2014 EVENTS


Exploring Green BurialsExploring Green Burials - Becoming the Tree

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 6:30-8:30 pm at Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison, WI

Showing of the film Dying Green

7:15-8:00 Presentations about  Green Cemeteries in the Madison area: Natural Path Sanctuary in Verona by Kevin  Corrado and Shedd Farley, and Circle Cemetery in Barneveld by Rev. Selena Fox and Sharon Stewart

 


Flint SparksExploring Home and Family-Directed Funerals

Saturday, Nov. 15, 6:30-8:30 pm at Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison, WI

Showing of the film A Family Undertaking

This film explores the growing home funeral movement and contrasts family care with conventional funeral practices. It intimately follows several families who choose to care for, honor, remember and grieve for their loved ones at home.

Presentation/discussion with Charlene Elderkin

Charlene is the author of Where the Tree Falls the Forest Rises: Stories of Death and Renewal, and also the founder of the Threshold Care Circle of Viroqua, WI (www.thresholdcarecircle.org), which educates and assists family members who wish to care for their own at the time of death.


Flint SparksFacing Our Dying

Sunday, Oct. 12, 6:00-8:00 pm and Monday, Oct. 13, 9:00 am-4:30 pm at Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, WI
Presented by Flint Sparks, PhD

This experiential workshop provides an opportunity to intimately investigate the ways we subtly turn away from the reality of death—both our own, our loved ones and those around us. We will open on Sunday evening with reflections on the profound lessons le our capacity to live wholeheartedly in the present. We will explore how our life can become more robust when we are able to examine our perspective and allow for shifts inearned by witnessing and working intimately with people who are facing their own death. Experiential activities will emphasize the impact of facing life and death with openness and courage. On Monday we will take a clear look at the unresolved grief we all carry and the ways in which our experiences with death and loss shap our attitudes.



2012 EVENTS


JerryIn the Hands of Alchemy: The Art and Life of Jerry Wennstrom, Artist and Visionary Extraordinaire

www.handsofalchemy.com

Lecture and Museum Tour at the Chazen Museum of Art, Thursday, June 14, 5:30 p.m., Chazen Museum of Art, 750 University Avenue, Auditorium

A lecture with images of Jerry's visionary multi-layered, interactive sculptural figures, gleaned and transformed from found and created objects, followed by a discussion of artworks in the Chazen permanent collection that make similar use of found/recycled/reclaimed objects.

Hands-on workshop at the Children's Museum Friday, June 15, 1:00-3:00 p.m., Madison Children's Museum, 100 N. Hamilton Street

Join Jerry in a fun and fascinating process of creating an art piece from recycled and repurposed materials. You can bring some of your own objects to add to the museums rich supply. Children and adults are invited.

Presentation and Dialog: Jerry's Journey -Life on the Threshold, Saturday, June 16, 2:00-4:00 p.m. UW Arboretum McKay Visitor Center Auditorium, 1207 Seminole Highway

Jerry is an artist who found the courage to base his life on following the truth of his creative spirit. Through a cycle of death and rebirth of his creative vision, Jerry has been initiated into a place of mystery that is reflected in his artwork and his life, touching the vast complexities of the collective unconscious. His stories and insights deeply move and inform.


2011 EVENTS


Cancer storiesArt at the Threshold presents Wisconsin Story Project's "Signs of Life: Our Cancer Stories", American Players Touchstone Theatre, April 22, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. and April 23, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.

