X
NOT ON MY WATCH Wo man
foun ded & s ta f f e d o r g aniz at io n fi ghts huma n t r af f ic king W O R D S : P H O T O :
T
L A U R E N
A N D R E A
iming is everything. Trust is essential. Everything happens for a purpose. These are some of the phrases you might hear in the offices of Fierce Freedom, an Eau Claire-based organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking in the Chippewa Valley, Wisconsin, and soon, nationally. Jenny Almquist started the project in 2007 as a fundraising effort. She sold fair-trade scarves at parties where she educated groups on the methods and impact of trafficking, donating the proceeds to nonprofits that help affected people. Soon, she began to get calls from those who wanted her to teach them about the issue, which affects an estimated 25 million people around the world, including right here in Wisconsin. “It was obvious that it was time to change from a fundraising organization to an educational organization,” Almquist said. She was being sought out by local law enforcement groups and was asked to speak at a conference hosted by the Wisconsin attorney general. Fierce Freedom became a nonprofit in 2012 and has been growing
F I S H E R P A U L S E T H
ever since. Cat Jacoby, who coordinates programs and public relations, and Tia Johnson, survivor advocate, describe Almquist as a mother lion, and themselves as her cubs. Johnson, a trafficking survivor, says that coming to work for Fierce Freedom was “totally a God thing” – a coincidence of timing and circumstance “God threw my world in a whirlwind,” she said. She was getting back on her feet in Eau Claire after leaving a victimized situation when the chance arose. “Everything fell apart and then here was Jenny with the opportunity to give me hours.” “I could never imagine when I was living that lifestyle to be standing where I am right now,” Johnson said. “I could never have pictured it.” Jacoby was moved by a film screening hosted by Fierce Freedom during her studies at UW-Eau Claire. “Seeing the children that are exploited and being taken advantage of, and the horrendous things that are happening to them, made me sick to my stomach but also lit that fire of passion,” she said. Unfulfilled by her first job after col-
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
30
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
X
lege, she took up volunteering with Fierce Freedom. Almquist offered her a position with the organization shortly thereafter. Fierce Freedom defines human trafficking as a situation where a person benefits from the control or exploitation of another individual. This might be as clear-cut as when a person is kidnapped, sold, or forced to perform labor or sexual acts. Sometimes, however, it is more difficult to identify. Fierce Freedom advises people to look for signs of force, fraud, and coercion – any or all of which are indicators of trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline dealt with 91 reported cases of human trafficking in Wisconsin in 2017, though it is difficult to determine the number of unreported cases. Many victims are or feel unable to seek help, and still others do not perceive themselves as in need of assistance. The organization has seen an increase in reporting since 2012, when they saw 27 cases in the state. Today, Fierce Freedom fights trafficking mainly through education. The organization offers a number of programs that teach people how to identify
“WE WANT THE WO RD TO SPREAD LI KE WI LD FI RE ACROSS THE NATI O N.” CAT JACOBY • FIERCE FREEDOM
trafficking, how to report it, and how to protect themselves against becoming victims. Youth outreach programs give young people the resources they need to identify negative pulls in their lives and move toward positive ones, making them less vulnerable to potential abusers. “We want the word to spread like wildfire across the nation,” Jacoby said. “We can’t really travel all across the country to do that because this is where our heart is and this is where we’re centered.” But they have a plan. Jacoby is spearheading the development of an online course to train volunteers in fighting trafficking in their own communities. Interested parties
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
would be vetted by the Fierce Freedom team, and pay a small fee for the use of the program, which would prepare them to educate others in prevention, identification, and fighting back. “We’re trying to work ourselves out of a job,” Jacoby said. Johnson is an essential element to that end, Almquist said. Just since she joined the team three months ago, Fierce Freedom has worked directly with nine survivors from throughout the state, including some extraction work. Johnson’s experience as a survivor helps her build trust with others, and allows her to help them through their journey. She believes she endured
31
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
hardship for that reason, and to make her home a better place. “This is the community that I grew up in, and was raised in, so to be able to work in this community and fight the negativity in my community is really cool to me,” Johnson said. Almquist is thankful for those she works with every day, including Office Administrator and Race Director Carrie Schwartz. Nicole Schultz serves on the board, which is headed by Jennifer McBride. “Because they do what they do so well, it gives me the freedom to dream big,” Alquist said. “I felt that they were coming after my children,” Almquist said. When she started the organization more than a decade ago, her own children were still living at home and she couldn’t stand the thought that they, and the children of others, were at risk. “This is not going to happen on my watch,” she thought to herself, and she never looked back. Fierce Freedom offers educational opportunities, resources, and events to fight human trafficking. For more information about the organization, visit www.fiercefreedom.org.
