Join us for a day of FREE workshops and panel discussions on November 17, featuring diverse women from across the arts spectrum. You can also browse our Art & Craft Sale at the Kennedy School on the same day. These events are part of the 2019 Siren Nation Women’s Arts & Music Festival.

DOWNLOAD OUR FULL FESTIVAL PROGRAM HERE: SN19_Program

LOCATION

McMenamins Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97211

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Workshops

(In the Martha Jordan Room—see map below)

RACC Grants & Resources for Artists
11:00 AM-12:15 PM

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) supports artists of all kinds, arts organizations, and educators in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. Come learn about the many resources RACC offers for artists, including grant funding, residencies, public art commissions, and community-building events! In this session, artists will have the opportunity to interact with a RACC staff member and connect with other local creators.

Collage Explorations: Paper Doodling
12:30-1:45 PM

Do you love collage but aren’t sure how to get started? This workshop will help you learn to create on the fly. Just as if you were doodling with a pen, except your tools are paper, scissors, and a glue stick. Depending on speed, you may be able to create several collages. No experience needed.

What’s Your Story? Intro to Dynamic Storytelling
2:00-3:15 PM

What makes a story compelling? How do you choose a topic? And how do you structure it to keep your audience engaged? Come learn about these and other fundamentals of live storytelling. This intro session is great for folks interested in storytelling for the stage, for upping your presentation style, or for those who just want to feel empowered in their communication with dynamic and entertaining storytelling.

Burlesque for Beginners
3:30-5:00 PM

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about burlesque dancing! Get a quick history of this sexy art form, practice some basic burlesque dance techniques, and learn what goes into creating an act. Led by professional burlesque dancers, this class is for all experience levels and will accommodate limited mobility.

Panels

(In the Mina Parsons Room—see map below)

The Power of Podcasting
11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Podcasting has emerged as a creative medium all its own, with diverse topics and approaches. Panelists will share their experiences podcasting for different purposes and audiences; talk about how to get started, build an audience, and sustain a podcast show; and answer questions.

Social Media for Creatives
12:30-1:45 PM

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn—they’re all useful in some way, but do you need to use all of them?! Get a variety of perspectives on social media strategies, tips for using different platforms, and how to find time to manage your online presence while also doing your creative work.

PNW Music: An Alternative Route to Success
2:00-3:15 PM

Does being a music industry professional/artist mean you have to sell your soul and move to a major music hub, just to make a name for yourself? Hear from PNW-based professionals as they discuss their journeys within the music industry and where the Pacific Northwest music scene is headed.

Creating with Cannabis
3:30-5:00 PM

For centuries artists, makers, and creators of all kinds have used cannabis to enhance their divergent thinking and to spark creative flow. With cannabis legalization sweeping the globe, artists are gaining more insight into which strains, consumption methods, and environments work best to get their creativity cranking. This panel features six women who use cannabis in different ways to create amazing art, design, food, movement, community, and music. We’ll cover everything from ways of inspiring creativity to our individual journeys in empowerment and overcoming adversity.

SPEAKERS

Workshops

RACC Grants & Resources for Artists
11:00 AM-12:45 PM

Humberto Marquez Mendez is the Community Engagement Manager at the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), where he oversees community partnerships and engagement efforts, with an emphasis on increasing participation and access of underrepresented communities. Humberto also coordinates RACC’s Art & Power conversation series, which explores the experiences of artists from historically marginalized communities through themes of creative expression and power structures. His commitment to social justice is rooted in his personal experiences and his professional work with various nonprofits, notably Causa, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), Impact NW, and Latino Network. racc.org

Collage Explorations: Paper Doodling
12:30-1:45 PM

Peggy Pfenninger spends her time running a graphic design/print business and creating unique pieces of art. Because she loves to work in many types of media—on their own or combined—the title “multimedia artist” suits her best. Whether dreaming up a new collage, non-objective abstract painting, or snapping photos around town, she is always exploring color, texture, and energy. Peggy is a joyous, dedicated member of the art community and hosts collage workshops in her NE Portland home.

What’s Your Story? Intro to Dynamic Storytelling
2:00-3:15 PM

Reba Sparrow is the Executive Producer, story coach, and co-host of Portland’s longest-running live storytelling event, The Mystery Box Show. With her high enthusiasm for holistic experiences, Reba brings a unique insight and connectivity to storytelling that delights both the storyteller and their audiences. You can catch Reba every other month at The Alberta Rose Theatre with The Mystery Box Show; occasionally on other folks’ stages (including Siren Nation’s!), most recently in a live show she co-produced and co-hosted with the RISK! Podcast; and through private coaching sessions you can learn more about at www.mysteryboxshow.com.

