Coni Ciongoli Koepfinger
Poet, Playwright, Librettist, Artist and Educator, Coni is the creative director and host of two international radio programs, AIRPLAY and DETERMINED WOMEN. In addition to teaching at various universities, Koepfinger is an internationally published and produced playwright and librettist. She also is a contributing writer for the Center of Conscious Creativity in LA; a board member of the International Center for Women Playwrights; on the Media Arts Advisory Board of the Lifeboat Foundation; a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, and the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is currently working on THE EVE OF BELTANE, SCHOOLHOUSE and THY KINGDOM COME with her writing partner Joe Izen
A partial performance of The Therapist by Coni Ciongoli Koepfinger ;Part of an anthology being published April 1, 2022, [about rape]
Performed by:
-Carrie Wesolowski, Theatre, Film, & Television Actor/Director/Host/Singer
A lifelong New Yorker born and raised in New York City, Carrie's a co-host of the virtual weekly theatre program AirPlay and a regular contributor to AirPlay as Actor/Director. After graduating from CUNY and receiving a BA in Drama/Theatre, she completed a 2-year Acting Training Program with Phil Gushee and Joe Anania, dedicated to the teachings of The Neighborhood Playhouse. For Carrie, creating film and theatre is a catalyst for self-expression and societal change--creating beauty and light through transforming the pain of our experiences in recognizing our shared humanity. Recent acting/directing credits include the East Broadway Theatre Project, the opera The Bird Lady at The National Opera Center, Coni Koepfinger's Simon Says --a finalist in Playbill VTF Live and Manhattan Rep's Stories Film Festival, and Dermalogic at Theater for the New City. Carrie has been singing with the NYC-based community choir Peace of Heart Choir since 2013 and hosts their Cabaret Nights and is a member of their Steering Committee.
-Beth Griffith: performed with i.a. New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, The Flea Theater, New York City Opera, Paris Philharmonic, Johannes Wieland Dance Company. Recordings with: Largo, Sargasso, Tzadik, Winter&Winter, New World, and Unseen Worlds. Upcoming: Cosmicomics with The New Stage Theatre, Five by Tenn with Out Of The Box Theater, S.U.N. by Michael Hagins at Broadway Bound Festival.
Foreward
As a practicing psychologist the plays in this anthology have dared to go into the fears and pain of a lot of people whose issues are generally dealt with in silence. This work gives a voice to all those feelings which are so difficult to express. And the greatest gift is as people experience these works they are reminded that they are not alone. Thank you for assisting therapists everywhere to help their patients open those deeply held issues in a safe place.
Dr. Mike Dolan, Clinical Psychologist
DRAWING ON THE DIVINE • ACTUALISM • THE ART OF THE 21st CENTURY
©2017 by Coni Ciongoli Koepfinger
ISBN 9781794710702
All Artwork © 2015 by Michele Ciongoli Dryburgh
ALL RIGHTS RESERVE : INTRODUCTION by Robert Rhodes, Physicist & Artist
My first exchange with Coni Koepfinger was a three hour conversation when she asked me to be her science advisor for her plays which range from science fiction to romantic
musicals. Since then I have worked with her on a number of theater projects which demanded a high level of emotion. During the start of our collaborations, I witnessed the evocative poetry she often posts online. I suggested that she publish these poems, and this book is the result. But this text, Drawing on the Divine, is certainly far more than a compendium of poems. Coni and her sister, Mickey, spent decades working together on audio and visual experimental projects, and the imagery presented here, both Mickey's art and in Coni's poetic discourse, captures the heart of that collaboration beautifully. But I was totally unprepared for the emotional impact of this tome. I believe it is unprecedented in style combining Mickey’s visuals in a variety of mediums, from oils to ink, as well as graphic illustration combined Coni’s plays, poems, and preponderances on the theory of art in our changing modernity. One point of note I found interesting in the sketches that display graphic violence is her choice of colors, red vs. blue, in the first piece to initiate this series that carries the height of its tension in the metanarrative. It is said that powerful art speaks on a micro-level as well as a macro, so perhaps Mickey’s intuition was trying to inform us about the current struggle we are having nationally in our socio-political environment. That said, this meta- narrative speaks to us all. I have known many men and women who were abused and could not talk about it. This book dares to address the undercurrent of violence in our society today, and point the way out of the morass we find ourselves in and suggests that ART via ACTUALISM may guide us back to a more honest nature of being. It's time to tell the truth about how we live our lives... and to finally live then in the creative reality of our birthright. It's my hope that with this book, we will break through the deception that seems to pervade our lives today. “Actualism,” as Koepfinger coins the phrase, “is movement of art swinging back to revisit the natural creative power found in every human being. If we are not creative we will be destructive.” I can't begin to express myself properly about the ACTUALISM movement, but I know it needs to happen... now.
Martha Lluch is an artist and a survivor. Art is how she's taken control of her healing and of her life.
Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. I got my degree in Architecture in 2007 at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, and a Masters in Urban Design from the University of Miami in 2013.
I have over 12 years of experience working as an Architect, with a heavy focus on design, master planning and green building certification. My experience includes working on site in projects in Germany, the Middle East, China, Venezuela and South Florida. During these years, I’ve also had the opportunity to work in Branding for various commercial clients, like major Venezuelan grocery stores and telecommunication corporations like Telefónica.
During the last decade of my life, I’ve turned to yoga as a way to better navigate mental health and day-to-day challenges inside the office and out. In 2015, I graduated as a certified 200 HR Yoga Teacher at TRIO Studio in Miami.
Throughout the course of the years, it has become evident to me that the creative process, and how I approach new challenges in my career, translates directly into how I navigate life altogether. This is why I am currently exploring new ways to share the benefits of creativity and the design approach with others through art, yoga and my ongoing Workshop: The Art of Cultivating Joy.
Aside from being passionate about creativity, I am a big advocate for mental health- the reason behind the Little Raging Warrior Project. If you are feeling curious, feel free to check it out by clicking on the button below on your left.
“Processing trauma can be difficult. Lluch does it through the canvas. When you go through trauma, one of the main things that happens is you cannot structure what happened to you," Lluch explained. "In art because there are no boundaries, there is no rules, no setting, it's really like the white canvas is the space where you can start to rearrange what has happened to you, process it, understand it."
Amanda Mendoza, a Post-Conviction Victim Advocate for the CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence. She provides notification and advocacy to survivors of sexual violence whose sexual assault cases are being supervised by either the probation or parole offices within the state. Outside of work, she is also an artist who creates work revolving around healing and spreading awareness on sexual violence.
Lori Armstrong;Nassau County Victim Advocate, Women’s Center of Jacksonville Fl. Lori will also talk about using the arts and creating exhibits of art by survivors such as the one that Martha Lluch participated in, in 2020.