Improvisations Now at Real Art Ways

Skip to main content
Improvisations Now
Experience music imagined and created in real-time. This series runs from September 2024 to May 2025. Check out the full schedule here!
December 15 Performance:

Darius Jones-saxophone

“Today, there isn’t a saxophonist with a purer and more astonishing tone, one of authority and humanity.” – PopMatters

Darius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of Black music. Jones has been awarded the Van Lier Fellowship, Jerome Foundation Artist-in-Residence and Commission, Western Front Residency and Commission, French-American Jazz Exchange Award, Robert D. Bielecki Foundation Award, and Fromm Music Foundation Commission from Harvard University. Jones has received acclaim for his studio albums featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism and his commissioned work as a composer throughout the United States and Canada.

Learn more about Darius here.

 

Nasheet Waits-drums

NASHEET WAITS, drummer/music educator, is a New York native. His interest in playing the drums was encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Frederick Waits. Over the course of his career, Freddie Waits played with such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner, and countless others.

Nasheet’s college education began at Morehouse in Atlanta, GA, where he majored in Psychology and History. Deciding that music would be his main focus, he continued his college studies in New York at Long Island University, where he graduated with honours, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Music. While attending Long Island University, Waits studied privately with renowned percussionist, Michael Carvin. Carvin’s tutelage provided a vast foundation upon which Waits added influences from his father, as well as mentor Max Roach. It was Max that first gave Nasheet’s formidable talent international spotlight, hiring him as a member of the famed percussion ensemble M’BOOM. One highlight of Nasheet’s tenure with M’BOOM was the live concert performance of M’BOOM with special guests Tony Williams and Ginger Baker.

Learn more about Nasheet here.

 

Adam Lane-bassist

By combining a disparate set of influences into a unique improvisational voice, Adam Lane has become recognized as one of the most original creative voices in contemporary jazz. His 2006 recording New Magical Kingdom, was recently featured in the Penguin Jazz Guide 1001 Best Records Ever Made, and his most recent recording, Ashcan Ranting received a myriad of critical praise including four stars in Downbeat.

His current projects include his Full Throttle Orchestra, a nine piece ensemble formed to realize his extended jazz orchestral compositions, The Adam Lane Trio, featuring legendary reedist Vinny Golia, Four Corners, a co-lead ensemble with reedist Ken Vandermark, and an ongoing solo project that combines unique processed double bass improvisations with Lane’s original story telling. As a sideman he has performed with an eclectic mix of musicians, from tenor great John Tchicai, to alto iconoclast Richard Tabnik, to rock legend Tom Waits. Lane’s compositions have been praised for their audacity and originality.

Learn more about Adam here.

 

Joe Morris-guitar

Joe Morris is a composer/improviser multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, double bass, mandolin, banjo, banjouke electric bass and drums. He is also a recording artist, educator, record producer, concert producer/curator and author. His is considered to be one of the most original and important improvising musicians of our time. Down Beat magazine called him “the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” Will Montgomery, writing in The Wire magazine called him “one of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.”

He is originally from New Haven, Connecticut. At the age of 12 he took lessons on the trumpet for one year. He started on guitar in 1969 at the age of 14. He played his first professional gig later that year. With the exception of a few lessons he is self-taught. The influence of Jimi Hendrix and other guitarists of that period led him to concentrate on learning to play the blues. Soon thereafter his sister gave him a copy of John Coltrane’s OM, which inspired him to learn about Jazz and New Music. From age 15 to 17 he attended The Unschool, a student-run alternative high school near the campus of Yale University in downtown New Haven. Taking advantage of the open learning style of the school he spent much of his time playing music with other students, listening to ethnic folk, blues, jazz, and classical music on record at the public library and attending the various concerts and recitals on the Yale campus, including performances by Wadada Leo Smith. He worked to establish his own voice on guitar in a free jazz context from the age of 17, drawing on the influence of Coltrane, Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor,Thelonius Monk, Ornette Coleman as well as the AACM, BAG, and the many European improvisers of the ’70s. Later he would draw influence from traditional West African string music, Messian, Ives, Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Leroy Jenkins, Steve McCall and Fred Hopkins. After high school he performed in rock bands, rehearsed in jazz bands and played totally improvised music with friends until 1975 when he moved to Boston.

Learn more about Joe here.

 

Improvisations Now
Experience music imagined and created in real-time. This series runs from September 2024 to May 2025. Check out the full schedule here!
November 17 Performance:

 

Jeb Bishop-trombone

 

Nate McBride-bass

 

Kelly Bray-trumpet

 

 

Joe Morris-drums

Improvisations Now
Experience music imagined and created in real-time. This series runs from September 2024 to May 2025. Check out the full schedule here!
October 20 Performance:

Ingrid Laubrock is an experimental saxophonist and composer interested in exploring the borders between musical realms and creating multi-layered, dense, and often evocative sound worlds. A prolific composer, Laubrock was named a “true visionary” by pianist and The Kennedy Center’s artistic director Jason Moran and a “fully committed saxophonist and visionary” by the New Yorker and the New York Times nominated her composition Vogelfrei as ‘one of the best 25 Classical tracks of 2018’.

She worked with Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richards Abrams, Dave Douglas, Kenny Wheeler, Jason Moran, Tim Berne, William Parker, Tom Rainey, Mary Halvorson, Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, Craig Taborn, Andy Milne, Luc Ex, Django Bates’ Human Chain, The Continuum Ensemble, Wet Ink and many others.

Awards included the BBC Jazz Award for Innovation in 2004, a Fellowship in Jazz Composition by the Arts Foundation in 2006, the 2009 SWR German Radio Jazz Prize, the 2014 German Record Critics Quarterly Award, Downbeat Annual Critics Poll Rising Star Soprano Saxophone (2015), Rising Star-Tenor Saxophone (2018) and Herb Alpert/Ragdale Prize in Composition 2019.

Ingrid Laubrock has received composition commissions from The Fromm Music Foundation, BBC Glasgow Symphony Orchestra, Bang on The Can, Grossman Ensemble, The Shifting Foundation, The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation, The Jerwood Foundation, American Composers Orchestra, Tricentric Foundation, SWR New Jazz Meeting, The Jazz Gallery Commissioning Series, NYSCA, Wet Ink, John Zorn’s Stone Commissioning Series, and the EOS Orchestra.