Burlesque for Beginners
3:30-5:00 PM

Dee Dee Pepper was raised in the feral Oregon wilderness. Her life-long love of theatre, glamour, scary movies, and absurd humor gives her a weird and wonderful role in the burlesque world. Dee Dee has been actively involved in the burlesque community since 2011 as a performer and since become a producer of Pepper + Bones Presents and Sign of the Beast Burlesque. She can also design you a killer poster. She’s enjoyed performing in festivals and in cities along the West Coast and looks forward to bringing her special brand of strangeness to the stage for as long as possible. deedeepepper.com

Mamie Demure has been shimmying around the Portland burlesque scene for the past eight years. A graduate of Rose City School of Burlesque, with a BA in theatre and BFA in jazz hands, she loves making audiences laugh, chortle, guffaw, and “hmmm.” When she’s not stretching in strangers’ laps at shows, she can often be found solving murders on trains or searching for long-lost antiquities.

Panels

The Power of Podcasting
11:00 AM-12:15 PM

Marita DeLeon is a fat, sober, queer filipina femme who is most comfortable on a stage or with a microphone in her hand. She started out as a performance poet in 2009 with Bent Writing Institute and as Seattle Poetry Slam’s weekly host before getting her comedic toes wet in 2015. Marita quickly became a Seattle favorite, performing at Comedy Nest; Queers: We’re Hilarious; Marinate; and as co-producer and co-host of Fist & Shout, a monthly QTPOC variety show with El Sanchez. New to Portland, Marita has graced the stages of Lez Stand Up, Intersect Fest, Melange, It’s Gonna Be Okay, and she is thirsty for more! In recovery since 2004, Marita co-hosts the podcast Queer Mental Condition, with Sean Paul Mahoney. In raw conversational format, Marita and Sean share their own experiences of being queer, sober, and hilarious.

Denise Espinoza has been podcasting since 2014, and for the last four years has been a co-host of Geek In The City, Portland’s longest-running podcast. Denise has been an editor for both prose novels and graphic novels, and she served two tours of duty in Iraq. In her spare time, she enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons and reading comics, and she is an avid organizer/project manager. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with a dog, a cat, and a husband. geekinthecity.com

Amy Lam is a writer and editor based in Portland, Oregon. She is a contributing editor and co-host of Backtalk podcast at Bitch Media, the editorial assistant at diaCRITICS, and the former editorial lead at On She Goes exploring the world of women of color and travel. She is a Kundiman fellow and received an MFA from the University of Mississippi, where she was the John & Renee Grisham fellow. Her work has appeared and is forthcoming in Tin House, Gay Mag, Pacifica Literary Review, Utne Reader, and Papercutter. byamylam.com

Miriam Rosenberg is a nurse midwife at Legacy Emanuel midwifery clinic in Portland, Oregon and host of the podcast What’s Up With Your Down There? She has spent most of her adult life answering questions about people’s vaginas. www.whatsupwithyourdownthere.com

Jeni Wren Stottrup (moderator) is an audio engineer, musician, storyteller, vocalist, and podcast advocate based in Portland, Oregon. She is a producer at XRAY.FM; owner of Gritty Birds Podcasting, a full-service podcast production and consulting company focusing on content strategy and sound; and host of narrative music podcast and radio show Gritty Birds. Jeni has written for publications including Portland Mercury, Paste Magazine, and Vortex Music Magazine and has funded her albums and show through grants and multiple Kickstarter campaigns. She also runs Podcast Portland, a community forum for podcasts in the NW. Jeni has spoken at national events including Podcast Movement, She Podcasts Live, and Podcasters Kit, and regularly gives regional workshops and talks. She is currently working on her second record. grittybirds.com

Sarah Tiedemann serves as Artistic Director of Third Angle New Music, is Second Flute/Piccolo of the Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra, and performs alongside guitarist Mario Diaz in the Cerulean Duo. She has appeared across North America, Europe, Australia, and China with groups including the Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Norrköping Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and Boston Philharmonic, and at festivals including Chamber Music Northwest, the Britt Festival, the Astoria Music Festival, and the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP). Sarah currently teaches at Lewis & Clark College, Portland State University, and the International Youth Music Camp in Chengdu, China. www.thirdangle.org

