Evening & Weekend Programs

Keeping the Beat: Green Street Encourages Life-Long Students

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A Note of Thanks

Thank you to everyone who attended our Opening Evening on September 10th; the night was a great success and we enjoyed meeting new friends and seeing familiar faces.  We’d like to thank Michael Roth, Wesleyan University President, Sonia Mañjon, Wesleyan University Vice President for Institutional Partnerships and Chief Diversity Officer, and our incredible Green Street Advisory Board members and Wesleyan Trustees who joined in the festivities and showed their support for GSAC.  We hope you all experienced some of the great offerings, like the salsa workshop, West African Drumming and Dancing, and family art projects.  Green Street is fortunate to have fantastic advocates like you.  Buster and Paola, two of our supporters, have shared their Green Street experience with us below.

Keeping the Beat

Green Street Arts Center is an essential part of our lifelong learning process.  Buster and I are both teachers. He teaches fourth grade at Macdonough School in Middletown and I teach sixth grade at Sunset Ridge Elementary Academy for Arts and World Languages in East Hartford. He is a Middletown native and I live in Glastonbury, which makes for a convenient commute to Green Street for both of us.  Last spring, we participated in the West African Drumming: Djembe Orchestra class led by expert instructors Jocelyn Pleasant and Aaron Greenberg, who teach with humor and patience. We not only practiced drum technique, but also learned about the various rhythms and cultures of West African countries with our diverse, energetic, and good-natured classmates.

In addition to expert instruction and welcoming classmates, another key feature of the Green Street Arts Center is its partnership with the greater Middletown community.  As a culmination to our drumming course, many class members joined the instructors and younger Green Street students to perform at a community festival celebrating the arts open to all.  For a novice musician such as me, performing a public concert for an intergenerational audience was thrilling!

Buster and I always look forward to Green Street’s new course offerings because they stretch our minds and rejuvenate our spirits.  In the future, we hope to explore Salsa dancing, creative writing, martial arts, and of course, more drumming.

Thank you, Green Street Arts Center for helping us stay bright and lively!

Sincerely,

Paola Maina and Buster NelsonFall Catalog Cover
Submitted by Paola Maina and Buster Nelson, Green Street students and After School support staff

If, like Paola and Buster, you are interested in staying bright and lively through one of Green Street’s offerings, view our fall course catalog here.  To become a member and receive great discounts at Green Street and partner organizations around the state, email gsac@wesleyan.edu or call (860) 685-7871.  Click here for all of the membership benefits. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sunday Salon Series: “Days and Knights of the Round Table”

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Come join us to learn about the true story that inspired a legend.

The Arthurian legend is perhaps the most important legend in Western society and is still frequently retold and reinterpreted today in literature and cinema.  Wesleyan Professor Jeff Rider has been studying the legend for over thirty years and will be discussing it in Green Street’s Sunday Salon Series.  Jeff will discuss the origins of the legend in Dark Age Britain along with its early evolution in medieval England and France. Audience members are invited to ask questions about Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, the Grail, and much more.

This informal lecture takes place on Sunday, September 12 from 2-4pm as part of the Sunday Salon Series, Green Street’s monthly discussion series for creative minds and curious individuals hosted by Wesleyan University Chemistry Professor David Beveridge.  Each monthly salon includes plenty of opportunity for socializing as well as a reception with light refreshments.

More about Jeff Rider
As a professor of French and Medieval Studies at Wesleyan University, Rider is an expert on the history and literature of northern Europe during the High Middle Ages.  He received his bachelor’s degree in French and English from Yale University, a diploma of Medieval Studies from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), and a MA and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago.

Rider is the author of twenty-three published articles and six books, editions, or translations devoted medieval subjects.  He has given numerous lectures about the Arthurian legend in the United States, England, France, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Romania, and Peru.

He teaches French language and medieval literature and history courses to undergrads, and recently taught a course on “Chivalry, Courtliness, and Courtly Love in the Middle Ages” to students enrolled in Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program.  He will be teaching a GLSP class this fall on “Days and Knights of the Round Table”.  Much like his Sunday Salon discussion, it will look at the way the various developments of the legend were rooted in specific historical circumstances and yet contributed to the elaboration of a rich and complex narrative that has been appropriated in different ways by each succeeding period of western European culture.

Days and Knights of the Round Table with Professor Jeff Rider
A Sunday Salon & Graduate Liberal Studies Open House
Sunday, September 12 | 2:00-4:00 pm
Suggested donation: $5

Co-sponsored by Green Street Arts Center and Graduate Liberal Studies at Wesleyan, this event will be followed by an information session about Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program.

