson Stearns (MFAIA-WA ’12) is now teaching Viewpoints at California State University Los Angeles in the Theater and Dance department of the College of Arts and Letters. She is thrilled to be an educator in the California State College System, which holds the distinction of being the nation’s largest 4-year higher education system as well as the first self-proclaimed sanctuary campus following the election of POTUS 45. Stacy is also the current curator of the Monday Morning Class series at Pieter PASD: a brave space for people of all kinds. The classes of the Mojo Technique season are taught by a diverse range of local artists and are offered with the intention of deepening and complicating the dance, movement, and artistic practices of the participants. MMCPieter saves trees and communicates with the community via instagram @mmcpieter.

Video for Let Them In by Soul Inscribed.
New Soul Inscribed Video Let Them In
New York soul/hip-hop band Soul Inscribed has created a beautiful new video for their song Let Them In that celebrates the diversity of America and the positive effects of immigration. Kicking the song off with Lakota hip-hopper Frank Waln who raps about the Native American experience and their exploitation by white settlers. Baba Israel, Soul Inscribed’s MC, joins the proceedings calling for an opening of our borders and asserting that no one is illegal. All proceeds of Let Them In sales will go to benefit undocumented immigrant activists via The Seed Project/Cosecha.
Soul Inscribed is a hip hop, and spoken word collective. The ensemble creates an eclectic new vision of jazz, dub, and afrobeat. Soul Inscribed is comprised of alumnus Baba Israel (MFAIA-VT ’08) (emcee/production), Grace Galu (vocalist), Duv (vocalist), Sean Nowell (Sax, Flute, FX), Doron Lev (Drums) and alumnus Yako 440 (MFAIA-VT ’09) (instrumentation/production).
Petra Kuppers Keynotes Puppetry Conference In The UK
The Broken Puppet Symposium on Puppetry and Disability Performance will take place on 14-15 April 2018 at Bath Spa University, UK. It will bring together artists, scholars, and members of the public to explore the ways puppetry and disability intersect to produce innovative art forms. MFAIA-WA faculty advisor Petra Kuppers will keynote the event.
Petra Kuppers and Stephanie Heit at Judson Church October 2017. Photo: Ian Douglas.
Weekend Workshop At Movement Research, Performance At Judson Church
Petra Kuppers is co-leading a site-specific drifting exploration in NYC: Stephanie Heit and Petra Kuppers explore Olimpias scores and insights from Tendings, small everyday collaborative practices that combine experiential anatomy, disability culture, eco-specific investigations, somatic exercises, and writing. Let’s go to the park, the street, other edge spaces of urban life and insert ourselves, our differences, our breath. This practice nourishes activist interdependent energies and pools resources for community building and stewardship of self and the environment. Come and move with us on Earth Day! Runs from April 21st to 23rd, 2018. For more information visit Movement Research.
Tendings: Creative Practice As Self-Care
This Spring 2018, Petra Kuppers co-authored ‘Tendings: Creative Practice as Self-Care,’ in the Center for Sustainable Practices in the Arts Magazine. The essay can be accessed here for free.
Site Specific Performance Publication in TDR
Petra Kuppers also published an essay in TDR, The Drama Review, on site-specific performances in Michigan. The essay can be accessed here for free.
Pi Luna Workshops
Alumna Pi Luna (MFAIA-WA ’12) offered two workshops in her ongoing series providing financial skills to artists:
Bring Love to Your Finances – A Workshop for Couples
Talking about money is one of the trickiest conversations a couple can have, but it doesn’t have to be. Financial Coach, Pi Luna and Relationship Coach, Nameh Marsin will teach you how to bring more love into your finances. This was held on Saturday, March 10th at the First National Bank, 1672 Hospital Drive in Santa Fe, NM.
Price Your Artwork with Confidence
Pricing your work is tricky. There are so many variables to consider like the value of your work, your customer demand, your expenses, and your competition. Most artists end up guessing and hoping for the best. The problem is that it’s easy to either undercharge and not be able to cover your expenses or to over charge and lose potential sales. In this workshop, Pi will help you take the guesswork out of pricing and approach the topic strategically to create better results.Topics include:

• Understanding your target audience
• Knowing your costs
• Calculating your breakeven point (how many products you must sell to cover your costs)
• Evaluating your competition

This was held on Tuesday, March 20th at Graphic Sky Printing: 3218 Calle Marie, Santa Fe, NM.
Look out for more workshops offered by Pi for artists and the management of finances via Pi’s Facebook page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfCZpz33SDg
Storme Webber Sings Poetics
Alumna Storme Webber (MFAIA-WA ’14) recently attended the Banff Centre Indigenous Storytellers and Spoken Word Residency from March 4th to 16th 2018, where she sang/presented an original poetic piece with Jasmine Ishōkma Netsena Brown.

Laiwan’s rendering of barnacle sculptures created by artist Emilie Grace Lavoie, adorning the SiteFactory Mobile Art Platform school bus founded by artist Leah Weinstein. Image courtesy of the artist.
Mobile Barnacle City Live/Work Studio
Located within the SiteFactory school bus at a contentious site of ecological transformation, historical and cultural significance, and development pressure, MFAIA-WA faculty advisor Laiwan’s installation project Mobile Barnacle City Live/Work Studio examines conditions of displacement and disparity where Chinatown meets North-East False Creek. The project runs from Sunday, April 15, 2018 to Sunday, April 29, 2018. The opening reception and open salon will be on Sunday April 15, 2018 from 2:00pm­ to 5:00pm at 600 Quebec St at Keefer (South West side).
Over the course of two weeks Mobile Barnacle City Live/Work Studio will be hosting FREE open salons with refreshments including Luq’luq’i : a herbal lounge with Cease Wyss & Anne Riley.
The Mobile Barnacle City School will offer a number of FREE seminars with lunches provided. A schedule of events will be made public soon on the Mobile Barnacle City Live/Work Studio Facebook Event Page here.
Ten Different Things is a series of public art commissions in Vancouver that engages ten artists to investigate the role of culture as a critical ingredient in the construct and vitality of the contemporary city.
Ten Different Things is a collaboration between CityStudio Vancouver and Living Labs at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, curated by Kate Armstrong and supported by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program. Janet Moore and Duane Elverum are co-founders of CityStudio Vancouver. Thanks to Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, for additional sponsorship, and to the support of the Goddard College Faculty Development Fund.