Philly Gives Driftwood Warm Welcome – Part I

Philly Gives Driftwood Warm Welcome – Part I
Philly Gives Driftwood Warm Welcome – Part I

IFD was fortunate enough to be part of a First Person Arts Salon, which is “an interactive program offering emerging and established artists and writers an opportunity to present their new memoir and documentary-based works or works-in progress, and offering audiences access to exciting new works that might otherwise go unseen.”

 

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Additionally, First Person Arts is gearing up for their annual First Person America competition, which might interest many of you since it deals with true stories. FPA organizer Nick Forrest explains:

We’re collecting stories (video, photography, writing) describing how people are managing across America in these difficult times. Taking inspiration from the WPA project of the 1930s, our goal is to collect a tapestry of stories that, taken together, documents these unique times.

I think it would be great for the LGBT community to be represented, so I hope some of you check it out and submit a piece.

Talking more about the Salon, I was one of four artists to present work. Sarah McEneaney showed her paintings, Stephanie Yuhas played her animated film, Michael Koehler presented his photographs, then I was the last to go. You can read a recap of the night here.

For my 20-minute time slot, I decided to read some select stories from the site. I dragged some friends and one of my brothers along to read as well, to break up the monotony of a lone voice. I’m going to post all the videos in two parts. Part I will have the intro and the first 3 stories. Part II, which will be posted tomorrow, will have the last 3 stories.

A final note, a big thanks to Sebastian Fortino and Patrick Hanley, regular IFD readers who were both in the crowd that night. Sebastian, who has shared a story on IFD, introduced me to the First Person Arts folks. Patrick has also shared a story, which was one of the ones read that night. He also met me the following weekend to be filmed for a Video Story, which you’ll see in the next couple weeks. Thanks for your support, guys.

Continue Reading to watch the first few videos.

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