Poet & Don't Know it? Middletown Commission on the Arts Poet Laureate Contest

Mayor Daniel T. Drew and the Middletown Commission on the Arts present a
Call for Nominations for Middletown's First Poet Laureate

Submission deadline is Friday at 4:30 p.m. on September 18, 2015.
Download or print the Poet Laureate Nomination Form and review the Description and Selection Process.

Suggested to the Mayor in a letter by two Macdonough School students of teacher John Ferrero - Sasha Zipf and Todd Archer in September of 2014 and acted upon by the Mayor and the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the City is seeking it's first Poet Laureate.

Qualifications:

• Nominees must be at least 18 years of age at the time of appointment
• The poet Laureate must have a strong desire to be actively engaged in the community by performing his or her own work and/or sharing his or her own work and talent with the public.
• Poets may self-nominate or be nominated by a Middletown resident.
• Nominees may not be MCA Commissioners or Staff.
• Nominees must be full time Middletown residents for at least one year prior to the nomination date.
• Nominees must be experienced in the field of poetry and able to fulfill the required duties of the position.

Middletown Commission on the Arts & MXCC Music Festival Free Concerts

Free Concerts at Harbor Park! Middletown Summer Sounds!

Middletown Commssion on the Arts Summer Concert Series

Middletown Fireworks!

Stay tuned for the cost to taxpayers of this event!

Middletown's Commission on the Arts Seeks Nominees for Award

Middletown's Arts Commission annually presents an Arts Advocacy

Award to an individual or group who has significantly contributed

to the city’s cultural and artistic enrichment and/or has shown

extraordinary support and initiative for the arts.

This year the MCA is seeking public input on nominations for the

award. Commissioners would like to see who community members

believe has made a positive cultural or artistic impact on the

Middletown community. The nominee need not reside in

Middletown but should be an individual or group that has made an

outstanding impact on the arts in this city.

In 2012, The Buttonwood Tree and the Greater Middletown Concert

Association received the award. In 2011, composer Neely Bruce

and the Mayor's Ball Committee earned distinction.

Email suggestions to City Arts Coordinator Stephan Allison at

Stephan.Allison@middletownct.gov no later than Dec. 17. Please identify

the town you live in.

The MCA will be presenting its award honoring this year's recipient

in a local ceremony open to the public coinciding with National Arts

Advocacy Day March 24-25 in Washington, D.C.

Press Release: News from Artfarm

Press Release: ARTFARM’s Shakespeare Slam and Masked Bash, May 11, 2013

Contact: Dic Wheeler, (860) 346-4390, dic@art-farm.org

Photo attached by Bill Dekine shows Host Chion Wolf at the 2011 Shakespeare Slam with ARTFARM’s Dic Wheeler and Marcella Trowbridge.

ARTFARM's fourth Shakespeare Slam and Masked Bash features energetic and unorthodox performances of Shakespeare, live music, costumed characters,  celebrity host Chion Wolf of WNPR, food and drink, all in a festive Elizabethan atmosphere where masked adults have fun in a children's museum. Perform, imbibe or simply enjoy the company and entertainment at this unusual fundraiser at 7 pm on Saturday, May 11 at Kidcity in Middletown.

ARTFARM's Shakespeare Slam and Masked Bash is a unique event which is built around performances of shorts bits of Shakespeare (2 minute maximum per performer) by performers of all kinds who have been sponsored by generous patrons. Attend as a performer, a patron, or simply as a partygoer. The Slam is the centerpiece of a festive evening of food, drink, music, masks and fun of all kinds with costumed characters under the spell of WNPR’s comic and provocative Chion Wolf.

“The Slambash is a really fun way for people to help us raise the money to produce professional Shakespeare in the summer while having an outrageously fantastic evening,” says ARTFARM Artistic Director Marcella Trowbridge. “This July we will be producing Much Ado About Nothing, a terrific comedy which features, among other things, a masked dance. So we thought it might be fun to encourage Slam attendees to wear masks this year. It will add a little mystery and playfulness to the evening.” 

Masks and festive attire are encouraged, but not required. For anyone unable to locate or create a mask of their own, masks made by students at Kidsartspace will be available for a nominal fee.  

Middletown Commission on the Arts celebrates Arts Advocacy Day

Press Release:

On April 9, the Middletown Commission on the Arts celebrates Arts Advocacy Day
by presenting awards to an individual and an organization that has significantly
contributed to the city’s cultural and artistic enrichment and shown extraordinary
support and initiative for the arts.
This year, the MCA honors the work of director, teacher and playwright Carolyn
Kirsch plus the great contributions of the Community Foundation of Middlesex
County.
National Arts Advocacy Day this year takes place in Washington, D.C., on April 8-9.
Now in its 16th year, The Middlesex County Community Foundation has worked to
ensure the region is a vibrant, thriving area that supports a broad range of services,
including the arts.
“Staff and volunteers of the Community Foundation work very hard to support
arts programs and arts organizations,” says Cynthia H. Clegg, president and CEO,
“especially during these hard economic times. The arts promote innovation and
collaboration and positively impact local economies, student learning and cultural
understanding.