40 Performances, Over 200 Artists & More Set for 2015 Athena Project Arts Festival, 3/20-4/5

Athena Project's annual festival is back for its third year inspired by the theme, Truth & Perception, running March 20 - April 5, 2015 and featuring 2 galleries, 5 stages, 40 performances and 200+ artists over the course of 17 days. Returning again this year as lead sponsor, is Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD).

Each year we strive to raise the bar on all aspects of our Athena Project Arts Festival. Our 2015 Truth & Perception festival is no exception. This year, we are proud to announce we will have events in 5 metro area Arts Districts (Downtown Denver, Santa Fe, RiNo, Aurora Cultural and 40 West Arts).

Highlights of the festival include the world premiere of Harm's Way, our first full music festival at Cervantes' Other Side, 18 play performances at The Aurora Fox Studio Theatre, an evening of world dance at the Metropolitan State University Denver Center for Visual Arts, 2 galleries filled with photography by female artists, a multi-media fashion show featuring emerging designers and our capstone Girls' Write performance at the Denver Center Conservatory Theatre.

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Here are details for all of our upcoming events:

• World Premiere of Harm's Way by Marilyn Harris Kriegel, starring Karen Grassle, directed by Penny Walrath Cole

Dates: March 20, 21, 27, 28, 30, April 3, 4 at 8 p.m.; March 22, March 29, April 5 at 2 p.m.

Harm's Way is a provocative look at paranoia, denial and whether we're desensitized to violence.

Synopsis: The play takes place in the first decade of the 21st century when the United States, shocked by terrorism, tries to protect itself from further attack. Maggie Leeds, confused and disoriented, arrives in Paris on a visit to her son and his new wife. It's entirely unclear from the shreds of her bizarre travel tale whether she is a muddled, jetlagged older woman or a national security risk; whether a career as a science fiction writer, or something far darker, is responsible for her improbable story. While Maggie tries to sort out the pieces of her inexplicably fragmented mind, Andrew, her adult, expatriate son, blocks any attempts at opening the door to her confusion or to his own past. Insisting on making sense out of the pieces of this curious puzzle, Martine, Andrew's intrepid French wife, risks her marriage and her Mother-in-law's safety to discover la verite, the truth.

Karen Grassle (pronounced Grassley) is best known for her role as Caroline Ingalls, the mother, in the long-running NBC-TV series Little House on the Prairie from 1974-1982. She also starred in many movies of the week, including Battered, which she co-wrote with Cynthia Lovelace-Sears. They won the American Women in Radio and Television Award for their script which broke open the topic of battered women in the U.S. She appeared on Broadway in The Gingham Dog, Butterflies Are Free, and Sweet Sue. In resident theatres throughout the country, Ms. Grassle played roles as varied as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire to the prostitute in Muzeeka. She was a company member at Actor's Theatre of Louisville appearing in classics and world premieres. She also appeared at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Since returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, she has worked at the Aurora Theatre, Theatre Works in Palo Alto and at the San Francisco Playhouse where this fall, she played Franki in the acclaimed world premiere of 77% by Rinne Groff. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright and subsequently studied with teachers as various as Kristin Linklater, Roy London, and Yurek Bogayevicz. Ms. Grassle is completing a memoir that tells her story.

An Opening Night Reception will be held on March 20th from 6-8 p.m. at The ACAD Gallery, 1400 Dallas Street

World Premiere of Harm's Way by Marilyn Harris Kriegel

March 20- April 5

Fridays/Saturdays @ 8 p.m.; Sundays @ 2 p.m.

$22 for adults, $20 for students/seniors/military, $18 group discounts avail for 10+ people

@ Aurora Fox Studio Theatre, 9900 E. Colfax Avenue, Aurora 80010.

All tickets are on sale at www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling the Aurora Fox box office at 303-739-1970.

• Workshop productions of four new plays all written by women, called our Plays In Progress (PIP) Series.

Dates: March 26, 29, April 2, 5@ 7 p.m.; March 28, April 4th @ 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Each play will get 2 workshop readings. Workshop level productions are designed with minimum sets, lights, sound, etc. and they also allow for an audience to give feedback. One play will be selected from this series to be produced in Athena Project's 2016 Arts Festival. Your vote counts!

The plays are:

- The Draper's Eye by Fengar Gael (April 4 @ 4 p.m. and 5 @ 7 p.m.)

- We'll Never Get to Moscow by Rebecca Gorman O'Neill (March 26 @7 p.m. and March 28 @1 p.m.)

- Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist (March 28 @ 4 p.m. and March 29 @ 7 p.m.)

- Sheltered by Catherine Wiley (April 2 @7 p.m. and April 4 @ 1 p.m.)

Special Table Reading, sponsored by ScriptShape. On Monday March 23 at 7 p.m. at The ACAD Gallery, 1400 Dallas Street, we will feature a table read of local playwright Julie Excell's play Crane Dance. This event is free and open to the public.

• Plays In Progress (PIP) Series.

March 26- April 5

Saturdays @ 1 and 4 p.m.; Sundays and Thursdays @ 7 p.m.

$12 per play

@ The Aurora Fox Studio Theatre, 9900 E. Colfax Avenue, Aurora 80010

All tickets are on sale at www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling the Aurora Fox box office at 303-739-1970

Additional Festival Events:

• Art gallery shows, curated by Janice Schindler and featuring works of photography by female visual artists and in collaboration with Month of Photography, The ACAD Gallery, 1400 Dallas Street in Aurora, 80010 and Metropolitan State University Denver Center for Visual Arts, Emerging Artist Gallery, 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO

Artist receptions will be at Center for Visual Arts on First Friday, March 6 from 6-7pm and The ACAD Gallery on March 20 from 6pm-8pm

The galleries will be open regular gallery hours as well as for special events taking place within the gallery.

