UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

Throughout the year, Ancram Center offers workshops in storytelling and other creative practices that encourage self-expression. No prior experience is needed in order to participate!

Beginning Storytelling Workshop
Friday, May 8 | 6:00PM - 8:00PM
at Spark of Hudson
502 Union Street

Take your storytelling to the next level at a workshop designed for anyone who has a story to tell! Through fun, creative problem-solving exercises, participants will identify different story ideas and develop them into compelling narratives. By the workshop's end, participants will have the start of a personal, true-to-life story, along with a plan to bring that story to life!

Ancram Center's Lead Teaching Artist, Sarah Katan, will work with storytellers to help them prepare their stories for the stage. According to RPRS creator Paul Ricciardi, "The goal is not to create a polished monologue, but to allow the spontaneity of a real-life story to shine through."

Telling Stories About Things You Love
Sunday, May 31 | 11:00AM - 12:30PM
at Ancram Center for the Arts

Join special guests Joan Osofsky and Mary Randolph Carter, along with Ancram Center Co-Director Paul Ricciardi, for a workshop exploring how to tell stories about the things in your life you love most.

The need to share stories is embedded in our DNA. Through them we connect with loved ones, neighbors, colleagues, and even strangers — and when we recall these stories, they are sometimes attached to an object: the art on the wall, a cherished book, the basket picked up at a yard sale that you've been carrying around for thirty years. We find stories in each other, and through the possessions we collect over a lifetime.

Joan Osofsky, founder of Hammertown, the beloved lifestyle stores in Pine Plains and Rhinebeck, has spent over 40 years helping people deepen their connection to their homes and community — and collecting many stories along the way.

Mary Randolph Carter, writer and longtime creative director for Ralph Lauren, has always celebrated beautiful objects and the stories they hold. As she has said of her ten authored books, "At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories."

The workshop is led by Paul Ricciardi, Co-Director of Ancram Center for the Arts and creator of the community storytelling program Real People Real Stories.

Level II Workshop: Refine Your Story 
Saturday, July 25 | 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
in the Annex at Ancram Center for the Arts

If you participated in Ancram Center's Level I Workshop, or are an experienced storyteller looking for professional guidance, this advanced workshop is for you. Through a series of exercises and feedback sessions developed using Ancram Center’s celebrated Real People Real Stories method, storytellers will hone their stories to include more detail, moving past what happened and into the why.

Participants should bring one or two rough stories they would like feedback on. With guidance from Teaching Artists participants will work toward getting their stories ready to be told on a stage in front of a live audience.

Teaching Artists

Sarah Katan is a seasoned teaching artist from Ancram Center who earned her Ed.M. in Learning & Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has over a decade of experience teaching in formal and informal settings.