X
A HELPER WITH A HAPPY HEART R ETI RED
PS Y CHOL O G IS T W O R D S :
D
r. Katherine Schneider likes to celebrate big birthdays with big projects. It started with her 60th, for which she organized a fundraiser potluck to raise money for the pet food delivery program she founded in 2006, We All Love Our Pets. “I just started thinking that I love to celebrate, and I’ll use any excuse that’s possible to celebrate,” Schneider said. “Why not use it as an excuse to do something for somebody else?” When Schneider turned 65, she funded and initiated the creation of a statue to honor service animals outside the Centennial Hall at UW-Eau Claire in 2014. As she approaches her 70th birthday, she is working on publishing a book of poems in braille. Several stacks of news publications sit just inside Schneider’s front door, some nearly as tall as she is, waiting to be read. She’s always been a voracious reader, following knowledge from the stories her mother read to her when she was a child through a Ph.D. from Purdue University to a career in psychology. She is a regular churchgoer and book club member who quotes Bible verses and condemns The Great Gatsby on her personal blog. People used to tell Schneider, senior psychologist emeritus for UW-Eau Claire, that retirement is busier than employment. She left her position with the university in 2006, and found the analysis fair – she refers to retirement as a full-time job. Schneider has doubled down on her commitment to disability advocacy since then, founding and working on dozens of projects to improve accessibility and make the Eau Claire community, and the world, a better place. “I kind of look around at the world to see where is there's a gap,” Schneider said. “Where is there something that isn’t happening? Where aren’t people with disabilities represented?” This question has led her to publish three books about disability: two memoirs detailing her own experience with blindness, and a children’s book that offers advice and resources for young people with disabilities. She serves on community boards, reads poetry at senior homes, and sponsors a lecture series at UW-Eau Claire. About one in five people in the United States lives with a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. One in two people 65 years or older have a disability. “None of us in this world are totally independent,” Schneider said. “I don’t
AD VO C AT E S
L A U R E N
F I S H E R
F O R •
INC L U S IVIT Y
P H O T O :
A N D R E A
AND
H U MANE
SO C IET Y
P A U L S E T H
“i kind of look around at the world and see where there's a gap ... where aren't people with disabilities being represented?” Dr. KATHERINE SCHNEIDER think independence is such a great goal. I think interdependence is a better goal. In the upper Midwest, we like to be talking about independence and I think that hurts people because people with disabilities are generally pretty well aware they need help.” Schneider has always aimed to live that philosophy by being a helping hand to others. She worked with the Eau Claire Community Foundation to establish a fund to support nonprofits’ efforts to serve people with disabilities. This program has assisted in funding the hire of a translator to relay a first aid class to deaf people using American Sign Language. She worked with the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library to install and test a braille printer this year. When the World Series for Beep Baseball, a version of the sport that can be played by people who are visually impaired, took place in Eau Claire at the end of July, she trained hotel staff in blind etiquette and worked with organizers to ensure welcome bags included items that could be enjoyed by all participants. Schneider also works to improve representation of disability in writing. In her children’s book, Your Treasure Hunt, she shares a memory of her elementary school classmates laughing at a story they read about seven blind
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
men who went to see an elephant. This, besides accounts of Helen Keller and Louis Braille, is the only story she can remember that included blind characters, and it is not one she remembers fondly. She and her family endowed the Schneider Family Book American Library Association Award in 2003 to celebrate the increase in representation in children’s literature that has taken place during Schneider’s life. Representation in literature is important to children with disabilities, Schneider said. But she stresses that it’s necessary to write such characters with as much depth as those written without disabilities. “The disability experience in these wonderful children’s books is a part of a character’s full life, not the focus of the life,” the award submission manual states. “Every year the judges say they get more and more books to judge, so that’s working,” Schneider said. But representation of people with disabilities in the news is still often lacking, she said. “A lot of journalism about people with disabilities is just bad,” Schneider said. “Within the disability community people call it inspiration porn. It’s the kind of story, if it was written about you you’d kind of cringe.” Schneider established the
