events – Page 3

exploring urban farming with travis stewart

The Bailey College of the Environment had the pleasure of hosting an event with Travis Stewart, a passionate Hartford-based gardener and farmer and an advocate of the KNOX Urban Farming Program, at Wesleyan on September 19. During the event, Travis shared with the Wesleyan community how starting a garden has evolved his relationship with food, and how it has allowed him to find physical, mental, and spiritual healing. The event was funded through a five-year grant from the Robert F. Schumann Foundation, focused on supporting a food justice and environmental justice network in Connecticut and building pipelines for student engagement on these issues.

chicken-keeping course creates community

by lfranklin

In Spring 2023, a chicken-keeping course for Middletown residents taught by Amy Grillo, associate professor of the practice in the Allbritton Center for Public Study and Environmental Studies, was held at the College of the Environment. The Chickens 101 project was started by Diana Martinez, assistant director of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships, along with Lorenzo Jones, co-founder and co-executive director of the Katal Center for Equity, Health and Justice, as part of the Jewett Center for Community Partnerships’ Cultivating Justice initiative. Jones is the Jewett Center’s Re-Imagining Justice Mentor-in-Residence this year.

coe’s allison orr launches new book

by acmorris

Allison Orr’s book launch for her new book Dance Works, Stories of Creative Collaboration was held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in the Romance Languages Lounge. The ceremony was accompanied by a live set by DJ Mo Torres and DJ Lloyd.

The book launch was a celebration of Allison’s accomplishments, both on and off of the Wesleyan University campus. Off campus, Allison is the artistic director of Forklift Danceworks, an award-winning dance company based in Austin, Texas. Her work draws inspiration from the habitual motion of labor, and highlights unlikely dancers. By incorporating ensembles of real workers, her choreography challenges traditional notions of dance. It acknowledges that everyone and everything is in constant motion, and all people are part of a collective dance. Allison finds the beauty within worker’s daily motions; it is these motions which build our cities and lives. Through her work, Allison engages entire communities through art. In addition to her contributions within the dance world, Allison Orr is a research fellow in the Bailey College of the Environment and her book was written at the encouragement of College of the Environment Director Barry Chernoff.

coe hosts ct food justice gathering

by kwu01

Wesleyan’s Bailey College of the Environment and Cultivating Justice co-hosted the Connecticut Food Justice Gathering at Wesleyan on April 29, 2023. The gathering was a chance for knowledge exchange, to build power across intersectional issues, and for the Wesleyan community to learn more about the food justice movement in Connecticut. On the Bailey COE side, the event was organized by Malana Rogers-Bursen, project coordinator for food security, environmental justice, and sustainability.

pearl’s ocean filibuster explores human-ocean relationship

by acmorris

Ocean Filibuster, a performance developed by Assistant Professor of Theater Katie Pearl, co-artistic director of the Obie-winning company PearlDamour, explores the complex relationship between humans and the ocean and centers around the debate between two fictional rivals, Mr. Majority and the Ocean, as they launch into a battle which will determine whether or not the Ocean will be abolished. The project draws together the work of scientists and creatives to generate a dynamic story which illuminates the urgency of our current environmental crisis. The Wesleyan performance of Ocean Filibuster will take place May 4-6 at the CFA.

dancing with, and learning from, trees

by Laurie Kenney

Marcela Oteiza, associate professor of environmental studies and dance and chair of theater, has been involved with the Justice Dance Performance Project (JDPP) since 2011. Her latest collaboration with the group, In the Presence of Trees, is a four-part site-specific outdoor dance-theater performance series following the changing of the seasons while celebrating the wisdom and value of trees, especially in the urban forest.

The series, which began in summer 2022 with a performance in Bushnell Park, in Hartford, CT, will come full circle on May 7, when the troupe returns to Bushnell Park to perform In the Presence of Trees: Spring, the fourth and final event of the series. Like previous series performances, the event will be free and open to the public.

bryant terry provides food for thought

by lfranklin

*The COE hosted a sold-out Evening with Bryant Terry on March 29. Photos by Ken Wu ’23.*

On Wednesday, March 29, the College of the Environment hosted “An Evening With Bryant Terry,” inviting members of the community to a cooking demo, dinner, Q&A, and book signing with Terry, a vegan chef, activist, author, and community-builder. The sold-out event was executed by Bon Appétit staff, headed by Michael Strumpf.