Cathy's Projects
CURRENT WORK
Workshops
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Ekphrastic Poetry
Ekphrastic Poems are defined as a response to a visual work of art. The Ekphrastic poems are often vivid and dramatic responses inspired by the art work. These poems can be inspired by art, sculpture, or sometimes photographs.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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"What Do Donors Want" Workshop & Consulting Services
Challenging economic times present even more competition for non profit organizations that rely on donor giving to survive. Cathy has thirty years experience in the fields of philanthropy, fundraising, and grant making, and wrote a book as a guide to what grantors look for and what could give you the edge in securing funding for your project.
The book is available when you attend one of her “What donors want” workshops. In this workshop she will review writing a letter of intent for your non profit and one lucky participant may win a grant towards their project.
The next workshop will be in the Fall 2024, and will be posted on the events page and in the SWF Foundation newsletter.
Sign up to receive notice on all upcoming workshops and events.
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Positive Aging Series
Cathy has worked in Health and social service since 1971. She is versed in a variety of topics in those arenas. She has run caregiver and grief support groups for many years. She is trained by the Alzheimers Association, and a CT Choices Medicare insurance counselor. She has been a regular instructor at many senior facilities in a variety of topics. She is a regular instructor at the Towers “Aging Mastery Series”.
The Catherine Weiss Poetry Garden
The Towers Foundation turned a 13,300 sq foot area of blight into a beautiful destination garden in Conneticut. They broke ground in June 2023, with a ribbon cutting ceremony that followed in October. The Garden makes a difference in the overall environment and reduces food insecurity. There are handicap accessible planting beds that enable seniors to feel useful in helping to feed the community. The Towers Accessible Community Garden is currently in full bloom! Broccoli, cucumbers, peppers, squash, strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, dill, cilantro and parsley are just some of the produce they are growing.
This garden will be adjacent to the Catherine Weiss Poetry Garden, which will have a podium, benches, and will be a learning, performance center, and handicap accessible special event venue that will make a major impact on the community.
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A place of solace and refuge with a shade garden, sculpture garden and meditation space with a water element and so much more to come!
Waiting For The Other Shoe to Drop
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This is Cathy's latest fundraising project.​ Donations for the book raised money for the Clinton Library, and was matched by an anonymous donor. So as Cathy exits her role as poet laureate, she leaves another legacy to her town.
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This is a collection of poems and contains short stories from the best love stories from her two memoirs.
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There are a few copies left if you'd like to make a ​minimum donation of $20, and she will mail one out to you. Please click the donate button if interested, and put 'book' in the comments. Please be sure to also include your address.​
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PAST WORK
"Bus Number 567"
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I have been asked to help other artists understand the mechanics of making art that is wrapped onto public displays such as the GNHTD bus project I recently completed. So I thought a video would help. However, when Rachael Mason and I rode the bus to ascertain if the art was meaningful to the public, we learned so much more..... Watch the video and see for yourself how art moves people in more ways than one can imagine.
My Recycled Life Closet
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The Cathy Weiss Project received a standing ovation when they performed on Sept. 25, 2011 at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, CT. The original piece called "My Recycled Life Closet", was choreographed by the group's founder and director, Cathy Weiss.
Portraits of Clinton Poetry Project
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Over a year’s time, Cathy and her interns developed and delivered workshops on writing a portrait poem. She didn’t want anyone excluded, so she went into homes of seniors, interviewed them, and wrote poems with them, wanting to include as many people, ethnicities, and ages as possible.
Initially some people were hesitant to write about themselves, but were willing to write a portrait of a favorite place in Clinton. Cathy gave portrait poetry workshops at the Morgan School, and several Morgan students publishes their work in a recent issue of New Authors Journal.
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Cathy is proud of everyone for taking a risk and participating in this project, and thanked everyone for the courage shown in exploring their deepest feelings and sharing their true selves, which is a major component of a portrait poem.
Some of the poets in this anthology have never written a poem and some are more experienced, but all have something special to share… Their authentic voice.
Click Here For More Information:
https://www.wfsb.com/video/2023/04/18/april-is-national-poetry-month/
Portrait Poetry
A fun and unique way of connecting through the joy of poetry. These poems have short easy formats making them both easy for a novice, yet can be elaborated upon by an experienced writer. Autobiographical poems reveal something about the writer and they do not have to rhyme. There are three types, each with an easy format we teach at an upcoming workshop. As Poet Laureate I developed and implemented a town wide community project and published an anthology. We had a reading at the Clinton Library and The proceeds from the sale of the book were used to plant “The Poet Tree” across from the town hall.