32
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability in 2013 to combat the cringe. The award is given annually with a cash prize by the National Center for Disability in Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. The success of these awards, and their positive impact on representation, “makes her heart happy,” she says. Schneider has always strived for excellence in her academic achievement, in her work, and as an advocate for herself and others. In a recent blog post, she mused about her lifetime of hard work, informed by her parents’ work ethic and the necessity to overcome the challenges presented by a world ill-equipped to accommodate blindness. It’s all in an effort to leave the world a better place than she found it. However, while working comes easily to her, she says learning to play has been a lifelong adventure. It’s her service dog, Luna, who often reminds her to play. The small, polite, 8-year-old Labrador Retriever – Schneider’s ninth service dog – initiates play by rolling over for belly rubs or pounding the floor with her paws in play posture to initiate a game of chase. “They remind me there’s nothing more important to do right now than celebrating the goodness of just being alive,” she wrote.
X
EMPOWERING LOCAL BUSINESSWOMEN W OMEN'S
B U S INE S S
W O R D S :
S
tarting a business requires the proper tools, skills, and determination. On top of that, those looking to start their business ventures need proper financing – something that could be hard to get if you’re unsure how. Larissa “Lacey” Ashwell, of Lacey’s Lingerie in Chippewa Falls can attest to this. “I was a stay-at-home mom, so (I) was being denied by the banks for not having proper financial projections,” Ashwell said, “even though I had this amazing idea that could truly change lives.” When Ashwell was struggling to start her business, she turned to the Western Dairyland Women’s Business Center (WBC) for help. WBC’s director of jobs and business development, Karman Briggs, assisted Ashwell with organizing data to present to the lenders. “I decided I needed help and scheduled an appointment with Karman,” Ashwell said. “She was super easygoing and fun to work with, especially since numbers are not my forte.” Ashwell is just one of hundreds of female business owners aided by the WBC.In their seven-county region, the WBC has aided the owners of 332 businesses in the last eight years, Briggs said. The WBC provides educational training sessions, one-on-one business counseling, a loan fund, and several events throughout the year. “For decades, women have faced widespread discrimination when starting their own businesses,” Briggs said. “For example, prior to 1988, it was com-
E M I L E E
C E NT E R
E NC O U R AG E S
W E N T L A N D
E N T R EPR ENEU R SH IP
•
P H O T O :
A N D R E A
33
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
mon for women to be denied small business loans unless they had a male relative … co-sign the loan.” In 1988, the Women’s Business Ownership Act made these practices illegal. This act, Briggs said, led to the creation of many women’s business centers throughout the United States. Now, there are more than 11.5 million businesses in the United States that are owned by women, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners, 5.4 million of which are majority-owned by women of color. Two events coming up are the 6th Annual Women’s Business Celebration and the 16th Annual Women’s Business Conference. The Women’s Business Celebration, Oct. 24 at the Florian Gardens, features awards for new business and women’s business leadership. Lacey’s Lingerie is nominated for the new business of the year award. The Women’s Business Conference will take place May 16 at the UW-Eau Claire Davies Center. The annual event – which attracts more than 500 business owners, business owners-to-be, and entrepreneurs – is a day of networking, education and discussion. “I encourage any female entrepreneurs to believe in yourself and just go for it,” Ashwell said. “Build a team of qualified mentors that can help you and your vision succeed.” The Western Dairyland Women’s Business Center is located at 418 Wisconsin St., Eau Claire. It’s open Monday-Friday 8am to 4:30pm.
