We admit it: it hasn't been the most propitious time to start an organization devoted to bringing people together. Like everyone else, we've been forced to cancel or delay a slew of events. But the pandemic has only strengthened our resolve. What we're building isn't just a nice idea – it feels somehow essential.
As we write this, we're hatching plans for “Breaking Our Silence: Storytelling for Mental Health,” a series of screenings, workshops, and performances in collaboration with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Finger Lakes, Cinemapolis, storyteller Regi Carpenter, Civic Ensemble, the Ithaca High School Choir, theater director Rachel Lampert, and others. Look for that in the spring. We're also putting together a monthly show-and-tell about creative placemaking, featuring local organizations that are using culture and the arts to build community.
And keep your ears open for the Better than Black Panther Film Festival (where you can see movies by and about Black people), Ithaca Bar Choir (where you can learn a song and sing it with friends and strangers), Story Night (a gathering place for tale-tellers and tale-lovers), the Listening Room (a place to share and discuss great audio), the Women+s Playwriting Workshop (mutual aid for dramatic writers), songwriting workshops, comedy workshops, podcasting workshops, oral history projects, film series, community discussions, rural storytelling, and much more.
If this sounds like something our community needs, please consider making a gift. Story House Ithaca is a project of the nonprofit Center for Transformative Action, so your donation is tax-deductible. Just tap the button and let’s build something together!
Ever onward,
Lesley & Jon