News and Events
Former female inmates perform "Time In," a play about life in prison, on February 14, 2009.
Time In is an innovative and moving performance piece written by former female inmates about their time inside a maximum-security prison. The mixture of dance, song, and story will be performed on Saturday, February 14, at 8:00 pm, in the Martel Theater of the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film. This event is free and open to the public.
The piece incorporates the words and voices of dozens of women inmates at the maximum-security York Correctional Institution in Niantic, CT, who participated in a yearlong arts residency with Judy Dworin Performance Ensemble (JDPE) and the a capella gospel singers of Women of the Cross (WOTC). The residency included an intensive five-day session in June that culminated in two performances of Time In at the prison, with inmates performing alongside JDPE dancers and WOTC singers.
In a uniquely authentic and unusually provocative way, Time In focuses on the theme of time from the perspective of imprisoned women, including mothers, daughters, and wives. Many of the women who share their stories have battered histories of physical abuse, drugs, and street life. For these women, the experience of participating in the project is life altering.
“This has been a tremendous experience for me and has given me an opportunity to face some demons that had been buried for many years,” wrote one inmate. “I feel like an anvil has been removed from my chest. This program is a good start for many of us who want to heal and don’t know where to start.”
Time In is co-sponsored by the Vassar Green Haven Prison Program as well as the Africana Studies and Women Studies programs; the departments of sociology and geography, and the dean of faculty. This is one of several programs, which is scheduled during the spring semester in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Africana Studies Program.
40TH ANNIVERSARY SPRING EVENTS PRESENTED BY THE AFRICANA STUDIES PROGRAM AT VASSAR:
All events are free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
- On Saturday, April 4, New York State Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Brian Fischer will keynote the 30th anniversary conference of the Green Haven Prison Program. Aula, Ely Hall, 10:00 am-5:00 pm
- On Saturday, April 18, activist and author Randall Robinson, will give the keynote address during the Africana Studies Program’s 40th anniversary conference. Johnson’s address will also be the 2009 Matthew Vassar Lecture. Taylor Hall Auditorium (Room 102), 6 pm.
ABOUT THE AFRICANA STUDIES PROGRAM
The Africana Studies Program, commemorating its 40th anniversary this year, is Vassar's longest-running multidisciplinary program. It provides students with a comparative perspective in their approach to the study of the histories, politics, cultures and experiences of peoples of African origin. The wide-reaching disciplines of its faculty enable the program to offer a uniquely comprehensive curriculum, covering the fields of art, education, film, geology, history, literature, political science, psychology, religion and sociology, as well as cross-cultural and areas studies.
ABOUT THE VASSAR GREEEN HAVEN PRISON PROGRAM
The Vassar Green Haven Prison Program began 1979 as a weekly dialogue on current events between Vassar students and inmates at the maximum-security prison in Stormville, NY. The program, founded by Vassar Religion and Africana Studies Professor Lawrence Mamiya, has evolved into a broader educational experience for both students and inmates, confronting issues such as race, class, stereotypes, and economic opportunity. Many of the Vassar students have gone on to work with other prison education programs, and since 1999 an annual reunion has brought together Vassar alumnae/i and former Green Haven inmates for conversation.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.
Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.
Posted by College Relations Wednesday, December 31, 1969
About the Arts
Powerhouse Theater
The Powerhouse Theater is a collaboration between New York Stage and Film and Vassar College. It is dedicated to both emerging and established artists in the development and production of new works for theater and film. During an intense eight-week summer residency on the Vassar campus, up to twenty different projects are publicly presented, typically engaging more than 200 professional artists and theater students. Plays, musicals, and screenplays are presented in a variety of forms: readings, workshops, and fully staged productions. Since the first Powerhouse Theater season in 1985, New York Stage and Film and Vassar have served more than 2,000 artists and over 175,000 audience members through the development and production of artistically exceptional and affordably priced performances.
Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center
Located just inside Vassar's Main Gate, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center houses the college's permanent collection, over 18,000 works, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, and glass and ceramic wares, charting the history of art from antiquity to the present. The Permanent Collection Galleries feature 350 works, ranging from the sculpted Head of Viceroy Merymose from His Outer Sarcophagus (Egyptian, c 1375 BCE) in the Antiquities Gallery to Marsden Hartley's oil on canvas Indian Composition (1914-15) in the Twentieth Century Gallery. For information on current and upcoming special exhibitions, self-guided and curriculum-based tours, and group visits, please visit the website. The art center is open to the public, and admission is free.
James W. Palmer Gallery
Located in the College Center in Main Building, the James W. Palmer III '90 Gallery presents eight shows annually, including exhibitions by renowned artists and photographers, studio art faculty and students, and local arts organizations. Recent highlights included Andrea Baldeck’s black-and-white photo exhibit, Touching the Mekong: A Southeast Asian Sojourn, organized by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; the Vassar Haiti Project’s annual exhibition and auction of imported arts and handcrafts; and Design Inside, showcasing the work of Vassar’s College Relations design team. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. For information on upcoming exhibitions, visit the website or call (845) 437-5370.
Music Department
Located in the Belle Skinner Hall of Music, the Martel Recital Hall is wonderfully suited, both acoustically and aesthetically, to music performance. With seating for 500, the Martel is home to the Vassar College Orchestra, Choir, Women's Chorus, Madrigal Singers, and numerous chamber groups and ensembles. The Martel concert schedule routinely includes distinguished guest artists, faculty recitals, senior recitals, and special musical events, such as last year's series of organ recitals celebrating the installation and dedication of the college's superb pipe organ, designed by masterbuilder Paul Fritts. For information on upcoming concerts and events (which are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted), please visit the website.
Dance Department
The Department of Dance sponsors several public performances each year. Among those, the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT) has a series of Works in Progress showings in the fall, a winter Modfest performance in conjunction with the The Department of Music, winter galas at the 1869 Bardavon Opera House, and two All Parents Weekend performances in the spring. The department's Master Class program annually invites at least one ballet and one modern expert to campus in addition to two people in other areas of dance. Public performances and lectures are often associated with these renowned visitors. Guest artists in the past have included: Irina Kolpokova, Arthur Mitchell, Helene Alexopoulos, Gregory Hines, Anna Kisselgoff, Donald Byrd, Edward Villella, Ronald K. Brown, Irene Dowd, Allegra Kent, Gelsey Kirkland, Pilobolus w/Adam Battlestein, Suzanne Farrell, Mummenschantz, Eldar Aliev, Deborah Jowitt, Bill T. Jones, Pascal Rioult, Clinton Luckett of ABT, Bill Irwin, and Donald McKayle. Many of the department's dance performances are in the Frances Daly Fergusson Dance Theater, located in Kenyon Hall.