Event to Benefit for Women's Empowerment Breakthrough (WEB) Conference for Teen Girls

 Aug. 5, 2008 (Prescott, AZ)- Fabulous Females, the benefit concert and silent auction showcasing the many artists and performers in the community that support women, is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday, September 6th on Prescott's Courthouse Square. All are welcome free of charge. The silent auction will close at 9:30 p.m. and the concert will end at 10 p.m. For information contact Courtney Osterfelt at 928-350-1007 or Laura Prosseda at womensempowerment@prescott.edu.

Fabulous Females provides live entertainment for the whole family, showcasing performances by women and men in support of teenage girls as well as a showing of a short documentary on The Women's Empowerment Breakthrough Conference. The silent auction portion raises funds to send girls from low-income families to The WEB Conference.

This year's line up includes No Small Mangos, with Sarah Crews, Tim Crews, and Grace Burford, O' Allen Huddleston with Hip Hop Performance Art, and Troop Salamat with Belly Dancing Fire Dancing, and much more.

The Silent Auction will be held on the walkway by the timeline on the Courthouse Square. Some of the highlighted items include fine art from Bret Blevins and the Newman Gallery. In the last four years the Fabulous Females Silent Auction has raised $8,000 dollars for the WEB Scholarship Fund.

WEB hosts annual retreats, year round workshops, and educational events that address the current needs of young women in today's society. Since its inception WEB has served over 500 young women in Yavapai County.

ABOUT PRESCOTT COLLEGE

Prescott College offers a residential BA program at its main campus in Prescott, Arizona, as well as distance BA, MA, and PhD degrees. All programs emphasize student-directed, experience- based learning by doing, environmental and cultural awareness, and social responsibility. For more information please contact Mary Lin, M Ed, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, 928-350-4503, pr@prescott.edu. More information is on the web at prescott.edu.

Schlosberg  to speak about Environmental Justice and lead workshop,"Doing Justice to Nature" 

July 23, 2008(Prescott, AZ) - Internationally known author and professor David Schlosberg will present the keynote address, "Defining Environmental Justice," on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2008 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for Prescott Colleges' Aug. Master of Arts Program Colloquium.He will also present a Keynote Workshop entitled "Doing Justice to Nature: A Capabilities Approach" the following morning, Sunday, Aug. 17, from 9 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Both events are free of charge, open to all, and take place at the College's Crossroads Center, located behind the College's main buildings at 220 Grove Ave. More information and a complete colloquium schedule are available at http://www.prescott.edu/students/map/colloquium_current.html. For more information please contact Frank Cardamone at (928)-350-3218.

Schlosberg will examine how the term "environmental justice" is used in both self-described environmental justice movements and in theories of environmental and ecological justice, with a focus on the definition of the term as articulated by community groups.  While noting the importance of often-discussed concepts of equity and participation, many groups articulate their concerns in terms of a lack of recognition in both the political and social realms, and organize to preserve and defend the capabilities of both individuals and communities to design and live fully functioning lives.  Schlosberg explores the interrelationships between a number of different issues in the domestic and global environmental justice movements, including indigenous environmental justice, climate justice, and food security. 

David Schlosberg is Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Northern Arizona University.  He is known nationally and internationally for his work in environmental political theory, environmental justice, and environmental movements.  He has taught at the London School of Economics, has been Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Social and Political Theory Program at Australian National University, and is a Fellow of the Centre for Research in Environmental Action and Theory at Keele University in the UK. 

Schlosberg's books include Environmental Justice and the New Pluralism (Oxford 1999), Green States and Social Movements (Oxford 2003, co-authored with John Dryzek, Christian Hunold, and David Downes), Debating the Earth: The Environmental Politics Reader (Oxford 1998, 2nd edition 2005, co-edited with John Dryzek), Defining Environmental Justice (Oxford 2007), and, most recently, Environmentalism in the United States (Routledge 2008, co-edited with Elizabeth Bomberg).  He is currently at work co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society.  

