Arts Council and Women's Rights National Historical Park Announce ARTS AFIRE! in March

SCAC artist-teachers Patricia Roth Schwartz (left) and Lynn Patti, with the M'Clintock House, the subject of March's ARTS AFIRE! Workshop.

News Release Date: February 15, 2012

Contact: Andrea DeKoter, 315.568.0024

Contact: Vivien Rose, 315.568.2991

Seneca Falls, NY - Seneca County Arts Council and Women's Rights National Historical are pleased to cosponsor ARTS AFIRE!, part of a National Park Service initiative to engage audiences through the arts. Events will kick off on Thursday, March 1, and continue through the month. 

In ARTS AFIRE! workshops, participants learn new art forms from master teachers while experiencing the buildings, landscapes, archeology, artifacts or documents that help tell the story of the early women's rights movement at Women's Rights National Historical Park. Workshop participant art is then exhibited in the park gallery and on the park website. During Women's History Month, the focus is on the Thomas and Mary Ann M'Clintock House, 14 E. Williams St., Waterloo, N.Y., where the anti-slavery family hosted the planning meeting for the nation's first women's rights convention in 1848. Print or view the mini-poster here.

"We are excited to partner with the Seneca County Arts Council to see these historic places through new eyes and to increase arts awareness in Seneca County," said park superintendent Tammy Duchesne. "Programs are in the works for spring and summer, too."

ARTS AFIRE! events will kick off on Thursday, March 1, 7-9 p.m. with an art show at the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls. Featured works include poetry and collages by March artist-teachers and SCAC members Patricia Roth Schwartz and Lynn Patti. Schwartz, a published poet and seasoned workshop leader, will read from her exhibited poems. Lynn Patti, a retired public school arts teacher, will discuss her collages and collage art. Park historian Anne M. Derousie will share stories about the M'Clintock family and home. The event and reception are free and open to the public. 

A two-part ARTS AFIRE! workshop takes place on Saturday, March 10, 1-4 p.m. and Saturday, March 17, 1-4 p.m. at the M'Clintock House. On March 10, Anne Derousie leads a brief behind-the-scenes tour of the house and of documents, artifacts, and personal letters from the museum collection, revealing family anti-slavery, Underground Railroad, and women's rights reform activities in the years leading up to the Civil War. Patricia Roth Schwartz will then guide workshop participants in writing poems about their experiences. On March 17, 1-4 p.m., Lynn Patti leads participants in creating collages, using visual images using shape, color, texture and line to illustrate their poems. The workshop provides a total artistic experience with the historic figures who initiated profound changes for U.S. women.

The public is invited to experience art produced in the workshop and to hear about the process from teachers and workshop participants Sunday, March 18, 2-4 p.m., at the Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls. A reception follows the event. The show remains up through the end of the month.

All events are free, but pre-registration is required for the space-limited workshop. To register, contact Lynn Patti of the Seneca County Arts Council at 315-539-2580 or [e-mail].

ARTS AFIRE! is a national initiative of the National Park Service. Information about programs at other parks can be found at https://www.nps.gov/wefa/supportyourpark/upload/NPS_artsafire_120109_3mb.pdf. More information about the sponsoring agencies is available at http://www.artsinseneca.org.

For more information, please visit our website or call [phone]. You can also follow the park's social media sites for Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/womensrightsnps) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/WomensRightsNPS) to learn more about our upcoming events and programs.