Social Media for Creatives
12:30-1:45 PM

Dr. Jessica F. Hebert is a scientist by day and a nerdy performer by nights, weekends, and by appointment. A scientific researcher for 17 years, Dr. Hebert is a postdoctoral research fellow at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, specializing in pregnancy and placental development, and is an avid science communicator. She is also ⅓ of Portland folk-pop nerd supertrio The PDX Broadsides, who sing about fandoms and feelings in a way that only exuberant geeks can. When she’s not sciencing or singing, Dr. Hebert spends time swashbuckling and shantying as Captain Greta with Portland’s premiere privateer performers PDXYAR, at home with her husband Royal and their dog Lucy, and talking about all the things she loves best on Twitter as @Dame_DNA.

Sloane Leong is a mixed indigenous cartoonist, writer, and artist. She is most well known for her indigenous sci-fi comic Prism Stalker and has a new graphic novel called A Map to the Sun forthcoming from First Second Books in 2020. She is currently living near Portland, Oregon. sloanesloane.com

Erika Lee Sears is a self-taught oil painter from Portland, Oregon. For the last five years she has created an original piece of art every single day and shared her journey on social media. As a busy mother of two, she finds inspiration from her eclectic children, everyday moments, and happy accidents. Her passion extends beyond just her creativity as she seeks to inspire others with her accessible approach to modern oil painting with her online classes on Creative Bug. You can find her work on the television show Portlandia and the first season of Significant Mother. Her work is also featured in the Brooklyn Art Library. www.erikaleesears.com

Lindsay Strannigan (moderator) is a social media strategist and event planner based in Portland, Oregon. She runs her own social media management and strategy company, Strannigan & Sons, and teaches social media classes. Lindsay’s client list includes Kimpton Hotels, Oregon Fruit Products, Lauretta Jean’s Bakery, The David Machado Group, and Fried Egg I’m in Love. She has planned events for Feast Portland, Jacobsen Salt Co., Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Tillamook, Whole Foods, and more. Lindsay lives in SE Portland with her husband, daughter, grumpy old cat, and two rowdy yet adorable dogs. www.stranniganandsons.com

PNW Music: An Alternative Route to Success
2:00-3:15 PM

Amenta Abioto is a songwriter, music producer, and actor born and raised in Memphis, TN. She became a part of the Portland community in 2010 after graduating from Idyllwild Arts Academy, where she trained in musical theatre. She has produced a self-titled EP, Amenta Abioto, and an album, Opening Flower Hymns. Mythological characterization and cultural stories are reflected in her original works. She brings to the music scene funky academia while skipping vocally from soul-shaking gospel to smooth jazz and then on to hip hop rhythms wrapped in West African beats.

Allison Del Fium’s (moderator) wide-ranging experience in the music industry includes artist development/management, digital marketing, and music journalism. With a passion for innovation, Allison has collaborated with numerous creatives to combine music and business, ultimately leading to the University of Oregon’s Music Industry Collective (the MIC) and academic Music Business program, the first of their kind. At the age of 23, Allison has already worked with a number of industry professionals and hopes to continue growing her career while helping others achieve their goals within the industry. www.adelfium.com

Kathryn Griffin began her music industry career in 2009, while studying in the University of Georgia’s Music Business program. In her current role as a production manager and promoter rep for AEG Presents, she is helping to grow the Portland concert industry and create enjoyable experiences for visiting artists and fans alike. Kathryn has held a variety of positions over the years, working for Shimon Presents, Autonomous Music, and Red Light Management. She is also heavily involved in the festival world, working on more than 100 music festivals and events including Electric Forest, Summer Meltdown, Bonnaroo, Coachella, Jam Cruise, and many more.

Lori Hughes Killen brings over 20 years of experience to Portland’s independent music ecosystem. Having worked as both performer and producer for local projects such as Orchestre L’Pow Presents and Cooper and the Jam gives her a unique perspective in her current role as talent buyer for McMenamins Presents. Lori coordinates the weekly music programming for seven McMenamins hotel properties and curates several specialty programs, such as The Great North West Music Tour and the annual country festival held at The Grand Lodge, Sundown Grand Ol’ Country Fest. In addition, she serves as a board member for Portland’s grassroots industry advocacy group, MusicPortland.