The Prescott College Master of Arts Program (MAP) Colloquia are offered four times a year. This colloquium features presentations by dozens of currently enrolled graduate students, advisors, and faculty across the MAP's five Program Areas: Education, Counseling & Psychology, Adventure Education, Humanities, and Environmental Studies. Many of the programs are open to the public. A complete colloquium schedule is available online at http://www.prescott.edu/students/map/colloquium_current.html.

ABOUT PRESCOTT COLLEGE

Prescott College offers a residential BA program at its main campus in Prescott, Arizona, as well as distance BA, MA, and PhD degrees. All programs emphasize student-directed, experience- based learning by doing, environmental and cultural awareness, and social responsibility. For more information please contact Mary Lin, M Ed, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, 928-350-4503, pr@prescott.edu. More information is on the web at prescott.edu.  

DIRECTIONS TO PRESCOTT COLLEGE

Directions: From I-17 southbound: HWY169 to right on 69. Follow 69 into Prescott. From I-17 northbound: HWY69 into Prescott. HWY69 becomes Gurley St. Continue past Courthouse square and turn right on Grove Ave (a few lights down). Take a left at Western Ave and immediate right onto alley.  Parking is to the left and right off the alley, and the Crossroads Center will be on almost immediately on your left.   

WEB helps Teenage Girls Explore, Define, and Achieve their Goals

July 23, 2007 (Prescott, AZ) - The Fifth Annual Women's Empowerment Breakthrough (WEB) Conference will take place this year from Friday through Sunday, September 12 to 14, at Mingus Springs Camp on Mingus Mountain northeast of Prescott Valley. Registration is $60 for the entire weekend, inclusive. Scholarships are available for any girl who may need one. Early-bird registration is available August 1 to 15 for a $10 discount. For information and a registration packet please contact Courtney Osterfelt at 928-350-1007 or Laura Prosseda at womensempowerment@prescott.edu.

The WEB Conference three-day retreat provides a safe space for teenage girls to explore, define, and achieve their goals. Then Prescott College senior Courtney Osterfelt '04 began the conference as her senior project five years ago in response to the shocking teenage pregnancy statistics of Yavapai County. The conference has grown over the years to include educational workshops, a young women's film festival, as well as small and large group activities. Throughout the weekend, participants are offered their choice of workshops covering topics such as women's health, body image, using your voice, self-esteem, family dynamics, safe relationships, self-expression through art, leadership, self-defense, cultural diversity, and breaking barriers.

The WEB Conference is made so affordable due to private donations, corporate sponsorship and fundraising events. The actual cost to WEB for each girl who attends the conference is $92. However, WEB only charges participants $60 and grants scholarships to all the girls who require it. The idea behind the exceedingly low registration fee is that educational experiences such as WEB should be offered at a price that anyone could afford, allowing girls of all different backgrounds to attend.

WEB hosts annual retreats, year round workshops, and educational events that address the current needs of young women in today's society. Since its inception WEB has served over 500 young women in Yavapai County.

ABOUT PRESCOTT COLLEGE

Prescott College offers a residential BA program at its main campus in Prescott, Arizona, as well as distance BA, MA, and PhD degrees. All programs emphasize student-directed, experience- based learning by doing, environmental and cultural awareness, and social responsibility. For more information please contact Mary Lin, M Ed, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, 928-350-4503, pr@prescott.edu. More information is on the web at prescott.edu.

Prescott, AZ - July 8, 2008 - The eagerly anticipated Prescott Library Lizard bronze sculpture will be unveiled Friday, July 18 at the downtown library main entrance, 215 East Goodwin Street, at 1 p.m. Stop by to welcome this delightful horned lizard, resting on a stack of books and, with his mischievous grin, inviting children to join him.  At 1:30, enjoy a Library Lizard party on the Library Lawn, with cookies, lemonade and a lizard craft.