• An Art Exhibition will be shown at 40 West Arts Gallery, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood from January 28-February 14
• Pop Up Art and Fashion Boutique on First Friday, February 6th from 4:30-7:30 p.m.

There is no admission charge to any of these events. Artwork is available for sale; proceeds benefit the artist and Athena Project.

• Evening of World Dance held on March 25 at 8 p.m. at the Metropolitan State University Denver Center for Visual Arts, 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO.

Curated by Kebrina J. De Jesus, is a celebration of world dance and the methods by which women illuminate truth and beauty in our society. From Samba to Bollywood, each dance carries with it the wisdom gained from the trials and triumphs of generations of women who created these dances out of unimaginable circumstances. The dancers' bodies are conduits for creativity, passion, and perseverance, and their generosity of spirit allows us to experience these things with them. This evening of dance will culminate in community dialogue about these art forms and how they can serve as our guides by reminding us of the limitless capabilities of our human hearts.

Tickets are $12 for adults can be found online at www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling 303-219-0882.

• Girls' Write PIP Series - Workshop Productions of each of the short plays written by members of Girls' Write Date: Sunday, March 22 from 10 a.m. to 1pm at the Denver Center Conservatory Theatre 1101 13th St., Denver (doors open at 9:30 a.m.)

We are pleased to showcase short works-in-progress by the girls in our Girls' Write Program. Girls' Write is our youth playwriting program run in conjunction with Girls Athletic Leadership School (GALS). This program provides girls in 7th grade with role models in the arts who teach them how to write a play, along with other theatre skills.

There is no charge for this event but reservations are REQUIRED by visiting www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling 303-219-0882.

• Music Festival

Music Festival at Cervantes' Other Side, featuring female artists covering a range of styles.

Date: March 29 at 7 p.m. at Cervantes' Other Side, 2637 Welton St., Denver, CO (doors open at 6 p.m.)

Artists currently booked include:

- The Horse Latitudes is fronted by multi-instrumentalist Bonnie Gregory and has a strong local following;

- Vocalist, songwriter Serephine plays harp, bohran and guitar. She and her 4 piece band have a strong following in the festival circuit, both in Colorado and nationally;

- Bianca Mikahn is an experimental artist with hip-hop, electronic and soul influences.

Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and can be found online at www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling 303-297-1772. In addition, musician merchandise will be available for sale onsite.

• Truth & Perception Fashion Show (Fundraiser) @ Weston Solutions, 1435 Garrison St., Lakewood, CO

Date: Wednesday, April 1, doors open @ 7 p.m., show @ 8 p.m.

- Curated by Caroline Smith of Janie G. Couture, the show will blend performance art and fashion into a unique show benefitting Athena Project and highlighting local professional female designers, as well as a component featuring emerging designers, sponsored by Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design.

- In addition, there will be a Pop Up Fashion Boutique available for shopping before and after the show. Proceeds from the boutique will go to the artist as well as Athena Project.

Co-sponsored by Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design and Weston Solutions

Tickets are $25 at www.AthenaProjectFestival.org or by calling 303-219-0882.

• Film - offered via a collaborative, in kind partnership with Women + Film Festival at The SIE Film Center, Denver, 80206

Date: March 17-22

Women+Film presents women's voices through film, provides opportunities for diverse audiences to discuss current issues, promotes audiences to action, and produces social and professional networks.

Program information and ticket prices will be available soon at www.womenplusfilm.org.

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Athena Project envisions a world where women's voices are powerfully expressed and recognized for artistic merit in the community. Athena Project's mission is to empower women and strengthen the Denver community through developing and showcasing women and girls' artistic contributions, while inviting new audiences into the creative process.

Each year, Athena Project produces an Arts Festival, that includes a world premiere play, our Plays In Progress Series, visual art, fashion, music and dance, and Girls' Write, a year-long playwriting and play development experience for girls.

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) is an art school like no other. Offering online and on-campus undergraduate and graduate degrees, the school provides challenging curriculum and a fresh approach to learning. RMCAD functions as a community of creatives in an atmosphere of intensity that drives students to push conventional boundaries. Find more information at RMCAD.edu or by calling 800.888.ARTS.

ScriptShape is a local company that supports playwrights and their work with a variety of dramaturgical services that focus on assisting them to write the play they want to write while concurrently championing the script toward being a viable, producible theatre experience. For more info contact scriptshape@gmail.com or visit www.scriptshape.wordpress.com.

MoP (The Month of Photography Denver) is a biennial celebration of fine art photography with hundreds of collaborative public events throughout Denver and the region. We are joining multiple museums galleries and schools surrounding fine art photography creating an exciting artistic and educational event for the city of Denver and the region. MoP will alternate between the Month of Printmaking Denver on a biennial basis, during the months of March and April. MoP is sponsored by the Invisible Museum, a non-profit organization dedicated to the exchange of ideas in the contemporary creative cultural community.

Women+Film was founded in 1995 by philanthropist and activist Barbara Bridges. Throughout the year, Women+Film presents a series of film screenings featuring women in leadership roles, female directors of note, or current human rights issues that women are facing today. Programs are designed to inform, educate, and entertain. Filmmakers and experts on the topics are in attendance and participate in a dialogue with diverse audiences. In collaboration with the Denver Film Society, during the Starz Denver Film Festival each November, Women+Film hosts an informative panel discussion centering around a common theme from films in the Festival or topics pertinent to the organizational mission. See more at www.womenplusfilm.org.

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