The play was written by the Wisconsin Story Project over two years from over 40 hours of interviews with people in the Madison area that have been affected by cancer. Whether having a cancer diagnosis themselves, having a loved one with cancer or treating people with cancer interviewees shared their deliberations, insights, feelings and questions. The play captures each story and weaves them together in an exquisite exploration of ,what it means to be ill, what it means to be well and, ultimately, what it means to be human. Cancer Stories debuted in May 2010 with three showings at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. Art at the Threshold which is exploring the theme of illness and wellness in its 2011 series, is bringing this powerful and intimate play back to Madison audiences under the title "Signs of Life: Our Cancer Stories". The new name to emphasize that the play's inherent message and lasting impression is – "it's about life!". The Touchstone Playhouse provides the perfect venue for this production and we are grateful for APT for this space and also for APT actors for joining this production. An opening reception will welcome the Friday evening (6:15, April 22) audience) and a discussion with a panel of storytellers and actors will follow the Saturday matinee (at 3:30 following the 1:30 show, April 23). The panel will provide an opportunity to explore the relationship between a personal story and its theatrical performance and the magic of both.


About Wisconsin Story Project

Founded in 2008 by Talish Barrow, Mike Lawler, and Christina Martin-Wright, Wisconsin Story Project www.wisconsinstory.org is a nonprofit artist collective dedicated to creatively sharing the stories of Wisconsin. WSP is currently at work on a play about the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall – a collaborative project with the UW-Madison's Oral History Program and Forward Theater Company.

Weaving Our StoriesArt at the Threshold presents Weaving Our Stories, Goodman Community Center, Saturday, March 12, 2011, 12:00—5:00 p.m.

This hands-on workshop welcomes anyone who wants to use art to explore the fluid, ever-shifting continuum of wellness and illness in a creative and supportive environment.

Each participant will chose one media - movement, collage or the written word, to create an authentic and true expression of her or his personal journey in a small group setting. Experienced facilitators will guide each of the groups. The workshop will open and end with collaborative and interactive opportunities for sharing in the larger group. No prior experience or special "talent" is needed.

Art at the Threshold Series Launches with Jonna's Body, Please Hold, Barrymore Theatre, Saturday, February 26, 1:30 pm

Art at the Threshold presents the acclaimed one-woman show "Jonna's Body, Please Hold," starring Jonna Tamases, on Saturday, February 26 at 1:30 pm, at the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Avenue, Madison. Tickets are available through the Barrymore box office and online [where? Give the URL]: $20/$25 at the door. A $50 VIP ticket includes a reception with Jonna Tamases at Dobhan, 2110 Atwood Avenue in Madison, following the show, 3:00-5:00 pm.

Jonna's Body, Please Hold is an outrageously funny chronicle of Tamases' life before, during and after cancer (yes, we just used cancer and funny in the same sentence). It takes us on a masterful journey inside Jonna's body, where a sassy receptionist fields calls from a parade of quirky body parts. When two nasty killers invade, it's a fight for Jonna's life. Surviving multiple bouts of cancer, Tamases wanted to challenge the despair that so often dominates works dealing with similar issues. With a background in comedy writing and performing, she developed a multi-character format. It's a wild ride into the realm of health, illness, joy and the beauty of life.

"What I really hated about having cancer was watching my identity narrow down to just this: being sick, having to go through treatment, and sitting around hoping to get well. There's so much more to life than the sadness, seriousness and frustration that we associate with C-c-c-c-cancer. I wanted to make a show that expresses the fullness of life: the laughter, joy, silliness and power as well as the struggle," explains Tamases.

Jonna's Body, Please Hold has built a tremendous following and tours nationwide, garnering rave reviews and standing ovations. It was nominated for two Los Angeles Ovation Awards – Best World Premiere Play and Best Lead Actress. Daily Variety calls it "Captivating…Thoroughly original…Hilarious" and the LA Times says it is "Witty… Delightful… unabashedly theatrical." Showmag.com raves, "Jonna stole my heart…Heartfelt, funny and poignant". The show is sponsored by Meriter with additional funding from UW Health and a grant from the Wisconsin Women's Health Foundation.

Founded in 2008 by Talish Barrow, Mike Lawler, and Christina Martin-Wright, Wisconsin Story Project www.wisconsinstory.org is a nonprofit artist collective dedicated to creatively sharing the stories of Wisconsin. WSP is currently at work on a play about the 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall – a collaborative project with the UW-Madison's Oral History Program and Forward Theater Company.