For a complete list of events at Green Street, click here.

East Berlin to Essex

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Internationally-Recognized Artist Shares Story and Talents with Green Street

Edeltraud Huller is not only a Green Street teaching artist, she is also an internationally-recognized artist and talented musician. Two years ago, in an effort to fill a void, Edeltraud walked into Green Street and said “I need to volunteer”. From there she was invited to teach drawing to our After School program and Evening & Weekend students.

Teaching has always been a passion of Huller’s, “to see the students’ completed work with such depth and technique that they basically went into the soul, to me that is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.” She also marvels at the natural instinct in the children she teaches, citing their spontaneity as one of their best artistic features.

Edeltraud Huller’s story is an inspirational one.  As a young girl growing up in East Berlin, Germany Edeltraud was curious, devious, and artistic.  Drawing from an early age, she remembers using the revolutionary image of Donald Duck as one of the first examples of graffiti in her neighborhood and on every blackboard in her school.  For Huller, art has always been a way to transcend the problems of divided Berlin, and she recalls escaping to museums of Eastern Berlin to immerse herself in the art and culture.

Edeltraud Huller's 1945 - 9/11/01Much of Edeltraud’s art reflects her surrounding, whether immediate or past.  In her own words, “I am influenced by the converging environments around me, whether it be the richness of nature, the beauty created by endeavors of the human mind, or the architectural destruction and human wreckage of war.” A powerful piece titled “1945 – 9/11/2001” juxtaposes world history with recent American history (see left).  The upper left depicts the war-torn Berlin in which the artist lived while the right side shows the events of September 11th, a time when New York City experienced a concentrated war-zone.  The hints of vibrant color in the center represent the hope that comes with rebuilding Ground Zero.  Huller notes that, though this painting represents two specific time periods, it could depict any world or natural disaster.

Huller move to Old Lyme, CT in 1984 to live the life of an artist and this time also greatly influenced her art.   After operating the Essex ferry for two years, she was inspired by the bulkheads between the low and high tides.  Manipulating linen and using acrylic for depth, the artist was able to recreate her interpretation of the image of low tide (see painting below).  Surely one thing that stands out about Edeltraud Huller is her vision.  “It takes the gift of a child’s mind,” she says, laughing, “and I hope never to lose that.”

Submitted by Lisa Bruno, Development Assistant

If you are inspired by Edeltraud’s story and want to learn more, you can participate in her upcoming fall class:

Drawing for Adults
Wednesdays | 6:30-8:30 pm | Session 2
Regular: $150 | Family/Friends/Student/Seniors: $130 | Members: $120
Expand your drawing skills through close observation, using realistic and expressionistic drawing techniques.  Explore dynamic compositions with three-dimensional objects, props, and lighting, and draw your own interpretations.  Investigate and create the illusion of form, value, space, and texture with materials such as charcoal, pencil, pen, and ink. Materials are included in class cost.

To register for this or any of Green Street’s  fall offerings click here or call (860) 685-7871.

Write of Passage

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Al Bower and friends at an event for writers

A 28-year resident of Middletown’s North End, I retired from full-timework to become a writer in 2006.  My Green Street Arts Center experience began when I took a writers workshop with Dan Pope, which provided the work atmosphere and critiquing I needed.  I was new to critically viewing works and hadn’t been in a classroom in decades, so this was a refresher course that provided new information.  Dan gave us relevant feedback, with lectures on how to critique and handouts of examples.  During this course an editor accepted my first short story.  What a rush!  “Synesthetics” hit print April, 2007 and is online at scars.tv.  Two others have been added there since.

Having whetted my writing appetite, the next year I workshopped with Sari Rosenblatt, who challenged us with “quickie” in-class assignments.  She’d hand out random photographs to each of us, then give us 5-10 minutes to compose a story about the picture.  I’d never dabbled in “flash fiction” before, but the exercises produced some fairly good material, which stunned me.  Two of the eleven stories I’ve published are flash pieces.  Later that year a one-day workshop with Jamie Cat Callan presented similar challenges; we composed five-minute works, again with positive results.

