|
|
What you missed...
|
|
|
Meggan Shepard: An Artist's Journey
|
|
|
Our August presenter, Meggan Shepard, joined us from her hometown of Nisswa, Minnesota. Shepard shared her journey of becoming a performing artist, business owner, and creator of Bonsai dance. Her path of personal and professional development resonated with our members.
Shepard explained that her foundation in dance began at the age of seven when she started karate. Through martial arts, she learned: self-discipline, patience, technique refinement, and most importantly a growth mindset. Her sensei impressed upon her the importance of understanding, "Just because I can't do it now, doesn't mean I can not do it in the future". These words would inspire courage and self-confidence as she battled body shame and a belief that she could not dance.
Her first exposure to belly dance occurred around twelve years ago while attending a Renaissance festival. Shepard describes the moment she saw a full-figured woman performing, her curves wiggling and jiggling, her femininity fully embraced, something she herself was struggling with. The dance resonated strongly with Shepard, who began crying from the experience and recalls it being beautiful and magnificent. Two years later she took her first belly dance class and immediately joined. She would go on to perform in the Vespertine Tribal Dance Troupe and learn American Tribal Style Belly Dance. ATS is a very structured, rule orientated style of belly dance and Shepard felt she needed a style that would allow her to fully express herself and allow for more creativity and self-expression. She needed growth.
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2020. Meggan Shepard, Brainerd, Minnesota.
|
|
|
Shepard left her troupe, setting out on her own to explore fusion belly dance, a more improvisational style. Before that, she was feeling burned out and ready to quit when another transformative moment presented itself. She received a scholarship to study the 8 Elements style of belly dance with Rachel Brice. This experience informed her about the history, culture, and techniques of belly dance. It was here that Shepard really began to believe in herself and her creative practice. Brice encouraged Shepard to create her own style of dance.
After returning to Minnesota from Oregon, Shepard began the creation of Bonsai belly dance. She considered how to incorporate her love of martial arts, nerd culture, such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, with fusion belly dance. Bonsai Dance is a representation of what Meggan Shepard loves.
|
|
|
|
Meggan Shepard noodling/dancing on a dock.
Copyright © 2020, Meggan Shepard, Brainerd, Minnesota
|
|
Performances
Dream a Little Dream performed by Megg Shepard and Stacey McPartlin at the Chicago Tribal Revolution, Oct. 6, 2019. To watch the performance, click here.
Meggan's Social Media Sites:
Youtube, click here.
Instagram, click here.
Facebook, Belly Dance by Megg, click here (This site shows her noodling).
Facebook, Movement Garden Studio, click here.
Website, Movement Garden Studio, click here.
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2020, Meggan Shepard, Brainerd, Minnesota.
|
|
|
Take a class with Meggan!
to register on her website, click here.
|
|
Movement Garden Studios also has video tutorials you may do at your own pace. To learn about these classes, click here. |
|
|
New Member Perk, WiLA's Virtual Gallery Opens
In our August newsletter, board member, Melody Locke presented WiVLA's newest member perk, our virtual gallery. This new resource will be a great marketing tool for all of our members including our literary and performing arts members. In addition to showcasing your works, you will have the opportunity to gain personal training on how to use the software from one of our experienced board members.
Our first show started in September and will finish on October 31. The first exhibit features one piece from our board members. It was set up as a test run and an example of what you can expect when you utilize this tool. This newly created virtual exhibit can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. Please visit the viewing room by clicking here. For best results, view on full screen on your laptop or desktop computer. If using a mobile device you must download the app for exhibbit.com.
To be considered for this space you may complete the application located under the Resources tab on our website or by clicking here. The deadline is the 15th of the month prior to the two-month slot your are interested in.
For further information, such as pricing, for this new member perk please visit our website or click here.
|
|
This section updates members on items we have been working on behind the scenes.
1. The Holocaust Museum Houston has confirmed that our 2020 collaboration exhibition, Compassion, will be held as a virtual exhibit. The staff is currently working on virtual production. While there is not a confirmed date we are excited to make this announcement to our members. Stay tuned for further details and a date for the launch!
2. Our November 2020 Literary Reading topic will be Resilience. We will announce further information as it becomes available. In the meantime, we hope this gives you inspiration from which to start.
3. Coming soon our very own WiVLA YouTube channel. This new resource for our membership will house our monthly presenters' talks, member exhibitions, and literary readings. The channel is currently setup and the board is busy editing our last two presentations. Subscribe to our channel now and you will be notified when the videos are available. You can access YouTube with your Gmail account. Click here to locate WiVLA's new channel.
|
|
|
A highlight of our upcoming September member meeting will be the drawing of our 2020 recipients for our ECO Fund Grant award. There will be one literary member and one visual art member selected. With the deadline being extended to September 1st the board felt this allowed interested persons more time to reconsider the objectives of their proposals. The 2020 recipients will have a full year to complete their projects this means their grant session will be from September 2020 to September 2021.
