News from the Peregrine Press

On May 6th, as part of the First Friday Art Walk, there will be three events at the Portland Public Library in addition to the Dunia Moja/One World: A Peregrine Press and Zanzibar Print Exchange Exhibition.

In the Lewis Gallery, experience the art of henna as henna artists, originally from Somalia, will be creating these decorative tattoos for you. In addition there will be highlights from The Telling Room’s annual writing and storytelling project as well as a display of social justice and memoir comics created by local middle school students.

The collaborative prints created jointly by the artists of Portland’s Peregrine Press and the artists of Women Networking in Zanzibar, Tanzania have resulted in a knock out show that is not to be missed. The prints are unique, showcasing the deep similarities — and mysterious differences — between kindred spirits working “together” across a distance of 6,000 miles. Work in the exhibition as well as additional unframed work will be available for sale on Friday. A portion of the proceeds will go to Women Networking in Zanzibar as well as to the Portland English as a Second Language Scholarship Fund here in Maine. Dunja Moja/One World is open through May 28th.

Next to the Lewis Gallery on the lower level are highlights from PLAY, The Telling Room’s 2010-11 community writing and storytelling project. Culled from work with nearly 2,000 students from Wells to Calais this year, the stories, poems, photographs, and videos featured accompany the release of The Telling Room’s fifth anthology, HOW TO CLIMB TREES: 40 Poems and Stories About Play. Among the highlights of the show are works by 12 immigrant and refugee high school students in the Young Writers & Leaders Program and winners of a statewide writing contest.

In the Rines Auditorium, social justice and memoir comics created by King Middle School students will be on display as part of the national Memento Nora Project. The young adult dystopia novel MEMENTO NORA by Angie Smibert, depicts a near future where citizens are required to clinically forget violent and politically uncomfortable memories. Readers of MEMENTO NORA at King Middle School have created comics under the guidance of Maine College of Art art educators that express their strongest memory or call attention to a social injustice. Angie Smibert, the author of MEMENTO NORA, will also be present to discuss the book and offer signed copies. Following the Art Walk, the exhibit of student work will be on display in the Teen Room until June 1.

Peregrine Press is a Maine-based nonprofit group founded in 1991, located in the Bakery Building on Pleasant Street in Portland and dedicated to providing presses, shared space and workshops for thirty professional fine arts printmakers, as well as educational programs for the public. FMI: www.peregrinepress.com

The Telling Room is a nonprofit writing center in Portland, Maine, dedicated to the idea that children and young adults are natural storytellers. Focused on young writers ages 6 to 18, we seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for our students’ stories. We believe that the power of creative expression can change our communities and prepare our youth for future success. FMI: www.tellingroom.org