Adult Reader
Writing student reading work at a GSAC event

Since Writers Out Loud began in 2008, I’ve attended every month, mainly because reading aloud shows where faults lie and aids the rewriting process.  The primary side benefit has been meeting many delightful prose people, who’ve become friends, literary influences, and indispensable sources of feedback.  The Writers Out Loud ambience is relaxed; attendees bring cheese and crackers, soda, and home-made sweets to enjoy.  The first half hour gives us time to socialize and catch up on prior conversations.  I normally do a short reading, leading into Cocomo’s announcements and introduction of the evening’s readers.  After each person’s oration, the group acknowledges strengths and weaknesses.  One reading that moved me especially was Piyar Delerme’s, “Cornflower Blue,” which she’ll read this Thursday.  It’s a touching and delicately-phrased description of a brutal situation that made my arm hairs stand at attention.

As a resident of Middletown, I believe in supporting the community and its artistic folks and I am forever grateful for the opportunities Green Street provides.  Writers Out Loud has provided prose writers the chance to give voice to their fictions, their memories, their lives; I relish creating characters and situations but have also read memoirs about key friends in my life.  Most of all, though, I’ve enjoyed writing about my wife, Carol, in some 18 efforts, both fictional and non-fictional.  A few Writers Out Loud attendees have told me they want to meet her based on my readings.  Apparently, I’m developing the ability to touch people. That is my goal.

Submitted by Al Bower, Middletown resident and Green Street participant

Writers Out Loud: Cream of the Crop
Thursday, July 29, 2010 | 7pm
Regular Price $8; Member Price $5
For reservations call (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu.

Join the creative cast of Writers Out Loud in an evening of hand-picked readings by Middletown’s freshest up-and-coming prose authors.  The evening will culminate in the presentation of the Golden Kiss Award—make sure your vote is counted!  This event is dedicated to the memory of Janice M. Albert in celebration of her life and contributions to our creative community.

Exploring Opportunities: When Work Becomes Play

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Being the Financial Coordinator and Registrar at Wesleyan’s Green Street Arts Center has many rewards.  I am able to meet many wonderful people, as the diversity of this Center is truly amazing.  I work with our teaching artists on a daily basis, and after getting to know these dynamic people I am always curious to see what their classes are like.  I took my first class at Green Street two years ago and continue to take advantage of some of the great offerings each year.

Leah's Hip-Hop ClassAfter the success of Beginning Drawing, my first Green Street class, I was inspired to continue exploring what Green Street had to offer from a student’s perspective.  Being a woman in my mid-forties, and having a sedentary job, I wanted to incorporate more activity into my life.  Leah’s Hip-Hop Aerobics class seemed like the perfect fit.

When I showed up for the first class, I could tell that I was the oldest of the 10 students.  I wasn’t discouraged- quite the opposite, actually.  I grabbed my water bottle and the determination to make it through the first class.  After 55 minutes of great music, a few simple dance moves, and stretches, I had clearly gotten a complete aerobic workout.  It was so much fun, that it was hard to think of the class as exercise.  Driving home, I felt energized and was hooked.

Like all of Green Street’s teaching artists, Leah has a way of making Hip-Hop Aerobics equally enjoyable for both beginners and experienced dancers.  She is energetic and kindly encourages all students to make the most of the experience.

After taking Hip-Hop Aerobics, I have not only have I gotten in better shape, but have also proved to myself that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.  I gave the class a chance, and I am excited to try others at Green Street again soon.

If you’re interested in attending Hip-Hop Aerobics or want more information about other classes and events at Green Street, call (860) 685-7871, email gsac@wesleyan.edu, or visit our website. Still not sure what to take?  Many classes welcome drop-ins!

Submitted by Claudia Foerstel, Financial Coordinator & Registrar and Green Street student

North End Nights with Floating Theater Company

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Floating Theater Company presents “In FTC InfoYour Face: Untamed and Unapologetic”

Thursday, July 15, 2010 7pm

Floating Theater Company returns to Green Street Arts Center of Wesleyan University for their annual staged reading of new plays by Connecticut writers. This year’s theme is IN YOUR FACE, works based on social and political topics. Please Note: Mature subject matter and language may not be suitable for children.

In these nine new short works, playwrights take on a variety of contemporary themes from corporate greed to gun control. The adult situations and language used in the works expand upon themes including the circus-like politics surrounding a women’s right to choose, labor and safety issues for American factory workers, and sexual identity and self-expression.

ReaderThe Floating Theater Company, with co-directors Jean Wertz and Jenny Lecce, provides support to playwrights and actively seeks to partner with existing theater companies and Connecticut actors in the development of new works.

Tickets are $8; Member Price $5. For tickets call (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.

A Community Gathering Around Internationally Inspired Art

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For those who love art and gathering with new friends, Green Street hosts A Trio of Solos, a community event featuring three local artists with amazing talents.  You can enjoy live music from Ceol Go Maidin (formerly The O’Rourke’s Irish Session Band), fabulous food, and art on display and for purchase.