The board will resume our regular cycle for the ECO Fund Grant selection process in April 2021. The 2021 recipients grant session will be from April 2021 to April 2022. If you weren't able to apply for 2020 or you missed this opportunity, you may want to tune in to see how the selection process works and hear from the lucky winners.
There will also be our regular monthly member presentation, comments from the board, and updates about ongoing events. We hope to see you on Zoom.
|
|
Meeting Schedule
6:00 - 6:15pm: Social Gathering.
6:15 - 6:30pm: WiVLA Updates/News from the board.
6:30 - 6:50pm: Presentation with speaker & split screen PowerPoint.
6:50 - 7:05pm: Questions & Comments.
7:05 - 7:30pm: Member news, Show & Share opportunity for members.
Each person is limited to 1.5 minutes, time permitting. |
|
Zoom Meeting Information
Due to security suggestions by Zoom, we will send out another email with the Zoom meeting information one day before the meeting, August 19th. Be certain to look for it. If you need the meeting code please send an email to newsletter@wivla.org to get the meeting code no later than 5:00 pm on August 20th.
If you need information on how to use Zoom prior to the meeting date please use the links below:
If you need to download Zoom, it's free: https://zoom.us/download
Here is the link to a video on how to join a meeting:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting
|
|
|
|
Amanda Wenger wrote to share her good news regarding her recent acceptance to the Creative Process Residency at Greywood Arts, Ireland, and Wildacres Residency Program, North Carolina. Both residencies will occur in 2021. You can check out Amanda's website and blog, click here.
Margo Stutts Toombs has announced the dates for her new piece, Stormy - the Opera. You can register to watch beginning on September 19th. Times listed below are CST.
10/3, 2:00 pm 11:59 pm
10/3, 7:30 pm - 11:59 pm
10/10, 7:30 pm - 11:59 pm
Please contact Margo Stutts Toombs for further details regarding registration and to verify the times. Margo's website, click here. You may also find this performance listed on the Houston Arts Alliance Cultural Calendar, click here.
|
|
|
Rona Lesser recently conducted a series of virtual family-friendly art workshops for the Blaffer Art Museum. Even though the live version is finished the series will be available online. They were created for children 6+. There are lesson plans included. This is a great resource for the family. To check them out, click here.
|
|
We'd love to celebrate your good news. If you are interested in sharing, please send your items to newsletter@wivla.org. There is no deadline for this content.
|
|
September 2, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM, Parallels in History a Conversation with Jasmine Zelaya and Theresa Escobedo. Zelaya is currently one of the artists on exhibit in Round 51: Local Impact II exhibit at Project Rowhouse. Escobedo is the current manager for civic art for the city of Houston. The conversation will be live on Project Rowhouses Instagram account.
September 12, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, "Research Like a Pro" virtual workshop with Sindya Bhanoo of the Writer's League of Texas is one of the classes being offered in the series, The Writer's Toolbox . For more information, click here.
September 24, at 2 pm, Arts Town Hall, Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) in conjunction with Houston arts organizations. A virtual opportunity to build community and hear from our local arts leaders, artists, and community. Meetings occur on the third Thursday of the month. Registration is required. To learn more, click here.
Oct 3, Texas Photographic Society, TPS 29 The International Competition opens at Sawyer Yards. To see a list of selected artists, click here. The show will be on exhibit here in Houston until 1/9/2021.
|
|
If you have an event you would like to promote or know of an event our members would love to know about, please send the information to newsletter@wivla.org. |
|
September 6, Dallas Metro Arts Contemporary is seeking artwork for their Water Media National Juried Exhibition, “Presenting the fluid qualities of art, in a variety of media”. Cristina Lucas of the Pearce Museum will be the juror. For further details, the prospectus is available on CaFé.
September 15, Gulf Coast Journal of Literature and Fine Arts is accepting entries for their 2020 awards: Barthelme Prize for Short Prose, Gulf Coast Prize in Translation, and Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing. The journal is also accepting poetry, nonfiction and lyric essay, critical art writing, and fiction. For further details please visit their website, click here.
Sept 18, Extended Open Call for 2022 Artist-In-Residence, Artpace San Antonio There are now 3 more weeks to apply to the one spot available for a Texas artist. To learn more, click here.
September, 23, Old Myths, New Stories is an exhibition sponsored by the Colorado Chapter of WAC. It is open nationwide to members of the Women's Caucus for Art. To learn more you must search on Call for Entries and input the title of the exhibition, Old Myths, New Stories. You may contact WiVLA member, Rona Lesser, ronalesser@gmail.com as well. The prospectus is below.
October 1, Bat City Review is currently seeking submissions for their literary magazine. Pieces may be "poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, art, and cross-genre pieces that experiment with language, form, and unconventional subject matter". They also welcome traditional styles as well as translations. For further information, click here.
|
|
|
If you have an opportunity for our members please feel free to send them to, newsletter@wivla.org.
|
|
|
|
|
