William Simpson Fine Arts Series

September 20 - October 29

Closing Reception: Thursday, October 28, 4-6 p.m. 

The William Blizard Gallery returns to in-person programming this fall with ALL IN, an all-inclusive exhibit of 10x10-inch artwork. Any work that is 10x10 inches, and can be hung on the wall, will be accepted. Artwork can be submitted throughout the duration of the exhibit. There also will be a space in the gallery in which we invite you to create a piece. 

For more information on how to submit your artwork, contact Jessica Poser, gallery director, at jposer@springfield.edu.

Reading by Author Justine Dymond
Thursday, September 23 at 7:30 p.m.
The Forum, Harold C. Smith Learning Commons

Justine Dymond, award-winning fiction writer and Associate Professor of English at Springfield College, will read from her short story collection The Emigrant and Other Stories. This evening’s event will include a Q&A with the author. 

Described as “smart and subversive” and “a masterful collection from a gifted stylist,” The Emigrant & Other Stories ranges widely in setting and era, including France during World War II, Maine in the early 18th century, and Tennessee in the 21st century. 

The Emigrant and Other Stories (Sowilo Press) won the 2018 Eludia Award from Hidden Rivers Arts. In advanced praise for The Emigrant and Other Stories, novelist Allison Amend notes, “Her stories’ astonishing breadth in style, time, and place allow Dymond to examine from all angles the powerful drive that propels us away from the familiar.”Dymond’s other awards and honors include a 2020 Mass Cultural Council finalist grant, second place in the New South prose writing contest for her memoir about breast cancer titled Brave of Worms, a 2007 O. Henry Prize, a “distinguished” story in The Best American Short Stories 2006, two Pushcart Prize nominations, and a nomination for The Best American Travel Writing. Her stories have appeared in Pleiades, The Massachusetts Review, The Briar Cliff Review, Meat for Tea, Lowestoft Chronicle, and Cargo Literary. Demeter Press issued her co-edited collection Motherhood Memoirs: Mothers Creating/Writing Lives in 2013. She has been honored with grants and residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, Writers OMI at Ledig House, and Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. On faculty in the Department of Literature, Writing, and Journalism at Springfield College since 2008, she is currently working on a novel based on the life of a woman who was tried for infanticide in Boston in 1733. 

Reading by Angelique Stevens
Tuesday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m.
The Forum, Harold C. Smith Learning Commons

Haudenosaunee writer, professor, adventurer, and storyteller Angelique Stevens will read excerpts from her award-winning creative nonfiction essays. Through sharp and lyrical prose, Stevens’s essays invite readers into vivid stories of growing up in upstate New York as Six-Nations Native American, immersing herself as a college student in unfamiliar landscapes as far-flung as Chiapas, Mexico, and the Sudan, and grappling with her sister’s addiction and suicide, among other topics. Stevens finds her inspiration in wandering—being in places that push the boundaries of comfort, experience, knowledge, and hunger. This evening’s event will include a Q&A with the author. 

Stevens lives in upstate New York where she teaches creative writing, literature of genocide, and race literatures. Her nonfiction can be found in LitHub, The New England Review, The Chattahoochee Review, and a number of anthologies. Her essay, “Ghost Bread,” won the Prism International Creative Nonfiction Contest judged by Alexander Chee. She won the grand prize for the Solas Award in 2019; and her essay “Remember the Earth” was short-listed for Booth’s non-fiction prize. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfiction from Bennington College and a Master of Arts iun literature from State University of New York Brockport. Her other honors include an alumni fellowship from the Bennington College Master of Fine Arts program; fellowships from Bread Loaf, Tin House, Kenyon Review, and Sewanee Writers Workshops; a fellowship to the inaugural cohort of the Periplus Mentorship Collective; and a teaching fellowship to the Lighthouse Book Project. She is currently writing a memoir about her experiences growing up in New York state. 

Thursday, November 4 at 7 p.m.
Harold C. Smith Presentation Room, Stitzer Welcome Center, Judd Gymnasia

Join us for a night of remarkable Celtic-roots music with Kalos. Ryan McKasson (fiddle), Eric McDonald (guitar), and Jeremiah McLane (accordion) are masters of tradition who also dare to challenge that territory. The trio’s performances are full of organic banter and good humor to go along with their lively tunes. They create an environment of their own design, drawing in listeners without pretense. Pulling from parallel strands of influence, they create a swirling level of intensity that traverses darkness, light, and everywhere in between. Devon Leger of Hearth Music says, “This trio really shows how masterful musicians listen and play off each other." All members of the trio have been good friends ever since they met, and this is obvious in their live performances. Despite living active musical lives thousands of miles apart, these musicians have committed to working together to forge a new musical path. 

William Blizard Gallery
November 15-December 17

This exhibit showcases the amazing artwork created in our visual and performing arts studio courses, including drawing, painting, graphic design, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, printmaking, and photography.

December 10-12
Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3.p.m.
Springfield College Dancers and Guest Artists

Appleton Auditorium, Fuller Arts Center

General Admission: $5; students: $4; senior citizens and children: $2

Join us for an exciting evening of faculty and guest artist works featuring the Springfield College student dancers. Don’t miss seeing the guest artist work of one of America’s most sought-after choreographers, Darrell Grand Moultrie. A recipient of the Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship Award and a graduate of The Juilliard School, Moultrie has created and staged works for American Ballet Theatre, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and BalletMet Columbus, among others. On stage his work includes: The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Merry Wives, the world premiere of Jeremy O. Harris’ Daddy, Witness Uganda at American Repertory Theater, Sugar in Our Wounds at Manhattan Theatre Club, Invisible Thread at Second Stage, Redwood at Portland Center Stage Theater, and Evita at Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

The dance concert also will feature works by guest artists Tatiana Desardouin and Alan Franco. Desardouin is director and choreographer of Passion Fruit Dance Company, a street dance theater and educational company, which she founded in 2016 as well as a core dancer of the pioneering street dance theater company Rennie Harris Puremovement. Franco, originally from Mexico City, built the first-ever Salsa and Bachata dance community in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, where he also owned a dance studio dedicated to teaching Latin social dancing to people of all ages and backgrounds.In addition, Springfield College dance faculty Kodee Van Nort and Jennifer Pollins will  be showcasing new choreographic works.

The concert will feature the premiere of New York City- and Massachusetts-based Zehnder Dance's newest work in collaboration with composer/musician/vocalist Alexandra Ludwig, Springfield College associate professor of music.

Saturday evening's concert will be followed by a Q & A with choreographers and dancers.

Reserve your tickets now for what’s sure to be an evening to remember!  

December 14, 7:30 p.m.
Springfield College Department of Music
Harold C. Smith Presentation Room, Stitzer Welcome Center in Judd Gymnasium 

Join members of the Springfield College Department of Music for their annual winter concert featuring the Springfield College Band and soloists. Seasonal music and other popular favorites will get you moving and singing along.