How to Build A Fire (September) @ Open Source Gallery
STORYTELLING
Thursday, September 28th, 7pm-9pm
@ Open Source Gallery
306 17th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Theme: Unity – I Am You, and Vibrations
The exhibit at Open Source this month is “Valley of Unity,” which is based on a passage from Attar of Nishapur’s The Conference of the Birds, in which the Sufi poet describes a valley where all our outlines dissolve and we become indistinguishable from each other. The installation is visual, sonic, and reverberative. It speaks about the dissolving of borders and outlines – this could be interpreted politically, personally, or spiritually. And so, our themes for September: Unity – I Am You, and Vibrations. How are we one, how do we vibe off of one another? Does melding in one way allow differences to float to the surface or disappear entirely? Come find and share some common ground at How to Build a Fire.
Storytellers:
Cameron DeOrdio
Cameron DeOrdio is a writer and political organizer from a small town just outside Syracuse, NY. After earning a bachelor’s in journalism at St. Bonaventure University, he moved downstate in pursuit of a master of fine arts in fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College in 2011, and he’s lived down here ever since. Cameron is and has been active in multiple political organizations advocating for socialism that is of, for, and by the people.
Bridget Bartolini
Bridget Bartolini is an oral historian, socially engaged artist, educator, and native New Yorker who hails from the beautiful borough of Queens. Bridget uses place-based story-sharing to strengthen community connections. Inspired by her love for NYC, her belief in the power of storytelling as a tool for social justice, and her frustration with the lack of arts and cultural programming in areas like her home neighborhood, she launched the Five Boro Story Project in 2013 to produce free community storytelling events that bring New Yorkers together through sharing personal stories and art inspired by our neighborhoods. Her creative process involves working with community members, organizers, activists, and artists to collaboratively create tributes to the people and places that make our homes. As an oral historian, she focuses on New York City history and family history projects, and is currently working on 34th Avenue Oral History.
Bridget holds a M.A. in Oral History from Columbia University and a M.A. in Community Education from Teachers College. She was a 2021-2022 SoF Heyman Center Public Humanities Fellow, artist in residence with More Art’s Engaging Artists 2016 Housing Justice Residency, 2015-16 Creative Community Fellow with National Arts Strategies, and 2014 Commissioned Artist and 2013 Create Change Fellow with The Laundromat Project. She received the More Art Prize for Public Art in 2017.
Mario Adrion
Mario Adrion is a Stand up Comedian, YouTuber and TV-Star from a small town in Germany. He gained a MASSIVE following with over 1 Billion Views from posting Youtube VLOGs and Comedy Social Experiments. You might know him from his ICONIC comedy performance challenging Katy Perry to a Catwalk Battle on American Idol while wearing a Speedo.
His comedy is refreshingly vulnerable playing with the struggles and Stereotypes of being a former Male Model and European living in the US. He’s been featured in Vogue, ABC, Daily Front Row, Pro7 and Jimmy Kimmel LIVE.
He is based in LA and NYC regularly performing at the Hollywood IMPROV, Laugh Factory and the Stand. He is currently doing a National Tour performing at major clubs around the country.
Nick Carra
Nick Carra is a New York City comedian that has been pounding the scene since 2017 with a mix of storytelling and absurdity. When Nick started, he was 18 years old new to NYC from Florida and had no idea how to start. Today, he has opened for the likes of Orny Adams, Renée Santos, and Andre Kim, produces the 5th Borough Comedy Festival in Staten Island, NY, and hosts The Donkey’s Mouth Podcast. Follow @nickcarra_ on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
How to Build a Fire is a community storytelling series where a diverse group of individuals share real-life, personal narratives centered around a different theme each last Thursday of the month. At times funny, at times sad, their stories weave together a broad illustration of the human experience. How To Build A Fire will takes place at Open Source Gallery -a welcoming, nurturing, intimate, safe environment- where, monthly, one can see a new exhibition installed by an array of up-and-coming and established visual artists.
How To Build a Fire was founded by Terence Degnan. This year Stacie Evans and Lana Siebel will be co-curating and co-hosting.
Stacie Evans writes in long hand. With a fountain pen. Because she’s that girl: the wannabe homesteading, selectively Luddite girl who is addicted to her phone and regularly overshares online. She met James Baldwin in Paris … which will ever and always be the most glamorous and dramatic thing about her. Her writing has appeared in New South, After Ferguson, Bellingham Review, and The Rumpus.
Lana Siebel performs all over the US, including NYC, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, NJ, and Washington DC. She was selected as a featured comedian at The Connecticut Comedy Festival along with comedians such as Gilbert Gottfried, The Headliner Series in NY, The Punch Line Comedy Club in Philadelphia, as well as the Fairfield Comedy Club in Connecticut. As an actress, Lana is featured in numerous films and off Broadway plays. She studied acting at Lee Strasberg Institute and HB Studios with Austin Pendleton. Lana was also a competitive International Latin style Ballroom dancer ranked internationally and 7th in the US! She immigrated as a refugee from Kharkiv, Ukraine when she was seven years old with her family to Brooklyn, NY where she grew up and now resides.
This program is supported by the Puffin Foundation