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
P A U L S E T H
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
34
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
X
3 CHI PPEW A
MOTHERS OF MUSIC VAL L E Y
WO M E N
AT
W O R D S :
T H E T O R I
F R O NT L INES
O F
MU SIC
C U LT U R E
J O H N S O N
The Chippewa Valley has a thriving music scene that has been cultivated for decades. Woman leadership is invaluable to this community, driving forward creative and educational movements. Check out three of these awesome ladies and see what drives them to keep creating, and inspiring the community in which they live.
CATHY R E IT Z
Cathy Reitz has been hand-in-hand with music since she was 4-years-old. She moved to the Chippewa Valley area in ‘81, and made a lasting name for herself within the community. Cathy provides nothing short of a full musical resume. She started a jazz band with her husband three years ago known as “Cathy Reitz & 7 swing,” and directs Stand in the Light memory choir (a choir for folks diagnosed with dementia). Reitz also serves as the director of The Chippewa Valley Community Chorus. Being involved in so many projects leads to a busy life, but there are periods when her schedule frees up. Reitz spends time with family and gardening, when the weather permits. She also makes cards, referring to the process as “cut and paste therapy.” When there is a chance, Reitz delves into her love for music by watching other area musicians perform. Experiencing the ability to create and share music with others is what keeps her in the world of music. Her philosophy is “if you don’t give, you get nothing back.” As a musician, Reitz feels she is provided the ability to take in all that life has to offer.
WOM E N
JU LIANA SCH M I DT
Juliana Schmidt, a familiar name in Menomonie, grew up in WI and found her passion early on. A lifelong lover of classical music, she has been performing musical numbers since the age of 8. Juliana founded The Menomonie Singers in 1989, teaches music classes at Stout University, and is a founder and active participant of The Menomonie Art Music Society. One of Schmidt’s focuses is to bring quality music to her community. She believes that someone has to perform classical music to keep the treasured genre alive and thriving. She loves introducing people to classical tunes, and seeing the impact the sounds and stories have on audiences. Like many full-time musicians, Juliana works with limited free time. Seeing her students perform and “nail it” provides her with the motivation to face her busy schedule. When presented with the opportunity, she loves to actively support musicians, play the piano, and do needlework (specifically, making slippers). When possible, Juliana and her husband enjoy going to the twin cities, exploring the area, and catching various musical shows. “I am always involved in music, every day of the week,” Schmidt said.
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
35
S U E O RFI E LD
Sue Orfield moved back to the Chippewa Valley in 2004, and has created a space of collaboration within the local scene. She started her musical journey by learning to play the piano in the first grade. In the fifth grade, she heard the sound of a tenor saxophone and asked her brother what made that sound. She has never looked back. It is clear to Orfield that there is no other path in life for her: it has always been music. Loving to play with other musicians is how she has come to perform with a multitude of local bands, a jazz orchestra, and a variety of free-lance artists. Orfield’s hobbies include going for walks, reading, hearing new music and artists, watching the Packers play, and hanging out with her husband and 13-year-old cat Ruby. Her favorite part about the music scene now is how much it has changed since she moved back. “There is a great local community feeling, and especially within the music scene,” she said. “Musicians are out watching other musicians, supporting each other, and applauding all efforts at creating. ”Orfield continues her journey because she believes it means something to somebody and that she, and other musicians, are lucky to be able to create and perform.