She is a recipient of the 2019 Herb Alpert Ragdale Prize in Music Composition and the 2021 Berklee Institute of Gender Justice Women Composers Collection Grant.

Ingrid Laubrock is a part-time faculty member at The New School and Columbia University. Other teaching experiences include improvisation workshops at Towson University, CalArts, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, Baruch College, University of Michigan, University of Newcastle, and many others. Laubrock was Improviser in Residence 2012 in the German city of Moers. The post is created to introduce creative music into the city throughout the year. As part of this, she led a regular improvisation ensemble and taught sound workshops in elementary schools.

Born in Newark, NJ, Steve Swell has been an active member of the NYC music community since 1975.  His breadth of versatility has allowed him to tour and record with mainstream artists like Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich in the past, as well as more contemporary artists like Anthony Braxton, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, and William Parker.  He has over 50 CDs as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artist on more than 125 other releases.  He runs workshops worldwide and is a teaching artist in the NYC public school system, focusing on special needs children.

Swell has worked on music transcriptions of the Bosavi tribe of New Guinea for MacArthur fellow Steve Feld in 2000. His CD, “Suite For Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers” (CIMP), ranked number 2 in the 2004 Cadence Readers Poll. He has also received grants from USArtists International in 2006 and MCAF (LMCC) awards in 2008 and 2013. He has been commissioned three times for the Interpretations Series at Merkin Hall in 2006 and at Roulette in 2012 and 2017.

Steve was nominated for Trombonist of the Year 2008, 2011 & 2020 by the Jazz Journalists Association, was selected Trombonist of the Year 2008-2010, 2012,  2014-2021, and 2023 by the online journal El Intruso of Argentina, and received the 2008 Jubilation Foundation Fellowship Award of the Tides Foundation.  Steve has also been selected by the Downbeat Critics Poll in the Trombone category each year from 2010-2018 & 2020-2024. The New York City Jazz Record chose his recording “Soul Travelers” with Jemeel Moondoc, Dave Burrell, William Parker, and Gerald Cleaver as Album of the Year in 2016. His performance of “Kende Dreams” with Connie Crothers, Rob Brown, Larry Roland, and Chad Taylor at the 2016 Vision Festival was cited as one of the year’s best performances by the same journal. This was also one of Connie’s last performances. We miss her dearly.

Steve is a teaching artist through the American Composers Orchestra, Healing Arts Initiative, Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center (Bronx), the Jazz Foundation of America, Leman Manhattan Preparatory School, and the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.

Steve was also awarded the 2014 Creative Curricula grant (LMCC) for the project: “Metamorphoses: Modern Mythology in Sound and Words,” which was taught in a month-long residency at Baruch College Campus High School in Manhattan.

Steve’s CD Music for Six Musicians: Hommage à Olivier Messiaen was listed in NPR’s top 50 albums for 2018.

Steve is an inaugural recipient of a Jazz Road Tours grant (SouthArts.org) begun in 2019 and received a 2020 Creative Engagement grant (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) for performances to take place in Manhattan.

In 2021, Steve received the City Artists Corps Grant (NYC).

Hidemi Akaiwa is a Japanese pianist and composer. At 30, she shifted from a successful corporate career to focusing on jazz music. She received a full scholarship to  Berklee, where she participates in the college’s Global Jazz Institute, Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, Planet MicroJam Institute, and Interdisciplinary Arts Institute. These experiences have allowed her to study with world-class musicians, including Danilo Pérez, Kenny Werner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Billy Childs, David Fiuczynski, and many others. Her passion is to create a new art form infusing the tenets of Japanese Zen with the sounds of jazz and microtonal contemporary classical music.

 

Joe Morris is a composer/improviser multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, double bass, mandolin, banjo, banjouke electric bass and drums. He is also a recording artist, educator, record producer, concert producer/curator and author. His is considered to be one of the most original and important improvising musicians of our time. Down Beat magazine called him “the preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” Will Montgomery, writing in The Wire magazine called him “one of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.”

He has performed or recorded with Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Evan Parker, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Wadada Leo Smith, David S. Ware, Sunny Murray, Marshall Allen, Dewey Redman, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Andrew CyrilleJoe Maneri, Barry Guy, Tyshawn Sorey, Ken Vandermark, Mary Halvorson, Han Bennink, Barre Phillips, Tomeka Reid, Paul Rutherford, Agustí Fernández, Nate Wooley, Peter Evans, Gerald Cleaver, Rob Brown, John Butcher, Eugene Chadbourne, DKV Trio, Aaly Trio, Daniel Carter, Rashid Bakr, Wilbur Morris,, Kidd Jordan, Alvin Fielder, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, Tim Berne, Fred Anderson, Ivo Perelman, Andrea Parkins, Hamid Drake, Thurman Barker, Fred Hopkins, Bern Nix, Joe McPhee, Billy Bang, Lowell Davidson, Peter Kowald, Simon Fell, Roy Campbell Jr., Raphé Malik, Whit Dickey, Sabir Mateen, Mark Dresser, Gerry Hemingway, Warren Smith, Karen Borca, Malcolm Goldstein, Paul Lytton, Tim Berne, Suzie Ibarra, Mat Maneri, Sylvia Courvosier, Thurston Moore, Alex Ward, Jamie Saft and many others. He has also performed as a member of William Parker’s Organic Ensemble, Pipeline 2000, Jim Hobbs Ghost Band, Alan Silva’s Celestial Communications Orchestra, Simon Fell Orchestra, Agustí Fernández Celebration Ensemble, and in a large ensemble led by Leroy Jenkins. He currently leads various groups including Abstract Forest, a 20+ piece improvising ensemble, Go Go Mambo, Joe Morris Quartet, Mess Hall, Shock Axis, Plymouth, as well as performing solo, in duos and as a freelance guitarist and double bassist. In 2019 he began his INSTANTIATION music, recording and performing the first four parts of the multi-part work that uses the properties of free music in new ways with various ensembles.

