~ Family stories are like treasure chests full of gifts for everyone, kept alive only by re-telling
Born in New Jersey, author, poet, and teaching artist, Vicie A. Rolling lives and works in upstate New York. As a retired professor of Health and Wellness with over 40 years of teaching and performing experience, she brings a unique set of skills to conferences, workshops, readings, and one woman shows, making stories come alive!
She has appeared as a motivational speaker for regional and national conferences and has performed her one-woman shows at various regional venues (such as- 171 Cedar Arts Center, Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, Elmira -Corning Regional Airport, Community Arts of Elmira, Chemung County Historical Society, for Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery , Steuben County Office for the Aging , Watson Homestead Conference Center- for Elder Hostel , Hammondsport Storytelling Festival) and for Fortune 500 companies and Universities (including Corning Incorporated, The Rockwell Museum, Lockheed Martin , Stevens -Point University- Wellness workshop feature speaker -“Circle of friends- Games and their significance in social bonding”, University of Cincinnati-“ Unpacking the Underground Railroad Trunk”)- special events.
As a teaching artist she has worked with summer children's programs, school districts, (daytime and after school workshops. Diven Elementary School in Elmira with “Standin’ in the Shoe” workshop is one example as well as participation in The Local Learning Initiative-Culture, Community and the Classroom. She also has worked as an educational consultant for the Department of Aging and Long-Term Care in Chemung County, New York.
Her work focuses on untold stories of aging, resilience, remembrance, historical trauma and JOY. She explores African- American history with a special emphasis on elder women and their historical reflections and representations past and present. She has produced two chapbooks (Shadowlands, 2009 and Ancestral Supplications, 2010) and two CD’s (“Arrival”, 2011 and “Churched”, 2012.) Her recent short story called “Pilgrimage” has been published in The Journal of Folklore and Education, 2021 vol.8. It speaks from the perspective of a Black child travelling South by car in the early 1950’s.
She has appeared as a motivational speaker for regional and national conferences and has performed her one-woman shows at various regional venues (such as- 171 Cedar Arts Center, Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, Elmira -Corning Regional Airport, Community Arts of Elmira, Chemung County Historical Society, for Friends of Woodlawn Cemetery , Steuben County Office for the Aging , Watson Homestead Conference Center- for Elder Hostel , Hammondsport Storytelling Festival) and for Fortune 500 companies and Universities (including Corning Incorporated, The Rockwell Museum, Lockheed Martin , Stevens -Point University- Wellness workshop feature speaker -“Circle of friends- Games and their significance in social bonding”, University of Cincinnati-“ Unpacking the Underground Railroad Trunk”)- special events.
As a teaching artist she has worked with summer children's programs, school districts, (daytime and after school workshops. Diven Elementary School in Elmira with “Standin’ in the Shoe” workshop is one example as well as participation in The Local Learning Initiative-Culture, Community and the Classroom. She also has worked as an educational consultant for the Department of Aging and Long-Term Care in Chemung County, New York.
Her work focuses on untold stories of aging, resilience, remembrance, historical trauma and JOY. She explores African- American history with a special emphasis on elder women and their historical reflections and representations past and present. She has produced two chapbooks (Shadowlands, 2009 and Ancestral Supplications, 2010) and two CD’s (“Arrival”, 2011 and “Churched”, 2012.) Her recent short story called “Pilgrimage” has been published in The Journal of Folklore and Education, 2021 vol.8. It speaks from the perspective of a Black child travelling South by car in the early 1950’s.
Short Bio - Vicie A. Rolling lives in upstate New York. As a retired Professor of Health and Wellness she has gone on to more artistic pursuits. She is currently writing about her great-great-grandmothers and working in various community and school-based programs as a Teaching Artist catching stories and telling them wherever she can.