WorldFest: Dawn Blackman (African-American Storyteller and Cultural Enrichment Instructor)

• Event Date: Saturday, May 3, 2008
• Time: 12:30 pm–4:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: $5.00 Suggested Donation

• Performance
• Family-Friendly tag

Dawn Blackman is a Champaign resident and business owner. As a military wife she lived and traveled in many countries in Europe and the Middle East. These travels gave her the opportunity to apprentice with native craftspeople and to explore the oral traditions of many cultures. It is from these experiences that she developed the classroom workshop series Teaching with Crafts from the World’s Cultures, the children’s program Culture Club, and the educational programs and retail selections of the Motherlands Multicultural Resource Center.

Dawn is a frequent performer/workshop leader at schools, libraries, museums and festivals in the Midwest. As a workshop leader in the Rural Recreation Project for the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Dawn took her storytelling and craft programs to many rural communities in Central Illinois. Audiences of all ages enjoy her stories of long ago, far away, here, now, and over the rainbow.

Dawn will be providing a multicultural craft activity from 3:10-3:40 PM. Enrollment in the activity is limited to 24 participants. Sign-ups will be taken on the day of the event.

Special Parking Notice for WorldFest: Gregory Street in front of the Museum will be blocked off to traffic May 2 through 9 for the Biennial Conference for Women event at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Best suggestions for parking are along Oregon Street or in University lot D-22, both on the south side of the Museum. Please park only in the University lot spaces that do not have 24/7 rental signs.