He is featured as leader, co-leader and sideman on 150 recordings to date. Many of his recordings as a leader have been named among Writer’s Choice (best of the year) in the Village Voice, Chicago Tribune, Wire, Coda, and Jazziz, and on Free Jazz.org and All About Jazz.com.. He has recorded for the labels AUM Fidelity, SoulNote, Thirsty Ear, Ayler, Knitting Factory, Okka Disc, OmniTone, Avant, Incus, Hat Hut, ECM, Leo, Homestead, NoMore, About Time, Clean Feed, Skycap, Rogue Art, Rare Noise, ESPdisk, Bug Incision, Relative Pitch, and Cuneiform. In 2014 he founded Glacial Erratic records.

In 2019 he was nominated for a St Botolph Distinguished Artist Award. He received the 2017 Killam Visiting Scholar Award from the University of Calgary Alberta Canada. He was the recipient of a Meet the Composer grant in 2004. He was nominated for a 2001 Calarts Alpert Award. He was nominated as New York Jazz Awards Guitarist of the Year in 1998 and 2002.

In 2012 he published the book Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music (Riti, 2012). His article Encryption was included in Arcane vol 7 (Tzadik 2014). His article Perpetual Frontier appears on www.pointofdeparture.org (Pod39) May 2012. He has written numerous liner note articles on his music and for other artists for recordings on the labels Sony, Hat Hut, Aum Fidelity, RogueArt and others. His monthly column Intentional Evolution begins publication in the German magazine Jazz Podium in January 2020. He has presented workshops and master classes in a wide variety of settings throughout North America and Europe, including at Harvard University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, University of the Arts, Berklee College of Music, University of Calgary, University of Guelph, University of Alberta, and Mannes School of Music. He has taught improvisation and/or guitar on the faculty at Tufts University Experimental College, Southern Connecticut State University and the Longy School of Music at Bard College. He is a lesson faculty member at New School Jazz and Contemporary Music. He has been on the faculty in the Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation Department at New England Conservatory of Music since 2000.

He began his work as an organizer and performance producer/curator in 1976 in Boston and continued there and in New York until 2001 when he left Boston for New Haven CT. Upon moving to Connecticut in 2001 he created the Just Play series in New Haven (2003/2004), curated the premier season at Firehouse 12 (2005), was artistic director for Hartford Jazz Society Jazz in the Park series (2008), co-founded and curated the Improvisations series at Real Art Ways in Hartford (2011–2016), and founded and co-curated the Multiplex series at State House in New Haven (2019). He was in residence at The Stone NYC for two weeks in January 2013, and for one week in June 2014, August 2016, June 2017 and May 2018. In September 2015 through June 2016, he produced the series Arcade which presented him in performance with new emerging musicians with ten performances presented in New Haven, Hartford, Cambridge, Mass., and Brooklyn, N.Y. His one-day festival Spectacle was presented at Real Art Ways in Hartford CT annually from 2013-2018. It featured emerging musicians performing in ad-hoc groupings with well-known professionals.

 

Feminist Advocacy: Championing Gender and Social Justice: Book Launch

Join us on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:00 pm to celebrate the release of Feminist Advocacy: Championing Gender and Social Justice by Connecticut State Representative and author Jillian Gilchrest!

In this insightful book, Jillian Gilchrest shares her personal journey, from identifying as a feminist to learning the value of engaging with diverse viewpoints to becoming a champion for gender and social justice.

This book guides those engaged in feminist advocacy efforts, encourages those fighting for equal rights, and inspires those fighting fiercely for women’s right to choose.

Jillian will read excerpts from her new book. There will be a light reception (appetizers) and a cash bar (at concessions) for all guests of this launch event. This is a free-to-the-public event.

 

 

September CCH
Join us Thursday, September 19, from 6 to 10 PM for our next Creative Cocktail Hour. Admission is free. We’ll have a food truck and art-making activities, along with an exhibition opening that night! We will be hosting CCH this month outdoors, weather permitting.
Opening Reception:

Memories Misused by Peter Brown

Exhibitions:

Common Property: Sun Washed Waste of The West

I only found you when I stopped looking

Live Music:

Amandla is Connecticut’s premier original roots reggae band. Derived from the Zulu Amandla, Awethu—Power to the People—Amandla has been paving the way for a new sound in reggae since 2009.

Originally formed in 2004 through a collaboration between singer/songwriter/musicians Burnie T and Kali Wale, Amandla represents the best in modern roots reggae. Years later, Amandla joined forces with internationally acclaimed reggae artist Ras Iba to form a powerhouse trinity.

With a unique sound and style harkening back to the days of Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, and the Wailers, inspired by the musical prowess of Steel Pulse and Aswad, and continuing into the present-day world-wide reggae diaspora, Amandla has delighted crowds up and down the East and West coasts, sharing the bandstand with reggae legends like Luciano, Third World, Beres Hammond, Ras Shiloh, Yellow Man, and more.

The band consists of:

  • Bernie T (Dominican)

  • Kali Wale (Connecticut native)

  • Ras Iba (St. Croix)

Riverwood Poetry Series
The series takes place in person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2024 through May 2025. Each night typically begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally or nationally known poets, followed by an open mic featuring readers with one poem (one page).

The anthology and all authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

This monthly event is free of charge. Ample parking is available via the 56 Arbor parking lot.

 

 

On Wednesday, November 13, at 7 PM, we will host contributing poets from the anthology Of Hartford in Many Lights: Celebrating Hartford’s Buildings. 

Featured readers: Dennis Barone, Debbie Ducoff-Barone, Ginny Connors, Julia Paul, Brad Davis, Joan Hofmann, Jim Finnegan, Clare Rossini, Srini Mandavilli, Christine Beck, Marilyn Johnston, Catherine Hoyser, and Pegi Deitz Shea.

Of Hartford in Many Lights includes poems by contemporary Connecticut poets inspired by particular buildings in the capital city. If a poetic muse imbues this book, it is that of Wallace Stevens, the insurance executive who was Hartford’s greatest 20th-century poet. The title of the anthology, “Of Hartford in Many Lights,” is a play on Stevens’ poem “Of Hartford in a Purple Light.”

