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washington county arts guide
❘
march – may 2013
By Emily Jensen
W
hat good is a story if
it is not shared with
others?” asks Kim
eitkamp, one of five
professional storytellers who
will be performing at Art of
the Story. Formerly known as
Hearing Voices, this will be
the ninth annual storytelling
festival hosted by Washington
County Cooperative Library
Services (WCCLS).
“Everyone, all day, tells stories,”
says Weitkamp. “They tell about their
weekend, their grandkids, the bad
date... It is how we communicate.”
Art of the Story will celebrate the
particular importance of telling
stories face-to-face, with spoken-word
events running from April 13 through
April 20 as a part of National Library
Week.
“We need to look into eyes, see a
smile, watch a tear, touch a hand, hear
a laugh and internalize vocal
inflection,” says Weitkamp, who
travels internationally telling
humorous thrill stories and childhood
tales laced with original songs.
Fellow storytelling professional
Rick Huddle agrees. “There’s
something about looking somebody in
the eye and sharing a piece of art,” he
says. “There’s a special connection
that doesn’t happen many other
places.”
Huddle got started telling stories
professionally while working at a
preschool, where he began sharing his
own tales with the kids instead of
reading from books. Now a renowned
international performer who infuses
his stories with physical movement
inspired by his theater and
improvisation background, Huddle
has by no means abandoned the
humble medium of written word.
“I go to the library a lot for
researching stories,” he says, noting
one book of Arabic folk tales he found
years ago that still inspires his
performances today — including his
upcoming Art of the Story
event, “Alien Invasion!”
Patrick Ball, another
featured storyteller,
emphasizes not only the
speaking of stories, but the
words themselves. “When I
was 20 years old and traveling
on a Phillippine freighter
around the Far East, my
father wrote me a letter in
which he said ‘words are like
coins in a treasure chest,’” he
recalls, “Ever since that time,
I’ve loved the sound, the
texture and the melody of
words.”
Ball’s many travels have
influenced his love for
language and stories, as well.
He notes that he’s found great
inspiration in Ireland, where
he first picked up the harp that is now
an integral part of his storytelling
performances, as well as in the
Southern United States, where he
says, “traditional storytelling still
exists.” The two story cultures will
collide in his performance “Crossing
the Waters,” in which he’ll tell the
story of the Irish emigrating to
Appalachia.
To learn about the other two
storytellers, Bill Rattner and Anne
Rutherford, and to find a complete
schedule of events for Art of the Story,
visit www.wccls.org/festival.
Libraries celebrate ‘Once upon a time’
Storytelling festival draws crowds across the county
■
Saturday, April 13
Anne Rutherford
will present Pacific
NW Folklore with a Twist! and
Rick
Huddle
will present Killer Bees at 2
p.m. Beaverton City Library, 12375
S.W. Fifth St. in Beaverton
■
Monday, April 15
Alien Invasion! by
Rick Huddle
will
be the second installment of the
series at West Slope Library, 3678
S.W. 78th Ave. in Portland at 6:30
p.m.
■
Tuesday, April 16
Kim Weitkamp
will share Out of This
World at the Forest Grove Library,
2114 Pacific Ave. at 7 p.m.
■
Wednesday, April 17
Kim Weitkamp
will share Tales of
Love and Love Gone Wrong (adult
focused) at the Tualatin Library,
18878 S.W. Martinazzi Ave. at 7 p.m.
Patrick Ball
will present The Fine
Beauty of the Island at Walters
Cultural Arts Center, 527 E. Main St.
in Hillsboro, in conjunction with the
Hillsboro Library at 7 p.m.
■
Thursday, April 18
Patrick Ball
will share The Wit and
Wonder of Irish Storytelling at The
Springs at Tanasbourne, 1950 N.W.
192nd Ave. in Hillsboro, in conjunction
with the Hillsboro Library at 2 p.m.
■
Thursday, April 18
Kim Weitkamp
will present A Girl
Named Kimmy. North Plains
Elementary School, 32030 N.W. North
Ave., in conjunction with the North
Plains Library, at 6:30 p.m.
■
Friday, April 19
Bill Ratner
will present Voices in my
Head at the Elsie Stuhr Center, 5550
S.W. Hall Boulevard in Beaverton, in
conjunction with the Beaverton
Library at 2 p.m.
■
Friday, April 19
Bill Ratner
will share Bobbyland at
the Cedar Mill Library, 12505 N.W.
Cornell Road in Portland, at 7 p.m.
■
Saturday, April 20
Patrick Ball
will present Crossing the
Waters at the Sherwood Library,
22560 S.W. Pine St. in Sherwood, at
10:30 a.m.
■
Saturday, April 20
Kim Weitkamp
will present a
storytelling workshop, The Business of
Story, for ages 10 to adult at the
Tualatin Library from 1 to 3 p.m. The
workshop will offer a look at the
business side of story from
marketing, to booking, to creating
web pages and CDs.
■
Saturday, April 20
A Story Swap, co-hosted by the
Portland Storytellers’ Guild, is an
opportunity to tell a five minute story.
It’s designed for beginners and
seasoned storytellers alike at the
Tualatin Library from 3 to 4 p.m.
■
Saturday, April 20
A storytelling Finale concert will
featuring
Anne Rutherford, Rick
Huddle, Bill Ratner, Patrick Ball
and Kim Weitkamp
will be from 7 to
9 p.m. at the Garden Home Library,
7475 S.W. Oleson Road in Portland.
Bill Ratner
Rick Huddle
Patrick Ball
Kim Weitkamp
Anne Rutherford