Constellate #6
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Free and open to the public
George Ferrandi
SKY + STARS + STORIES
Join us under the stars (both real and projected) for a night of stories from the sky.
6 – 6:30 | Doors open. Light fare. Beverages by donation
6:30 | Welcome and Presentations
9:00 | Conversations under Constellations
The evening will begin as the sun sets and Dr. Daniel Wildcat, President (acting) of Haskell Indian Nations University, will tell a story that starts with this most vital star. Then, we’ll gather in the sparkling dark to talk with Jana Grcevich, astrophysicist and co-author of A Vacation Guide to the Solar System, about how a star is born, and the physical forces causing our North Star to change (and inspiring the Jump!Star project). Next, we’ll take part in a celestial session led by George Ferrandi, Jump!Star’s creative director, who will reveal the intimate myths of our eventual North Stars and their origin stories within the Jump!Star cosmology. Then, with the help of our “Flash!Packet,” participants will be invited to develop a deck of North Star Stories from their own lives using the Pole Star characters as points of departure. Dr. Chinyere Okafor, Director of the Center for Women’s Studies at WSU, will lead this discussion with participants using Jump!Star’s version of an illustrated flashcard workbook for creative writing.
Weather permitting, Jerelyn and Paul Ramirez of the Kansas Astronomical Observers will provide telescopes to guide us in North Star spotting.
It is a little-known fact that the North Star that was overhead when the pyramids were built is not the same as our North Star now (Polaris). A slight wobble in Earth’s rotation (Axial Precession) causes the stars above our Polar Axis to shift slowly over time. Our “guiding light” changes….
Jump!Star is an initiative centered around the significance of that change.
Jump!Star unites artists, musicians and scientists with communities around the world to invent cultural customs (dances, songs, snacks!) now that can be passed down and celebrated when our current North Star rotates out of position and our next pole star moves into place. The Jump!Star team has been working with communities around the US to develop the first iteration of this celestial celebration, to premiere in Kansas on June 15, 2019 [at Symphony in the Flint Hills]. –jumpstar.love
Presented in collaboration with:
Symphony in the Flint Hills
Harvester Arts
Jump!Star
Chamber Music at the Barn
Wichita State University
National Endowment for the Arts
RSVP ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED:
JUMPSTAR-SKY-STAR-STORIES. EVENTBRITE.COM