By Sally Deering

“Iâ€ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling thatâ€s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.” – Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah epitomizes the achievements one woman can make after facing extreme personal and professional challenges; and here in Hudson, many women follow in Oprahâ€s successful footsteps.

March is Womenâ€s History Month, and to celebrate, the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs and Art House Productions in Jersey City are planning two events that pay tribute to women and their achievements.

The National Women’s History Project celebrates its 35^th anniversary with WEAVING THE STORIES OF WOMENâ€S LIVES, a theme taken on locally by the Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise, the Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Office of Cultural Affairs.

On Wed, Mar. 25 at 6 pm, DeGise and Committee Chairwoman and Freeholder Caridad Rodriguez will honor local women making a difference in their communities in an awards ceremony at the majestic Theodore Conrad Rotunda on the first floor of the Justice William Brennan Court House in Jersey City.

That same week, on Thurs, Sat and Sun, Mar. 26, 28 and 29, Art House Productions and 68 Productions in Jersey City team up for IN FULL COLOR, A Night of Theater Celebrating Womenâ€s History Month with monologues, poetry and music by 13 writers and actresses who offer a glimpse into their lives as women of color. A portion of ticket proceeds will be donated to the local non-profit WomenRising.

“This night of theater will show people there is this whole spectrum of talented actresses and writers who have hilarious, witty, touching, and inspiring things to say and who are really good at saying them,” director Summer Dawn Hortillosa says.

Hortillosa and Liliane Wolf founded the non-profit theater company 68 Productions to produce works by and for ethnically diverse people. Art House Productions, also a non-profit in Jersey City is committed to the development and presentation of performing and visual arts programs in Jersey City, and presents original theater, music events, visual arts, experimental performance, classes, video/new media and the quarterly citywide arts festival, JC Fridays.

WOMEN OF COLOR SHARE A PEEK INTO THEIR LIVES

IN FULL COLOR presents 13 women of color sharing their stories like dealing with curly hair; men with “yellow fever”; and being mistaken for a terrorist. Writers and actors include Jennifer Cendaña Armas, Karen Eilbacher, Samille Ganges (reading a piece by Alicia Wright), Inés García, Yvonne Hernandez, Amanda Levie, Nicole Miranda (reading a piece by Grisel Acosta), wendelin, Nerissa Tutiven, Shirin Terhune Vazir and Hortillosa, the showâ€s director.

“Summer Dawn Hortillosa has curated a vibrant evening of stories from women we are proud to celebrate,” Art House Productions†Executive Director Christine Goodman says. “IN FULL COLOR gives voice to women of diverse backgrounds and covers topics from the hilarious to the inspiring.”

A sampling from the show includes Shirin Terhune Vazir of Jersey Cityâ€s APPLE PIE & BAKLAVA; Samille Ganges†performance of Alicia Wrightâ€s piece MY CURLY HAIR – Wright is a founding member of Art House Productions†Board of Trustees. Yvonne Hernandez of Newark, who recently performed her one-woman show on romance at Symphony Hall in New York City will perform an excerpt from her piece, MY PUERTO RICAN MOTHER.

“My mother was a comedian who didnâ€t know it,” Hernandez says. “Itâ€s a tribute to her as a Puerto Rican woman who came here at the age of 18 and went through a lot. She had four children and she raised her children on her own because she was a widow. Everything she had to go through, people will get a glimpse into that. Shows like this are a good way for women to get their stories out.”

 Inés Garciaâ€s THE INTERVIEW and THE EXCEPTION by Hortillosa are also on the program with THAT MORNING by wendelin; HARDCORE LATINA PUNK BIRTH FRAGMENTS by Grisel Y. Acosta, performed by Nicole Miranda; and UNTITLED by Amanda Levie of Jersey City who is founder of No Peeking LLC, a blind live arts company.

Actress and director Karen Eilbacher of Brooklyn who holds a BFA with honors from New York Universityâ€s Tisch School of the Arts, will perform her piece HOWLS. Eilbacherâ€s credits include the Academy Award winning short film CURFEW where she was a dancer in a bowling alley. Eilbacher, whose piece HOWLS is about the changing relationship between a young woman and her ailing grandmother, says events like IN FULL COLOR, and the audience feedback they provide can be helpful to her as a writer.

“This show will help me get my work out there and give me the chance to see how people react to it,” Eilbacher says. “It could also help me find new avenues for my full-length script.”

Seeing performances by these women may inspire projects and opportunities for these women, Hortillosa says, both in New York and here in Jersey City.

“Weâ€re in the most diverse city in America,” Hortillosa says. “I think itâ€s really important for people to understand the people of other cultures around them. Cultures exist in different shades. I hope this show encourages tolerance, understanding and interest.”

CELEBRATING HUDSON WOMEN

2015 marks the 35th anniversary of the National Women’s History Project and Hudson Countyâ€s tribute on Wed, March 25^th, WEAVING THE STORIES OF WOMENâ€S LIVES, follows the national model. Previous themes were Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment in 2014; Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in 2013; and womenâ€s Art, Womenâ€s Vision in 2008.

“We will be honoring women from Hudson County, in a variety of categories, whose courage, strength and spirit in their respective fields and endeavors are special,” Cultural Affairs†Program Development Specialist Meredith Lippman says.

Lippman, along with William La Rosa, Administrator for the Hudson County Cultural & Heritage Affairs/Tourism department and the rest of the cultural affairs staff curate and sponsor the annual event along with the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders and Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise.

