Adventures in Learning 2021 Past Events

Author Sheila O’Connor will discuss writing her book entitled Evidence of V

When:  Monday, January 11th, 2021 2:00 PM CST
Zoom information to follow. Marlene Goldberg and Saralee Mogilner

Sheila O’Connor is a professor in the Creative Writing Programs at Hamline University. She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Iowa. She is the author of six award-winning novels for adults and young people. You will learn about yet another shameful chapter in American history as Ms O’Connor speaks about her writing of Evidence of V.

In an ambitious blend of fact and fiction, including family secrets, documents from the era, and a thin, fragmentary case file unsealed by the court, novelist Sheila O’Connor tells the riveting story of “V”, a talented fifteen-year-old singer in the 1930’s in Minneapolis who aspires to be a star. This is the story about the grandmother (“V”) Sheila O’Connor never knew. “V” becomes pregnant by a 35-year-old Jewish manager of the Cascade Club in Minneapolis. Records that Professor O’Connor uncovered in 2001 at the Minnesota Historical Center revealed that “V” was sent to a home in Sauk Center when she was 15 years old. O’Connor will tell us what happened to “V”, the baby and the family. You will want to hear her story.

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SENSING MEMORIES: LINKING ARTWORKS WITH PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
–  A Virtual Tour with Minneapolis Institute of Art docent Emily Shapiro

When: Thursday, February 11, 2021
Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM via Zoom
*Zoom Information will be sent to you before the event

Emily’s tour will explain how memory helps us keep important things “close to our hearts”. We will use the art works on this tour to explore how memories are evoked, formed, and retained through one’s imagination and physical senses, both our own and those of the artists whose works we will examine.

The art above is Sylvia Fein, “The Tea Party”, 1943, Egg tempera and oil on board, Mia, 2017.49

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WHAT’S HAPPENING ON THE TEXAS/MEXICO BORDER
When: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Time: 10:00 CST
*A Zoom link will be sent shortly before the event.

Michael Fallek, lawyer, community activist and candidate for mayor of McAllen, Texas will be joined by Mike Blum, Social Action Chair at Temple Emanuel in McAllen. They will speak about immigration as it affects their community, which is a total driving distance of 11 miles to Reynosa, Mexico. An opportunity for questions/answers will follow the presentation.

• Information about McAllen including makeup of the population.
• Status of the wall and how it affects the closest communities.
• Family separation including the difficulties of reuniting children with parents who crossed into the USA.
• Affect on schools, social services, economy, COVID, and stimulus package.

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“CIRCE”: A GODDESS TRANSFORMED – Minneapolis Institute of Art Book Tour
When: Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Time: 12:30pm-2pmCST
*A Zoom link will be sent shortly before the event.

Do not miss this virtual art-and-literature tour of Madeline Miller’s bestselling novel, “Circe”. Kay Miller, a docent at Mia since 2009, has conceived of and curated a spellbinding experience with gods, nymphs and heroes in Ancient Greece that have inspired paintings and sculptures from the museum’s vast collection. For two centuries, the Greek nymph Circe has been infamous as the goddess who turned Odysseus’s men into pigs. But there is so much more to Circe, whose exploits weave throughout Greek mythology.

Circe enrages the gods, and they banish her to an island. There she discovers unexpected wisdom and insights and is powerfully transformed, reaching an emotional and fateful decision at the end. It is an enthralling tale told with stirringly modern descriptions and parallels to the lives of women today.

You are not required to read the book to join the tour – Kay will fill in the blanks with glorious artistic examples, but the tour is always more fun for those who do! 

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HOCOKATA TI, MDEWAKANTON SIOUX/DAKOTA Community’s Cultural Center in Shakopee

Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Time: 1:30pm
Fee: $10.00 per person
LIMIT: 15 (If more BOND members register, a second guide will be added)

300 Tiwahe Circle
Shakopee
Tel. 952.233.9151 .

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