Meredith Arcari, Susan Aranoff, and Jennifer Theokary will fill three of Green Street’s spaces with their paintings, printings, and jewelry.  We invite you to fill the rest of the space with other community members as we kick off our summer session in style.

"Shining Orchestra" by Meredith Arcari

These three dynamic artists are all friends of Green Street and the Middletown community.  Meredith’s stunning paintings are based on photographs that she has taken during her travels around the world.  In an expressionist style, she uses exaggerated colors and gravitates toward small, special moments such as the orchestra playing at 2am in her father’s town of Sepino, Italy.

Susan is a proud resident of Middletown’s North End.  Much of her work features a linoleum block entitled “Sitting.”  This block reflects the constancy of self and the reality of change and impermanence.  Susan explained this saying “I can sit the same way, in the same place, everyday for a hundred years and the ‘I’ who is sitting is constantly changing and is never the same for very long.  I have printed “Sitting” over 100 times and no two will ever be the same.”

Jennifer is a designer and Computer Aided Design artist who creates unique wearable objects (see picture above).  Her recent work is inspired from her experience living and working in the Muslim country of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Jennifer’s work shows how cultural differences, religion, and Islamic architecture become inspiration for decoration and creation of wearable sculpture seen through a westerner’s eyes.  All of her works will be available for sale at this event.

This combination of fascinating artists, great entertainment, and delicious food is sure to make A Trio of Solos an unforgettable event.

"Sitting" by Susan Aranoff

We hope to see you there!

A Trio of Solos
Thursday, July 8, 2010
7-9pm
Regular Price $8; Member Price $5

For tickets call (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu.

Submitted by Rachel Roccoberton Griffin, Administrative Assistant

New Perspectives: Green Street’s Managing Director Practices What She Preaches

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As Green Street’s Managing Director, I spend most of my days, and even some nights, working behind the scenes. I’m usually writing grants, soliciting support for programming, balancing budgets, managing operations and staff, and spreading the word about all of our offerings.  I love what I do, and am even more passionate about this incredible organization for which I work, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t sometimes stressful.  One of the best parts about working at this extraordinarily special arts center is that I can relieve my stress without ever leaving the premises.

About two years ago, instead of just working to market Green Street’s course catalog, I finally found the time to take advantage of some of the incredible classes that were listed in it.  The first class I decided to try was Gia Khalsa’s Gentle Yoga.  I had never taken a yoga class before, my knowledge limited by brief images seen on TV or other advertisements.  The description of Gia’s class really grabbed my attention.  “Gia’s gentle yoga” seemed immediately inviting, instead of intimidating.  Her description went on to say, “perfect for those who want to get in shape or gain a little experience.” I wanted to get in shape, get familiar with yoga, and find a new way to unwind.

Gia teaching Yoga

As soon as I laid down my yoga mat at the first class, I was hooked.  Gia’s presence is warm, inviting, and motivating.  She mixes traditional yoga postures with light stretches and relaxation throughout the class hour, focusing on all areas of the body, including breathing and stress relief.  In one hour, Gia’s routine energizes, relaxes, reinvigorates, and motivates.  Gia is encouraging and caters to all of her students’ needs, making everyone in the class- no matter their ability- feel welcome, engaged, and inspired.  Yoga has not only helped me relieve stress, but has also played a large role in my quest for a healthier lifestyle.  In addition, yoga at Green Street has been a bonding experience for me.  I’ve been fortunate enough to take the class with my colleagues and enjoy meeting new friends. More recently, I am loving the quality time I get from taking yoga with my mom.

Yoga Class

Even after working at Green Street for nearly four years, it is still evident that walking through the front door has the power to transform.  I see it in my professional self each day, in our After School students’ eyes, and in the inspirational and passionate stories I hear from the families and adult students who make up the true fabric of the organization.  Now, as a student myself, I have been transformed in a whole new way, and I encourage you to join me.

Gia is offering a Summer Yoga class beginning in July.  To learn more about it and all of Green Street’s other summer offerings, visit us online at www.greenstreetartscenter.org.  There are so many fantastic opportunities awaiting you…I hope to see you in Yoga, or Hip-Hop too!  It’s another fabulous class that I’ve been involved in and it’ll be back this summer as well.  Can’t decide what to take?  Give us a call at (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu and we would be happy to assist you.  Make sure to sign up for one of our great summer classes.  I look forward to seeing you then.

