Community • Education • Arts announces the 2021 7th Annual Noblesville Interdisciplinary Creativity Expo (NICE) Workshops Schedule
All workshops are FREE (donations always welcome!). All workshops are 1 hour Zoom meetings.
About NICE:
Noblesville Interdisciplinary Creativity Expo(NICE) project, now in its 7th year, is an annual project is based upon our love of classic literature. Each year, the project offers four books and four standalone passages, one from each book, for discussion, analysis, introspection, and ultimately inspiration for new creative pieces in any medium or genre of the Arts. 2021’s book selections are: Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison, The Yellow Wallpaper (1892; short story) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L’Engle, and Tarzan of the Apes (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Inspired creations can be presented in our presentations event (submission deadline Sept. 23; event date Sept. 30). You do not need to be familiar with the books or passages to participate in NICE!
Workshops Schedule:
Workshop #1: Introduction to 2021’s Four Books & Passages
FREE!
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2021
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Place: Your Comfy Chair, aka Zoom
Email info@cearts.org for the Meeting ID and Passcode to join the Zoom
This first workshop introduces 2021’s four books and their four standalone passages. We’ll share brief introductions for each book and a little about why we chose each book for this year’s project, and:
- identify significant characters and relationships
- note common themes across all four books
- look at how the narrative styles of each book impacts each story
- discuss what’s happening in these books? (actions, thoughts, reverie, dialogue, etc)
- discuss what emotions you may experience reading the books
- what non-related person is closer to you than family or significant other?
- what are you passionate about? How do you connect the arts to your passion?
- in considering each book, what personal connections or experiences could inspire you as a creative?
For the four standalone passages, click here.
Workshop #2: Sula (1973) by Toni Morrison
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2021
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Place: Your Comfy Chair, aka Zoom
Email info@cearts.org for the Meeting ID and Passcode to join the Zoom
This workshop looks at Sula, by Toni Morrison, and the standalone passage from it. We’ll talk about:
- a brief summary of story
- a brief Author bio – how does the author’s life add or detract from the story?
- we can find problematic content throughout this book: racial issues, sexual issues, violence, etc. They all add to the story; how?
- discuss female friendship:
- What are some valuable female friendships in your life?
- Are Nell and Sula a good example of female friendship?
- What’s the impact of Morrison centering her book on female friendship rather than other types of relationships we see in literature?
- discuss what’s happening in this passage? (actions, thoughts, reverie, dialogue, etc)
- what journey is happening in this passage?
- how would you journal about thoughts like the ones in the passage?
- what emotions do you feel from the passage?
- is there any difference between reading it silently or hearing it read aloud?)
- what unexpected visuals/phrases affect your emotional response.
- what unusual, simple things evoke an unexpected emotional response from you?
- how could you turn these into inspired creative artwork?
- what personal connections or experiences come to mind?
- finding inspiration for new art creations (all mediums/genres)
Workshop #3: The Yellow Wallpaper(1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Date: Thursday, August 26, 2021
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Place: Your Comfy Chair, aka Zoom
Email info@cearts.org for the Meeting ID and Passcode to join the Zoom.
This workshop looks at The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and the standalone passage from it. We’ll talk about:
- brief summary of story
- brief Author bio – how does the author’s life add or detract from the story?
- gender and power, madness and creativity are presented as opposing human experiences in this book: it was published in 1892.
- thoughts on the same issues in today’s world?
- what stifles your creative spirit?
- what’s happening in this passage? (actions, thoughts, reverie, dialogue, etc)
- what do the woman and the heads symbolize?
- What phrases, words, and/or visuals in the passage clue you in to the conflict?
- what emotions do you feel from the passage?
- is there any difference between reading silently or hearing it read aloud?
- was our narrator always “mad” or was she driven “mad”?
- what personal connections or experiences come to mind?
- finding inspiration for new art creations
Workshop #4: A Wrinkle In Time(1962) by Madeleine L’Engle
Date: Thursday, September 2, 2021
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Place: Your Comfy Chair, aka Zoom
Email info@cearts.org for the Meeting ID and Passcode to join the Zoom.
This workshop looks at A Wrinkle In Time (1962) by Madeleine L’Engle, and the standalone passage from it. We’ll talk about:
- brief summary of story
- brief Author bio – how does the author’s life add or detract from the story?
- gender, age, and power; reality and imagination; science and faith: your thoughts on these issues?
- what’s happening in this passage? (actions, thoughts, reverie, dialogue, etc) This is a sensory passage. Does the author accurately reflect the point of view of a child of Meg’s interests and intelligence and age?
- what emotions do you feel from the passage? Is there any difference between reading silently or hearing it read aloud?
- the importance of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Which
- who are the non-human mentors in your life?
- “I give you your faults.”
- how do you come to accept your own “faults” and see them as a power?
- how would you put your faults into your artwork and show your feelings about them?
- what is the value and danger of conformity in our lives?
- what personal connections or experiences come to mind?
- finding inspiration for new art creations (all mediums/genres)
Workshop #5: Tarzan of the Apes(1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Date: Thursday, September 9, 2021
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Place: Your Comfy Chair, aka Zoom
Email info@cearts.org for the Meeting ID and Passcode to join the Zoom.
This workshop looks at Tarzan of the Apes(1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the standalone passage from it. We’ll talk about:
- brief summary of the story
- brief Author bio – how does the author’s life add or detract from the story?
- racial issues; colonialism; white superiority; white male superiority (esp. British “gentlemen”); gender roles & norms; false scientific racialism: all are presented in this book, published in 1912. Can you see relevance on the same issues in today’s world?
- influence on generations of fans:
- pop culture (movies & TV)
- Tarzan as an iconic “manly man”, “sensitive beast,” etc.
- looking through a modern lens, how has this book contributed to systemic racism, prejudice, and discrimination?
- do you see Tarzan and Jane as a “great romance”?
- The iconic “Me, Tarzan; You, Jane” moment. Think of this passage put into a more modern context: singles meeting in nightclubs, bars, pickup lines, etc.
- rewrite it as a “magic moment” in a modern nightclub
- write your own pickup line
- How does Tarzan define love and how do you? Can you express your definition of love in your art?