Black Women’s Arts Festival Newsletter July 26, 2010
Greetings Friends!
Cassendre Xavier here (founder and director of BWAF) with another update about Philadelphia’s 7th Annual Black Women’s Arts Festival, which is happening this weekend starting Thursday, July 29 thru Sunday, August 1st, 2010!
I recently read a magazine article about a husband and wife who suddenly found themselves the parents of three children under the age of one! She was told she couldn’t conceive, so they adopted and had a surrogate mother, both of which ended up producing a baby at almost the same time, and then the wife miraculously and very unexpectedly became pregnant! They’re thrice blessed, but very, very busy with those babies!
I say this to say that this is much how I feel running BWAF this year. As you may have noticed, a few things have been delayed, and for any inconvenience, I sincerely apologize. I also have made amends however I could, and offered special deals to folks who may have been shortchanged by the late happenings of certain features of this year’s event.
I have had more than a few serious life issues this year that caused my production with BWAF to be affected. I intend and expect next year will show a significant increase in the number of people working on the Festival than there were this year!
(For those who’d like more details, I will be releasing a ME! ME! ME! Newsletter before the Festival begins this week to share more of my experience and how things happened with BWAF this year. Links to my Yahoo Group and Blog can be found at www.cassEndrExavier.com)
ABOUT US
The Black Women’s Arts Festival is an acclaimed, inclusive, community cultural arts event which was founded in 2003 and began operating as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization in 2007.
This summer’s Festival dates are Thursday, July 29 thru Sunday, August 1st, 2010.
BWAF Philly 2010 will feature many very special, first-time featured artists, workshops, children’s events and more at several venues in Greater Philadelphia including our primary venue, The Rotunda, on the campus of, and in our longtime partnership with the University of Pennsylvania.
We will also feature special, spiritual, and family events to honor the elders and ancestors from all our communities.
As always, all respectful persons are welcome, invited, and encouraged to participate as attendees, volunteers, and/or organizers.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday 7/29 at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) from 11:00AM – 8:00 Workshops and Films – no other events, no vendors. $7 each person or 2 for $10. www.therotunda.org
Thursday LATE NIGHT from 9:00PM – 2:00AM it’s the Opening Night Party at the Arts Garage (533 Ridge Avenue) $5 Admission 21+ID. www.theartsgarage.com
Friday 7/30 at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) 11:30AM – 11:00PM – Workshops, Exhibits, Performances and Vendors. $7 each person or 2 for $10. www.therotunda.org
Saturday MORNING 7/31 Children’s Storytime at Big Blue Marble Bookstore (551 Carpenter Lane) 11:00AM – 1:00PM FREE. www.bigbluemarblebooks.com
Saturday 7/31 at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) from 1:30PM – 10:00PM Workshops, Exhibits, Performances and Vendors. $7 each person or 2 for $10. www.therotunda.org
Sunday 8/1 at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) from 11:00AM – 10:00PM Workshops, Exhibits, Performances and Vendors. $7 each person or 2 for $10. www.therotunda.org
Note: There will be chair massage on Friday and Sunday. There will also be a Clothing & Book Swap every day! All are welcome to bring gently used clothing, books, etc. to give away and feel free to take with you a special souvenir of the Festival as well! (I’ve already compiled a bag of clothes and new, unopened bottled of scented body lotion to give away, because I remember how much I enjoyed receiving clothes and a nice bottle of fragrance-free shampoo at the NoLose Conference years ago!) Men and women are welcome to participate.
For the latest events, please visit http://bwafphilly.blogspot.com/2010/07/bwaf-philly-2010-schedule.html or http://tinyurl.com/295zvbm, or our official website’s 2010 Schedule page http://bwafphilly.homestead.com/2010.html or http://tinyurl.com/294vrap.
Please note that changes are being made much faster than they’re able to be updated online. Please just come to the Festival and see what happens!
OUR LAST YEAR AS A NON-PROFIT
BWAF operated from 2003 – 2006, then operated as a non-profit from 2007 – 2010. A few weeks ago, BWAF decided to leave the New Beginnings Non-Profit Incubator of Resources for Human Development, our fiscal sponsor, and submitted our notice of resignation. BWAF will remain a New Beginnings project through December 31, 2010, unless we find other office space sooner. From January 1, 2011, BWAF will again be in the for-profit sector. As I learned, running a non-profit is like having three jobs, and we’re just not cut out for it. It’s not our style, and I look forward to trying the new thing of being a company that runs as a business, yet with the support of a community organization. In these next four months, we’ll be looking for office space and have already been given a few leads that may pan out quite nicely. Keep you posted!
In the meantime, watch a tour of our BWAF office and hear about leaving the non-profit sector on YouTube:
Black Women's Arts Festival Office Tour 2010 - (Part 1 of 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiMQVcBZAXc or http://tinyurl.com/252734r
Black Women's Arts Festival Office Tour 2010 - (Part 2 of 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4loKUveeNI4 or http://tinyurl.com/2brfj8w
CHAPBOOK POETRY CONTEST UPDATE
We will resume this project later this year, after the Festival. The goal is to assemble a committee of folks to do this work, and then the three judges who were selected this year, will do the judging. Keep you posted!
The BWAF Pages - a Community Resource Directory & Coupon Book is a project in the works by the Black Women's Arts Festival www.BWAFpages.com. In the meantime, we’re sending out the occasional online version and offering free advertising to our community of friends. If you have news that would be of interest to BWAs, please send your free 75-word classifieds/listings to: BWAFpages(at)gmail.com. If your event is dated, please put the event date in the subject where we can see it right away, and the more in advance you send us news of dated events, the better. We may include your news in future online supplements of the BWAF Pages. BWAF Pages - Almost as Good as Word of Mouth!
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER (NEW!) AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING LINKS
Please take a moment to click on all our social networking links and befriend us. Also, if you’re a black woman artist, or an ally of BWAs, please network with us and with each other – befriend befriend, befriend!
NEW!! TWITTER http://twitter.com/BWAFphilly
BWAF Facebook Fan Page (Don’t forget to login first): http://tinyurl.com/2dk4wst
Our official email list: http://tinyurl.com/2asxjzj
Our official blog: http://bwafphilly.blogspot.com/
We’re on MySpace, too: http://tinyurl.com/2c3mk8t
BWAF Facebook Profile (Log in first): http://tinyurl.com/26n9u9h
BWAF Facebook Group (Login first): http://tinyurl.com/2dl2pdk
You can always join our official email list by sending a blank email to: BWAFphilly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Thanks for everything and see you next time!
In art & community,
Cassendre Xavier
Founder & Director
Black Women's Arts Festival
7th Annual, Philadelphia, July 29th - Aug 1st, 2010
Contact / Donate:
Black Women's Arts Festival
3721 Midvale Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19129-1743
(215) 951-0330, x 2108 (Email much preferred.)
Email: BWAFphilly(at)yahoo.com
Website: www.BWAFphilly.org
© 2010 Black Women’s Arts Festival, BWAF, BWAF Philly. All rights reserved.
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