Ohio Arts Council Supports Lisbon Storytelling Project with Grant Funding

[Lisbon, Ohio, February 22, 2022] — Stage Left Community Arts Center to produce two community storytelling events in Lisbon, Ohio, after receiving a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.

The Ohio Art Council in late 2021 awarded Stage Left Community Arts Center a $14,000 project grant to present SPARK Storytelling, a series of storytelling workshops featuring local artists and guest performers culminating in two live community showcases in summer and fall 2022.

Each themed storytelling event will feature 10-15 community storytellers coached by a team of professionals in five virtual storytelling workshops. The community is then invited to watch the storytellers live, on stage, perform their stories alongside a visiting professional storyteller.

The first theme is "home, or something like it."

"We're so grateful to the Ohio Arts Council for recognizing the value of the stories in our community. Stage Left has brought so many stories to life over the past thirty years, adding live storytelling events to our season just feels natural," Artistic Director Kandace Cleland said.

"It took years for Stage Left to find a permanent home at the Trinity Playhouse, so choosing 'home' as our first theme not only pays tribute to our journey, it also shines a spotlight on our part of the world. It's time to tell the true stories of the community which has embraced us."

SPARK begins accepting submissions on March 1, 2022. For more information, visit www.stageleftplayers.org/spark.

SPARK's mission is to build community through the telling of personal stories that excite, entertain, touch, teach and pass on the unique culture of the Rust Belt, the Ohio River Valley and Upper Appalachia.

For media inquiries please contact Producer Will Flannigan at sparkstorytellingohio@gmail.com or Artistic Director Kandace Cleland at kandycleland@gmail.com.