Christina Klinge moved to Portland in 2017, ready to escape the Chicago winters, eager to explore the local music scene and all the PNW has to offer. She has been a part of the Sofar Sounds PDX team since arriving and took over as city director a year and a half later. As Portland’s city director, Christina has grown the local Sofar community and continued to reimagine live events while expanding to 20+ intimate shows per month. When not planning secret concerts, Christina enjoys visiting Portland’s many breweries and cheering on her Chicago teams. She also has two pets: a miniature dachshund named Dolce and a munchkin cat named Delaney.

Courtney Layacan has nearly 10 years of professional experience as an audio engineer, with diverse experience and skills. A musician herself, she’s not only recorded, written, and produced for PNW artists, but has also used her engineering skills in other realms of entertainment. Her work at ReelWorld Productions and Futuri Media crosses over into sound editing for radio, TV, and film.

Creating with Cannabis
3:30-5:00 PM

Kansas native Nickia Delaware is a photographer, model, and canna-creative. Since 2009, cannabis has played an integral part in her life, from managing anxiety to enhancing her photographic eye. Nickia began her journey into the Oregon cannabis industry in 2014, before legalization. She has worked her way up to managing Portland’s second oldest dispensary, Collective Awakenings, where she currently assists in guiding others towards what works best for their bodies; all within a tranquil and safe atmosphere. www.nickiadelaware.com

Savina Monet enjoys the process of destruction and creation by shredding some of your favorite magazines in the name of art. Hailing from the strange sister city of Seattle, Savina is a self-taught digital and analog collage artist creating pieces that demystify cannabis and its effects. When she isn’t working on her collage pieces, Savina works as a freelance graphic designer for the cannabis industry, creating packaging and branding for female- and POC-owned businesses. hellomonet.com

Samantha Montanaro (moderator) is a business strategist, multimedia artist, event coordinator, gardener, musician, and mother who is passionate about community, cannabis, and feminine empowerment. Sam stepped into the cannabis industry in 2014 by founding Prism House PDX, an events and graphic design company that, in October 2019, opened a new event space in the Foster-Powell District. Prism House hosts regular community and private events, and it became an epicenter for Oregon cannabis social culture by offering unique, uplifting, and creative cannabis-friendly gatherings that shatter stoner stigmas. In 2017, Samantha partnered with Lisa Snyder to launch Tokeativity, the global cannabis community for women, which now has chapters in the US, Spain, South Africa, and Canada. Samantha also leads a psychedelic folk pop band called Mama Sam and the Jam; serves on the board of Historic Parkrose, a local nonprofit aimed at revitalizing the business district of Parkrose; and is a mother of one human, six chickens, and one dog. tokeativity.com

Lisa Snyder is a cannabis and women’s rights activist, a web developer and online strategist, and the Founder & CEO of Tokeativity, The Global Cannabis Community for Women. She has worked on the web since the mid-90s, has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Syracuse University’s School of Visual & Performing Arts, and has created and organized feminist events since 2005. Lisa has been recognized for her work by Forbes, Rolling Stone, Conde Naste, High Times, MJ Lifestyle, Travel Portland, Dope Magazine, Civilized, Willamette Week, The Potlander, Time Out New York, and Oregon Leaf, among others. tokeativity.com

Liv Vasquez brings her experience as a chef, recipe writer, and restaurateur to the cannabis/CBD space by using beautiful events and beautiful plates as an educational tool to teach about hemp, cannabis, this emerging industry, and plant medicine. In an effort to transform “Stoner Culture” into “Cultured Stoners,” Liv puts ethics and science in the forefront. By speaking about cannabis and food from soil to ingestion, Liv helps her clients and guests understand efficacy, absorption, laws, and what makes a clean and effective product. In 2019 Liv hosted an adult summer camp on an ethical cannabis farm; put out the first CBD meal kit with the sales platform BUSHL; and penned Smart Infusion, an e-book intended to help eliminate the “bad brownie experience” and put you in charge of how an edible affects you. Liv is currently working as a brand curator, content creator, recipe writer, and private caterer for clients all over North America. www.livviesmalls.com

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The Kennedy School’s accessibility information:

• The main schoolhouse is ADA compliant.
• The SE entrance to the building is ADA compliant and has a ramp (see floor plan below).
• The front (west) and NE back entrances are NOT ADA accessible.
• There are also small ramps into the Gymnasium.
• The bathrooms nearest the Gym have an ADA stall.
• The chairs are all black metal framed conference chairs with a padded seat. No arms.
• The Kennedy School does not have a no/low-scent policy.
• There are 140+ spots in the lot, including several permit-only accessible spots.