Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers In The United States

Sat, Jun 3 - Fri, Jun 9
7-9pm
free

At the intersection of
ART, ACTIVISM & SCHOLARSHIP
NEW COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA presents

INTERRUPTED LIFE: INCARCERATED MOTHERS IN THE UNITED STATES
A traveling public art installation and a week of performance art,
film, presentations and discussion.
June 3-June 9, 2006, New College of California, 777 Valencia Street,
San Francisco

A dramatic exhibit of painting, drawings, sculpture and photography
that documents the experiences of incarcerated persons in the United
States. Interrupted Life seeks to educate and invites discussion
about current realities and decent solutions to a major and growing
problem in U.S. society.
National curator: Rickie Solinger. The Interrupted Life art show was
made possible by Ford Foundation support

OPENING NIGHT GALA
Sat. June 3, 6:00pm -9:00pm
Reception: 6:00pm Speakers: 7:00pm
Speakers:
Rhodessa Jones, Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women
Helene Vosters, New College: Co-Director, Activism & Social Change
Melanie DeMore, singer/songwriter
Rickie Solinger, Interrupted Life National Curator, historian
Maisha Quint, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

SPIRITUAL DIMENSIONS OF INCARCERATION
Sunday, June 4, 2:00 - 4:00pm
Hosted by New College's Women's Spirituality Program
Speakers: Deborah Grenn (Core Faculty, Women's Spirituality)
Cheryl Dawson

CONVERSATIONS AT THE INTERSECTION OF ARTS, ACTIVISM & SCHOLARSHIP
Monday, June 5, 6:00 - 9:30pm
Refreshments: 6:00 Panel discussion: 6:30

Moderator: Dean Mitch Hall
Panelists: Erika Shuch (Experimental Performance Institute);
Genny Lim (Weekend BA Completion); Helene Vosters (Activism & Social
Change)

The Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in the School of Humanities
of New College of California will host a Prospective Students Open
House: 7:30p - 9:00pm

MARILYN BUCK: FROM FORCED PASSAGES TO WILD POPPIES
Tues. June 6, 7:00 - 9:00pm
An evening of poetry and discussion celebrating the life of anti-
imperialist political prisoner and COINTELPRO target Marilyn Buck.
New College faculty Graciela Trevisan and David Meltzer, both of whom
have worked with Marilyn extensively, will host the evening. Dylan
Rodriquez, author of Forced Passages: Imprisoned Radical Intellectual
and the US Prison Regime, will talk about Marilyn and others who
speak from behind prison walls. Friends of Marilyn Buck Committee
will update the audience on Marilyn's case. Sliding scale donation
suggested (to support the California Coalition for Women Prisoners).
Co-sponsors Modern Times Book Store and Friends of Marilyn Buck


"ONLY THE DEAD CAN KILL: STORIES FROM JAIL"
Wednesday, June 7, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Join author Margo Perin and Community Works/West for an evening
celebrating this exciting anthology of "Stories from Jail" featuring
readings by ex-offenders and contributing editor Margo Perin.


"ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD: CHILDREN OF THE INCARCERATED"
Thursday. June 8, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Join Nell Bernstein, author of "All Alone in the World: Children of the
Incarcerated" for a discussion of the impacts of incarceration on
children, families and communities. Event is co-sponsored by Center
for Children of Incarcerated Parents. Sliding scale donation
suggested, not required, to support the Danielle Metz legal fund.
Sliding scale donation suggested (to support the California Coalition
for Women Prisoners). Co-sponsors Modern Times Book Store and Friends
of Marilyn Buck

CLOSING NIGHT CELEBRATION: AN EVENING OF SPOKEN WORD, THEATER, SONG
AND DANCE
Fri. June 9, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Featuring performances by Baysic Project/Sisterz of the Underground,
Angela Wilson of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women,
Maisha Quint of the Photovoice project, Manish Vaidya and more!!!
Refreshments and Closing Ceremony


June 2 through June 8
In conjunction with the art exhibit, the Roxie Theatre will host the
U.S. premiere showing of "Songbirds"
Show times: Friday 6/2 thru Thursday 6/8: Nightly at 7:00 and 8:40
with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00, 3:45 and 5:20

SONGBIRDS
Britain locks up more people than any other country in Europe, with
the female prison population having risen 173 percent in the last 10
years. Songbirds presents the stories of women behind bars in
Downview Prison in Surrey, England, to allow audiences to experience
them through this documentary musical. After conducting extensive
research within the prison, Director Brian Hill collaborated with
poet and lyricist Simon Armitage and composer Simon Boswell to create
songs ranging from rap to lullaby for each Downview story told in the
movie. Although the film deals with depressing issues of drug
addiction, abuse, and serious crime, Songbirds finds humor and
tenderness through the vulnerability of singing. In the process
viewers gain another portrait of these women beyond their prison
sentences. - Anna Proulx (excerpt)


COSPONSORS
The Interrupted Life art exhibit and week of events at New College
represents the efforts of an energetic coalition of activists,
artists, scholars, incarcerated women and their family and friends.
We are proud to be collaborating with these organizations: Legal
Services for Prisoners with Children; California Coalition for Women
Prisoners; Freedom Archives; Free Battered Women; Modern Times
Bookstore; Prison Desk of the National Radio Project; Buildingbloc
Arts Collective; Community Initiatives Program of San Francisco Women
Against Rape; Friends of Marilyn Buck; Justice Now; Center for
Children of Incarcerated Parents; Prison Activist Resource Center;
Books Not Bars; Baysic Project/Sisterz of the Underground; Community
Works, and others!

Helene Vosters

415-437-3408

Venue:

New College
777 Valencia
San Francisco
415-437-3408
www.newcollege.edu

777 Valencia Street, San Francisco (near 16th St. Mission BART)

Additional Info:

415-437-3408
www.newcollege.edu