In addition to the poems, Deborah Ducoff-Barone and Dennis Barone have added short essays about each structure the poets described. The result is a fascinating look at a historic and interesting city.

No open mic will precede this reading due to time constraints.

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to promoting and appreciating poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration.

From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.” 

Riverwood Poetry Series
The series takes place in person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2024 through May 2025. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally or nationally known poets, followed by an open mic featuring readers with one poem (one page).

Authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

This monthly event is free of charge. Ample parking is available via the 56 Arbor parking lot.

September’s readers:

John L. Stanizzi is the author of Ecstasy Among Ghosts, Sleepwalking, Dance Against the Wall, After the Bell, Hallelujah Time!, High Tide – Ebb Tide, Four Bits, Chants, Sundowning, POND, The Tree That Lights The Way Home, Feathers and Bones, Viper Brain, and SEE. His poems have appeared widely in Italy with profound gratitude to his translator and dear friend, Angela D’Ambra. He has read at venues all over New England, including the Mystic Arts Café, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and Hartford Stage. He coordinated the Fresh Voices Poetry Competition for Young Poets at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut, was a “teaching artist” for the national poetry recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud. Former Wesleyan University Etherington Scholar, New England Poet of the Year, and Poet-in-Residence at Manchester Community College, John received a Fellowship in Creative Writing – Non-Fiction, by the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Culture, and Diversity for his memoir, Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned. He lives in Coventry with his wife, Carol.

T’challa Williams is an award-winning creative advocate, poet, actress, and bestselling author from Hartford, Connecticut. As the Executive Co-Founder of Hartford’s L.I.T., now in its sixth year of hosting the Hartford Book Festival, and a board member of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, T’challa consistently advocates for her community. Recognized with the 2021 100 Women of Color Award, the 2023 Hartford Public Schools Impact Award, and the 2024 I Am Woman Award, T’challa is known for her dedication to craft and culture. T’challa also has a deep passion for nurturing bonds among Black women, which is evident in her work featured in the anthology Heavy is the Crown, a collaboration with A Queen’s Narrative. It also shines through in her recent poetry collection, Captured Thoughts, dedicated to her grandmother, which highlights her powerful voice and heartfelt dedication. She passionately inspires future writers, poets, and performers, embodying her moniker, “The Lover & The Revolutionary!”

 

About Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.” 

The Featherweight Screening and Q&A

“Beautifully acted all round, and a dazzling feat of stylistic play and period recreation…” – Screen Daily

“The film offers a unique twist on the boxing genre, combining elements of a mockumentary, with the intense drama of a sports comeback story.” – Social News 

—

Join us as an early audience to experience this story on the big screen when we host a sneak preview screening on Wednesday, September 18, at 7:15 pm.
Post-screening, we will hear from some of the cast and production team to share more about the making of the movie. James Madio (lead), Steve Loff (writer/producer), and Imma Aiello (cast member) will be on stage for the Q&A, with Dennis House (from WTNH News 8 ABC) moderating.
Advance tickets (which we always recommend) for the 9/18 event: https://realartways.easy-ware-ticketing.com/…/S4TlJRu4z…

Synopsis:
Set in the mid-1960s in Hartford, Connecticut, The Featherweight presents a gripping chapter in the true-life story of Italian-American boxer Willie Pep (James Madio)—the winningest fighter of all time—who, down and out in his mid-40s and with his personal life in shambles, decides to make a return to the ring, at which point a documentary camera crew enters his life. Painstakingly researched and constructed, the film is a visceral portrait of the discontents of twentieth-century American masculinity, fame, and self-perception.

Robert Kolodny’s (cinematographer of Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) feature directorial debut follows the true story of legendary 2x World Featherweight boxing champion Willie Pep. The impressive cast is led by James Madio (The Penguin, Band of Brothers, Hook, Basketball Diaries) with a career-best performance as Pep, alongside Ruby Wolf in her feature debut, Keir Gilchrist (Love & Death, Atypical), Stephen Lang (Avatar Franchise), Ron Livingston (Swingers, Office Space, The Flash, Loudermilk), Lawrence Gilliard Jr (The Walking Dead, One Night in Miami…), undefeated professional featherweight boxer Bruce Carrington, and Hartford local Imma Aiello in her big-screen debut as Mama Papaleo, Willie Pep’s mother.

This acclaimed Hartford-based Willie Pep biopic opens in theaters across Pep’s hometown state of Connecticut on September 20. It had a world premiere in 2023 at the ​​80th Venice International Film Festival with a 6-minute standing ovation.

“The making of The Featherweight in our beloved Hartford is a case study on how filmmaking can create community pride, honor the legacy of a hometown hero, and provide local economic impact. More than a film production, it is a community collaboration.” – Executive Producer Donna Collins

 

 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

“The most complete essay in the décor of delirium is one of the most famous films of all time, and it was considered a radical advance in film technique, yet it is rarely imitated—and you’ll know why.” – The New Yorker

Considered to be the world’s first true horror film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI was released in 1920 and introduced audiences to a new genre of psychological horror.

At a carnival in Germany, Francis (Friedrich Feher) and his friend Alan (Rudolf Lettinger) encounter the crazed Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss). The men see Caligari showing off his sleepwalker, Cesare (Conrad Veidt), a hypnotized man who the doctor claims can see into the future. Shockingly, Cesare predicts Alan’s death, and by morning, his chilling prophecy has come true — making Cesare a prime suspect. Is Cesare guilty, or is the doctor controlling him?

On Sunday, September 29, at 2:30 pm, we will host a screening of this film in our cinema with a score composed and performed live by Roger C. Miller and Terry Donahue of The Anvil Orchestra.

Roger and Terry have been live-scoring silent films individually and collectively for over 30 years. If you’ve ever experienced a live-scored movie in an arthouse theater, you know how special it will be.

$40 General Admission
$30 RAW Members
$15 Full-Time Students w/ ID (presented at Box Office)

Dìdi

 

In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, flirt, and love your mom.

—

Dìdi is the debut feature from director and writer Sean Wang. You may remember watching his Oscar-nominated short, Nai Nai & Wài Pó, earlier this year in our cinema. There has been so much buzz around Dìdi all summer, we are thrilled to be screening it after much anticipation.

