Student Presentations and Performances

Last night the students had their first in the series of Student Performances. A small group of them were given the opportunity to share with us what they've been working on so far in the program. Students from each discipline were represented.

• Artist Lucy Mutz presented the progression of her self portrait. She explained how each slide showed the changes she had made. 

 

• Next, several photography students shared some of their work, snapped and inspired right here in Spoleto, as well as beyond on our recent day excursions to Florence and Siena. Each student revealed three of their photos, explaining in depth their inspiration and vision. Stay tuned over the next couple days for a full gallery we will be linking to displaying their collective work!

• Walden Pemantle and Claire Parsons then stepped up to represent their studies in Creative Writing. Both read aloud original, short pieces they have written over the past week.

The Land of Smoke and Honey

By Walden Pemantle

I. The Valley Below

From the mountains the village seems so fragile,

we all look like ants and the only movement is the soft curve of wheat

obeying the breeze.

I cracked my bread with truffled cheese in green oil,

my blanket settling on dry grass

the wind moving through my hair,

carrying dead leaves by my face,

me ignoring every one.

Each house teetered on its hilltop

balanced like bowls of red wine;

their ceilings as brittle as saltine crackers.

II. The Great Flood

My sugar bowl broke at breakfast today

and my table runeth over with sweet saccharine-

so sublime until it reached my neck,

then covered my mouth. I held my breath,

and twisted in what yesterday, I was sure that I craved

but today was granulated quick sand, untamed and deranged,

and in the courtyard praline pellets pelted down from the sky,

I saw nuns run for cover, men hold their lovers,

and soldiers with rock candy batons

march off at dawn to send enemies flying

with tinsel and atom bombs

while cowards called into the delicious hail

praying that this was the end, that they’d met their deliverance.

And I joined them in drowning in syrupy tears

because before I died God made it clear

that we’ve been delivered! Pale and liverless

like an acid burnt Icarus.

Vapid and snide, clinging to pride and

obsessed with ritual no matter how trivial-

But when I asked the coward if he thought we’d all die

he said, “if you wonder what’s coming, just look to the sky.”

III. The Land of Smoke and Honey

And then honey began to fall from the rain gutters

while tobacco smoke lifted itself out of manholes

like trolls ready to take back the city.

Somewhere in between I sat: the last man perched

on the last wall not crumbled, tears mixing with the torpid honey

hanging from my eyelids.

I opened my mouth through thick narcotic gobs

and the air tasted somehow like brine.

And no, as the smoke rose, I could not see across the street,

and I could only hear the city’s droning machines,

but at least- as the honey crystalized

and dry day turned to nicotine night-

the earth just might have wept with me. 

• Actress Elizabeth Kelly continued the exhibition by sharing a dramatic monologue she has been working on in her Creative Performance class.

• The night ended with two of our vocalists, Lea Kokenes and Becca Israel, delighting the audience with strong performances they have been refining with instructor, Nicole Sonbert. 

Truly, it is amazing what they have already accomplished in such a short amount of time. We eagerly await future exhibitions to see how they further refine their development and crafts! Congratulations to all performers and presentations on such a successful evening!