The South Carolina Arts Commission, in partnership with South Carolina Humanities, Hampton County Historical Society, and Hampton County Library, will offer a free virtual writing workshop in August. The Communal Pen: Water/Ways workshop will allow participants to write to celebrate and explore connections to place and community. The virtual workshop is free and open to the public, and no previous writing experience is necessary to participate. It is part of the tour of the traveling Smithsonian exhibit Water/Ways in Hampton County.
The free, virtual two-part workshop will be hosted on Zoom on Saturday, August 22 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and Saturday, August 29 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Registration is required and is on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited. Register HERE. This virtual workshop is hosted by Hampton County Historical Society and Hampton County Library.
The goal of the Communal Pen: Water/Ways workshop is to use the writing process to help awaken and preserve thoughts and traditions, offering insight, understanding and respect to present and future generations. This writing workshop draws inspiration from the Smithsonian exhibit Water/Ways. Exhibit themes and images are used as a springboard for igniting participants’ own stories, giving voice to the shared and individual experience of place.
The workshop facilitator is Eboni Ramm, an accomplished poet and jazz singer, who has taught her unique Jazz Poetry Salon at residencies with the Richland County Public Library, Arts Access South Carolina, Youth Corps, Fairfield Middle School, McKissick Museum, and ColaJazz’s partnership with Jazz at Lincoln Center, among others. Learn more about Eboni Ramm: https://www.eboniramm.com/.
The Communal Pen: Water/Ways Writing Workshop is offered by the South Carolina Arts Commission, in partnership with South Carolina Humanities and local partners, in conjunction with the traveling Smithsonian exhibition, Water/Ways. Water/Ways will be on tour in South Carolina from June 27, 2020 – April 17, 2021 through the Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. MoMS provides access to the Smithsonian for small-town America through museum exhibitions, research, educational resources, and programming. Communal Pen: Water/Ways is developed through the SC Arts Commission’s place-based initiative, the Art of Community: Rural SC, a new framework for engagement, learning, and action in rural communities. The writing workshops are coordinated through the Community Arts Development and Folklife programs, with generous support from South Carolina Humanities.