On Friday, September 6th, 6 PM (for one night only), we are hosting a conversation with Angela Rola (founding Director of the Asian American Cultural Center at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus), Catherine Shen (host of CT Public’s Where We Live), and Jaspreet Singh (Trumbull High School senior). This presentation is co-hosted by our community partner, Asian Pacific American Coalition of CT (APAC CT). APAC is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 that provides services and education for and about the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Connecticut.

If you are a member of APAC CT, you will be offered a discounted price of $7 for admission. When ordering tickets online, please select Adult Member for the discounted pricing.

Due to limited seating, securing advance tickets for the September 6 screening and panel is highly recommended.

Link to buy tickets for September 6 here. 

 

​Angela Rola is the founding Director of the Asian American Cultural Center (AsACC) at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus. This student-centered space focuses on cultural identity, equity, and inclusion, where students can be part of many programs that develop their leadership skills and sense of belonging.

She is an Affiliate Faculty for the UConn Asian & Asian American Studies Institute and developed and taught a course on Asian American mentoring and leadership. She lectures extensively in undergraduate and graduate courses on campus and at local colleges and universities. Most recently, she also served as a co-principal investigator for a $1.9 million grant at the UConn Hartford campus that centers on developing courses and programs focused on the Asian American community.

Angela develops and facilitates workshops on issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, implicit bias, cultural competency, and creating inclusive environments. Within the state of Connecticut, Angela lobbied for the creation of the first Asian American Affairs Commission, which is now part of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity (CWCSEO).

In 2006 she co-founded the Asian Pacific American Coalition of CT, a non-profit, non-partisan community group that provides services and education for and about the Asian American community in Connecticut. She presently sits on its Executive Board.

Before working in Higher Education, Angela worked in both the corporate and non-profit worlds as a Human Resources specialist in New York, California, and Alaska.

​Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

 

Catherine Shen is the Host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live. Catherine and the WWL team focus on going beyond the headlines to bring in meaningful conversations that put Connecticut in context.

Before her current position, Catherine was Connecticut Public’s education reporter for just over a year. She covered a variety of stories like student mental health, childcare shortages, and teacher burnout. She joined Connecticut Public’s newsroom in 2021. The Los Angeles native came to CT Public after a decade of print and digital reporting across the country.

She started her journalism career in the Los Angeles fashion scene. While that was an exciting time, Catherine ultimately needed to get back to her news roots. She was soon traipsing all across California’s Central Coast as a freelance news reporter for several newspapers, where she broke stories about local government, law enforcement, and education. She also covered crime, healthcare, business, as well as arts and culture.

After finding herself on the East Coast, she continued reporting in New Jersey, covering a mix of academic news, nonprofit projects, and human feature stories both off and on camera. Then she moved to Connecticut and started reporting for the New Britain Herald, where she won several Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists awards for her coverage on the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice movements, and police accountability.

Catherine received an undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. While an undergraduate student, she was a reporter for the university newspaper and its student-run television station, Cable 8 News. She’s also a proud member of the Asian American Journalism Society.

In her downtime, she tries her best to catch up on her reading list but often fails due to a variety of distractions, including reorganizing her bookshelves, scavenging library book sales, and thinking about reading books.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

 

Jaspreet Singh is a senior at Trumbull High School, where he’s captain of the cross country track team, VP of Finance for the DECA chapter and a member of FBLA. Outside of school, he enjoys serving his community and is an intern with the Sikh American Legal Defense Education Fund (SALDEF) and Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut. Jaspreet volunteers at his local place of worship (gurdwara) on Sundays and is CFO of a tutoring non-profit called Trumbull Tutors, whose goal is to provide students in underprivileged areas with free access to education. When he’s not in school or volunteering and has some time to himself, he enjoys playing basketball with friends and skiing during the winter.

—

“It’s a love letter to the world of Top 8s and status updates, an apology to beleaguered parents everywhere,” Li continues. “And, perhaps for Wang, an embrace of his younger self’s disorientation.” – The Atlantic
“There’s a particular scene in the film that is pure in its heart-on-its-sleeve naked brilliance, one that’s as full of rich emotion as anything you’ll see in any movie this year.” – SF Chronicle
Listen to this They Call Us Bruce podcast episode featuring Sean Wang

 

Improvisations Now

Experience music imagined and created in real-time. This series runs from September 2024 to May 2025. Check out the full schedule here!

September 22 Performance:

 

Nicole Mitchell

Nicole M. Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader, and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2022). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s. She started with Maia and Shanta Nurullah in Samana (the AACM’s first all-woman ensemble) and as a member of the David Boykin EXPANSE. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections, and Ice Crystal, and she composes contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size while incorporating improvisation and a broad aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Mitchell, celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.” Some of her newest work with Black Earth Ensemble explores intercultural collaborations: Bamako*Chicago, featuring Malian kora master, Ballake Sissoko and Mandorla Awakening with Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi) and Tatsu Aoki (taiko, bass, shamisen).  As a composer, Mitchell has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Stone, the French American Jazz Exchange, Chamber Music America (New Works), the Chicago Jazz Festival, ICE, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Mitchell has performed with creative music luminaries, including Craig Taborn, Roscoe Mitchell, Joelle Leandre, Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen, George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Steve Coleman, Anthony Davis, Myra Melford, Bill Dixon, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Wilkerson, Rob Mazurek, and Billy Childs, and Hamid Drake. She is a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award (2011), the Chicago 3Arts Award (2011), the Doris Duke Artist Award (2012) and the United States Artist Award (2020).  Mitchell is a Professor of Music at the University of Virginia and previously taught at the University of California Irvine and the University of Pittsburgh.

Website

Joe Morris

“The preeminent free music guitarist of his generation.” – Downbeat Magazine

“One of the most profound improvisers at work in the U.S.” – WIRE Magazine

“The guitar revolutionary to pay attention to.” – The Boston Phoenix

Joe Morris was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1955. He began playing guitar at the age of 14, first playing rock music, progressing to blues, then to jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. He released his first record, Wraparound (riti), in 1983. He has composed over 200 original pieces of music. Joe Morris and Real Art Ways have a longstanding creative relationship. Joe has performed multiple times since the 1980s and has organized concert series of improvisational music for years.

