The ancient method of sharing news, culture and knowledge with the oral storytelling tradition also serves as a powerful way to enact social change within a community. And two local arts organizations are acting as facilitators to help move community stories into action.
For a week in November, Putney's Sandglass Theater and NextStage Arts Project are teaming up for a week-long series of workshops and events called, Voices Of Community: Art/Food/ Shelter/Justice.
The arts groups have invited national artists and activists who are well-known within the art-for-social-change community, as well as enlisted local leaders, to conduct workshops. The artists are also scheduled to visit local schools for interactive workshops and performances.
Events will touch on subjects from war veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder to gentrification of neighborhoods and the health of our water supply. The workshops and performances are aimed at inviting the community to tell its own story and then address community needs.
Visit the Voices of Community website for a list of series events and workshops.
The Voices of Community: Art/Food/Shelter/Justice begins Nov. 13 at Brattleboro-area venues.