Date: September 13
Time: 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Montana Natural History Center

Cost: $5 member/$7 non-member

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Join us for an evening of storytelling and share your own stories in this interactive evening lecture. The Story Quilt Projects’ quilts bring history’s stories alive, inflame creativity, and motivate audience members to find their own stories.

The purple sandwich story quilt tells the story of a one-room school in Northern Montana and the antics that happen during the dinner hour. This story brings up all of our shared memories, those of daily living in Montana, and of our childhood memories of school.

The vocation of storytelling is one of the oldest in the world. Stories, both fiction and nonfiction, help us think differently about ourselves, other people, and the world beyond our imagination.  Stories carry tremendous power to form images and change lives. The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think but to give you questions to think upon.  A well-told story changes people. 

Since 2011, presenter Jean Wakely has taken on the role of Storyteller of her mother Jewell’s quilts. Working alongside her mother and helping her to create booklets and video recordings of her storytelling, Jean has enjoyed the intricate details of sharing the collected stories of her mother, Montana, History, and especially of Women’s struggles and triumphs.

Jewell was the quilt artist. Jean is the voice of the story quilts. When the quilts are on display in the gallery, visitors can read through the attached booklet. When they find a scene they want to know more about, they can look it up in the booklet. Then the visitor becomes the storyteller when relating the story back to other visitors gathered around. Stories will begat stories. If Jean tells you a story about the Great Northern Railroad, it will most likely spark a train story already implanted in your own memory that will compel you to now tell your train story. All stories are true. All tellers are truthful. It is natural and it
springs automatically from personal experiences. Do not underestimate the stories of children, for in their telling you will hear their great truth. Children are gatherers of stories and yearn to lean in to listen to a good story told well.

View our cancellation/refund policy here.

FAQ

What’s the refund policy?

The course fee is refundable if a cancellation is made up to 7 days before the event. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made after this deadline. In light of changes to programming due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Montana Natural History Center will make exceptions to its normal refund policy. These exceptions are as follows:

Any programs cancelled by the Montana Natural History Center are eligible for a full refund.

In the event a program fee can be rolled over to a following cycle or year, that offer will be made available to the paying program participant, and a spot will be reserved for the participant.

If a program is cancelled by a participant due to reasonable health and safety concerns from exposure risk to novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Montana Natural History Center will issue a full refund.

If any participant experiences major illness, injury, or loss of a family member prior to the start of a registered program the participant is eligible for a full refund.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

Nope! We will have a list of all the attendees.