Facebook

Website

Citizen Brain

 

Artwork by Rich Black

At the Global Brain Health Institute, based at UCSF, Josh Kornbluth immersed himself in studying brain disease and wondered if our society was suffering from political dementia. The discovery of the “empathy circuit” in the brain might be the cure. Can a neurotic storyteller who flunked every science class spark a science-based revolution of empathy?

Citizen Brain is a live solo show – an autobiographical monologue – that aims to “spark an empathy revolution.” Check out this fantastic write-up of his show on Forbes.

Josh will be performing in person in our cinema all three days for these special events:

Friday, Oct 4, 7 pm

Saturday, Oct 5, 7 pm

Sunday, Oct 6, 2:30 pm

REGULAR ADMISSION: $40
REAL ART WAYS MEMBERS: $35
FULL-TIME STUDENTS (WITH ID): $15

Photo Credit: Atlantic Institute/Lee Atherton

For years, Josh Kornbluth, who writes and hosts the “Citizen Brain” series, has been performing his autobiographical monologues for theater audiences all over the U.S. (and occasionally in other countries as well). His show Red Diaper Baby ran Off-Broadway, was selected for the Best American Plays collection, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and was made into a performance film for the Sundance Channel. His monologue The Mathematics of Change was also made into a performance film. His shows Haiku Tunnel and Love & Taxes have both been adapted into feature films by Josh and his brother Jacob: Haiku was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival and was distributed nationally by Sony Pictures Classics; Love & Taxes was distributed nationally by Abramorama and received a 100 percent “Fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes. For two years Josh hosted an interview program on public TV station KQED, cleverly titled The Josh Kornbluth Show. He was also artist-in-residence at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco. Josh’s shows have been collected into a book, Red Diaper Baby: Three Comic Monologues, as well as two audiobooks from Audible.com: Red Diaper Baby: Three Comic Monologues and Ben Franklin: Unplugged … and Other Comic Monologues. Since January 2017 he has been an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute; he also served a stint as Hellman Visiting Artist at UCSF’s Memory and Aging Center. He lives in Berkeley, Calif., with his wife, Sara, a public schoolteacher, and their son, Guthrie, a budding filmmaker.

—

What people are saying about Josh’s show:

“…an engaging story…told in his inimitable humorous, intelligent and forthright style.”
– Emily Mendel | Berkeleyside

“Citizen Brain succeeds most effectively in its complete and utter honesty…masterful storytelling…transcendent.”
– Caitlin Keller | The Daily Californian

“Kornbluth at his best…a winner…perfectly prescient, well crafted”
– Steve Murray | Broadway World

“captivating… warmly universal…intensely personal”
– Chad Jones | TheatreDogs

“Don’t miss it! He’s a magical, medical marvel—full of heart and soul.”
– Barry David Horwitz | Theatrius

 

 

Borderland I The Line Within

 

We are hosting a one-night event on Thursday, September 12, at 6:30 pm – a documentary screening and Q&A with filmmakers Pamela Yates (Director) and Paco de Onís (Producer) – in our cinema.

Getting advance tickets is highly recommended. 

Logline

There is a war on immigrants. A massive surveillance, militarized, and carceral apparatus has been built to
capture, imprison, and deport millions. But in the shadow of this border industrial complex, immigrants are
building a rights movement envisioning a future rooted in human connection and the sanctity of life.

Synopsis

The United States border is not just a geographic location. The border is everywhere. It lies within every
undocumented immigrant family with the threat that, at any moment, they can be captured, incarcerated,
deported; their lives destroyed. BORDERLAND | The Line Within not only exposes the profitable
business of immigration and its human cost, but weaves together the stories of immigrant heroines and
heroes resisting and showing a way forward, intent on building a movement in the shadow of the border
industrial complex, recognizing the human rights of all.

 

Director’s Statement (Pamela Yates)

BORDERLAND l The Line Within is a critique of my country’s inhumane treatment of people arriving in
the U.S. It’s about the use of immigration as a gateway to fascist ideology and political power. I’ve been
making films internationally for the past 20 years but feel it is important to have a critique of my own country
now. I searched among Americans finding creative ways to resist the cruelty of our immigration policies,
but instead I found a dynamic movement growing among undocumented immigrants to organize, educate
themselves, demand their rights and become a force. Weaving the story together by scraping the web and
invoking the Freedom of Information Act, I chose a trio of experimental digital humanists artfully exposing
the business of immigration, a multibillion-dollar system to stop people from crossing the border, incarcerate
them and deport them. Making this film would take five years.

 

Pamela Yates filming with cinematographer Juan Hernández, AEC, in the Sonoran Desert

 

Never has my work as a human rights defender and documentary filmmaker come together so closely nor
been so demanding. Never had I had to depend so strongly on the collaboration of the protagonists in telling
their stories. For example, when Kaxh Mura’l an environmental defender of the Maya-Ixil ancestral lands
was threatened with death for his activism, he fled his homeland Guatemala and began the dangerous
journey to seek asylum in the U.S. Since he was in my previous film, 500 Years, he contacted me upon
leaving so of course I was going to do what I could to help him. He’s a beautiful writer and an important
leader. Together we would tell his story.
When Kaxh arrived in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, I got him a pro bono lawyer just across the border in El Paso
who could travel back and forth and represent him. I acted as a kind of paralegal to the lawyer Carlos

Spector, doing research, gathering documentation, creating briefs to argue the case in court, and writing
an affidavit for Kaxh as well as his traveling companion Francisco. Together we formed a circle of solidarity
made up of Carlos, Giovanni Batz, a PhD in social anthropology, church supporters, and humanitarian aid
people working in the El Paso/Juárez corridor. We’d meet weekly to move Kaxh and Francisco’s cases
forward and provide for their needs. I knew I had to be completely transparent about my involvement in how
the filmmaker helped shape the story. I did it through sparse narration, and Kaxh’s harrowing WhatsApp
voice messaging back and forth with me. We laid bare the process of making the film, which is another
interesting facet of the film itself.