This bronze by Heather Johnson Beary is the first monumental sculpture by a woman in the downtown Prescott area. Graduating from college with a major in sculpture and a minor in anatomical drawing in 1993, she moved to Prescott, where she taught glassblowing at Yavapai College and worked for five years at a local bronze foundry. Heather's work has been commissioned for the Highlands Center for Natural History, the Grand Canyon Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and can be found in collections throughout the country. In Prescott, her work is exhibited at Van Gogh's Ear.

Women - Overwhelmed? Hug a Horse!

PRESCOTT, AZ - June 26, 2008 - Taking the Reins workshop July 26 offers a unique approach to problem-solving for women in transition

Although it might seem like an unlikely choice for a woman facing a tough decision, horse professional Bonnie Ebsen Jackson believes that consulting a horse when life feels overwhelming can be exactly the right thing to do.

"Winston Churchill said it, and I quite agree; 'there's just something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a person'," she muses. "Spending time with horses can completely change your perspective on what troubles you," she said as she groomed her newest "equine consultant", Elvis, a miniature horse who inspired Bonnie and business partner Sharon Grady to show other women how to "take the reins" in their lives and relationships. 

Their Taking the Reins workshop at T.H.E. Ranch in Skull Valley July 26 offers strategies for women facing transition in their lives. Dr. Grady, clinical coordinator with Prescott College's Centaur Leadership Services and Jackson, Director of T.H.E. Ranch (Teaching Humans with Equine) will lead the full-day workshop which runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The program includes non-mounted, beginner-level work with the Ranch's horses, lunch, a workshop notebook, and a midday swim in the facilities half-acre pond and a swimming pool. The program is $175.

The workshop was originally scheduled for June but was postponed when Bonnie's mother died unexpectedly.  

"Horses can help a person through the grieving process in a way no human can," said Bonnie, a 40-year veteran of the equestrian lifestyle. After some time off with her horses, Bonnie feels she's ready to take on the work of helping others deal with life-changing transition. Due to popular demand, the workshop has been re-scheduled for the July date.

Participants will engage in group exercises and hands-on ground work with horses that facilitate healthy strategies for coping with change and transition. No prior horse experience is necessary as this will be a non-riding event. Using equine and drama centered activities, participants will: learn new communication skills; work with horses as teachers and partners; clarify their own hopes and dreams; build new coping skills; renew their sense of purpose; and leave with a sense of empowerment. 

"Horses are sensitive, highly social animals, so they can give us great feedback on our own emotional states," Sharon explains. "If you're not feeling safe inside of yourself, your horse won't feel comfortable either. Horses' feelings are magnified by their size, mirroring back to us what's going on inside ourselves," she noted, laughingly calling them "half -ton biofeedback machines."

"Horses don't hang onto emotions. If they feel something like fear, like when they're startled, for example, they immediately let it go. They stay in the present, where we need to be if we're to listen and relate effectively to others. They model skills which are useful in interpersonal relationships and in dealing with change and transition."

Sharon, a former full professor of Applied Theatre at the University of Texas, changed careers after taking a workshop in equine-assisted communication several years ago with Prescott College faculty member Paul Smith, Director of Centaur Leadership Services. She graduated from Prescott College's Master of Arts program in equine-assisted mental health in 2007. Bonnie Ebsen Jackson, daughter of actor Buddy Ebsen, has put her knowledge and experience into words as editor of two horse magazines-The Western Horse and Trail Blazer-and now as Equine Specialist on an equine psychotherapy team.

To register for the workshop please contact the Center for Extended Studies at Prescott College (928) 350-4110, cesll@prescott.edu.

Prescott College offers a residential BA program at its main campus in Prescott, Arizona, as well as distance BA, MA, and PhD degrees and a new Extended Studies program for lifelong learners. All programs emphasize student-directed, experience-based learning by doing, environmental and cultural awareness, and social justice. For more information please contact Mary Lin, M Ed, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, 928-350-4503, pr@prescott.edu. More information is on the web at prescott.edu. 

