Movement @ The Curiosity Project

The winter earth is finally thawing and I am hopeful that this spring will feature some amazing programming within the Staten Island artistic community. In December of 2012, I wrangled a group of seven members of the Staten Island creative and cultural community to discuss initiatives, to dissect the contemporary landscape of S.I. politics, and to figure out how to begin to get stuff done. Several weeks later, I was afforded a wonderful opportunity to curate a month-long program of events at the Curiosity Project, a pop-up gallery space managed by the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island, on Beach Street near what I call the Van Duzer-Beach Street creative corner.

This small but lovely group of activists I have wrangled (comprised of a film scholar, a dancer, two musicians, a poet, a photographer, and an environmental/cultural/Staten Island activist) will be joining me in co-curating TRY: Movement @ The Curiosity Project. The Curiosity Team, as I will unofficially call us, includes Andrew Blancero, Phoebe Blue, Tom Bones, Michael C. Bongiorno, Jon Fox, Laura Neese, Monica Valenzuela, and myself. I am stoked to be working with them and we have had a lot of really great project ideas for this venture.

While the calendar is still being finalized, Staten Island get ready! We plan on hosting the following in relation to the word movement. What makes a local, social, political movement? How to do mobilize into action? And what are some historical movements that occurred on Staten Island:

- A community exquisite corpse movement poem

-Open level dance classes including yoga/somatic work

-The Staten Island Dance Jam will be housed here during April (Saturdays 2-4pm)

-Curiosity Book Swap and Wine Tasting Party

-Poetry workshops and discussions

-Afternoon Dance video showings

-Film screenings, lectures, and special movie showings

-Second Saturday choreographer's showing

-Photography and art openings

-Open Mic performance and Music shows

-Letter writing campaign for Pouch Camp preservation efforts

-Open Studio time for local artists and community members

and more!

I am so excited, I just cannot even contain myself. Second Saturdays Staten Island is in full swing, with the art walk picking up steam as the springtime slowly settles in. We have a new website up and running and are hoping to gain more audiences for this quaint art walk as more venues join aboard. 

Additionally, I will resume writing about events that I go to this spring. This winter has been a little rough with Hurricane Sandy and an extreme cold/flu/bug that pestered everyone I know. As we plan more for the Curiosity Project, I will be sure to post updates here and use The Independent Mover as the home-base for the events calendar.

Happy doings,

m

The Island of Staten

One of the reasons I am sad now to leave Martha's Vineyard is because I romanticize Staten Island to be as beautiful as the winding roads and old oak trees of this island I have come to visit each summer since 2010. Here, the islanders and travelers come to let go of the fast paced nature of contemporary daily life. They leave their cellphones for the beach, the leave their computer desks to hike an uncharted trail, they turn off the television (in fact, some houses probably do not have one to begin with) to see a live theater performance or visit an art gallery. 

This is the Staten Island of the early 1900's, the one my father even remembers from his childhood--- the Staten Island I will never see, though there are things that are faintly reminiscent. For instance, there is Snug Harbor which has the maritime museum and many acres of farmland and art galleries (well, we also have two of the only working farms in New York City, something I think is astounding). We also have a long boardwalk and beach which has seen a lot of revitalization efforts over the past twenty years. 

The arts are growing and remind me of Martha's Vineyard in that small town support the arts community (aspires to) give one another. Dancing at the Staten Island Dance Jam each Saturday reminds me of my mornings taking dance class at the Yard with many retired dancers and artists as my classmates. 

Sure, we have streetlights and many cars on the road (although there are no street lights, Martha's Vineyard has plenty of cars on the road, something I wish was not the case) but there are traces of that summer beach feeling in the island that is Staten. There is a long history of the naturalist, the artist, the vacationer here that reminds me of my summers on the Cape. The vibe is a bit more contemporary, a little less elitist, but the real face of both islands is the small niche communities that are open to welcome travelers and those passing by.

While I am really sad to leave (I think another week would suffice to do all that I want to do), I can say that this week I performed what has come to be a truly emotional dance inspired by the memory of Jenni Jenkins; dipped my feet in the cool but completely soothing Nantucket sound;  revitalized my soul beneath the sunset at Menemsha Beach and met such amazingly interesting travelers at the Martha's Vineyard International Youth Hostel.

Dear reader, I encourage you (implore you, even) to venture out into the world. Take a trip (even a short one) to gain some perspective, see some culture, and meet some people. Have a conversation with your neighbor; people are not always scary. And please: the next time you step on the Staten Island ferry, get off and walk around once docked. There are a lot of interesting, creative places and people just waiting to share a bit of Staten Island with you.


Traveling onward,
melissa

several poems from the archives

For those of you who know me, you may know that I once wrote poetry. I would like to again but the words have not materialized. But these are from days when words flowed. I hope to post more.

baby bird

mwest, 2007-8

i sat at a tree

and watched a bird 

teach her chick to fly

at first she stumbled,

but eventually she flew.

Curiosity Killed the Bitch

mwest, 2007-8

G-d must be a man

and this the ultimate joke--

for seven days in every month

you'll bleed and bleed.

That is what you get

when you bite the apple.

the better language

mwest, 2007-8

who decides which is the better language?

I will take English,

you can keep Russian

we didn't communicate, anyway.

New York in the six o'clock shadows

mwest, 2008

All the New York orchids

white, dust shaped

in rows,

the mist covers the city dark

but spring is growing 

everywhere.

City Hall park,

the white pink Japanese flowers

and plants beneath the gray sky.

I could die right now,

if this was the last thing I saw.