9 April 2019
Brianna Kraemer | Tamera Twitty
[email protected] | [email protected]
The TaleSpin Mini event was hosted last Wednesday, April 3 as a part of the Pollinate: Biennial Arts Festival. The event was held from 3-5 p.m. at the Ent Center for the Arts. Students, faculty, staff and the Colorado Springs community were all welcome to stop by the event to look at the many different pieces of work displayed in the art gallery where the event was held.
The TaleSpin event has been hosted several different times and welcomes all to participate or simply listen to the stories told. People were able to enjoy the stories told and also have some free food. The event began with some faculty members introducing what the event entailed and that all were welcome to stand up and practice their public speaking with an up to three minute long story that had happened in their life.
The TaleSpin Mini event was organized by Instruction Librarian and Instructor Jennifer Eltringham.
The event is related to the Pollinate Art Festival’s theme because participants will only get a limited amount of time to tell their story, which should add an element of excitement and challenge to the experience, according to Eltringham.
Eltringham said that the TaleSpin competition happens every fall alongside The Story Project.
“The competition is a longer-form storytelling contest where participants can earn a cash prize,” said Eltringham.
Participants also had the opportunity to be featured in the TaleSpin podcast debuting this summer if their story was selected. Carlos Duarte, who was a part of hosting the event, commented, “this is related to the Pollinate Art Festival’s theme because we’re giving participants a limited amount of time to tell their story, which should add an element of excitement and challenge to the experience.”
He said, “This event is tied to our annual TaleSpin Storytelling Competition, which happens every fall in conjunction with The Story Project, a local organization. The competition is a longer-form storytelling contest where participants can earn cash prizes. Everyone is welcome to participate, including students, faculty and staff and members of the community – anyone who is ready to tell or enjoy a story told in three minutes!”
Some of the stories taught lessons about life while others focused on embarrassing and funny experiences people have encountered. The stories were made up on the spot with no scripts to read. This gave a sense of authenticity to everyone’s stories and contributed to making the stories interesting to listen to.
One story told focused on the theme of love and how one bad date does not mean they are a bad person. The participant explained how giving a second date a chance created a lifetime friendship and wonderful memories.
Another participant shared a story about his experience as a child living close to the southern border and the ghosts that were believed to be creeping outside his house by some of his family members.
People were able to get advice and practice in the library last month before the actual event took place. The Talespin event helped people to relive and enjoy their past experiences again while the audience was able to enjoy listening to the variety of stories.
The Pollinate: Biennial Arts Festival was founded when the Director of GOCA Daisy McGowan and the curator of Colorado College’s Interdisciplinary Experimental Arts Space noticed similar patterns in each other’s art shows.
In previous years, the Pollinate Festival has been run in association with Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Pioneers Museum, Smokebrush, Manitou Art Center, Pikes Peak Community College Downtown Studio Gallery, Mountain Fold Books, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Dance Theater and the Story Project.
Every two years, the festival offers an opportunity for students and the surrounding Colorado Springs community to participate and interact with local artists. Each festival is themed to represent local art and offers an intersectional view of the given theme for audiences and participants.