“This event is a celebration of the outstanding achievements of women in our community,” County Executive DeGise says. “We are honored to have the opportunity each year to tell their stories, each one of them a vital thread within the tapestry of our shared local history.”

The women to be honored at the Mar. 25^th tribute all have a sense of commitment to community, Lippman says. (At press time, the honorees were still to be confirmed. Go to www.riverviewobserver.net for the complete list.)

At the ceremony, DeGise and Chairwoman Rodriguez will give out medals and certificates to the honorees. There will also be performances by vocalists from St. Dominic Academyâ€s choir and a poetry reading by Alia Oliver, a winner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts†Poetry-Out-Loud contest.

“We want to support our younger women,” Lippman says.

If you go:

 Wed, Mar. 25, 6 pm

WEAVING THE STORIES OF WOMENâ€S LIVES

Hudson Countyâ€s Tribute to Women in the Arts

Justice William Brennan Court House/Theodore Conrad Rotunda

583 Newark Ave, JC

Admission:  Free

For more info:  (201) 459-2070

www.visithudson.org

  Thurs, and Sat, Mar. 26, 28 at 8 pm; Sun, Mar. 29 at 3 p.m.

IN FULL COLOR: A Night of Theater Celebrating Womenâ€s History Month

Art House Productions

136 Magnolia, JC

(201) 915-9911

Tix: $8 in advance at www.InFullColor.brownpapertickets.com; $10 at the door.

For more info: www.arthouseproductions.org, or www.summerization.com.

The post March is Women’s History Month Local Hudson County Events Spotlight Women’s Voices first appeared on River View Observer.

On the morning of the 9/11 attack, Jersey City photographer Sandra Swieder grabbed her camera and notebook and headed to the waterfront where she captured the heroic rescue and recovery efforts of firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, EMTs and other volunteers. In the days and months that followed, Swieder continued to photograph and collect stories from survivors, witnesses and emergency responders this side of the Hudson.

 On Sept. 1 and running through Sept. 15, Art House Productions, a non-profit organization committed to the development and presentation of performing and visual arts in Jersey City presents “From Across the River,” a photography exhibition by Swieder that captures the events of September 11th from the New Jersey perspective.

 “With the tenth anniversary coming up, we thought it was a very important story to tell,” Arthouse Productions’ Executive Director Christine Goodman says. “Some people say ‘who wants to relive these images? But Sandra’s photographs have hope, too. What Sandra’s done is document the people and their stories and the real strength of the everyday individuals who rose up that day.”

On the morning of September 11, 2001, after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Hudson County’s waterfront became the hub for emergency personnel, volunteers and over 200,000 survivors who were ferried from lower Manhattan to the Jersey waterfront. When they arrived on the Jersey side – in Hoboken and Jersey City – thousands were decontaminated and triaged, some were hospitalized and given shelter.

That waterfront triage in Jersey City became a five-block radius of emergency personnel, volunteers and family members and the staging area at Exchange Place turned into a lifeline to “Ground Zero.” Swieder, with her camera and notebook, documented the events. She established relationships with key emergency personnel, collected their stories and created a historical record of images and personal accounts and put it all together in “From Across the River.” The exhibit consists of photography and interviews of First Responders, with approximately thirty images ranging from 11×14 to 6 ft. Images have been produced on a number of different mediums such as Plexiglas, canvas and photographic paper. The exhibition will also include a memorial sculpture of reclaimed steel from Ground Zero by artist Matt Johnson.

“It is extremely important to preserve the history of events that transpired on the Jersey side,” Swieder says. “This project illustrates what took place along the Hudson River and how New Jersey responded to the immediate needs of lower Manhattan that Tuesday morning and in the days, weeks and months following.”

Goodman says “From Across the River,” is a powerful exhibition but absolutely essential to our culture and history.

 “It’s preserving the history of what happened on the Hudson River that day and how our New Jersey community came together with New York,” Goodman says, “and how our emergency responders, our citizens, police officers, firefighters and everyday people rose up in this time of need. The work is powerful. It’s preserving our history and honoring these people. Sandra’s work is about healing and community.”

 Funding for “From Across the River” is by Hudson County Executive Thomas A. DeGise, the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs & Heritage/Tourism Development.  The exhibit will be up for two weeks at Arthouse Productions and then moved to the Brennan Courthouse where it will be installed for the public to view in the Theodore Conrad Rotunda from Sept. 22 through Oct.14.

 .”It’s not only about us, it’s much bigger,” Swieder says. “My intentions are for it to travel. I think people really need to understand what happened that day. My energies are positive. I’m a single mom with a three year-old. How do I tell the future generations what happened that day? What images do they have of the firemen, the twisted metal and the dust-covered buildings? This is a different perspective. I tried to capture the beauty and the unity of the people that day. Maybe this can bring some closure, some healing. People can look at the worst day of American history in a different light.”

Now to Sept.15th

From Across the River

Art House Productions
One McWilliams Place
(Housed in the former St. Francis Hospital Building, SE corner of Hamilton Park)
Jersey City, NJ

For more info or to schedule a viewing appointment, call (201) 915-9911 or email info@arthouseproductions.org.
Opening reception: Thurs, Sept 1, 7-10 p.m. 

Gallery Open:  Sept. 9^th, 7-9 p.m.

Closing reception: Sept 15, 7-9 p.m.

Additional viewings by appointment; to schedule a visit call 201-915-911

 

Special Anniversary Gallery Openings
Sat. and Sun, Sept. 10 and 11, 12-6 p.m.

The post From Across the River: Images and Reflections of September 11th from the Jersey Side first appeared on River View Observer.