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
X
C H IP P E WA
ON A ROLL VALLEY W O R D S : P H O T O S :
F
R O LLER L A U R A
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
36
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
EVO LVES
B U C H H O L Z
A N D R E A
or years, the Chippewa Valley Roller Derby (formerly Chippewa Valley Roller Girls) has wanted to have multiple home teams. This is the year that will happen. On Friday, Oct. 12, the Chippewa Valley Roller Derby (CVRD) will be split into two teams: the Bad Axe Brawlers and the Sawdust City Rollers. Interested skaters from those two teams can try out for the All Star team, which will travel and represent Eau Claire for competition and ranking. “Eau Claire is a small city to have three teams,” said Rudi Barth (who skates as “8-Bit”), Coach and Vice President of the CVRD. Barth noted that the Minnesota RollerGirls, a highly ranked and highly competitive team based in Minneapolis, has four home teams and an all-star team. Heather Brockel (“Heathen Lizzy”),
D ER B Y
P A U L S E T H
Announcer and Member of the CVRD Board of Directors, said that skaters join derby for varied reasons, but in general break down into two camps: those who are there to have fun, and the hardcore skaters who want to push themselves hard and compete. Regardless of the motivation to join, there are few limitations for those who want to skate, provided you are at least 18 years old. “It doesn’t matter what your age is, your shape, your size, your sexual orientation, gender, race, none of that mattes,” Brockel said. “One of my favorite parts about derby is how inclusive it is to all kinds of people.” Along with athleticism and confidence, skaters can also find a sort of home at CVRD. “Once you have derby fever, you basically gain a family,” wrote Kimm Schroeder (“Stunt Double”), Captain of the Sawdust City
X
"we instill positivity and strength and encourage all members to do their best at their own speed." kimm schroeder • chippewa valley roller derby Rollers and member of the CVRD Board of Directors, in an email. “We instill positivity and strength and encourage all members to do their best at their own speed.” Even as their teams and audiences are growing, however, CVRD is facing an unexpected challenge: they could very well lose their space at the end of the season. The YMCA recently bought the sports complex that has been the derby’s home. The possibility of a new floor more amenable to gymnastics than skating could mean that the three newly forged teams will have to relocate. The team continues to look for space and consider options. The
teams are looking for at least 100 feet by 80 feet of uninterrupted concrete floor, with space around it for fans, Brockel said. In the meantime, this season is heating up. On Oct. 20, the CVRD will hold their eighth annual Bruise-A-Thon Roller Derby Mixer, hosting a blend of teams made up of skaters from other cities. After that, the first home game of the season will be on Dec. 3, with subsequent home games on Jan. 12, Feb. 16 and April 13. Anyone interested in learning to skate with the CVRD is welcome to stop by the Armory near the airport every Wednesday night from 7-9 pm.
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
37
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
X
POWERING PABLO fema l e l ea ders a re t h e ne w ar t s c en ter’ s n ot- s o- s e c r e t we ap o ns W O R D S : P H O T O :
W
T O M
A N D R E A
hen the curtain rose for the first time at the Pablo Center at the Confluence on Sept. 22, it wasn’t just a big moment for the performers on stage: It was a fulfilling, emotional crescendo for those who have been working for months to open downtown Eau Claire’s new arts center. Although they may have been watching from the wings or the audience that night, the Pablo Center’s staff was in the proverbial spotlight, too. “We feel it – the weight of that expectation,” explained Brenna St. George Jones, the Pablo’s director of artistic programming. “There was a moment at the end of the performance where the firebird rises, and the orchestra stands, and the timpani are
G I F F E Y P A U L S E T H
going, and I don’t think there was a person among us who wasn’t just like” – she imitated fighting back tears – “because it felt exactly like we felt, this great moment of ascension and power.” St. George Jones is part of a core group of women in leadership positions at the Pablo. She previously was a senior director for an arts center at Columbia University in New York, and at the Pablo she oversees multiple performance series, gallery spaces, literary and visual arts events, and education and workforce programming. “The sum is I come up with all of the crazy ideas that everyone else is forced to help me make happen,” she said, eliciting laughter from her four colleagues gathered around a table on the Pablo’s third floor. The lounge offered a breathtak-
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
PABLO CENTER STAFF MEMBERS (LEFT TO RIGHT): BRENNA ST. GEORGE JONES, ELAINE COUGHLIN, ROSE DOLAN-NEILL, BRIANNA HOTCHKISS, AND AMY O'CONNOR.
