Buy your holiday tree and give to MOSAIC!

Source: Buy your holiday tree and give to MOSAIC!

MOSAIC Holiday Party

Source: MOSAIC Holiday Party

Professional Development Series Announced‏

Professional Development Series Announced The Lehigh Valley Arts Council announces their 2016 Professional Development Series for business-minded arts professionals who wish to stay current in their field. Beginning in the new year, three seminars are scheduled that will examine new marketing strategies and advances in technology. Each session features relevant experts as presenters. Arts Council members enjoy a fee discount; however, enrollment is limited and reservations are needed in advance. Refreshments will be provided. To order tickets, visit LVArtsCouncil.org. Digital Storytelling: Put Your Best Story Forward On January 19, 2016, the informational seminar Digital Storytelling: Put Your Best Story Forward, will address the tremendous growth of the web and social media as it applies to artists and arts organizations for marketing purposes. Two presenters, Caroline Savage, Program Director of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Ken Unangst, Owner & Founder of Digital Feast, will provide examples on how to clearly define a message in order to capture attention and engage an audience. Both of these professionals specialize in working with arts organizations and arts businesses, assisting them with comunitcating through visuals and technology. The panelists will provide examples of how to clearly define your message by addressing the following questions: What does your mission look like? How do you create a story that resonates with the community? What is the value and impact of this visual medium on your audiences? Location: Butz Corporate Center , 9th & Hamilton, 2nd Floor conference room Time: 5:30 to 8:00PM. Fees: $25 for Lehigh Valley Arts Council members; $45 for nonmembers. An Introduction to 3-D Printing On May 21, 2016, artists and designers will have the opportunity to experience 3-D Printing in a workshop that allows attendees to design and print their own creations. The process involves a scan of an object with a 3-D scanner, then uses computer technology to slowly manufacture successive layers, recreating the original form in a new material. Presenter Brian Slocum, Managing Director of Design Labs at Lehigh University, will guide the workshop and explain the endless possibilities of this innovative process as it pertains to the future of design and engineering. Location: Lehigh University, Wilbur Powerhouse Prototyping Lab Time: 9:30AM to 12:30PM Fees (includes materials): $75 for Arts Council members; $100 for nonmembers. Call for Artists: Are You Ready to Answer? On July 12, 2016, this seminar will explore the various components of a successful submission, including the right marketing materials and contractual requirements. Competition in the arts for commissions, exhibitions, and sales requires that an artist be ready in advance to submit a professional application. Organization is key to preparing your materials, but what extra steps do you need to take in order to market and promote your work in the best light? Our presenters, Sculptor Daniel Kainz and Nicole J. O’Hara, Esquire, Gross McGinley, LLP, will give insight on the entrepreneurial side of being a professional artist. Location: Butz Corporate Center, 9th & Hamilton, 2nd Floor conference room Time: 5:30PM to 8:00PM Fees: $25 for Arts Council members; $45 for nonmembers.

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About the Lehigh Valley Arts Council The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is the region’s central voice for the arts, promoting arts awareness and advocating its value while strengthening access to the arts for all citizens in our community. The Arts Council’s mission is to promote the arts; to encourage and support artists and their development; to assist arts organizations; and to facilitate communication and cooperation among artists, arts organizations, and the community. Services include arts research and advocacy, professional development seminars, publications, and cooperative regional marketing initiatives.

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Lehigh Valley Arts Council 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 Allentown, PA 18101 610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org / www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org

Expressive Arts Workshop

Inner Light Exhibit – Paintings by Lynn Miller

‘Servant of Two Masters’ at Muhlenberg‏ College

Allentown, PA – In 18th century Venice, Commedia dell’Arte was king. The classic theatrical style, which features masks, stock characters, and comic improvisation, was beloved by the nobility and working class alike, and trips to see the side-splitting misadventures of the masked characters were a vital part of the Venetian social scene.

Now, for the first time, a Commedia dell’Arte play will appear on the Muhlenberg College mainstage: Carlo Goldoni’s comic masterpiece “Servant of Two Masters,” directed by Muhlenberg theater professor Francine Roussel.

Presented by Muhlenberg’s Department of Theatre & Dance, “Servant of Two Masters” runs Dec. 3–6 in the College’s Baker Theatre. Tickets and information are available at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/theatre and at 484-664-3333.

A longtime teacher and practitioner of Commedia dell’Arte, Roussel says that modern audiences are consistently surprised by how relevant — and how funny — they find “Servant of Two Masters” to be.