BORDERLAND would be connected to The Resistance Saga, the trilogy of films about Guatemala that I
had made over the past 35 years, but it would take place in the U.S. As Mayan immigration increased –
there are now thought to be more than 1 million Mayan people in the diaspora here – I thought of
BORDERLAND as a kind of continuation of the story and of our work.

I was so fortunate to meet Gabriela Castañeda of The Border Network for Human Rights and for her to
collaborate with me over the years it took to make this film. Gaby, talented organizer that she has become,
showed me what special perseverance it takes to build leadership when people are so afraid. She brought
us into places where immigrants felt free to talk to her and to each other about this fear and how it affected
their children. Though in danger of being deported for her activism, Gaby’s sharp intelligence always put
others first and she knew how to bring out the greatest leadership potential in each person she encountered.
Together with Juan Hernández, the cinematographer who lives in northern Mexico and who is best known
for his dramatic feature films, we devised a look that made the most of the anamorphic widescreen format
2.39:1 (for a more epic feel) as we wove complicated stories together using only prime lenses. I wanted to
capture the majesty and terror of the landscapes, the border wall scar, the excitement of creating power in
numbers as immigrants formed networks across the country. I thought about how to visualize an almost
subversive environment for the xpMethod digital humanists, a liminal space to expose the cruelty of what
our tax dollars are supporting, often without our knowledge. BORDERLAND was filmed to be seen on the
big screen, it’s my commitment to the future of cinema.

The recorded location sound had to be perfect, always difficult in documentary filmmaking where you have
no control over the surroundings. I began my career as a sound recordist, so you can only imagine how
demanding I am of sound recordists on my own films. David Fournier Castillo is the prodigy sound recordist
from Mexico City who made all the difference in his close attention to recording the soundscape. From the
Arizona desert to studio shoots in New York City, he came through to deliver magnificent sound.
I had always wanted Sara Curruchich to compose and perform the musical soundtrack on BORDERLAND.
I knew she would bring Mayan sensibilities, instrumentation and vocalization to evoke the tragedy of being
forced to flee, and the nostalgia for family, land, language, and culture left behind. Our long-time composer
Roger C. Miller joined Sara and together they created the extraordinary film music track.

The meaning of the title BORDERLAND | The Line Within is at the heart of the film. The border is not
geographical line, but rather a vast border industrial complex entrenched in every corner of the U.S. It is
inside each and every undocumented person because wherever they may be, the fear of being discovered
and deported is looming, yet in the shadow of the border industrial complex, they are quietly creating
networks and building power.

 

 

 

August CCH
Join us Thursday, August 15, from 6 to 10 PM for our next Creative Cocktail Hour. Admission is free. It will be outdoors, weather permitting.

 

Opening Reception:

Common Property: Sun Washed Waste of The West

A solo exhibition by Real Art Award Winner Sophia-Yemisi Adeyemo

 

Exhibitions:

I only found you when I stopped looking

High Society

 

Live Music:

David Rivera y la Bámbula (check out a recent performance here)

The band consists of:

  • Lead Vocals/Drums: David Rivera

  • Bass Guitar: Ricky Rodríguez

  • Piano: Anibal Cruz César

  • Percussion: Marcoz Lopez & Marcos Torres

  • Trumpet: Manuel Maneco Ruiz

  • Trombones: Arturo Vejez & Omy Ramos

  • Tenor Sax: Jonathan Suazo

  • VGB’s & Flauta: Jailene Michelle

Food Truck: 

Mama Nena’s

 

Activities:

Mod Podge

A special crowd-sourced art project for the launch of the new Real Art Ways (final piece to be constructed by artist Amy Genser)

“No Guns, All Play” Public Art Project and Celebration
UPDATE: This event is happening weather-permitting.
Real Art Ways presents a new community art project “No Guns, All Play” on Saturday, August 10, at 11:30 am at George Day Park (across from 56 Arbor Street).

The public is invited to this community event; refreshments will be served. (

“No Guns, All Play” is a sidewalk tattoo, commissioned by Real Art Ways and designed and created by artist Steed Taylor. Walkways in the neighborhood park will be painted with brightly colored designs and will include the participation of neighborhood children.

Steed Taylor has created 50 similar works in cities including Beijing, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago and West Palm Beach. (see images below)

Taylor’s street tattoos repurpose public space for art and bring socially engaging art to where people live.

This collaboration with Taylor stems from Real Art Ways’ commitment to its immediate neighborhood, including Park Art, a program for neighborhood youth that Real Art Ways has offered since 1990.

Youth in Park Art will observe and participate in the creation of “No Guns, All Play” beginning Wednesday, August 7, when Taylor arrives to begin the work.

This project is made possible by Love Your Block, a program of the City of Hartford, with additional support from the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

To learn more about Steed Taylor, you can check out his work here.

Expansion Open House

 

Join us for one of our Expansion Open Houses to learn more about our plans for the future.

Dates for the Open House are:

Wednesday, July 31, 12:00 pm
Wednesday, July 31, 5:00 pm
Friday, August 2, 3:00 pm

Admission is free. A RSVP is suggested, but is not required in order to participate.

Email our campaign director, Eric Ort, to schedule a tour.

REAL ART WAYS’ FACILITIES ARE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE.

Ask Your Artist If It’s Right For You
Thursday, August 1, 6:00 PM. Free admission, no RSVP required.

You’re invited to High Society: A Conversation about Art and Pharma with artist Jeff Ostergren, who will discuss his current exhibition with independent writer and curator Sarah Fritchey at Real Art Ways. Please join us for a conversation exploring the intertwined history of paint and pharmaceuticals – how it began, where we are today, and how pharmaceutical advertising has aimed at keeping some of us down while getting others high.

Guests will be offered a complimentary cocktail inspired by High Society using Wild Moon Botanics Liqueurs from our neighbors at Hartford Flavor Company. Must be 21 or over; while supplies last.

Jeff Ostergren makes paintings, sculptures, videos, drawings, and installations about the intertwined histories of pharmaceuticals and color. His pointillist, color-saturated works, infused with actual pharmaceuticals and chemicals, utilize imagery from art history and advertising to explore the ecstasy and toxicity of our present moment.

