UPDATE: In accordance to government recommendations regarding COVID-19, the DTCF Partnership has rescheduled this event for the summer. More information to follow.
How have women influenced your life? What has been your own experience as a woman? On March 24th, to celebrate Women’s History Month, the public will have the opportunity to tell their own stories about women who affected them during the “Silhouettes and Storytelling” in the Downtown Pavilion.
Organized by the Downtown Cuyahoga Falls (DTCF) Partnership, the show will consist of featured storytellers—both women and men—sharing stories on stage about their experiences as women and/or the impact women have had on them. Following the featured speakers, other members of the community will have the opportunity to share their own story of five minutes or less with the audience in an open mic format.
“We are open to any stories that are about people’s experiences as women or identifying as female, about females in their lives, or any other stories which are women-themed,” explains DTCF Partnership Executive Director Abigail Poeske. “We are open to poetry and music in addition to prose, as long as it is sticking with our theme of celebrating women.”
This will be the first of what will likely be many art-centered events downtown, especially considering such events have brought more vibrancy to the area in the past—particularly in collaboration with the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center and Collide: Cuyahoga Falls, organizations that are both inspired by and advocates of the local arts scene. This first foray into a storytelling event that has been organized by the DTCF Partnership follows, in some ways, in the footsteps of Wandering Aesthetics’ “Full Circle Storytelling,” which staged one of its signature events during the Crafty Mart Pop Up in 2018. The DTCF says it may evolve into a regular occurrence during warmer months in a larger locale, such as at High Bridge Glens Park.
“We are always thinking about how we can pull different groups of people and attract a new audience to Front Street, and we felt as if this would be one way to do it!” Poeske says. This new type of event downtown will also feature silhouettes of important women from the past and present along with their stories on display for attendees to read.
If storytellers are interested in applying to be featured during the show, they are encouraged to submit a story of up to 2,000 words to Poeske via email at abby@downtowncf.com. Open-mic participants are also encouraged to sign up with a 5-minute story via email or at the show.
For more information about “Silhouettes and Storytelling” or to submit a story, visit https://www.downtowncf.com/women.