38
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
X
ing vista of the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers – not that these women have much chance to sit around and admire the view. “As we’re a small staff, we’ve all kind of done a lot of everything,” Brianna Hotchkiss said. She’s the Pablo’s sales and booking manager, but she has been called upon to use the production management skills she developed during a previous position at the Pablo’s predecessor, the State Theatre. Two other Pablo staffers – Elaine Coughlin and Rose Dolan-Neill – also worked at the State, which closed in August after more than 30 years as the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center. While in some ways the Pablo is an extension of the State, it’s more accurate to look at it as a startup, said Coughlin, the Pablo’s marketing and business development manager. “It’s a really big startup business, and it takes a lot to start a business,” she said. “We are all working very, very hard,” Coughlin added. “This is a huge passion for all of us, and we completely understand what the community wants from us. We know how high their expectations are, and we don’t want to disappoint them.” When you have a career in the arts, St. George Jones said, you’re sometimes told you don’t have a “real job” – a critique that the women of the Pablo find laughable, especially when their workplace hosts five simultaneous events, as it did on a recent Friday evening. “There is no more real job in the world,” St. George Jones said. “The hardest deadline in the world is an opening night. At 7:30, there will be 1,200 people there and the curtain is going up and you better be ready. There is no, ‘Oh, by the way.’ ” While it’s been open less than a month, the Pablo has already been the
site of moments that staff members will remember for the rest of their lives. Dolan-Neill, the Pablo’s visual and literary arts manager, said she feels great responsibility being the curator of the Laurie Bieze Permanent Art Collection, which is named in honor of a late, legendary local artist. She said she wanted her first act in the building to be installing artwork in the build-
George Jones, eliciting murmurs of agreement from the others. “So when we’re doing things like stacking 400 chairs, you think, ‘Well, I wouldn’t be stacking these 400 chairs with any other group of people.’ ” Having a professional environment populated with other women has felt “easy and comfortable,” St. George Jones added. To the credit of the board
“I couldn’t be prouder of standing next to four other women every moment that I do this.” brenna st. george jones • DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING • PABLO CENTER AT THE CONFLUENCE ing’s Graham Avenue Walking Gallery, include a beautiful stained glass piece by Bieze herself. “So it was late at night, here I am all alone except for the cleaning crew, in that beautiful hallway, it’s semi-lit, putting that nail and that hammer to that wall for the first time,” she recalled. “It’s both irreverent and emotional. I’ve been watching these walls being constructed and painted, and I’m pretty sure that part of the wall was at least $100.” While hanging artwork may be a solitary experience, most of the work at the Pablo isn’t. Staff members said they’ve gelled tightly as a team. “I know it sounds corny, but we are better as a group, and able to do more as a group than any one of us would be able to shoulder alone. And it is a uniquely cooperative group,” said St.
