NSN Regional Director Quarterly Report

 

Director and region:  Judy Sima North Central

Date: April 13, 2006

 

Regional successes:

WI: The "Storytelling in Wisconsin" web site <www.WIStory.org> and its

             companion WIStory listserv .

IL: I’ll Tell Newsletter – E-News letter for storytellers across Illinois

MI: communication regarding public storytelling events continues to go out to 800-1000 story fans through “MI Story”

§         MichiganStorytelling Website now has a page dedicated to NSN news, Regional news (Northlands), and Find-A-Teller links to NSN, Northlands & State Arts Directories to help people locate storytellers.

OH: The Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival website has listed which state standards storytelling addresses in “About Us.”

§         Jim Flanagan (State Liaison) grant writer for the Southern Ohio Storytelling Festival has been very successful in grant writing. It is almost assured the festival can offer the national storyteller performances to the region's students in grades 5 and 6 for free.

MN: On going events:

§          TaleWeavers Toastmaster Club

§         Northstar Stortytelling League: Storytelling for adults and older youth

§          Northstar Stortytelling League: Pajama Party stories for kids and families

§          Wild Yam Cabaret: a grass roots art, feminist (but not anti-male)

§         Heartlands Storytellers. Storytelling group.

IA: There is great support and sponsorship for storytellers (along with other artists) through outreach programs of the Metro Arts Alliance of Greater Des Moines, Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, and the Iowa Arts Council.

 

Highlighted events:

WI: Annual Wisconsin Storytellers' Get-Together in Wautoma

§         Annual La Crosse Storytelling Festival

§         Northlands Storytelling Network Annual Conference in Madison

            IL: Barrington Arts Council presented The StoryBistro, a fundraiser for

The Illinois Storytelling Festival

§         The Riverwind Storytellers held their 23rd successful workshop at the new Lewis and Clark Museum in Hartford, Illinois.

§         Storytelling at the Prairie Center in Schaumburg, IL:

§         Good news - the Illinois Storytelling Festival will again be held in Spring Grove, Illinois on Sunday, August 13, 2006.

MI:  Jackson Story Fest – May 5-7 – 6,000+ school students grades K-12 will attend 3 free storytelling concerts by leading national and regional storytellers Also 2 adult concerts in evening free to public plus 3 workshops. 19th year of this stellar event.

NE: We had two venues for Tellabration, one in the afternoon at the Zoo (neat cooperation between our guild and the zoo) and an evening one held at a retirement center.

§         Frog Festival is a one day, all day, just telling stories

§         We have been working with StoryArts to help with several of their storytelling ventures.  One was the liars' contest held April 1 and two members of our guild (OOPS - Nebraska, Omaha Organization for the purpose of Storytelling) are going to be the storytellers for a summer camp for young people titled In Our Own Voices.

OH: The storytellers of Central Ohio's performance "Fireside Tales"

§          May 5-6 the OOPS Conference,

MN: Black Storytellers Alliance: annual storytelling festival entitled, "Signifyin' and Testifyin'

§          Northstar Storytelling League: annual Tellabration

§         Northstar Stortytelling League: 3rd annual World Storytelling Day hosted at the American Swedish Institute; includes Scandinavian stories and music.

§          Austin Storytelling Festival (canceled this year, back in 2007

§         Moose Is Loose Storytelling Festival Ely, MN

IA: We have an active Central Iowa storytelling group, the Two Rivers Story

Spinners

§         Storytelling classes are offered in Central Iowa through the Des Moines Adult and Community Education Program, the Heartland Area Education Agency, and Iowa State University.                              

§         The River Voices Storytelling Festival - An upcoming storytelling event featuring both local and national tellers is being planned for June at the Iowa Historical Museum and an annual storytelling festival takes place in Clear Lake, Iowa in July.

§         There is also an annual storytelling event at the Iowa State Fair in August.