June 25, 2008 (Prescott, AZ) - Opening with a public reception on Friday, July 18th, at 5 p.m., Curators Maria Lynam and Barb Wills will present Expressions of Style and Design II at the Prescott Fine Arts Gallery, on the Willis side of the building at 208 N. Marina Street in Prescott. This Exhibit will run until August 24th.

Popular local artists and artists new to the Prescott scene will create a visual feast of color, textures and patterns. Glass, ceramics, fiber art, weaving, beading, and jewelry are represented in a variety of forms from wall art to wearables. A variety of woodcuts, monoprints, photographs and paintings are framed to enhance the ambience of this display.

There is no charge for the reception or exhibit. There is also a Gift Shop in the Gallery with all kinds of enticingly unique gifts by local artists.

The Gallery entrance is on the Willis Street side of the Theatre. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please call (928) 445-3286 or email tickets@pfaa.net.

Prescott Fine Arts Association is supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the City of Prescott, Bucky's & Yavapai Casinos, Murphy's Restaurant, Yavapai College, National Bank of Arizona, Target Stores, the League of PFAA, the PFAA Charter Auxiliary, and the Prescott Area Arts & Humanities Council.

The mission of Prescott Fine Arts Association is to provide members of the greater Community an opportunity express their creativity, participate in the arts and contribute to the quality of life and economic vitality of Arizona.

June 24, 2008 (Prescott) - Prescott Fine Arts presents: JUKEBOX FUSION, an original production of visual and musical experiences for ALL ages, merging "different elements into a union" - the definition of fusion. This show incorporates technical effects with dance, vocal and musical performance in a series of vignettes and audience involvement. This is Casey Knight's brainchild!  She says, "It offers a new experience for our audiences. Combining today's technology with music that appeals to all audiences, it brings together an intergenerational appeal for all ages."

JUKEBOX FUSION  opens July 17th  at 7:30 pm with a reception after. The rest of the dates are: July 18, 19, 24, 25, 26,31, August 1,2 at 7:30 and two matinees July 20 & 27 at 2 pm. Prices are $19 for evenings, 12 & under are $12, and for matinees $15, 12 & under are $10. Tickets may be purchased by calling 928/445-3286 or by stopping by the office at 208 N. Marina, Prescott between 10 am and 3 pm Monday through Saturday.

Prescott Fine Arts is supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the City of Prescott, Bucky's & Yavapai Casinos, Murphy's Restaurant, Yavapai

College, National Bank of Arizona, Target Stores, The League of PFAA, The PFAA Charter Auxiliary, and The Prescott Area Arts & Humanities Council.

The mission of Prescott Fine Arts Association is to provide members of the greater community an opportunity to express their creativity, participate in the arts, and contribute to the quality of life and economic vitality of Arizona.

Prescott, AZ - June 22, 2008 - Greg Kornrumph, Salt River Project (SRP) Principal Analyst, Water Rights & Contracts will discuss SRP's position on Verde Watershed issues when the Citizens Water Advocacy Group meets on Saturday, July 12 from 10 AM to noon at the Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 882 Sunset in Prescott (two blocks behind True Value).

The water supplies that satisfy the beneficial use property rights of SRP shareholders derive from the Salt and Verde Watersheds, Kornrumph says. "As Yavapai County continues to grow, the water demands to meet that growth will impact the water supplies that have been historically relied upon by [SRP's] shareholders and other senior water right holders. SRP has a long tradition of water rights protection, and is actively engaged throughout the watershed in that effort."

Kornrumph has worked in water rights and water management for over 20 years, with 17 at SRP and five at the Arizona Department of Water Resources. In addition to his water rights responsibilities, he is SRP's liaison to communities and interest groups on the Salt and Verde watersheds. He also develops water-supply plans for SRP power plants and negotiates water exchange agreements. An Arizona native, Kornrumph spent much of his childhood hiking, fishing, and exploring the Salt and Verde rivers.

Guests are welcome! For more info, call 708-1660 or visit www.cwagaz.org.