Submitted by Jessica Carso, Managing Director and Green Street Student

Green Street’s 6th Annual Arts Fest: from Popcorn to “Pickles”

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Popcorn Arts Fest '10On Saturday, June 12th, the Green Street Arts Center was filled with excitement.  The 6th Annual Arts Festival took place and, despite the rain, was a great success.  With performances like “Pickles” from the Songwriting class and the debut of “Middletown: Our Town”, an animated video created by the Digital Animation class, the entertainment was energetic, captivating, and certainly inspiring.

Even before entering the building, the festival’s energy was already evident.  Teaching artist Anna had a line of eager kids waiting to get their faces painted, the neighborhood ice cream truck was popular as ever, and Frank was busily handing out free popcorn.  Upon entering Green Street, you could already smell delicious food provided by our partners at Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, Iguanas Ranas Taqueria, and Firehouse Steakhouse.  Jerry’s Pizza had a table with free pizza that was always surrounded by hungry Arts Fest attendees.  Broad Street Books brought a great assortment of arts supplies and books, and DeFabrica Therapeutic Massage was very popular, constantly providing people with refreshing massages.

Arts Fest Drumming '10
Drumming at Arts Fest '10

After satisfying their hunger, guests could choose from a variety of amusements.  The African Drumming classes were set up in the Multipurpose Room, providing hours of rhythmic entertainment.  Adults and kids alike were invited to do arts and crafts in both the Wet and Dry Arts Rooms.  Meanwhile, across the hall in the Performance Studio there was constant action, with breakdancing, musical performances, salsa dancing, animated videos, hip-hop, and more, continuously provided enjoyment for an exuberant audience.

Students in the Breakdancing class staged a breakdance battle to showcase their unbelievable moves.  Young musicians displayed their talents in solo performances, as well as collectively in the Songwriting class’s amusing song “Pickles”.  The salsa class inspired the audience to move and grove to Latin beats, and the Digital Animation class highlighted their skills with a video called “Middletown: Our Town”.  ThoroEnergy also wowed the audience with a dramatic and engaging hip-hop performance.

Breakdancer
Breakdancing Battle

When Arts Fest ended, attendees left with smiles on their faces, students left with a sense of pride in their accomplishments, and the staff were pleased with the success of the event and happy to have made new friends.

For more great pictures of the event, check out our Facebook page here.

If you are interested in learning more about how your child can get involved in one of these (or other) great classes, call us at (860) 685-7871 or email gsac@wesleyan.edu. For more information on upcoming events and classes, visit our website at www.greenstreetartscenter.org.

Submitted by Lisa Bruno, Development Assistant

Arts Fest: Thoroughly Obsessed

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Arts Fest postcardGreen Street’s Annual Arts Festival is something I, and all of Green Street’s friends, look forward to each year.  This year’s Arts Fest will take place on Saturday, June 12 and is sure to be an afternoon filled with creativity, excitement, food, and fun.  ArtsFest is a great way for our students to showcase their hard work and successes throughout the year, and for the community to join us and participate in the fun as well.

This year features performances from Fresh Obsessed

Salsa Dancers
Salsa Dancers Arts Fest '09

breakdancing crew, ThoroEnergy hip hop crew, salsa students, and music classes.  I am especially excited for the West African Djembe Orchestra- a diverse group of people ages 7 to 57 from the After School program, adult class, and Cromwell Children’s Home residency program who will be performing together.  With the strong lead of teachers Jocelyn and Aaron, the group will rock out the beats of Lamban, Makru, and Yankadi.

For the first time, our outside attractions will include delicious food from partners in our membership program.  We are pleased to welcome Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, Iguanas Ranas Taqueria, Jerry’s Pizza, Broad Street Books, and DeFabrica Therapeutic Massage to the festivities.

Painting Green Street
Facepainting Arts Fest '09

While enjoying live performances and great food, you will also be able to meander through the building to view the artwork, stop by a classroom for a free mini-class in Salsa or visual arts.  You can enter a raffle to win a free Green Street class or even plants from Starlight Gardens in Durham.  Don’t miss out on a chance to sign up for Summer classes right on the spot.

In addition to this scintillating array of amusements, mural artist Marela Zacarias will begin painting the new mural, designed by Green Street students, across the street at St. Vincent dePaul’s Place. All community members are welcome and encouraged to help out.

By the way, have I mentioned that all of this is free?  It is!  I hope to see you there!

Green Street Arts Festival & Open House
Saturday, June 12, 2010
1-3pm
FREE
51 Green Street, Middletown, CT 06457
www.greenstreetartscenter.org

Submitted by Rachel Roccoberton Griffin, Administrative Assistant