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
and (Executive Director Jason Jon Anderson), there’s not been any, ‘Oh, now ladies,’ ” she said, adopting an exaggerated tone of masculine condescension and prompting more laughter. Having worked in the arts for years in male-dominated situations, St. George Jones was accustomed to having to fight to have her voice heard, sometimes amid a “deeply broken” work culture. “Here we’ve got to depend on ourselves, we’re all pretty much battle-hardened veterans. We talk amongst ourselves, we look out for each other,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder of standing next to four other women every moment that I do this. … I think it’s good that the students, the ushers, the people who work here see that this place … isn’t Mad Men and we’re not just the secretaries.” And as exciting and empowering as
39
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
opening the Pablo has been, its staff is even more excited about what the facility will mean to the Chippewa Valley in the coming years as grows into its role as an center for arts, culture, and and economic development. Amy O’Connor, patron relations manager and assistant to the executive director, said she believes the Pablo Center can help pull the community together. In a polarized political climate, she said, art can help foster dialog, which sometimes seems like a thing of the past. “When you have a piece of art to discuss, then it’s not about, ‘You think this and you’re wrong, and I think this and I’m right,’ it’s about, ‘This character said this, and it made me feel this way,’ ” she said. “It gives people something to discuss that is both very, very real but not as real perhaps as how you’re voting in November.” The others agreed that they are intent on making the Pablo Center open to all, hosting shows that are both familiar and surprising. Hotchkiss, the sales and booking manager, noted that the Pablo is presenting two familiar genres – jazz and country music. However, one of the jazz performers, Ganavya, infuses her music with South Asian traditions, while the country lineup includes standout women performers. “One of the things that I’ve been saying at the State Theatre for years is that there are portions of our community that never have come through our doors,” Hotchkiss said, “and how much of a problem that is, and there was never anything done to address it over there.” “Right now in the arts community in Eau Claire, not everyone who lives here participates,” St. George Jones added. “It’s very segmented. (We’re) using this place as a catalyst to help crack that nut open a little bit.”
X
ADELYN STREI
JILL HEINKE-MOEN
TIME TO ROCK D E VE L O P ING
Y O U NG W O R D S :
O
n Oct. 27, the Girls Rock Band Experience will debut. The Experience is the result of collaboration between the Eau Claire School of Music and Sawdust City Limits (which organizes concerts to showcase local bands) to support, educate, and promote individuals who identify as female, trans, and gender nonconforming as musicians in what has been a traditionally male-dominated field. Participants will work with the support of three accomplished local female musicians for two days to prepare for a concert on Saturday night. Their performance is part of Sawdust City Limits #5: Women and Girls Rock at 7pm at The Metro, 201 E. Lake St. Both days of the Experience will include group rehearsals, breakout sessions on specific topics, and time for the participants to get to know each other and develop as a team. This year, organizers sought applicants in sixth through 12th grades who were confident playing their instruments or singing since there won't
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
&
F E M ALE H A L E Y
MU SIC AL
W R I G H T
be enough time for teachers to work on musical fundamentals. “If an applicant can play an entire song, keeping a steady beat – it is likely that they would be ready to be in the program,” said Nick Poss, owner of the Eau Claire Music School. Three woman musicians will lead the girls through the Experience: Deirdre Jenkins of Squirrel Talk is a voice, piano, and songwriting instructor at the Eau Claire Music School. UW-Eau Claire graduate Adelyn Strei will travel from the Twin Cities, where she leads the band Adelyn Rose, to share her knowledge with participants. Jill Heinke-Moen, a world-class flute player, bassist, and member of Orchid Eaton, will bring previous rock band instruction experience to the table. For a long time, local musician Jon Olstadt has wanted to put the spotlight on female musicians in town and to inspire young girls to pursue music, and feels the timing is now right. “I wanted to create something that celebrates the voices and
40
T ALENT
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG
accomplishments of our talented local women artists and hopefully inspires these girls to express themselves through this experience and through music as a lifelong pursuit,” he said. “As a father of two daughters, I wanted them to see what is possible and hope they form bands of their own someday.” He says he feels the Experience will empower and inspire the girls who participate and provide an enjoyable experience for the community. Organizers would like to see the Experience continue to expand. Olstadt said Sawdust City Limits plans to use the proceeds from the show to jumpstart a larger, ongoing Girls Rock Experience with an annual show. Sawdust City Limits 5: Women and Girls Rock! • featuring LASKA, Adelyn Rose, and Jerrika Mighelle with special guests: The graduates of our first ever Girls Rock Band Experience! • Saturday, Oct. 27, 7pm • The Metro, 201 E. Lake St., Eau Claire • $10 • volumeonetickets.org
WOM E N
I N
THE
LEAD 2018
41
WWW.VO LUM EO NE . O RG