"Art as a Response to Anti-Blackness"
Pamela Woolford created this online discussion in concert with the limited-release of her film Interrupted: Prologue to a Mem-noir. The virtual event, which was attended by 1.5 thousand people, included participation by author Marita Golden, jazz-great Bob James, visual artist and owner of Busboys and Poets Andy Shallal, Dr. Charles Chavis of George Mason University, and Joseph Lewis, founder of Black Bottom Film Festival and executive director of Jazz Bridge.
“A World of Difference: Rita Dove and Joshua Coyne Celebrate History and Creativity”
Pamela Woolford conceived and developed “A World of Difference: Rita Dove and Joshua Coyne Celebrate History and Creativity” with readings by Rita Dove inspired by 18th century Afro-Polish violinist George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower, violin performances by Joshua Coyne, an onstage interview with Dove and Coyne, and the premiere of scenes from a documentary on Bridgetower. The filmmakers, Spark Media, filmed the event to be included in the film’s final cut. The event took place at the Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center in Columbia, Maryland.
Baltimore-DC Area Premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s Sunset Baby
Pamela Woolford designed and raised funds for a schedule of arts programs related to Dominique Morisseau’s play Sunset Baby, including the Baltimore-DC area premiere performed by Rep Stage in Columbia, Maryland; the live-stream of it to Center Stage in Baltimore in an event hosted there by Kwame Kwei-Armah; an accompanying schedule of workshops for writers, arts students, and community members; a panel discussion; and a taped The Writing Life interview.
Pamela Woolford has a long history curating arts programs, beginning in the 1990s when she conceived, designed, and raised funds for Maryland Jambalaya-Fest in Columbia, MD, featuring: a literary symposium with Lucille Clifton, W. Paul Coates, and E. Ethelbert Miller; museum exhibitions from Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Eubie Blake National Museum and Cultural Arts Center, Banneker-Douglass Museum, James E. Lewis Art Gallery at Morgan State University, The Chipman Foundation, and Orchard Street Church Museum; arts workshops; speeches by Haile Gerima and Dr. Ben Carson; meet-the-author and meet-the-artist showcases; and a myriad of music and dance performances celebrating the diversity of people of African descent.
She went on to curate programs for other arts and cultural institutions like Banneker-Douglass Museum--Maryland's State African-American Museum--and Howard County Poetry & Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). For HoCoPoLitSo she programmed a reading, workshops, and taped interview with Billy Collins; a reading and workshop with Michael S. Glaser; and a Katia D. Ulysse reading.
She also chaired the editorial committee for Twenty Years, Twenty Poets, Volume II published in 2015 by Howard County Poetry & Literature Society, featuring works by Sherman Alexie, Eavan Boland, Lucille Clifton, Billy Collins, Rita Dove, Martin Espada, Donald Hall, Robert Hass, Edward Hirsh, Jane Hirshfield, Maxine Cumin, Li-Young Lee, Philip Levine, Paula Meehan, W. S. Merwin, E. Ethelbert Miller, Mary Oliver, Patricia Smith, Mark Strand, and Sekou Sundiata.
