Enduring Stories Concert & Workshops

Flower City Arts Center presents two special printmaking workshops leading to “Enduring Stories: ghosts, murder, & lost voices of the Appalachians and Catskills,” a fivebyfive performance with multi-instrumentalist/composer Emily Pinkerton.

Learn about 19th-century letterpress techniques through hands-on exploration of moveable types, inks, and machines that New York printers used to mass produce the song texts that inspired Emily in her new work.

On Friday evening, March 21, participants can hand-set moveable type to print a custom notecard using historic presses in "A Taste of Letterpress." Enjoy light refreshments while exploring Flower City Arts Center’s letterpress collection and Book Arts Studio.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, March 22, drop in at 713 Monroe Ave to print a pre-set commemorative broadsheet of text from “Ephemera Ballads” on a 19th-century letterpress. Broadside ballads were a form of street literature where women figured prominently in printed sheets of poetry crafted by male songsters. Drawing inspiration from archival song texts by folk poets of the 1700s and 1800s, Emily’s new NYSCA-funded project shares the stories of women whose important messages about class, gender, and bodily autonomy resonate today.

fivebyfive and Emily Pinkerton will perform “Ephemera Ballds” as part of “Enduring Stories: ghosts, murder, & lost voices of the Appalachians and Catskills.” The show commences at 4pm on Sunday, March 30, at Rochester Academy of Medicine (1441 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14610). There will be a pre-concert chat starting at 3:30pm.