Jeffers Day at Occidental

Robinson Jeffers Day at Occidental
Saturday, November 7, 2009
10:00am to 2:00pm
at Occidental College map

A FREE COMMUNITY AND STUDENT FESTIVAL
CELEBRATING
POETRY, THE ARTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Poetry readings, exhibits, family activities, bird watching and performances connected by a special walk to explore the natural world through the arts. Celebrate Jeffers with Oxy students, our community partners and local high school students. Open to all!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts
in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

Keep up-to-date on news, visit...

This schedule is updated daily--please be alert to time or performance changes!

Jeffers Day Performances and Participants

Jeffers Day at Occidental
This Saturday, 11/7, 10am – 2pm
Performances & Events at a Glance

Library Steps Stage: 10:00-11:00am *CSP99
California poets, Oxy students and community members perform Jeffers poetry as well as their own works, music.

Herrick: 11:10am – 11:45am *CSP99
Scenes from Jeffers’ acclaimed version of Medea performed by Lincoln High School students and Occidental Glee Club performance of Jennifer Logan's composition "The Atom To Be Split."

AGC Center Steps Stage: 11:45am-12:30pm and 12:30-2:00pm *CSP99
Performances by Pulse Hip Hop Club, Feast Arts and Literary Magazine, Oxy Folk and Historical Dance Troupe plus more voices of poets and an ASL translation of Jeffers poetry with musical accompaniment.

Ecologies of Poetry Site Specific Student Art Works *CSP99
Occidental students, working with Jeffers Big Read artistic director, Corey Madden, have created four sites on campus where poetry, performance and ecology intersect in site-specific art works. Guided walks through the sites are led by student artists.

Walk #1 (25 mins) - Quad and Gilman Fountain South Lawn
10:30am (HS Walk, public welcome if space available)
11:30am
12:00pm
12:30pm
1:00pm
1:30pm
,
Walk # 2 (45 mins)- Olive Grove to Sustainable Garden-
10:30am (HS Walk, public welcome if space available)
11:30am
12:30pm
1:15pm

Bird Watching Walk: 11:00am - 11:45pm
Campus walk led by Associate Professor of Biology, Beth Braker and Jeff Chapman of the Audubon Center. Walk starts at the Big Read Welcome table.

Wildlife Waystation Booth: 10:00am- 2:00pm
Wildlife Waystation presents a live great horned owl and more on endangered wildlife of Southern California. In Academic Quad.

Demonstration Bee Hive: 10:00am- 2:00pm
Occidental College’s Bruce Steele, a bee-keeper with more than100 hives in the area, offers a safe peek into the lives of bees. In Sustainability Garden.

LIBRARY: Gallery 10:00am-2:00pm:
Exhibitions and performances…
Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry main exhibit with curator. *CSP99

Gear Up student art exhibition offers a variety of media, including photography, collage, claymation.

Shadow puppet poetry performances through the day.

Arthur G. Coons Administrative Center 10:00am-2:00pm
1^st Floor Rotunda -

Occidental Student Artists Response to Jeffers Poetry
Selected prints from works created by Occidental College students in three Fall printmaking classes in AHVA.

Tables on the Quad: Meet some of our community partners --Friends of the Los Angeles River, Audubon Center at Debs Park, Highland Park Heritage Trust and the Arroyo Seco Arts Collective, and Oxy's F.E.A.S.T. Selected works by our participating poets will be available at the Oxy Bookstore table.

Oxy Frosh: This is a *CSP 99 event!

Please pick up your CSP99 Event Ticket at The Big Read Welcome Table on the quad from 10am-11:30am. To receive the starred credit during The Big Read, you must attend 3 of 5 events starred with *CSP99. Only Ecologies of Poetry Site Specific Student Art Works is mandatory and has several times to choose from. You are required to stay for a minimum of 20 minutes at each event, and your ticket must have an "in" and "out" time on the back of the ticket to receive credit for attending.

Please look for a CSP99 Monitor to sign you in and out of any event you choose.

Events are free. Program is subject to change.

Jeffers Day at Occidental Performances

Poetry Readings
CeCe Peri, Charles Webb, Charlotte Innes, Cathie Sandstrom, Sarah Maclay, William Archila and Occidental’s Feast Arts and Literary Magazine.

Site specific performances by Occidental students

Gilman Fountain. This piece by Natalya Gibbs and Monikah Baltimore was inspired by discussion in “Ecologies of Poetry” class regarding the availability of clean water globally and the conversion of water into a commodity in the United States.

Sustainable Garden. Using Jeffers' poem “Fire on the Hills” and the 2009 Los Angeles wildfires in mind, Dimitri Groce creates an artful experience providing commentary on nature and humanity’s differing capacities to destroy

Academic Quad. Julian Mitchell's composition is inspired by Robinson Jeffers' “Birds” and explores freedom of choice, our sources of life, and the various constants existing within an ever-changing world.

Lawn south of Gilman Fountain. The inspiration for Joni Nofchissey's piece stems from mankind's ability to alter and take advantage of natural elements.

Olive Grove. Elaine Westcott created "Water's Secret" as a response to Robinson Jeffers' poem "Birds." This piece focuses on humankind's alteration of nature's precious resources.

Performances

Robinson Jeffers graduated from Oxy in 1905. The Occidental Folk and Historical Dance Troupe will now present a suite of three social dances popular in 1908.

Dance from Occidental’s student dance group, Pulse.

“The Atom To Be Split” a composition by Jennifer Logan, performed with the Occidental Glee Club, conducted by Desiree LaVertu. Text from Robinson Jeffers’ “Roan Stallion.”

Choral reading of “The Beauty of Things” by Girl Scouts of America – Troop 235

Scenes from Jeffers version of Euripedes Medea presented by Lincoln High School Students in Ms. Collins theater class.

American Sign Language translation of “The Beauty of Things” performed by Carolyn Van Brunt with musical accompaniment by Ted Levy on keyboards. Reading by J.l. Silas.

Shadow puppetry interpretation of “Hands” created by Linda Hoag, Arroyo Seco Arts Collective

Art Exhibitions

Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry, curated by Toni Petniunas

Occidental Student Artists’ Response to Jeffers Poetry, curated by Linda Lyke
GEAR UP

Lincoln High School, Mr. Brewer’s AP English Class, “The Poetrees”

Lincoln High School, GEAR UP Mentors

Franklin High School, GEAR UP Mentors

Marshall High School, Ms. Bush’s Class

Poetry by…

Franklin High School, Mr. Avalos’s AP English Class

Franklin High School, Ms. Arrieta’s American Literature and AP English Language Classes

Lincoln High School, Mr. Martinez’s English 9 & 10 Classes

Video Presentation by Marshall High School, Ms. Atwell’s Class

*Robinson Jeffers translation of Euripedes Medea produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc

The Big Read:
Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry
October 1st - November 7, 2009
for a full schedule of events