Tang Museum to present an evening of performance poetry
Skidmore's Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery will present an "Evening of Spoken Word" featuring Jared Paul and Caroline Rothstein, two performance poets known for their social activism, on Thursday, April 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the museum's atrium.
The event, open to the public free of charge, will also include performances by student musicians and poets as well as a question-and-answer session with Paul and Rothstein. As part of the event, the Tang Museum's exhibitions will be open for viewing until 9 p.m.
Audiences should be prepared for strong language and mature content.
Paul, a finalist in the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2006 and 2007, is an organizer,
independent journalist, and social worker from Providence, R.I. He has toured internationally,
bringing his explosive delivery and intense political message to over 200 cities throughout
the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
He has helped organize forums, electoral campaigns, street theater actions, anti-war protests, labor rallies, and lobbying efforts. He covered the 2004 Democratic and Republican National Conventions for WRIU radio (the University of Rhode Island radio station) and wrote about both conventions in 2008 for the Rhode Island publication "The Agenda."
"I've seen Jared Paul perform numerous times, and I'm always blown away by his passion and his sense of urgency," said Skidmore senior Adina Fried, co-organizer of the event. "He has the ability to involve and captivate an audience?no matter its size or demographic makeup?with his unique message and powerful voice."
The other guest performer of the evening, Caroline Rothstein, is a New York City-based
writer, journalist, and performer who participates widely in events and workshops
across the country. She was a member of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe slam team, which
placed second at Poetry Slam Incorporated's National Poetry Slam 2010.
A longtime activist in eating disorder recovery, Rothstein hosts the video-blog "Body Empowerment," sharing her own recovery story as a means of promoting positive body image. Her one-woman play "Faith," about her struggle with an eating disorder, is part of the Culture Project's 2012 Women Center Stage festival in New York City.
A 2006 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she coached the UPenn slam team to championships in 2007 and 2009. She is director of the university's Excelano Project, a spoken word poetry organization.
She holds a B.A. in classical studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Said event co-organizer Victoria Manganiello, a Skidmore senior, "This event is part of the Tang's Thursday night series, with events that relate to the museum's current exhibitions. We invited these poets because we think their presentations will illuminate something new about the works on display by Nancy Grossman and Donald Moffett."
The "Evening of Spoken Word" is sponsored by Skidmore's Department of English, Gender Studies Program, Honors Forum, Speakers Bureau, Student Entertainment Committee, Office of Student Diversity Programs, and Tang Museum.