Originally trained as an anthropologist, Jeff has been a practicing artist for two decades. Upcoming shows include a solo exhibition at Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT, and a two part project called “A Suitcase” at Picture Theory in New York City and Kunstraum Super in Vienna, Austria.

Recent exhibitions include “Double Take: Familiar Objects in Unexpected Materials” at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT, “The Past Pushes Forward” at Omola Studios in New Haven, CT, and “Circadian Rhythms,” curated by URSA Gallery in Bridgeport, CT. In 2018, he completed a 2,400 square foot solo site-specific installation “Science For a Better Life,” in which he explored the chemical and visual history of Bayer Pharmaceuticals at Yale University’s West Campus in New Haven, a former Bayer facility.

Ostergren is a recipient of a 2024 Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant from the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. He also received an Artist Grant from the Puffin Foundation earlier this year. In 2023, he was awarded an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, and The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists Grant, an annual project based-grant in New Haven. He was also chosen a 2021 “Artist-To-Watch” by Ortega y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn, NY.

He also has a curatorial practice, including a well-reviewed exhibition “False Flag: The Space Between Reason and Paranoia” at Franklin Street Works in Stamford, CT in 2018. In addition, from 2018-2019, Ostergren ran Tilia Projects, a community exhibition space, out of his studio in New Haven.

Ostergren received his MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA in 2006, following upon receiving a BA in a double major of anthropology and gender studies at Rice University in Houston, TX in 1998. He lives and works in New Haven, CT.

 

 

Sarah Fritchey is an independent Curator and Writer who works at the intersections of art, justice, civic engagement, memory and belonging. Fritchey has curated exhibitions in museums, galleries and art non-profits around the country, including the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the Hessel Museum of Art in Hudson, NY, Sideshow Gallery in NYC, Fine Arts Gallery at York College in NYC, NYPOP Gallery in NYC, Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT, and Franklin Street Works in Stamford, CT. She has juried regional exhibitions at the New Britain Museum of American Art, and the Art and Culture Center in Hollywood, FL, and has contributed writing to Artforum.com, Hyperallergic, Art New England Magazine, Big, Red & Shiny, Artscope Magazine, and the Hartford Courant.

 

July CCH
Join us Thursday, July 18, 6-10 PM for our next Creative Cocktail Hour. Free admission. Outdoors, weather permitting.

 

Live Music by Simone Mońe & The Score

Food from East West Grill (serving Lao & Thai specialties)
Exhibitions:

I only found you when I stopped looking

High Society

Activities:

DIY Framing Station led by Real Art Ways staff – be ready to pull up a photo you want printed; we’ll have an activity table set up for you to design a frame for the photo!

A special crowd-sourced art project for the launch of the new Real Art Ways (final piece to be constructed by artist Amy Genser)

June CCH – Celebrating Pride of Community
Thursday, June 20, 6-10 PM

FREE

You’re invited to “pour one out” on this longest day of the year.

Tisane closed last month after 24 years. As the go-to spot for so many of our staff (especially after CCH nights), we want to shout out to and invite everyone who made it such a special place. This summer solstice, celebrate the inclusive community that was part of Tisane for so many years and share your favorite memories with us.

DJ Sonia Sol

Rhashim Campbell & The Unit 

Nibbles n’ Noms

Exhibitions:

6-8 PM Opening Reception for High Society by Jeff Ostergren

Activities:

Special crowd-sourced art project for the launch of the new Real Art Ways (final piece to be constructed by artist Amy Genser)

Handkerchief customizing

Riverwood Poetry Series
Join us for this in-person reading! An open mic will precede the featured reader—one poem, one page.

Since we are always trying to perfect our open mic, this month we will draw 10 names from all those who sign up by 7 PM.

The series is also updating their contact list!

If you would like to receive email notifications of upcoming events, please leave your name and preferred email address at the book sales table.

The authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing & conversation, and beer, wine, soft drinks, and snacks will be available for purchase. Bring a friend! Free of charge. Ample parking available at Real Art Ways.
May’s Reader:
Matthew E. Henry

Matthew E. Henry (MEH) is the Boston-born author of the full length collections the Colored page (Sundress Publication, 2022) and The Third Renunciation (New York Quarterly Books, 2023), the chapbooks Teaching While Black (Main Street Rag, 2020) and Dust & Ashes (California Press, 2020), and the micro-chapbook have you heard the one about…? (Ghost City Press, 2023). He also has a collection forthcoming from Harbor Editions (said the Frog to the scorpion). MEH is editor-in-chief of The Weight Journal, an associate poetry editor at Pidgeonholes, an associate editor at Rise Up Review, and is the 2023 winner of the Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize.

He received his MFA in poetry from Seattle Pacific University, an MA in theology (Andover Newton Theological School) and a PhD in education (Lesley University).

MEH is an educator whose career has found him teaching English, teacher education, philosophy, and sociology at the high school, college, and graduate levels. His writing shines a back-light on the bed of education, race, relationships, and religion. He’s been known to make some sad and angry people irrationally uncomfortable.

Randall Horton

Randall Horton, originally from Birmingham, Alabama, is the recipient of the Gwendolyn Books Poetry Award, the Bea Gonzalez Poetry Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature, the GLCA New Writers Award from Creative Nonfiction for Hook: A Memoir (2015), Poet-in-Residence at the Civil Right Corpse, and most recently a Right to Return Fellowship from the Soze Foundation, Horton is also a member of the band: Heroes Are Gang Leaders, a group whose unique blend of jazz, funk, hip hop, go-go, R&B, soul, classical, music, dramaturgy, and prose, continues the legacy of Amiri Baraka and received the American Book Award from Oral Literature. The University of Kentucky Press is the publisher of his latest poetry collection {#289-128}. His memoir Dead Weight: A Memoir in Essays was published by Northwestern University Press in Feb. 2022.

In addition, Horton has appeared on C-Span, NPR, CTNPR and countless journals, magazines and radio shows. He is the co-creator of Radical Reversal, a poetry/music band dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the American legal system through the installation of recording studios and creative/performance spaces as well as programming in Dept. of Correction facilities in the United States. Horton is a Professor of English at the University of New Haven.

About Riverwood Poetry Series
Riverwood Poetry Series

The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all of them free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”