Here Comes SummerFest

by Deborah Lanser

Introduction

Mark your calendar for the arrival of the SummerFest catalog on May 21. As always, the Curriculum Committee is providing us with a broad feast of options. Art lovers may rejoice in the opportunity to visit local artists and revisit the masterworks of John Singer Sargent. We can challenge our perceptions with one course on animals and ethics and another on the images of single women in the media. We can learn about local and Australian history, investment strategies, the fun of mathematics, our spiritual potential, and producing Broadway plays. Or we can indulge our creative sides by singing or learning to write poetry and songs. Then there is the opportunity to improve our physical well-being through Feldenkrais or a dance class.

Once again, there will be a two-part registration. On May 27, you can register for one class only, while on May 28, you can sign up for as many additional courses as you want. Nonmembers are also welcome to join. In the meantime, here’s a foretaste of what will be on offer. And good luck choosing which ones to take.

Math and Money

Even those of us who used to be allergic to math can learn to enjoy using it to solve problems, perform magic tricks, and develop a winning strategy at several popular games. Beth Goldberg will ensure we have a good time mastering some basic principles in Understanding and Enjoying Mathematics for the Nonmathematician: Puzzles, Games, and Magic.

In these days of wild Wall Street fluctuations, who thinks investing might be fun? Charlie Hobson, that’s who. Investing for Fun: A Walk Down Wall Street will guide both novices and experienced investors in the skills needed for mastering stock trading.

Honing Your Artistic Vision

Beginners and seasoned writers may gain confidence in their poetic abilities through The Power of Poetry. Lee Woodman will begin each session with a discussion of time-honored poets and then provide suggestions and prompts to allow participants to create their own poetic magic.

Join Margot Harley and Ian Belknap, two seasoned theater professionals, as they share the art and artistry that go into producing a play on Broadway. Using Sam Shepard’s play Fool for Love as a model, they will take you From Page to the Stage through the steps needed to produce a commercial run in the competitive New York market.

Have you ever wanted to write a song but been unsure about how to start? Sharon Klein will guide novices and experienced musicians alike along the journey of writing a song in The Songwriter in You: A Journey for Beginners.

Do you love to sing? Or do you think you can’t? Then Singing Together for Spirit and Joy may be for you. Nancy Theeman will introduce some fundamentals of vocal technique before encouraging enthusiastic participants to join in a community sing, even for those who can’t read music.

Films

Lisa Schwarzbaum will lead a lively survey of films that spotlight single ladies who are seen as man traps, eccentrics, martyrs, and artists. In Childless Cat Ladies: Images of Single Women in the Media, she will discuss the dames who defy definition in such films as The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, My Brilliant Career, and Fatal Attraction.

Visual Arts

Shelley Weiner will reintroduce us to John Singer Sargent: American Master in an exploration of this consummate artist’s life, career, and technique. After he died 100 years ago, his reputation quickly declined. Now, however, contemporary artists and critics have rediscovered Sargent’s technical brilliance, bravura brushwork, and insightful readings of his sitters.

In Listening to the Enemy: An Art Project, sculptor Madeleine Segall-Marx will explain that her 10-year art project is based on her belief that if we listen to the “enemy’s” story, we will be less likely to kill him. There will be three discussion classes, while a fourth class will be a field trip to the project, which is installed in Hyde Park.

Those who are interested in the Hudson Valley’s art scene can enjoy Contemporary Artists of the Hudson Valley: Insider Tours. Participants will visit the studios, galleries, and an architectural archive of local artists and curators to talk with local artists and their processes and concepts underlying multiple visual art forms.

Thinking About Animals

In Animals, Culture, Ethics, Reverend Edward Ingebretsen will consider the vexed interchange between humans and animals in commodity culture. He will discuss the implications of how Western culture, with its mix of theologies, positions animals as subservient to humans while removing them from their natural lives.

History Near and Far

Walk with Henry Woods on a tour examining the evolution of Montgomery Place: High Above the Mahicantuck. The course will teach us about the people who inhabited the site before the arrival of the Livingstons, the millennia-old natural features that give spirit and character to the locale, and the persons whose minds and hands were responsible for the actual changes.

In The Wonder Down Under, Michael Beames will provide a fascinating glimpse into Australian history, literature, and music. Among his interests are the Aboriginal people’s relationship with the land, European colonization and the early settlers, and outback experiences as well as contemporary writings about Gallipoli, Vietnam, racism, and immigrant life.

Personal Growth

Meredith Caplan believes that when we nurture our spiritual awareness, we flourish and perceive life with greater optimism and hope. She will guide participants through an experiential workshop, A Robust Spiritual Capacity as Core Human Potential, that will use practices that help augment people’s awareness of the spiritual guidance system that is woven into the very fabric of life.

In Discovering Your Creative Self, Lois Walden will introduce participants to the life-affirming benefits of creativity. Participants will be encouraged to tap into their creative impulse through sound, movement, writing exercises, discussion, and active imagining.

Well-Being

Mary Rotella will encourage participants to Move, Groove, and Improve. This open-level dance class will focus on building strength and stamina, improving balance and flexibility, and learning proper placement and technique.

Margaret Pierpont will encourage us to Slow Down, Sense More, Feel Better: Feldenkrais Awareness Through MovementⓇ. Students will learn to reduce excess effort, recognize stressful habits, and explore easier alternatives for more freedom, comfort, and pleasure.