 

New developments and trends:

WI: Riverbend Storytelling Festival in West Bend has struggled the past couple

years, and its future looks bleak. Tellers in that area held a 2005 ghost story concert in the name of Riverbend around Halloween in lieu of the "formal" festival.

§         During the 2005 Get-Together, several tellers from the Fox Valley area (Appleton/Green Bay/Oshkosh) met with one another to discuss formation of a new guild in that area.

IL: New venue – Prairie Folklore Theatre rekindling of traditional tales on stage blending folktales, folk music, original songs and Midwestern history in a musical theater setting.

NE: local guild working with other organizations.

MN: New Voices (NSN discussion group): Story Soiree June 2005; storytelling, spoken word, music as a fundraiser for travel expenses to the NSN conference in OKC.

§          Larry Johnson and Elaine Wynne, KEY OF SEE STORYTELLERS, begin a
monthly storytelling radio show on AIR AMERICA

§         Children’s storytelling at the Coffee Grounds with Pam Schweitzer

 

Suggestions:

WI: If we could only find some way to eliminate some tellers' fear of technology.

MN: One free subscription to Storytelling Magazine for each organization in the state (to keep updated and to potentially go over at monthly meetings).

IA: There was some mention made (once upon a time, perhaps a year or two ago) of the possibility that NSN might consider holding/offering some regional events (workshops, performances, etc.) in various locations throughout the year, (aside from the National Festival in Tennessee and the National Conference, and on a smaller scale; and similar to some of the activities that take place at the National Storytelling Center throughout the year).  The idea was to make NSN events more accessible to the general membership, and to accommodate those who are not able to travel to Jonesborough and/or the National Conference each year.

Is this type of outreach still being considered in any way? (And if not, why not?)

IA: Last year I offered the following suggestion, in order to accommodate (albeit in a limited way) those who are unable to attend the conference: I suggested that the program guide from the conference (or resource book, or however it is labeled) be offered for sale to the membership, possibly for a fairly significant fee (more income for NSN, of course!), but at a cost that was less than that of attending the conference.

I received a positive response to my suggestion, but the only resources that were sold to members after the conference were tapes/cd's of the keynote speakers' presentations,( the content of which is usually rather broad and general, and not particularly useful!).

            So, again I suggest that resource books from the conference be sold!

 

Dreams:

WI: Would love to see more youth getting involved in storytelling groups and events statewide and nationally.

NE: I have very little contact with other storytellers in the state.  I would like to be able to know what else is happening in our state.

MN: Members of each of the different groups all coming together (potentially at Tellabration). I think there are a lot more storytellers out in the state than I know about, and who perhaps don’t all know about each other.

§         Also, more involvement of less traditional storytelling, especially as a way to bring in 20-30 year-olds.

 

Concerns:

WI: I feel there's a real need to infuse the community with more "new blood" ... not only to bring new/younger faces into the community as a whole, but to also get more folks directly involved in planning/organizing positions.

            IL: that we don’t have new people joining our local guilds and the membership is

dwindling due to aging and poor health. Attendance at conferences and workshops seem to be down.

MI: Economic depression in state continues to affect storytellers’ work opportunities and attendance at storytelling events.

ND: SL feels she is the lone storyteller in her state. She promotes NSN wherever she goes but there seems to be little interest in storytelling in her State

SD: SL would like to turn her responsibilities over to someone new but is having difficulty finding anyone interested.

MN: The same people show up at the same events; the community doesn’t feel like it’s expanding rapidly.

IA: And an ongoing concern:  The major financial investment required in order to attend the National Conference. It concerns me that the combined fees for registration travel, meals, and lodging for the National Conference are so high that many "average income" storytellers are unable to attend.

Are any attempts being made to cut the costs in the future, in order to make attendance a greater possibility for a greater number of members?

 

Praise: 

            MI: Special thanks to Glenn Morrow for giving me as state liaison the chance to

highlight a unique and relatively new storytelling festival in the July-August Storytelling Magazine.  The Festival committee is tickled pink that they will be noticed.