Hoffman Center Blog

Halley the 'zero emissions' Harpist

Halley Weaver, Portland’s celebrated “Bicycling Street Harpist,” will perform at 7 p.m., Friday, April 9 at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita. Weaver has been praised for her magical take on folk music, with an added dimension for nature lovers. Admission will be $10.

Since moving to Portland in 2008, Weaver has become a fixture traveling the streets with her harp mounted on a custom-designed bicycle trailer. She is jokingly referred to as the “zero-emissions” harpist, for her combination of musical skills and environmentalism.

Halley blends traditional Celtic and Irish pieces with her own unique variations and arrangements. When not traveling by bicycle, Halley opts for the most sustainable transportation options, varying from hybrid cars, bus/train and carpooling to events.

Weaver’s concert will be the first offering in the Hoffman Center’s new “dell’Arte Series” program. The series will feature appearances by a wide variety of performers, including musicians, magicians, comedians, clowns, and just about anything else.

“This way the Hoffman Center can bring in entertainers that most local residents wouldn’t typically see here,” said David Dillon, president of the Center’s board. “The program’s creators envision a series of entertaining, unexpected events you won’t find anywhere else on the North Coast.”

“While not technically Commedia dell’Arte, all of these performers will have a sort of ‘alternative’ feel,” added Dillon. “And certainly the Hoffman Center as a space definitely has the sort of counter-culture spirit the original dell’Arte players were shooting for.”

Future dell’ Arte offerings in the works include a magician, and a reader’s theater production of Bryan Harteniaux’s play “Vesta” performed by Liz Cole of Neahkahnie.

Come celebrate the 25th anniversary of this classic film, shot on location in nearby Astoria and Ecola State Park! Watch the spinetingling adventures of 7 childhood friends as they try to find One Eyed Willy’s pirate treasure and save their Goondocks homes from a greedy land developer. Scary bank robbers and deadly booby traps stand in their way. Can they find the treasure that Chester Copperpot died trying to uncover? More importantly, will they survive to see their parents again? Come enjoy this childhood favorite all over again with your friends and neighbors.

There will be two shows on Saturday, March 27–at 2 pm and 7 pm.  Special admission price of $6 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under will apply for this screening.

Ekahni Books will be on hand selling film related books.

Mark your calendars for our next screenings: Food Inc. on April 24th and The Hurt Locker on May 22nd. Screenings will be at 2p.m. and 7p.m.

Spring Break celebrants can enjoy a special ceramics experience at the Hoffman Center Monday, March 22, by participating in a “Paint Your Own Piggy Bank” PlayShop. The event will teach glazing and firing techniques. It will run from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Each student will be provided his or her own bank. When the decorating is done, the banks will be fired in the Center’s kiln and returned to their creators by Friday afternoon – the end of spring break.

The workshop is made possible by a grant from the Bank of Astoria. “We are pleased they agreed to sponsor the PlayShop,” said Center president David Dillon. “Banks and piggy banks sure go together.”

The workshop is open to all ages, but a parent or guardian should accompany any student under 6. Bruce Phillips, a Hoffman Center Open Clay Studio volunteer and mentor, will lead the event.

The tuition for the piggy bank PlayShop is $10. Some partial or whole scholarships are available.  Click here for the Piggy Bank Registration Form.  Class is limited to 20 participants.

Cheryl Strayed to read from her novel Torch

Cheryl Strayed will read from her novel Torch at the Manzanita Writers’ Series at 7 pm on Saturday, March 20, at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita.

Torch was a finalist for the Great Lakes Book Award and was selected by The Oregonian as one of the top ten books by Pacific Northwest authors.

Strayed shows a deep appreciation for the rhythms of small-town life, capturing the sense of community, the struggle to earn a living, and also the disdain for “city apes.” In addition, she discerns within one family’s crisis the painful, shifting nature of familial relationships.

— Booklist

Strayed’s award-winning stories and essays have appeared in over a dozen magazines, journals, and anthologies. Her personal essays, “Heroin/e” and “The Love of My Life,” were both selected for inclusion in the prestigious Best American Essays collections and she has published in magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post Magazine, Allure and The Sun. She has her MFA in Fiction Writing.

She has sold her upcoming memoir Wild,to Alfred A. Knopf in a mid-six figure deal.

 Strayed lives in Portland, Oregon with her filmmaker husband, Brian Lindstrom, and their two children.

 Following the author reading and Q&A, the popular Open Mic session will provide opportunities for the audience to hear nine local writers read from their original work. Interested writers sign up at the door to read; first come, first to read.

Writers interested in reading should check out the Open Mic guidelines and come prepared to read your original piece of work in five minutes or less.