Lifelong Learning Collaborative

Flashback Friday – Fall 2016: Members of our Curriculum Committee meet outside Temple Beth-El to coordinate yet another semester of high quality course content. Mike Webster, Co-chair, is pictured with committee volunteers Marilyn Kaplan (back), Linda Guccione, Jane Adler, and Martha Cussler (front L-R). Our Curriculum Committee Not pictured, Committe Co-chair Kathy Webster (who was taking the picture). We cannot thank the committee members enough for their tireless work.

Key Dates for Fall 2024: Look for our catalog announcement on Mon, Jul 15; Registration opens Mon, Jul 22 @ 9 AM; classes begin Sep 9.

LLC warmly welcomes Joe Petteruti, Jr. to the Board! Joe was nominated as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee at the June Board Meeting. He has been a member of LLC for 13 years and has coordinated several classes in that time. After graduating from Brown with a B.A. in Political Science, he began a long career in Senior Management in Banking. In 2021, he published his first book and is currently working on his next one. View the entire Board at https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/leadership/.

Inside the latest issue of The Lark: MEET THE NEW MEMBERS OF THE LLC BOARD: Ruth Mills (Secretary), Susan Baugh (Member-at-Large), Donna Kerner (Member-at-Large), & John Brezack (Finance Committee); CELL PHONE PHOTO CLUB SPRING '24; TOO MUCH, a memoir by Jeanne Medeiros; and HONEY LOCUST by Mary Oliver. Read it here: https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/lark-vol-4-issue-1-june-2024/. Pictured: Katy Gilchrist stands in front of her photography at the Cell Phone Photo Club art exhibit at Temple Beth-El on May 28, 2024.

Flashback Friday – July 2020: An LLC member paints in our Plein Air Art Group, an ongoing course held every summer in various locations throughout RI and nearby MA. Participants gather to paint and participate in a friendly critique of their work weekly. This summer, Plein Air is led by Susan Van Horne and Kathy Webster.

View the entire gallery of photography edited in our Cell Phone Photography Club by LLC members this spring at https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/cell-phone-photo-club/. In this ongoing class coordinated by Ellen Fingeret, Margaret Lawrence, and Linda Shamoon, members experiment with cell phone photography and photo editing. Featured photo: Fire Dancer, Oaxaca by Katy Gilchrist.

We sadly share news of the recent passing of LLC member Joanne Oechler. Joanne, along with her husband Hugh, joined LLC six years ago. Most recently she participated in Scrabble Social Club. We send our heartfelt condolences to Hugh, their family, and friends at LLC and beyond. Read the obituary and sign the guest book at https://www.oneillfuneralhomes.com/obituary/joanne-oechler.

LLC welcomes our newly appointed board members (2024-2025), shown L-R: Eugene Mihaly (Treasurer & Co-chair, Finance Committee), Ruth Mills (Secretary), Susan Baugh (Member-at-large), Donna Kerner (Member-at-large), John Brezack (Co-chair, Finance Committee).

Announcing the Spring 2024 Open Studio Art virtual gallery! Visit https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/open-studio-art-spring-2024/ to see the entire gallery of art. Featured: "Somebody’s Sister" (multi-media collage on paper) by Katherine Quinn. Open Studio Art, led by Susan Van Horne and Kathy Webster, is a casual meeting of artists (and budding artists) who pursue the medium of their choice using acrylics, oils, watercolor, pastel or drawing independently.

Read what LLC members have to say about why they love learning with us: https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/testimonials/. Pictured: After LLC member Joan Hausrath delivered her presentation on African masks in The Social Life of Objects (Fall 2023), she brought a gingerbread mask which the class devoured in short order.

Flashback Friday – September 2016: Longtime LLC members Mary Ball Howkins (left) and Mary Snowden (right) co-coordinated a class on Expressionism. Mary Snowden is a nationally recognized multimedia artist and Professor Emeritus of Painting/Drawing at the California College of Arts where she taught painting and drawing for over 40 years. Mary Ball is an active writer of fiction, an international wildlife volunteer, and art historian. Together they've coordinated many popular LLC courses.

If you love Scrabble, you'll love LLC's popular Scrabble Social Club. Join us for a fun time and meet new friends! All levels are welcome. Members convene afterwards for dinner at various nearby local restaurants (optional). Learn more and register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343638/Registration.aspx.