 “‘Servant’ is a comedy of all times,” Roussel says. “It doesn’t age, and humans are humans. We can all recognize ourselves in the 18th century stock characters.”

The play follows the misadventures of the scheming servant Arlecchino, who comes up with a plan to sate his legendary appetites: he will serve two masters at the same time, and thus receive twice the money and twice the meals. But serving more than one master could land him in deep trouble, so Arlecchino must hide his double life. Comedy unfolds against a Venetian backdrop of romance and deception.

The Commedia dell’Arte tradition dates back to the 1500s and is a direct precursor of today’s slapstick and sketch comedy. In fact, the word “slapstick” derives from a prop that Commedia actors use to hit each other as loudly (and painlessly) as possible. The modern Harlequin figure, with his familiar patchwork costume, also traces his roots to Commedia; the English name “Harlequin” and Italian “Arlecchino” both derive from the French “Arlequin,” and the character had already been around for more than 150 years by the time he appeared in “Servant of Two Masters,” in 1746.

“The character of Arlecchino is so unique, so endearing, and so energetic,” Roussel says. “Everybody wants to follow him wherever he wants to go.”

The role of Arlecchino will be played by Muhlenberg senior Henry Evans, an actor, dancer, and acrobat who co-founded Muhlenberg’s Circus Workshop in the spring of 2014. Evans will put his acrobat and juggling skills to good use in the production. He says that working on “Servant” has been similar in many ways to his circus performances.

“It’s like a juggling routine,” he says. “It’s this balance of keeping the tradition of Commedia, but at the same time putting our own spin on it, making it contemporary.”

For an undergraduate theater program, Muhlenberg has an unusual degree of connection to the Commedia dell’Arte tradition. Roussel frequently teaches a Commedia class, and a three-month, Commedia-centered program in Arezzo, Italy, is one of the most popular study abroad destinations for Muhlenberg theatre students.

Roussel holds Master of Arts degrees in both modern European and classical French literature from the University of Paris, La Sorbonne. She also earned the Certificat of L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, Paris, where she studied mime and mask. Roussel was part of the “Groupe des 50,” which established the Actors Studio in Paris. She has worked extensively in theatre and film in both Europe and the United States over the past several decades.

The production also features scenic and lighting design by Curtis Dretsch, costume design by Liene Dobraja, and fight choreography by Michael G. Chin.

Performances of “Servant of Two Masters” are Dec. 3 – 6: Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 3-5, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students. Performances are in the Baker Theatre in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance at Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.

Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is a highly selective, private, four-year residential college located in Allentown, Pa., approximately 90 miles west of New York City. With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, sciences, business, education and public health. A member of the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg competes in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg’s theater program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance.

MCCC Signs White House ‘American Campuses Act On Climate Pledge’‏

Blue Bell/Pottstown, PA —Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) reinforced its commitment to sustainability on Nov. 19 by signing the White House’s American Campuses Act On Climate Pledge.

According to the White House, 218 colleges and universities representing 3.3 million students across the country have signed the pledge to demonstrate their support for strong climate action by world leaders in advance of next month’s international Conference on Climate Change in Paris, France.

Participating institutions were asked to submit three pledges outlining steps they will take to lower carbon emissions. For MCCC, the pledges build on the eight years of sustainability efforts taken as a charter signatory of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

In signing the new American Campuses Act On Climate Pledge, MCCC commits to:

* Build on the success of MCCC’s Green Office Initiative to pilot a Green Classroom program in collaboration with faculty and the student Environmental Club. In the Green Office Initiative, departments voluntarily progress through a four-tier program that evaluates and rewards their sustainable office practices and purchasing. A parallel program for classrooms would award certification to individual faculty and divisions who engage in green practices and activities, such as using refillable dry erase markers and going paperless.

* Support MCCC faculty in their exploration of open-source and online instructional materials. The incorporation of such materials may reduce the amount of paper used in classrooms, thereby reducing the institution’s carbon footprint. These materials could also save students money, which reinforces MCCC’s student success and financial literacy efforts.

* Promote local sustainability industries within Montgomery County to MCCC students and the community at large by facilitating job fairs, presentations and guest lecture opportunities for companies that employ sustainable practices.

The latest White House pledge for colleges and universities builds on last month’s American Businesses Act on Climate Pledge, which was signed by 81 companies from across the United States. Additionally, more than 150 countries representing approximately 90 percent of all global emissions have offered climate pledges to date.

For additional information or to share your support, join the conversation using the #ActOnClimate hashtag on social media.