Do you love to read? If so, join "Beach Reads" this summer at LLC as we read four short novels by authors whose books are often put in the category of beach reads, a good story, but maybe not great literature. The books are all set in coastal areas (Maine, South Carolina, Nantucket, and the west coast of Ireland). Learn more/register at: https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343635/Registration.aspx. Photo by Dan Dumitriu on Unsplash.

25 LLC members learned about the history of Tiverton's Four Corners on a walking tour with Roz Weir on Friday, May 31. Look for tour highlights of in our next issue of The Lark.

LLC's Cell phone Photography Club displayed their work on May 28. Coordinated by Ellen Fingeret, Margaret Lawrence, and Linda Shamoon.

Join our popular Cell Phone Photography club this Summer at LLC. If you enjoy taking pictures with your cell phone and then turning them into professional looking photographs, you will love this popular class! Learn more and register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343636/Registration.aspx. Photo credit: LLC member Elizabeth Siftar.

LLC members can now renew their dues for the upcoming fiscal year which starts today (June 1). Dues are $40 annually. Please see our email with links and detailed instructions.

Flashback Friday – June 2019: LLC members took a look back on some of the biggest and most historic storms in our history with Mark Searles, NBC10 Chief Meteorologist. Using a drone, he captured a picture of the audience. Sign up to learn about upcoming free Webinars at https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/free-webinars/. Free & open to the public.

A REMINDER TO LLC MEMBERS: The 2024 Annual Meeting will be held today at 10 AM via Zoom.

Zoom to the Moon this summer with LLC! Explore the moon from your living room! Learn from renowned experts from Brown, University of Arizona, and NASA, as well as each other. We will delve into the history and geology of the moon and the history of moon exploration. Learn more and register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343730/Registration.aspx.

This summer on Zoom at LLC: Do you have an Unusual Travel Experience? Perhaps you’ve traveled to an exotic location and would enjoy sharing your experiences. Or maybe you just want to learn about a potential future travel destination. Read more and register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343632/Registration.aspx.

This Summer at LLC: Do you have a favorite person, dead or alive, that you’ve always admired – anyone from Betty Grable to Nobel Prize winners to Joe Louis, and you’d love to know more about them? Biographies of Admired Unknown and Well-Known People focuses on researching and presenting a biography about your admired individual while learning about your classmates most admired figures. Learn more and register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343637/Registration.aspx

Do you love jazz? Join us this summer as we approach jazz through the lens of the Newport Jazz Festival (Aug 2-4). We will preview each of the artists appearing at the JazzFest, each day’s performance pieces and the artists. Includes a live jazz showcase. Learn more & register at https://reg138.imperisoft.com/LLC/ProgramDetail/3431343633/Registration.aspx. Photo by Mark Pecar on Unsplash.

Inside the latest issue of The Lark: Spring Class Retrospective: PUBLIC ART AND THE CITY & THEATER CONVERSATIONS; BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS by Suleika Jaouad; (RE)TELLING: CRAFTING NEW STORIES OF RACE AND PLACE IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND (6/7) at PPL. Read it here: https://www.lifelonglearningcollaborative.org/lark-vol-3-issue-25-may-2024/. Photo credit: Celene Healy, Public Art in the City course at The Avenue Concept.

Flashback Friday – September 2019: Congressman David Cicilline (pictured with David Hansen, then President of LLC) at our Fall Convocation. Over the years, Congressman Cicilline has served as Keynote Speaker at several of our programs, in-person and on Zoom. Most recently he spoke at our Webinar Lecture Series about his new position as President and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

LLC members received their voting ballot on Tuesday for the Board-approved nominations, proposed Budget, and approval of 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes. The deadline to vote is today @ 5 PM.

Theater Conversations recently welcomed Allison Crews and Jackie Davis to class to discuss their work. Allison spoke with us about "Collective Rage: A Play of Five Betties" which she directed at the Burbage Theatre Company. Jackie just finished her run of "Fences" at Trinity Rep where she starred as Rose. We enjoyed hearing her thoughts on Rose and her future career plans. Pictured above are some of our Theater Conversation class with Allison and Jackie, left to right pictured: Sam Shamoon, Allison Crews, Jackie Davis, Jill Tobak, Donna Lancaster, Arlene Strom and Bobbie Cohen. Rear: Mike Webster and Mary Frappier.

LLC Members: Voting for the Board-approved slate of nominations, proposed Budget, and approval of 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes is now open! Look for your Annual Meeting invitation and Voting Ballot emails today. Voting will close on Thurs, May 23 @ 5 PM.